Factual Passage - 8 - English Grammar Advanced - Class 10

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

1. A noble purpose gives meaning to one’s own life and is of benefit to others. I realised this when researching on and writing about the life of Jamsetji Tata. What gave one man living in a colonised country the vision to advance it in the community of nations? He not only gave India the power of steel and hydroelectric energy, but also an institution of research.

2. He sent an educationist to Europe and the United States to report on what should be the best model for India. The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was recommended as the model. But Jamsetji made it a point to see that his name was not associated with the university. After his death, his dream came true with the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. It was to be the fountainhead of science in the decades to come.

3. There are others too whose purpose in life has made a difference to society. Mother Teresa had a comfortable life at Loretto Convent, Kolkata. On a train journey to Darjeeling, she felt her ‘calling and wanted to give up her comfortable life in the convent and serve the poor and the needy.

4. After that, she took a three–month nursing course and returned to Kolkata. She devoted her time to the sick and the homeless. Touched by her sacrifice, some of her students joined her and work began. Not everyone has such a strong calling. When I asked her how one could be sure of one’s calling, she replied, “Deep down in our hearts we know exactly what our calling is, if we are sincere.”

5. One’s purpose is shaped over a period of time, but every noble purpose is based on a feeling for the suffering of others and a desire for alleviating that condition. Some years ago, in Kerala, a young man saw his father join Gandhiji and fight for opening temples to the HarijAnswer: When he grew up, the boy decided to take up agricultural studies, because he had seen the havoc caused by the Bengal famine. He went to Europe and studied agriculture. On his return to India, he spearheaded the Green Revolution. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan demonstrates how purpose intensifies with time.

Attempt the following questions on the basis of the passage you have read:
(a) Jamsetji Tata sent an educationist to Europe and the United States because he wanted __________.
(i) him to go abroad
(ii) the educationist to be away from him
(iii) him to understand the model best suited for India
(iv) to send him for a vacation

Correct Option is (iii) him to understand the model best suited for India

(b) When mother Teresa felt her “calling’ she was on her way to ___________.
(i) Darjeeling
(ii) Dehradun
(iii) Delhi
(iv) Dimapur

Correct Option is (i) Darjeeling

(c) Mother Teresa took a six–month training course. (True/False)

False

(d) A noble purpose gives meaning to one’s life. (True/False)

True

(e) Mother Teresa served the sick and the homeless in _________.

Kolkata

(f) We all know what our ___________ is if we are sincere.

calling

(g) Dr. M.S. Swaminathan spearheaded the __________ Revolution.

Green

(h) Find the word from the passage which means the same as “to make something less severe”.(para 5)

alleviate