Summer Vacation Homework

Class-X
Subject-English
Q1. Read below given chapters and find the difficult words. Write their meanings and usage
in your notebook.
1. The Thief’s story
2. Footprints without feet
3. Nelson Mandela: Long walk to freedom
4. Two stories about flying

Q2. Prepare a beautiful presentation on the literary devices and cite suitable examples from
selected poems in your literature on an A3 sheet.

Q3. Prepare a beautiful presentation on Proverbs/idioms with their meanings and usage on an
A3 size sheet.

Q4.Revise the lessons already taught by going through the notes and assignments. Complete
your notebook work.

Light Pollution

Light Pollution is a threat to Wildlife, Safety and the Starry Sky

A After hours of driving south in the pitch-black darkness of the Nevada desert, a dome of
hazy gold suddenly appears on the horizon. Soon, a road sign confirms the obvious: Las
Vegas 30 miles. Looking skyward, you notice that the Big Dipper is harder to find than it was
an hour ago.

B Light pollution—the artificial light that illuminates more than its intended target area—has
become a problem of increasing concern across the country over the past 15 years. In the
suburbs, where over-lit shopping mall parking lots are the norm, only 200 of the Milky Way’s
2,500 stars are visible on a clear night. Even fewer can be seen from large cities. In almost
every town, big and small, street lights beam just as much light up and out as they do down,
illuminating much more than just the street. Almost 50 percent of the light emanating from
street lamps misses its intended target, and billboards, shopping centres, private homes and
skyscrapers are similarly over-illuminated.

C America has become so bright that in a satellite image of the United States at night, the
outline of the country is visible from its lights alone. The major cities are all there, in bright
clusters: New York, Boston, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, and, of course,
Las Vegas. Mark Adams, superintendent of the McDonald Observatory in west Texas, says
that the very fact that city lights are visible from on high is proof of their wastefulness. “When
you’re up in an airplane, all that light you see on the ground from the city is wasted. It’s going
up into the night sky. That’s why you can see it.”

D But don’t we need all those lights to ensure our safety? The answer from light engineers,
light pollution control advocates and astronomers is an emphatic “no.” Elizabeth Alvarez of
the International Dark Sky Association (IDA), a non-profit organization in Tucson, Arizona,
says that overly bright security lights can actually force neighbours to close the shutters,
which means that if any criminal activity does occur on the street, no one will see it. And the
old assumption that bright lights deter crime appears to have been a false one: A new
Department of Justice report concludes that there is no documented correlation between the
level of lighting and the level of crime in an area. And contrary to popular belief, more crimes
occur in broad daylight than at night.

E For drivers, light can actually create a safety hazard. Glaring lights can temporarily blind
drivers, increasing the likelihood of an accident. To help prevent such accidents, some cities
and states prohibit the use of lights that impair night-time vision. For instance, New
Hampshire law forbids the use of “any light along a highway so positioned as to blind or
dazzle the vision of travellers on the adjacent highway.”

F Badly designed lighting can pose a threat to wildlife as well as people. Newly hatched turtles
in Florida move toward beach lights instead of the more muted silver shimmer of the ocean.
Migrating birds, confused by lights on skyscrapers, broadcast towers and lighthouses, are
injured, sometimes fatally, after colliding with high, lighted structures. And light pollution
harms air quality as well: Because most of the country’s power plants are still powered by
fossil fuels, more light means more air pollution.

G So what can be done? Tucson, Arizona is taking back the night. The city has one of the best
lighting ordinances in the country, and, not coincidentally, the highest concentration of
observatories in the world. Kitt Peak National Optical Astronomy Observatory has 24
telescopes aimed skyward around the city’s perimeter, and its cadre of astronomers needs a
dark sky to work with.

H For a while, that darkness was threatened. “We were totally losing the night sky,” Jim
Singleton of Tucson’s Lighting Committee told Tulsa, Oklahoma’s KOTV last March. Now,
after retrofitting inefficient mercury lighting with low-sodium lights that block light from
“trespassing” into unwanted areas like bedroom windows, and by doing away with some
unnecessary lights altogether, the city is softly glowing rather than brightly beaming. The
same thing is happening in a handful of other states, including Texas, which just passed a
light pollution bill last summer. “Astronomers can get what they need at the same time that
citizens get what they need: safety, security and good visibility at night,” says McDonald
Observatory’s Mark Adams, who provided testimony at the hearings for the bill.

I And in the long run, everyone benefits from reduced energy costs. Wasted energy from
inefficient lighting costs us between $1 and $2 billion a year, according to IDA. The city of San
Diego, which installed new, high-efficiency street lights after passing a light pollution law in
1985, now saves about $3 million a year in energy costs.

J Legislation isn’t the only answer to light pollution problems. Brian Greer, Central Ohio
representative for the Ohio Light Pollution Advisory Council, says that education is just as
important, if not more so. “There are some special situations where regulation is the only fix,”
he says. “But the vast majority of bad lighting is simply the result of not knowing any better.”
Simple actions like replacing old bulbs and fixtures with more efficient and better-designed
ones can make a big difference in preserving the night sky.

*The Big Dipper: a group of seven bright stars visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

The first six paragraphs of Reading Passage 1 are lettered A-F.

Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs A-F from the list of headings below.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.

List of Headings
I Why lights are needed

II Lighting discourages law breakers

III The environmental dangers

IV People at risk from bright lights

V Illuminating space
VI A problem lights do not solve

VII Seen from above

VIII More light than is necessary

IX Approaching the city

Example Answer
Paragraph A…IX……..
1.Paragraph B ..........
2.Paragraph C ..........
3.Paragraph D ..........
4.Paragraph E ..........
5.Paragraph F ..........

Questions 6-9
Complete each of the following statements with words taken from the passage.Write ONE or
TWO WORDS for each answer.

6. According to a recent study, well-lit streets do not___________ or make

neighbourhood safer to live in.
7. Inefficient lighting increases_________ because most electricity is produced from
coal, gas or oil.
 8. Efficient lights __________ from going into areas where it is not needed.
9. In dealing with light pollution_________________ is at least as important as passing
new laws.
Questions 10-12
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes
10-12 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
NO if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NOT GIVEN if there is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
10. One group of scientists finds their observations are made more difficult by bright
lights. ............
11. It is expensive to reduce light pollution. ............
12. Many countries are now making light pollution illegal. ............
UNSEEN PASSAGE 2
(1) If you are addicted to coffee, and doctors warn you to quit the habit, don’t worry and just
keep relishing the beverage, because it’s not that bad after all! In fact, according to a new
study, the steaming cup of Java can beat fruits and vegetables as the primary source of
antioxidants. Some studies state that coffee is the number one source of antioxidants in
American diet and both caffeinated and decaf versions appear to provide similar antioxidant
levels.
(2) Antioxidants in general have been linked to a number of potential health benefits,
including protection against heart diseases and cancer. But Sandra Vinson, a dietitian, said
that their benefits ultimately depend on how they are absorbed and utilised in the body. The
research says that coffee outranks popular antioxidant sources like tea, milk, chocolate and
cranberries. Of all the food and beverages studies, dates actually have the most antioxidants
based solely on serving size, but since dates are not consumed anywhere near the level of
coffee, the drink comes as the top source of antioxidants, Vinson said.
(3) Besides keeping you alert and awake, coffee has been linked to an increasing number of
potential health benefits, including protection against liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes,
and Parkinson’s disease according to some recently published studies.
(4) The researchers, however, advise that one should consume coffee in moderation, because it
can make you jittery and cause stomach pains.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY TEN questions from the
twelve that follow. [1 1 # 0 1 = 0 Marks]

(a) .......... have the most antioxidants among all the food and beverages.
(i) Dates
(ii) Cranberries
(iii)Tea and milk
(iv) Coffee

(b) .......... is an important source of antioxidants in American diet.

(i) Tea
(ii) Coffee
(iii)Milk
(iv) Chocolate
(c) According to dietitian Sandra Vinson, the benefits of coffee ultimately depend on:
(i) how it is relished
(ii) how they are absorbed and utilised in the body
(iii)how they are served and consumed
(iv)whether it keeps us alert and awake

(d) What is the correct order of the information given below?

I. Antioxidants are linked to a number of health benefits
II. One should consume coffee in moderation
III. Decaf versions of coffee provide antioxidants levels
IV. Dates have the most antioxidants based solely on serving size
(i) III, I, IV, II
(ii) III, IV, I, II
(iii)III, I, II, IV
(iv) II, I, IV, III

(e) Coffee provides a large number of health benefits including protection against:
(i) liver and colon cancer
(ii) type 2 diabetes
(iii)Parkinson’s disease
(iv)All of the above

(f) Besides keeping us alert and awake, coffee provides us protection against:
I. liver and colon cancer
II. stomach ache
III. type 2 diabetes
IV. lung diseases
(i) I and II
(ii) II and III
(iii)I and IV
(iv) I and III

(g) The word in para 3 and 4 which means the same as ‘nervous’ is:
(i) alert
(ii) awake
(iii)moderation
(iv) jittery

(h) Consumption of coffee in excess:

(i) is a suggestion from doctors
(ii) doesn’t call the utter need to quit it
(iii)provides the richest source of maximum antioxidants
(iv)will make one feel jittery and cause stomach pains

(i) Which of the following is the primary source of antioxidants?

(i) Java
(ii) Fruits
(iii)Vegetables
(iv) Both (i) and (ii)

(j) What does the author mean when he uses the word ‘absorbed’?
(i) Solely
(ii) Immersed
(iii)Utilized
(iv) Potential

(k) Which word in para 1 conveys the opposite of `sober’?

(i) Decaf
(ii) Quit
(iii)Addicted
(iv) Primary

(l) The word .......... in para 3 is an antonym of `inattentive’.

(i) alert
(ii) potential
(iii)awake
(iv) linked
UNSEEN PASSAGE 3
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
A long time ago, on a big tree in the lap of the mountain, lived a bird named Sindhuka. It was
a rather special bird because its droppings turned into gold as soon as they hit the ground.
One day, a hunter came to the tree in search of prey and he saw Sindhuka's droppings hit the
ground and turn into gold. The hunter was struck with wonder. He thought, "I have been
hunting birds and small animals since I was a boy, but in all my 80 years, I have never seen
such a miraculous creature. He decided that he had to catch the bird somehow. He climbed
the tree and skillfully set a trap for the bird.
The bird, quite unaware of the danger it was in, stayed on the tree and sang merrily. But it
was soon caught in the hunter's trap. The hunter immediately seized it and shoved it into a
cage.
The hunter took the bird home joyfully. But as he had time to think over his good fortune
later, he suddenly realised, "If the king comes to know of this wonder, he will certainly take
away the bird from me and he might even punish me for keeping such a rare treasure all to
myself. So it would be safer and more honorable if I were to go to the king and present the
unique bird to him," The next day, the hunter took the bird to the king and presented it to
him in court with great reverence. The king was delighted to receive such an unusual and rare
gift. He told his courtiers to keep the bird safe and feed it with the best bird food available.
The king's prime minister though, was reluctant to accept the bird. He said "O Rajah, how
can you believe the word of a foolish hunter and accept this bird? Has anyone in our kingdom
ever seen a bird dropping gold? The hunter must be either crazy or telling lies. I think it is
best that you release the bird from the cage."
After a little thought, the king felt that his prime minister's words were correct. So he ordered
the bird to be released. But as soon as the door of the cage was thrown open, the bird flew out,
perched itself on a nearby doorway and defecated. To everyone's surprise, the dropping
immediately turned into gold. The king mourned his loss.

1. Which of the following is possible the most appropriate title for the story?
a) The Skilled Hunter
b) The King’s Prime Minister
c) The King’s Defeat
d) The Bird with the Gold Dropping
e) The Trials and Tribulations of the Foolish Bird Sindhuka
2. Which of the following emotions made the hunter gift the bird to the king?
a) Respect
b) Joy
c) Pride
d) Fear
e) Awe

3. Which of the following is true according to the story?

a) Birds like Sindhuka were very common in the area near the mountain
b) Sindhuka remained caged for the rest of its life
c) Sindhuka was unaware of the trap laid by the hunter
d) The King, when told to not accept the bird, did not listen to his Prime Minister
e) All are true

4. Why was the king’s Prime Minister reluctant to accept the bird?
a) He believed that the bird would die if caged
b) He thought the hunter must be lying
c) He believed that the bird would bring bad luck to the king
d) His sources had informed him that the hunter was crazy
e) None of these

5. How did the hunter find Sindhuka?

a) He had read stories about the bird and had set traps at various locations in the city
b) He followed the bird’s droppings
c) He was on the lookout for a prey when he chanced upon it
d) People from the city had informed him about the bird’s whereabouts
e) He was attracted by the bird’s calls

Directions (Q. 6-8) Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of
words printed in bold as used in the passage.
6. Rather
a) Regular
b) Quite
c) Instead
d) But
e) Known

7. Release
a) Free
b) Vacate
c) Vent
d) Let expire
e) Make public

8. Reverence
a) Respect
b) Detail
c) Astonishment
d) Hope
e) Remembrance
Directions (Q. 9-10) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed
in bold as used in the passage.

9. Reluctant
a) True
b) Clever
c) Averse
d) Hesitant
e) Keen

10. Skillfully
a) Angrily
b) Haphazardly
c) Highly
d) Cheaply
e) Deftly

UNSEEN PASSAGE 4

Once a thief named Kalu had planned to loot the king's treasury. At midnight, he went to the
palace and began to drill a hole in the side wall of the treasury. The king, who was awake in
his bedroom just above the treasury, came out to investigate the whirring sound. He was
dressed in a simple nightgown and the thief could not recognize him. He asked Kalu who he
was and what he was doing. The latter said, "Sir, I am a thief and intend to loot this treasury.
I presume that you are also a thief and have come with the same intention. No matter, let us
both go inside and we shall share the loot equally. "Both entered the treasury and divided all
the money and the jewels equally between them.
Inside a locker they found three big diamond pieces. As the thief was puzzled as to how to
divide the three pieces into two portions, the king suggested. "We have taken away everything
else. Let us leave one diamond piece for the poor king and share the rest equally". Kalu
agreed and when he took his leave, the king asked for his name and address. As Kalu had
taken a vow of telling only the truth, he have the correct information.
The king took away his share of the loot and hid it in his room. Next morning he asked his
Prime Minister to inspect the treasury as he had heard some strange sounds during the
previous night. The Prime Minister saw to his horror that all the valuables were missing and
only a single diamond was left, perhaps inadvertently, by the thief. He put the diamond in his
own shift pocket as its loss could be ascribed to the thief and nobody would suspect the Prime
Minister. The Prime Minister went back to the king. The king particularly enquired. "Do you
mean that the thief has completely denuded the treasury of its valuables and not a single item
has been left?" The Prime Minister confirmed it. The king asked the chief of police to bring in
Kalu. When Kalu came he was unable to recognize the king as his accomplice of the previous
night. The king asked him, "Are you the thief who has stolen everything from my treasury
leaving nothing back?" Kalu confirmed it but said, "Sir, I did leave one diamond back in the
locker as advised by an accomplice of mine and it should still be there." The Prime Minister
interrupted saying, "Your Majesty, this thief is lying. There is nothing left in the locker." The
king asked the police chief to search the pockets of the Prime Minister, from where the
missing diamond was recovered. The kind told his courtiers, "Here is a Prime Minister, who
is a liar and a thief and here is a thief who is at truthful gentleman."

1. The king came out in the middle of the night in order to

a) Help kalu to break into the palace treasury
b) Share the loot equally between Kalu and himself
c) Find out the source of and reason for the sound he had heard
d) Catch the thief who had come to steal his valuables
e) None of these

2. Kalu could not recognize the king because

a) The king was wearing clothes like those of an ordinary person
b) The king’s clothes were covered by a simple night down
c) Kalu had never seen the king before
d) Kalu had not seen the king descending from his bedroom
e) None of these

3. Which of the following made the king suspect the Prime Minister? The Prime Minister’s
statement that
a) Except for one piece of diamond all other valuables were stolen
b) All the valuables without any exception were stolen from the treasury
c) The thief was lying when he said he had left one diamond back in the locker
d) The search for the diamond did not yield any favorable result
e) None of these

4. Which of the following horrified the Prime Minister?

a) The valuables missing from the king’s treasury
b) A piece of diamond left in the locker
c) Certain strange sounds heard by the Prime Minister
d) The fact that the king suspected him of stealth
e) None of these

Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word given in bold as used
in the passage.

5. Accomplice
a) Co-traveller
b) Collaborator
c) Controller
d) Coordinator e
e) Commuter

6. Ascribed
a) Attributed
b) Donated
c) Attached
d) Withdrew
e) Connected

7. Denuded
a) Uncovered
b) Stripped
c) Destroyed
d) Discarded
e) Abandoned
Directions: Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word given in bold as
used in the passage.
8. Inadvertently
a) Knowingly
b) Sensibly
c) Indifferently
d) Unwittingly
e) Unscrupulously

9. Previous
a) New
b) Preceding
c) Novel
d) Modern
e) Subsequent
UNSEEN PASSAGE 5
Reality Television
Reality television is a genre of television programming which, it is claimed, presents
unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary
people rather than professional actors. It could be described as a form of artificial or
"heightened" documentary. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the
early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000.

Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game or quiz
shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning programmes produced in Japan in the
1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism- focused
productions such as Big Brother.

Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer and that such shows
frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in
exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-
screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated through editing and other post-
production techniques.

Part of reality television's appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary
situations. For example, on the ABC show, The Bachelor, an eligible male dates a dozen
women simultaneously, travelling on extraordinary dates to scenic locales. Reality television
also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, outwardly in talent and
performance programs such as Pop Idol, though frequently Survivor and Big Brother
participants also reach some degree of celebrity.
Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description
for several styles of program included in the genre. In competition-based programs such as
Big Brother and Survivor, and other special-living-environment shows like The Real World,
the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the
environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out.
Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges,
events, and settings to encourage particular behaviors and conflicts. Mark Burnett, creator of
Survivor and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word
"reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It
really is unscripted drama."
Q1.In the first line, the writer says 'it is claimed' because
a) they agree with the statement.
b) everyone agrees with the statement.
c) no one agrees with the statement.
d) they want to distance themselves from the statement.

Q2.Reality television has

a) always been this popular.
b) has been popular since well before 2000.
c) has only been popular since 2000.
d) has been popular since approximately 2000.

Q3.Japan
a) is the only place to produce demeaning TV shows.
b) has produced demeaning TV shows copied elsewhere.
c) produced Big Brother.
d) invented surveillance focused productions.

Q4.People have criticized reality television because

a) it is demeaning.
b) it uses exotic locations.
c) the name is inaccurate.
d) it shows reality.

Q5.Reality TV appeals to some because

a) it shows eligible males dating women.
b) it uses exotic locations.
c) it shows average people in exceptional circumstances.
d) it can turn ordinary people into celebrities.

Q6.Pop Idol
a) turns all its participants into celebrities.
b) is more likely to turn its participants into celebrities than Big Brother.
c) is less likely to turn its participants into celebrities than Big Brother.
d) is a dating show.

Q7.The term 'reality television' is inaccurate

a) for all programs.
b) just for Big Brother and Survivor.
c) for talent and performance programs.
d) for special-living-environment programs.
Q8.Producers choose the participants
a) on the ground of talent.
b) only for special-living-environment shows.
c) to create conflict among other things.
d) to make a fabricated world.

Q9.Mark Burnett
a) was a participant on Survivor.
b) is a critic of reality TV.
c) thinks the term 'reality television' is inaccurate.
d) writes the script for Survivor.

Q10.Shows like Survivor

a) are definitely reality TV.
b) are scripted.
c) have good narratives.
d) is a critic of reality TV