UNSEEN PASSAGE ( FACTUAL)

Read the passage given below. 10

The report, progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene
(2000-2017): Special focus on inequalities, is the most recent publication by
the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, which tracks global progress in
achieving the water and sanitation portion of the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
The 17 SDGs aim is to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” by 2030. Goal
6 calls for universal access to safe and adequate access to drinking water and
sanitation services. According to the new report, progress has been made since
2000, yet billions of people are still underserved. The report delineates
between access to basic services, which has greatly improved, and access to
“safely managed” services, which is inadequate in many parts of the world.
Only about 45 per cent of the global population has access to safely- managed
sanitation services.
In 2017, an estimated 673 million people continued to openly defecate, most
of them in 61 “high burden” countries where the practice remained common
among more than 5 per cent of the population.
To qualify as being “safely managed”, drinking water must meet three criteria:
be accessible on the premises, be available for at least 12 hours per day, and
be free from E. coil, arsenic, or fluoride contamination. Sanitation is considered
safely managed when facilities are not shared with other households, and
waste is safely treated on-site or at an off-site facility.
In 2017, an estimated 5.3 billion people had access to safely-managed drinking
water. Of that number, 1.4 billion used basic services, 206 million used limited
services, 435 used unimproved sources, and the remaining 144 million relied
on untreated surface water.
Poor and rural populations are at the greatest risk of being left behind. In 2017,
urban access to basic drinking water services was at 97 per cent, while rural
coverage was at 81 per cent.
In terms of sanitation, an estimated 2.1 billion people gained access to basic
services between 2000 and 2017, but 2 billion remain without access.
The report also focuses on improvements in eliminating open defecation.
Between 2000 and 2017, the global rate of open defecation fell from 21
percent to 9 per cent

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY TEN questions
from the twelve that follow. 1x10=10
(a) The given passage focuses on:
(i) drinking water (ii) hygiene (iii) sanitation (iv) All of these
(b) What is the percentage of population which has access to sanitation
services?
(i) 45% (ii) 21% (iii) 5% (iv) 9%
(c) Which type of water is considered as safely managed and drinking water?
(i) Accessible every time when needed (ii) Available for at least 12 hours
per day
(iii) Free from harmful substances (iv) All of the above
(d) What target has been set by UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
programme?
(i) End poverty in all its forms everywhere
(ii) Access to safe and adequate access to drinking water
(iii) No open defecation (iv) All of the above
(e) What percentage of people in urban areas have access to drinking water?
(i) 45% (ii) 5% (iii) 97% (iv) 81%
(f) Which countries have the maximum access to safely managed water?
(i) Australia and New Zealand (ii) Europe and North America
(iii) Small Island Developing states (iv) Northern Africa and
Western Asia
(g) Which country has the least accessibility to basic drinking water?
(i) Oceania (ii) Sub-Saharan Africa
(iii) Latin America and the Caribbean (iv) Europe and North America
(h) Rank the following countries from the highest to the lowest accessibility to
surface water: A — Latin America and the Caribbean B — Oceania C — Sub-
Saharan Africa D — Europe and North America (i) BCDA (ii) BACD (iii) BCAD (iv)
BADC
(i) Which country has maximum access to basic drinking water?
(i) Australia and New Zealand (ii) Europe and North America
(iii) Sub-Saharan Africa (iv) Central and South Asia
(i) Which country has maximum access to basic drinking water?
(i) Australia and New Zealand (ii) Europe and North America
(iii) Sub-Saharan Africa (iv) Central and South Asia
(j) What is the number of population that is still tended to open defecation?
(i) 673 million (ii) 61 million (iii) 5.3 million (iv) 206 million
(k) When is sanitation considered as safely managed?
(i) Sanitation facility is not shared with other households (ii) Waste is
safely treated
(iii) When there is no open defecation (iv) Both (i) and (ii)
(l) What is the number of population that has gained access to basic services
by 2017?
(i) 2.1 billion (ii) 2 billion (iii) 1.4 billion (iv) 5.3 billion

Read the passage given below. (1x10=10)

The ocean is one of the most unexplored parts of our planet, with a magnitude of undiscovered
species and mysteries. It turns out from the studies conducted over the last few decades, this
magnificent environment is under serious threat from human intervention, with plastics set to
outnumber fish by 2050.

Marine life, as we know it, is suffering irreparable damage from the chemical pollution of the waters
and the millions of tons of mismanaged waste dumped in the oceans each year. The result is a
planetary crisis with over 100 million marine animal’s lives get lost every year, and the decay of the
ocean’s ecosystem.

Shocking Ocean Pollution Statistics

• 100 melon marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone.

• 100000 marine animal die from getting entangled in plastic yearly - this is just the creatures we
find

• 1 in 3 marine mammal species get found entangled in litter, 12-14000 tons of plastic are ingested
by North Pacific fish yearly.

• In the past 10 years, we’ve made more plastic than the last century. By 2050, the pollution of fish
will be outnumbered by our dumped plastic.

• The largest trash site on the planet is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, twice the surface area of
Texas, it outnumbers sea life there 6 to 1.

• Chine is ranked #1 for mismanaged waste and plastics. However, the US is in the top 20 with a
more significant waste per person contributions.

• 300 Million tons of plastic gets created yearly, and this weighs the same as the entire human
population, and 50% is single-use only.

• There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waster estimated to be in our oceans. 269000 tons float, 4
billion microfibers per km2 dwell below the surface.

• 70% of our debris sinks into the ocean’s ecosystem, 15% floats and 15% lands on our beaches.

• In terms of plastic, 8.3 million tons are discarded in the sea yearly. Of which, 236000 are ingestible
microplastics that marine creatures mistake for food.
• Plastics take 500-1000 years to degrade; currently 79% is send to lands or the oceans, while only
9% is recycled, and 12% gets incinerated.

• 1950-1998 over 100 nuclear blast tests occurred in our oceans.

• 500 marine locations are now recorded as dead zones globally, currently the size of the United
Kingdom’s surface (245000 km2 )

• 80% of global marine pollution comes from agriculture runoff, untreated sewage, discharge of
nutrients and pesticides.

• 90% of the worldwide ocean debris comes from 10 rivers alone.

Almost 1,000 species of marine animals get impacted by ocean pollution, and we now have over 500
locations recorded as dead zones where marine life cannot exist. How did this happen, what is
causing the most damage, find out everything above in the marine pollution statistics roundup.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a floating island of debris, accumulated in the North Pacific Ocean
by an extensive system of currents called gyres. It is built up from two other waste patches, the
western garbage patch near Japan and the eastern garbage patch near America’s west coast near
California and Hawaii.

The North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone links the east and western garbage patches, acting
as a highway for waste to move from one to the other. Because of this, a small item of debris
dropped near California can travel across to Japan, then eventually get sucked up by these swirling
garbage patch vortexes. The great pacific garbage patch size is quite shocking. These patches of trash
are said to be twice the size of Texas and float on the surface but do drop several meters into the
ocean in places, which makes the correct size challenging to measure. The world’s largest garbage
site is mainly made up of microplastics creating a vast cloud, with newer items of debris that haven’t
broken down as much floating around like chunks in a soup. The great pacific garbage patch effects
on marine life are extremely significant.

On the basis of your understanding of the given passage, answer ANY TEN questions from the twelve
that follow. 1x10=10

(a) In the ocean what is set to outnumber the fish by the year 2050 ?

(i) pollution (ii) plastics (iii) human waste (iv) garbage

(b) Marine life is suffering from irreparable damage because of :

I. the millions of tons of mismanaged waste dumped in the oceans each year.

II. the rising global warming which is increasing the death rate of the ocean ecosystems.

III. the chemical pollution of the waters.

(i) I and II (ii) II and III (iii) I and III (iv) I, II and III

(c) How many locations are recorded as dead zones where marine life cannot exist ?

(i) 400 (ii) 450 (iii) 500 (iv) 550

(d) The largest trash site on the planet, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is twice the size of which
city ?
(i) Arizona (ii) Colorado (iii) Texas (iv) Florida

(e) Which country is ranked number one for mismanaged waste and plastics ?

(i) China (ii) USA (iii) India (iv) France

(f) Which of the following is NOT a place from where 80% of global marine pollution comes ?

(i) untreated sewage (ii) agriculture run-off

(iii) discharge of nutrients and pesticide (iv) factory waste disposal

(g) The western garbage patch, which is one of the waste patches that makes up the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch, is near .......... .

(i) California (ii) Japan (iii) Hawaii (iv) Malibu

(h) Because of what can a small item of debris dropped near California can travel across to Japan ?
(i) The North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (ii) The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

(iii) the gyres (iv) the vortexes

(i) Choose an option that lists a statement that is NOT TRUE.

(i) 700 marine locations are now recorded as dead zones globally.

(ii) 70% of our debris sinks into the ocean’s ecosystem, 15% floats, and 15 % lands on our beaches.
(iii) 100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone.

(iv) 90% of the worldwide ocean debris comes from 10 rivers alone.

(j) An extensive system of currents in the North Pacific Ocean is called :

(i) vortex (ii) convergence (iii) gyres (iv) debris

(k) Choose an option that is a synonym of the word ‘irreparable’.

(i) unrecoverable (ii) mendable (iii) cure (iv) replace

(l) Which of the following is an antonym of the word ‘unexplored’ ?

(i) undiscovered (ii) known (iii) unimportant (iv) irrelevant