SECTION ‘A’ - READING
1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
What's fiercer than a lion but smaller than a beagle? The honey badger, one of the toughest mammals found in Africa and western Asia. Honey badgers stand less than a foot high. They are only a couple feet long. They weigh just over 20 pounds. Yet they have a reputation for toughness that is far greater than their size. Some honey badgers will chase away lions and take their prey.
So what makes the honey badger so tough? They have speed, stamina, and agility, but so do many animals. The thing that sets the honey badger apart is their skin. Their skin is thick and tough. Arrows, spears, and bites from other animals can rarely pierce it. Small bullets can't even penetrate it. Not only is their skin thick and tough, it is also loose. This allows them to twist and turn to attack while another animal is gripping them. Honey badgers have long, sharp claws. These claws are good for attacking and even better for digging. Honey badgers are some of nature's most skilled diggers. They can dig a nine-foot tunnel into hard ground in about 10 minutes. They love to catch a meal by digging up the burrows of frogs, rodents, and cobras. They also use their digging skills to make their homes. They live in small chambers in the ground and defend them fiercely. The honey badger is fearless and a tireless fighter and will attack any creature that threatens them, man included.
You might be wondering: "If honey badgers are so tough, how did they get a name that makes them sound like a piece of candy?" Since honey badgers have such thick skin, bee stings rarely harm them. So honey badgers love to raid beehives. Honey badgers chase after honey aggressively. So much so that beekeepers in Africa have to use electric fencing to hold them back. Beekeepers aren't the only people who have grown to hate honey badgers. Honey badgers may be fun to read about, but they are nasty neighbours. They attack chickens, livestock, and children.
If a honey badger moves in your backyard, there's not much you can do about it. Who is going to meddle with an animal with teeth strong enough to crunch through turtle shells? An animal that never tires, gives up, or backs down.
Q1.On the basis of your reading of the passage answer the following questions briefly:
a) i) What makes the honey-badger one of the toughest mammals despite its small size?
ii) How do we know that honey –badgers are skilled diggers? How does this skill help them?
b) On the basis of your reading the passage complete the following sentences: (3 marks)
i) The honey-badger will attack any creature that threatens them which proves that ___________
ii) Honey–badgers are hated by beekeepers and are considered nasty neighbours because __________________
iii) We can’t do much if a honey –badger moves into our backyard because_________________
Q2. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
About a year ago, I had gone to Tamhini Ghat near Pune with a group of mountaineers. The small hillock on which the 250 –feet-high peak is located has a motorable road around its edge. We scaled the peak the night we reached the base village.
While preparing to descend down the peak the next morning, we knew we would have to be careful in choosing our route, since the region wasn’t well-explored as some others in Sahyadris. But we were keen to move down because there was a small pond at the base of the valley.
While rappelling, that is moving down a steep incline, the harness that you wear has a long, thick rope passing through it. One end of the rope is tied to a boulder on the peak and the other end is with the person we call the ‘controller’. A controller is usually an experienced mountaineer who goes down first and ensures that the path is clear of obstacles. Since I was the controller, I secured my harness, cross-checked the knots and set –off.
Some 20 feet into the descent, I reached a steep projection or overhang, in the rock face. I hadn’t anticipated this. I looked down to see if I could take another route to minimize the impact of the swing but just as I was contemplating changing tracks, I saw a huge swarm of buzzing insects. They had made a wide hive at the exact point where the rock face, curved inward. I had to take another route to avoid disturbing them.
I scampered across the rock face and began inching back towards the overhang. I should have realized that losing foothold would make me swing anyway. Despite my prayers, I swayed from right to left, and my rope collided head on with the swarm of small black insects and honey bees.
The river was a good 200-odd feet below me. I couldn’t let go of the rope since I didn’t have an anchor to control my fall. So, I didn’t move at all but stayed there and let the insects attack me.
a) On the basis of your reading the above passage choose the most appropriate option and
complete the sentences:
a) The writer says that they would have to be careful while choosing the route because____
i) the area was a difficult terrain.
ii) it was a relatively unexplored area.
iii) there was a river at the base of the valley
iv) they did not have proper equipments.
b) It is the responsibility of the controller to __________
i) ensure that the path is clear of all obstacles.
ii) secure the harness and cross check the knots.
iii) monitor each day’s schedule.
iv) tie the end of a rope to a boulder.
c) When the writer descended to some 20 feet he decided to change the route because______
i) he felt scared when he saw the steep fall.
ii) he wanted to minimize the impact of the swing.
iii) he saw a swarm of bees at the point where the rock face curved.
iv) there was a deep cleft in the rock.
d) The writer could not save himself from _____________
i) falling down the cliff.
ii) being attacked by the bees.
iii) dashing against the rock as his rope swung wildly
iv) plunging into the river below.
e) The synonym of the word expected from the passage is_______
i) anticipated ii) scampered iii) experience iv) realized
Please click on below link to download CBSE Class 8 English Question Paper Set 12
