Kerala Plus One English Question Paper March 2020 with Answers

Reviewing Kerala Syllabus Plus One English Previous Year Question Papers and Answers Pdf March 2020 helps in understanding answer patterns.

Kerala Plus One English Previous Year Question Paper March 2020

Time: 21/2 Hours
Total Score: 80 Marks

(Question Nos. 1 – 4): Answer the questions as directed) (4 × 1 = 4)

Read the except from The Serang of Ranganji’ and answer the questions that follow.
‘How shall I describe the solace which flowed towards me from his as he stood there in medication, with his long arms floded on his bare chest, motionless as a statue?
When a stick man groaned faintly he would sleep step forward, without sound to succour him.”

Question 1.
What makes the narrator feel solaced?
Answer:
The ready help offered by the serang to any sick man makes the narrator feel solaced.

Question 2.
What is the figure of speech used in the expression ‘motionless as a statue’?
Answer:
Simile

Question 3.
Pick out two expressions that descrive the physical features of the character in the narrative.
Answer:
long arms; bare chest

Question 4.
Find out the word in the passage which means ‘give assistance or aid to’.
Answer:
succour

(Question Nos. 5 – 9): Rewrite as directed.

Use appropriate forms of the words given in the brackets to fill in the blanks.

Question 5.
Hawking commented in his customary style. ‘If I ___________ (get) a first. I shall go to Cambridge’.(1)
Answer:
get

Question 6.
Ivan Ivanich said to his brother, “If I where young, I _____________ (follow) my dreams as you did”.
Answer:
would follow

Question 7.
Complete the following sentences to know how Gupta would report his conversation with maggie. Gupta asked, “What is it, Maggie?”
Maggie replied, “Come into the sitting room and I will tell you.”
I asked Maggie …………………..
Maggie replied …………………… (2)
Answer:
I asked Maggie what it was. Maggie replied that he should go into the sitting room and then she would tell him.

Question 8.
Complete the following passage with suitable words selected from those given in the box
Although But
Nevertheless
Hawking joined University College, his fahter’s college and the oldest at Oxford, ______(a)______ , for about a year and a half, he was lonely and bored, _______(b)________ half way. through his second year, he began enjoying Oxford.
Answer:
a) But,
b) Nevertheless

Question 9.
Identify the errors and edit appropriately.
Hawking was confident that he can get through successfully. But he ended up disastrously in the borderline between a first and a second. (2)
Answer:
Hawking was confident that he could get through successfully. But he ended up disastrously on the borderline between a first and a second.

(Questions 10 – 13) : Read the passage given below and answer the question that follow : (4 × 1 = 4)

Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with your point of view. According to the ancient Greek philospher Aristotle, there are three basic tools of persuasion : ethos, pathos and logos.

Ethos is a speaker’s way of convincing the audience that he/she is a credible source. Pathos is the speaker’s way of connecting with an audience’s emotions. Logos is the use of facts, information, statistics, or other evidence to make his/her argument more convincing.

Although ethos, pathos and logos – all have their strength they are often most effective when they are used together. Indeed, most speakers use a combination of ethos, pathos and logos to persuade their audience.

Question 10.
Find out the word from the passage which means ‘able to be belived’.
Answer:
Credible

Question 11.
According to the passage, the most effective tool of presuasion is ___________ .
Answer:
Using a combination of ethos, pathos and logos.

Question 12.
Define persuasion.
Answer:
Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with your point of view.

Question 13.
Give a suitable title to the passage.
Answer:
How to Convince People?

(Questions 14 – 16) : Answer all questions. Each carries 2 scores. (3 × 2 = 6)

Question 14.
“Was there ever a scene so awfully grand?” What was the awfully grand scene that the narrator mentions in the poem ‘The Wreck of the Titanic’?
Answer:
When the Titanic was sinking, its captain, Smith, told the crew that they were British and they should remember their country and do their duty. They decided to send the women and children in the lifeboats. The crew had no hope of saving themselves. The Titanic sank from sight as the band played “Nearer my God to Thee”. This was the awfully grand scene.

Question 15.
‘My objection to it is that it stops the brain.’ Max Beerbohm commented like this about ‘walking for walking’s sake’. What made him say so?
Answer:
He says so because when walking for walking’s sake a person’s power to instruct or to amuse while he is sitting on a chair or standing on a hearth-rug leaves him. Plenty of ideas come to him when he is in a room. But when he goes out, all those ideas evaporate. His knowledge goes away, his imagination dries up and light goes from his eyes and he will go on repeating the same thing.

Question 16.
What does Rudyard Kipling say about one’s attitude to ‘success and failure’ in his poem ‘If?
Answer:
He says that we should view success and failure equally. You may lose things which you earned with hard work, but instead of getting disappointed try to get them again with firm determination. Continue doing your work even when others have abandoned theirs.

(Question Nos. 17 – 18 : Answer in two or three sentences. Each carries 3 scores. (2 × 3 = 6)

Question 17.
You have a differently abled friend like Greta. You felt empathetic to him/her, after having read the stray’ ‘Conceptual Fruit’.

You think that computer knowledge can help him/her in future. So, you decide to send him/her a text message to communicate this idea. Draft the text message.
Answer:
sonaiose@gmail.com

Dearest Sona, Thanks for the mail. I enjoyed reading it. You have said that you often feel bored as you can’t go out and do things on your own. I have a suggestion for you. Some more advanced computer knowledge can help you to overcome your problem of boredom. If you acquire certain basic computer skills, you can do a lot of things to amuse yourself using the computer. You can draw, you can play various games, listen to music, watch movies, read stories, novels, dramas and poems. You can also read about people like you and how they utilise their time and entertain themselves. This will help you to spend your time in a pleasurable and profitable manner.

Say Hi to Dad and Mom.
Job

Question 18.
‘Country life has its advantages,’ says Nicholai in the story ‘Gooseberries’. Mention the advantages of life in a country side.
Answer:
Country life has many advantages. One can eat out in the open air, sleep in the sun and sit for hours together on a seat by the gate and gaze at the fields and the forest. One can sit on the veranda drinking tea and watch the ducklings swim in the pond and everything smells good. There is fresh air in the countryside and there is less dust, smoke and traffic noise. Country life is definitely healthier than city life.

(Questions 19 – 23): Answer any 3 questions in about 80 words. Each carries 4 scores. (3 × 4 = 12)

Question 19.
H. W. Longfellow picturises the beauty of hills and valleys bathed in the glorious light of sun in his poem, ‘Sunrise on the Hills’. Describe the beauty of the hills and valleys as presented in the poem.
Answer:
The sky is glorious with the rays of the rising sun. The forests are brightened. Mild breezes are kissing the valleys brightened by the dawn. The clouds are bathed in light. As the mist clears away in the rising sun, many peaks with their sharp spear-like projections appear. The rich valleys become visible now. The river is flowing. As the dawn breaks into morning, birds fly away chirping happily. The lake in the valley is blue with a beach of silver sand and the forest near it is bending as if to reach and kiss the lake. Thin smoke starts coming out from the huts of the people living in the valley.

Question 20.
Prepare a profile of Kamala Suraya, an Indian English poet and Malayalam author, based on the given hints.
Kamala Suraya (31st March 1934 – 31^st May 2019)
Pet name : Amy
Other name : Madhavikutty
Married name : Kamala Das
Born at : Punnayurkulam
Notable works : My Story Summer in Calcutta
Awards : Sahitya Academy Award, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Muttathu Varkey Award, Vayalar Award.
Asan World Prize.
Answer:
Kamala Surayya, the famous Indian English poet and Malayalam Author, was born at Punnayurkulm, a village in the Thrissur District of Kerala, on 31 March 1934. Her actual name was Madhavikuttyand she was affectionately called by her pet name Amy. Her married name was Kamala Das. She was a prolific writer and two of her most notable works are “My Story”, an autobiographical writing, and “Summer in Calcutta”. Summer in Calcutta is a collection of poignant poems that talk mainly of love, betrayal and the resultant pain. These poems are hallmarked by their candid treatment of love and sex and the author’s quest for self.

She has received many Awards and Honours which include: Sahitya Academy Award, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Muttathu Varkey Award, Vayalar Award and Asan World Prize. She has been a controversial figure all her life because of her frank writings about female sexuality. She died on 1 May 2009 in a hospital at Pune. Her body was brought to Kerala. She was interred at the Palayam Jama Masjid at Thiruvananthapuram with full state honour.

Question 21.
Mr. Gupta in the story ‘The Price of Flowers’ is a typical representative of Indians who can accommodate all others regardless of their caste and financial status. What other qualities do you notice in him?
Attempt a character appraisal of Mr. Gupta.
Answer:
Mr. Gupta is in London. He meets a young girl named Alice Margaret Clifford, called Maggie, in a restaurant. She is a poor girl and lives with her widowed mother in a very small house in a crowded area. She works as a typist. She is happy to know that Gupta is an Indian. He visits her and her mother in their house, showing he is not worried about their financial or social status.

Her brother Francis who was in the British army died in India. She wants Gupta to place some flowers on the grave of her brother. She asks so many questions about India because she had heard so many fantastic stories about India and Indians. She has heard Indians have magic powers, and there are snakes and tigers everywhere in India. She has also heard there are dangerous fevers in India that kill people. With sympathy and understanding, Gupta explains things to her.

When Gupta was about to return to India, she gave him a shilling to buy flowers to place at the grave of her brother. He wanted to return the money to her, telling her that there are a lot of wild flowers in India and he could pick some and place them at the grave. She had worked hard to earn that shilling. Gupta took the money because if he refused to take it, he would deprive her of the joy of sacrifice.

Mr. Gupta was certainly a representative of Indians who can accommodate all others regardless of their caste and financial status. He is a sympathetic and kind person who loves humanity.

Question 22.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam exhorts the youth to be unique. Hoe can you be unique when everyone wants you to follow others? Write about your vision.
Answer:
Every youth wants to be unique. But the world around him is doing its best to make him somebody else. At home his parents compare him with the children of the neighbours and tell him to be like them, scoring better marks and doing hard work. At school the teachers ask him to be like the first 5 rankers in the class. Wherever he goes people ask him to be somebody else or everybody else. But a youth should be himself or herself and not someone else. Parents and teachers always ask their children to be like other eminent people like Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jhansi ki Rani or Mother Theresa. But we can’t be them. We should be we. We can love and respect them and learn from their examples. But we can’t be like them and we should not be like them. God has created us different from everyone else. We have our special mission in life. If we become like others we fail in our mission. You should fight for your place. Never stop fighting until you arrive at your destined place – a unique you!.

Question 23.
Interest is the greatest gift of technology as it helps to get the world opened up at our finger tips. But today, even school children are misled by cyberspace. In order to sensitise the students abut the pros and cons of cyberspace, your school has decided to Draft four points in support of the topic.
Answer:
a) People spend a lot of time chatting, sending emails, and browsing the social media.

b) Social media gives false news and wrong advice.

c) The internet has all kinds of porn sites which will spoil student.

d) Spending much time in the cyberspace adversely affects one’s health.

e) The so-called i-pod people lose touch with realities.

f) Cyberspace reduces actual personal contacts.

g) At home each person seems to be busy with his tab or mobile without any communication with the other members of the family.

h) Young people make wrong choices by finding life- partners through contacts from cyberspace.

i) It is a fantasy world removed from reality.

(Questions 24 – 29): Answer any 4 questions in about 120 words. Each carries 6 scores. (4 × 6 = 24)

Question 24.
Think of a place you have recently visited, and prepare a travel essay based on your experiences.
[Hints : Physical features – culture – life style – educational value – practical problems – personal impressions.]
Answer:
Recently I along with my friends visited Ooty, which is a popular hill station. It is located 86 km north of Coimbatore and 128 km south of Mysore. Ooty is the capital of Nilgiris district. The distance between Thrissur and Ooty is 111 kms. Our travel was in a luxury coach which had facilities for music and films. The travel time to Ooty was 5 hours. We left Thrissur at 02.00 am and we reached Ooty at 7 o’clock. We had our breakfast in an excellent restaurant at Ooty. I had dosa and sambar and an omelette for breakfast and a cup of coffee to wash it down.

After breakfast we went to the Government Rose Garden. It has more than 20,000 varieties of roses. After that we visited the Ooty Botanical Gardens. There was a flower show there and it was very exciti ng as we saw some exotic flowers.

Then we went for lunch. I had mutton biriyani. It was delicious. We then went to the Deer sanctuary which has different kinds of deer. Then we had a boating trip in the Pykara Lake. We also visited the Kamaraj Sagar Dam which is a picnic spot and also a film shoot location. Ooty is also famous for some of its prestigious educational Institutions like the Fernwood International Easy School and the Good Shepherd College of Education. We wanted to visit them, but it was too late. We began our return journey at 6.00 p.m., our minds filled with the beautiful sights and sounds of Ooty.

Question 25.
‘Failure is fatal : it is the courage to continue that counts,’ says Winston Churchill. Failure is ineeded a stepping stone to success. The young seagull’ stroy teaches us this. Prepare a write-up highlighting this view, based on your reading of the stray ‘His First Flight’.
Answer:
It is often said that failure is the stepping stone to success. No pain, no gain. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This idea is amply demonstrated in the story “His First Flight” by Liam O’Flaherty. Here we see how the mother of a young sea gull who was afraid to fly out of its nest is persuaded by the mother to venture out. Even when the young seagull saw his brothers and sister running to the end of the ledge, flapping their wings and flying away, he did not have the courage to follow them. His father and mother shouted at him and threatened to starve him. But he was not ready to leave his nest and fly out.

Then the mother knew what to do. She knew the young seagull was starving. She sat on a plateau which could be reached only by flying. There she sat and started tearing a piece of fish at her feet. The sight of the food maddened the hungry young seagull. He made a low sound as if begging his mother to give him a piece. But the mother also made a low sound, showing she heard the cry but did not come near the nest. Then he cried ‘ga, ga, ga’. The mother screamed back at him, mocking him. His mother picked up a piece offish and flew towards him. He was happy and was hoping to get his food. But the mother did not come to the nest but stood a little far, in mid air, tempting the young seagull to venture out of the nest. Maddened by anger he dived at the fish. With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards into the space. He was terrified for a moment and his heart froze. The next moment he felt his wing spreading outwards. He felt the wind under his stomach and against his wings. He was flying. He was no longer afraid. He flapped his wings and soared upwards. His parents and his siblings joined him in his joyful ‘ga-ga-ga-ga-ga’ noise. He had his first flight. If he had failed it would be fatal. It is the courage to continue that matters.

Question 26.
A.J. Cronin, the physician of the ship Ranaganji was extremely impressed by the service of Hasan. So, he decided to recommend him for a promotion. He plants to send an e-mail to the Director of the shipping company explaining his dedication and selfless service. Draft the e-mail for him.
Answer:
directoreiec@gmail.com
Dear Sir,

Hasan, the Serang of Ranaganji

Our last trip to Calcutta was quite eventful. Ranaganji had nearly 1500 passengers – mostly tourists and pleasure seekers. The voyage to Calcutta began favourably in calm, clear weather and we passed Aden without any incident. Now we were in the Arabian Sea.

To our dismay and horror we discovered that two of our lascardeck hands had small pox. When I reported the matter to the Captain, Mr. Hamble, he told me to keep the matter a secret as the news would spread panic among the passengers. I was quite worried and did not know what to do and how to cope with the problem. It was then I realized what a good man Hasan, our serang, was. He told me not to worry. He made a shelter in the stern of the ship into which the infected patients were moved. He volunteered to nurse them without worrying about his own safety. Later more workers were diagnosed with smallpox. In all we had 14 cases and Hassan took care of all of them without murmur and complaint. I was astonished at his selfless service and devotion.

Later two sick men died. Hasan sewed their shrouds and read loud a short passage from the Ramayana. We should know that he himself was a devout Muslim but he read the Ramayana because the persons who died were Hindus. It showed his religious tolerance. After that he cast the bodies overboard at midnight. When we reached Colombo the sick men ware taken to the hospital. Hasan was in the forefront to help them, although some of them were with running sores of smallpox. Normally no one would dare to do such things. But Hasan did it. He really loved men.

It is difficult to find such unselfish and self-sacrificing people like Hasan. I strongly recommend that Hassan be given a promotion in recognition of his great’ services to the company. He should be made the Chief Petty Officer of Ranaganji.

I will talk to you more about the trip to Calcutta when I return to London.

With regards,

(A.J. Cronin)
Chief Physician of Ranaganji

Question 27.
You are the reporter of a local television channel. You are asked to be present at Belgium to give live report of the balloon landing. Draft the live report.
[Hints : time of descent – response of animals and the people – appearance of the balloon – excitement of the passengers]
Answer:
Hi viewers! I am reporting on the landing of Le Horla. I see a huge balloon from which a basket is hanging over the canal at the distance. The basket trembles and tips over slightly. I can see a rope trailing behind touching the tall trees on both banks. Now it is passing with frightful speed over a large farm. The bewildered chickens, pigeons and ducks fly away. The terrified cows, cats and dogs run towards the house. I don’t know what is happening. Now the balloon is passing over the trees. I see the balloon and the basket shaking. Something falls down and suddenly the balloon stops. Soon it touches the ground. The basket touches the earth. Then it goes up again. Once more it falls and bounces upward again. At last it settles on the ground. The balloon is struggling madly like a wounded beast. Now it comes to a standstill. I see five men climbing out of the basket. There is the joy of triumph on their faces. They are excited. I see some villagers going to them to help them. The passengers say they want to go to Heyst, a railway station nearby. They want to take the 20:20 train to Paris. The villagers help them to carry their luggage to the station. They are going to the station!

Question 28.
Technology is a blessing so long as it is man’s slave. Unfortunately, today’s young generation is too much addicted to technology. So it becomes their master. It’shightime we sensitise the young generation about the negative impact of technology.Write a letter to the editor to communicate your views to the public.
[Hints: addiction – time consuming – degeneration of values – imitate violence]
Answer:
This is Robert reporting for BBC Television!
Al Azhar High School
Mala
20 July 2020

The Editor
Indian Express
Kochi
.
Dear Sir,

The Negative Impact of Technology

1. Technology is a blessing so long as it is man’s slave. Unfortunately, today’s generation is too much addicted to technology. So it becomes their master. Today’s boys and girls have become slaves of their mobiles and tabs. Through this letter I want to point out some negative sides of this overdependence on technology. These days people spend a lot of time chatting, sending e-mails, and in the social media which often gives false news and wrong advice. The internet has all kinds of porn sites which will spoil the minds of the youth. Spending much time in the cyberspace adversely affects one’s health. The so- called i-pod people lose touch with realities. Cyberspace reduces actual face-o-face contacts. At homes each person seems to be busy with his tab or mobile without any proper communication among the members of the family. Young people often make wrong choices by finding life-partners through contacts from cyberspace. They often imitate the violence shown in the cyberspace. It is a fantasy world removed from reality. So the youth should be told to use the modern technology with caution.

Yours faithfully,
Antony Mangalath

Question 29.
In the anecdote The Sacred Turtles of Kadavu, the fishermen who attacked the women continued their journey as if nothing happened. But the victims lost their identity. Most often, the same happens in the present day society too. Women who are molested losetheir identity and are bound to live in seclusion, whereas the culprits live in dignity. Create a blog about this social injustice.
Answer:

A SOCIAL INJUSTICE

Atrocities against women are nothing new in India. There was the heinous practice of Sati where a woman had to burn herself jumping into the funeral pyre of her husband. How cruel a custom that was! If the woman refused to jump, people would push her into the burning pyre, it was due to the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy that Lord William Bentick abolished the Sati system in 1829.

But cruelty to women is continuing on a daily basis. We all thought there would be an end to the atrocities against women after the Nirbhaya case of 2012. It involved the rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South Delhi. The incident took place when a 23 – year-old female physiotherapy intern was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus in which she was travelling with her male friend. There were six men who were convicted in the case. One died in jail. One was a minor. The other 4 were hanged in Tihar jail on 20 March 2020. It took 8 years to hang these men. I feel they should have been hanged long ago.

We hear almost every day women getting raped or killed mostly by their frustrated lovers. I don’t understand how a real lover can rape, burn, stab or hang a girl or woman he has loved. Naturally it is not love that is the reason behind those heinous crimes. It is mere lust. People become blind with lust and they kill the object of their lust. Then there are so many cases of rape. The rape victims are often bound to live in seclusion whereas the culprits live in dignity. The “Me-Too” campaign by the rape victims is a good start to expose the criminals.

Ours is a patriarchal society. We should empower our women through education and employment. Boys and girls, prien and women should be taught the importance of the equality of sexes. There are laws in the country against atrocities against women but they are not enforced. Even in the case of Nirbhaya, justice was delayed. Justice delayed is justice denied.

(Questions 30 – 33): Answer any 2 questions in about 180 words. Each carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)

Question 30.
The recent occurrences of flood and landslides in our state give us a warning that Kerala is vulnerable to disasters. It is a reality that we cannot prevent disasters, but wecan mitigate their impact by proper management.
Prepare an essay on the ‘Role of Local Communities in Disaster Management’.
[Hints : educate to manage – resuce measures – escape techniques – preventive measures – planning – follow rules and regulations.]
Answer:
The Role of Local Communities in Disaster Management

We in Kerala are facing tragedies one other another. A deluge ravaged our State in August 2018, in which over 470 people died and properties worth 40,000 crore were destroyed. We were still trying to overcome the problems caused by that deluge, when on 8 August 2019, due to heavy rainfall in the Monsoon season, severe flood affected Kerala causing landslides. As a security measure, the Government of Kerala issued Red alert in the 9 districts in Northern and Central Kerala, orange alert in 3 districts of Central Kerala, and yellow alert in the 2 districts of southern Kerala. Thousands of people were evacuated to safer places and relief camps. A total of 101 people have died due to rain- related incidents since 14 August 2019. These camps had more than 2 lakh people from various parts of the state.

Why these floods and landslides? They are actually caused by man! Biodiversity is destroyed. Resources are mismanaged. The areas which would hold the water are filled up and townships are constructed in the name of urbanization. The outlets to the sea are partially blocked and the rivers can’t easily drain into the seas. But we don’t care. We continue with our deforestation, sand-mining and overexploiting our minerals. We continue polluting our environment with vehicles and factories and spraying poisons over our fields.

It is true that we can’t prevent natural disasters but we can mitigate their impact by proper planning and management. The Local Communities have a big role to play in finding the Vulnerable spots and taking care of them before the tragedy strikes. All activities that destroy the equilibrium of the environment should be stopped. The local communities know what their problems are and they should find solutions through proper management.

Question 31.
In connection with the I 50^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, an elocution competition is being conducted for Higher Secondary Students.
Prepare a speech about ‘Mahatma Candhi and his thoughts’to be delivered there.
[Hints: Simplicity – strength of personality – power of thoughts – dreams about India]
Answer:
Respected Principal, teachers and fellow students,

As you all know today is the 2^nd of October and we are celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our beloved Nation. Gandhi is known for his honesty, simplicity, strength of personality, and his dreams about India. He was an epitome of honesty. Even as a small boy he was honest in his dealings. He has mentioned an incident that happened during his school days in his autobiography. A school inspector had come to his class to make inspection. The students were asked to write down some English words. The intention of the inspector was to check the spelling ability of the students. The teacher was going round and found that one word was misspelt by Gandhi. The teacher touched him on the shoulder indicating that his spelling is wrong and he should copy the right spelling from his neighbour’s notebook. But Gandhi refused to do it. Later the teacher scolded him for not copying the right spelling. But Gandhi said it was immoral and he would not do it. Throughout his life Gandhiji stuck to his policy of honesty.

He loved simplicity. Once he entered headlong into the freedom struggle he wore only a dhoti and he was ridiculed by Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England, as the “Naked Fakir” from India. Gandhi knew he was fighting against the mighty British Empire but he was convinced he would win with his weapons of non-violence and satyagraha. And he did win and India got herfreedom on 15 August 1947.

Gandhiji had powerful dreams about India. India as we all know is a land of diversity – different languages, religions, regions, food and dress habits, cultures and beliefs. But he worked for unity in diversity. His dream was a united India of strength. He was against intolerance. He believed that Ishwar and Allah are just different names for the same Almighty God. As we celebrate his 150^th birth anniversary let us take a vow that we will walk in his footsteps and fight against all sorts of evils like bribery, nepotism, intolerance, fanaticism and violence.

Bapu will ever remain the light to lead us!
Jai Hindi

Question 32.
World Health Organisation opines that “Good Health is a state of complete physical,social and mental well being, and not the absence of diseases.” The unit ‘Harmony of Life’ emphasises this. Based on your study of the unit, prepare an article for yourschool magazine about ‘Holistic Concept of Health’.
[Hints : Pursuing one’s dreams – self-satisfaction – good sleep – physical exercise -healthy food – good social relationship]
Answer:

Holistic Concept of Health

Holistic Concept of Health is actually an approach to life. Rather than focusing on illness or specific parts of the body, this ancient approach to health considers the whole person and how he or she interacts with his or her environment. It emphasizes the connection of mind, body, and spirit. If any of this component is adversely affected the person becomes sick.

When one part of the body is not working at its best, it affects all other parts of that person. Moreover, this whole person is constantly interacting with everything in the surrounding environment. For example, when a person is anxious about a school exam or a job interview, his nervousness may result in a physical reaction as a headache or stomach- ‘ ache. When people suppress anger over a long period of time, they often develop a serious disease such as migraine headaches or arthritis.

So we must keep the body, mind and spirit in good shape to be healthy. We can keep our body in good shape by having healthy food, physical exercises and a good sleep. Avoid junk foods as far as possible. Don’t sit down or lie down during waking hours for long periods. Exercise your body. Let the muscles work.

To keep the mind healthy, we should pursue our dreams with determination. For this, hard work is essential. As they say, an empty mind is the workshop of the devil. Set some goals in your life and pursue them relentlessly. A mind without a goal is a dead one and naturally it will adversely affect the other parts of the person.

We can keep the spirit in a good shape through prayers and meditation. It is always good to remember that there is an Almighty who controls us and also the universe. Mediation helps us to strengthen our spirit. Good social relations also strengthen our spirit. Helping the needy, teaching the illiterate, giving food to the hungry and clothes to the naked, listening to people without being judgmental – all these are nutrition for the spirit.

So let us all develop a holistic concept of health and remain wholesome!

Question 33.
Read the following poem and prepare an appreciation: Death is Here and Death is There. – Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Death is here and death is there,
Death is busy everywhere,
All around, within, beneath,
Above is death – and we are death.

Death has set his mark and seal
On all we are and we feel,
On all we know and all we fear,

First our pleasures die – and then
Our hopes, and then our fears – and
When
These are dead, the debt is due,
Dust claims dust – and we die too.

All things that rrye love and cherish,
Like ourselves must fade and perish;
Such is our rude mortal lot –
Love itself would, did they not.
Answer:
The poem “Death is Here and Death is There” by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a beautiful one as it gives us food for thought. Death is here and death is there. It is all around, within, beneath and above. In fact we are death and naturally we can’t run away from it and we can’t hide ourselves from it. Death has put his mark and stamp on what we are what we feel. It also has marked and stamped all we know and all we fear.

Death is a slow killer. It does not kill us in just one blow. First our pleasures die. Then our hopes come to an end. Our fears also disappear. When we have paid back all these thipgs we go back to the dust from which we came. We are born from dust and to dust we shall return.

All the things that we love and cherish die with us. Our love also dies. That is our unfortunate fate. We are poor mortals and we can do nothing about it.

In fact this is a pessimistic poem which speaks of the almighty power of death. Death is everywhere and we can’t run away from it. That is why we are called mortals. The 4-stanza poem is an awesome tribute to the mighty Death. It is in simple language but its meaning is profound, opening our eyes to a great truth. It is in rhyme. The rhyming scheme is aabb. There is fine alliteration in the line “These are dead, the debt is due”.

Death is personified here as a thief who always follows us wherever we go and whatever we do. It is also slow killer. The expression “dust claims dust” has a Biblical ring. In the first book of the Bible, the Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 19, we read: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”