CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passages Type I are part of NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English . Here we have given CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passages Type I.
CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passages Type I
Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow each of them :
Passage 1
Captain James Cook
False
False
False
(267 words)
True
You can master in English Grammar of various classes by our articles like Tenses, Clauses, Prepositions, Story writing, Unseen Passage, Notice Writing etc.
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow choosing the correct options from the ones given below each question :
Question 1.
James Cook’s chief desire was to
(a) discover Australia
(b) discover New Zealand
(c) travel long and far
(d) do something for the British empire.
Question 2.
Cook was interested in travelling
(a) by road
(b) by train
(c) by air
(d) by boat.
Question 3.
In 1755, Cook took the first challenging job
(a) to visit glamorous lands
(b) when he became the first mate
(c) when he surveyed St. Lawrence
(d) when he went to Canada.
Question 4.
Sir Joseph Banks was a
(a) Sailor
(b) friend of Cook
(c) master of St. Lawrence
(d) scientist.
Question 5.
The Endeavour was the name of
(a) the group which accompanied Cook
(b) the ship in which James Cook travelled
(c) a scientist who was with Cook
(d) a country discovered by Cook.
Question 6.
Cook discovered
(a) New Zealand
(b) Society Islands
(c) Canada
(d) North and South Islands.
Question 7.
‘Substantial is the opposite of
(a) little
(b) much
(c) great
(d) low.
Question 8.
The word ‘surveyed in this passage means
(a) served
(b) inspected
(c) found
(d) desired.
Answers:
1. (c) 2. (d) 3. (c) 4. (d) 5. (b) 6. (a) 7. (a) 8. (6)
Passage 2
The Daffodils
I wandered lonely as cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils ;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle in the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay :
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their head in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced ; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee :
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company ;
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude ;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
False
(153 words)
True
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow choosing the correct options from the ones given below each question :
Question 1.
The similarity between the cloud and the poet is that both of them
(a) are above vales and hills
(b) move on without a care
(c) see golden daffodils
(d) move on aimlessly without any company.
Question 2.
The poet saw daffodils
(a) in the vale
(b) on a hill
(c) on lake-side
(d) among the stars.
Question 3.
The daffodils were
(a) in the milky way
(b) inside the bay
(c) happy like the poet
(d) shining like stars.
Question 4.
The waves seemed
(a) happy like the daffodils
(b) less happy than the daffodils
(c) happier than the daffodils
(d) dancing like the daffodils.
Question 5.
The poet was happy because
(a) there was happiness all around
(b) there was the beautiful lake
(c) he loved the daffodils
(d) the daffodils were dancing.
Question 6.
The bliss of solitude’ refers to
(a) daffodils
(b) the inward eye
(c) the waves
(d) the stars
Question 7.
The word pensive means
(a) thoughtful
(b) pen-like
(c) happy
(d) delighted.
Question 8.
The adjective form of ‘solitude’ is
(a) solid
(b) sole
(c) solitary
(d) solvent
Answers:
1. (d) 2. (c) 3. (d) 4. (b) 5. (a) 6. (b) 7.(a) 8.(c).
Passage 3
On Killing a Tree
It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
So hack and chop
But this alone won’t do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
No,
The root is to be pulled out
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out-snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.
: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel paraphrase: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gieve Patel: Gi
(165 words)
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow choosing the correct options from the ones given below each question :
Question 1.
“To kill a tree” means
(a) to cut its branches
(b) to cut its limbs
(c) to uproot it
(d) to cut its trunk.
Question 2.
A tree grows
(a) slowly
(b) fast
(c) not at all
(d) in summer.
Question 3.
Hacking and chopping
(a) will kill the tree.
(b) will not kill it forever
(c) will do nothing to the tree
(d) will improve its bark.
Question 4.
Mark the wrong option: The earth
(a) feeds the tree
(b) supports the tree
(c) helps the tree
(d) absorbs the tree.
Question 5.
Strength of the tree is exposed when
(a) it is hacked
(b) its trunk is cut
(c) you see its boughs
(d) its root comes out.
Question 6.
The opposite of consuming is
(a) producing
(b) consumption
(c) resuming
(d) finishing.
Question 7.
In the last line it stands for
(a) the act of uprooting the tree
(b) the act of killing the tree
(c) the withering of the tree
(d) the growing of a tree.
Question 8.
The word ‘snapped’ means
(a) took a photograph
(b) broke
(c) snatched
(d) pilled
Answers:
1. (c) 2. (a) 3. (b) 4. (d) 5. (b) 6. (a) 7. (a) 8. (6)
Passage 4
Asteroids-The Cosmic Killers
1. The earth is occasionally hit by craggy remnants of creation known as asteroids . about 150 are known to cross the earth’s path . the first asteroid was too faint to be seen by the naked eye .
True
asteroid threat has dawned on scientists only slowly, says nasa co-chairman . asteroid threat has dawned on scientists only slowly, says nasa co-chairman . asteroid threat has dawned on scientists only slowly, he says .
False
Falco: in 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia a cosmic object that never reached the earth’s surface exploded in the atmosphere . Falco: in 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia a cosmic object that never reached the earth’s surface exploded in the atmosphere . Falco: in 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia a cosmic object that never reached the earth’s surface exploded in the atmosphere with a force of some 20 hydrogen bombs
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow choosing the correct options from the ones given below each question :
Question 1.
The asteroids are
(a) broken pieces of earth
(b) pieces broken from the sun
(c) as old as the creation
(d) the stars.
Question 2.
Piazzi
(a) is the name of an asteroid
(b) is 8 km wide
(c) is the name of an officer of NASA
(d) was an Italian monk.
Question 3.
The asteroids are
(a) a potential danger for the earth
(b) like a bomb
(c) moving at 26 km a second
(d) pulverised rocks.
Question 4.
After hitting the earth an asteroid can block sunlight
(a) because of its own light
(b) by crushed rock and dust
(c) by crippling agriculture
(d) by making the sun cold.
Question 5.
The potential threat from asteroid
(a) has been known since ancient times
(b) has been realised by the scientists slowly
(c) is no real threat
(d) will be soon over.
Question 6.
There are indications that
(a) asteroids have made holes
(b) asteroids have blocked the sun
(c) asteroids are just like our earth
(d) asteroids can cause no harm.
Question 7.
The word ‘craggy’ is
(a) the same as stony
(b) the opposite of shaky
(c) an adjective from cring
(d) means the same as ‘ready’.
Question 8.
The word ‘appreciation’ in this passage means the same as
(a) depreciation
(b) understanding
(c) encounters
(d) making
Answers:
1. (c) 2. (d) 3. (a) 4. (6) 5. (6) 6. (a) 7. (a) 8. (6).
Passage 5
The Wild Fauna
False
True story: the dodo, the pigeon that inhabited the island of Mauritius, was extinct . the dodo surveyed these new arrivals with an air of innocent interest . dogs and cats hunted and harried the old bird; pigs grunted their way’ round the island .
False
Read the passage mentioned above and answer the questions that follow :
Questions
1. What is common between the Pere David deer and the white-tailed gnu?
2. Who is most responsible for the destruction of the wild fauna?
3. Where did Dodo live ?
4. Why does the author call dodo a ‘tame and confiding creature’?
5. What does the phrase ‘dodos’ paradise’ refer to?
6. How did the dodo react to the arrival of man and his evil familiars’?
7. How did the goats harm the dodos ?
8. What does the phrase ‘ungainly and harmless pigeon’ refer to ?
Answers
1. Both Pere David deer and white-tailed gnu have become extinct.
2. Man is most responsible for the destruction of the wild fauna.
3. Dodo lived on the island of Mauritius.
4. A wild creature runs away from man and his familiars like dogs and cats but the dodos did not do so as is the case with the tame animals. So the author calls them ‘tame and confiding creatures’.
5. The phrase “dodos’ paradise’ refers to Mauritius.
6. The dodos seemed to look upon man and his evil familiars like an innocent child pleased to see something new.
7. The goats ate the grass and bushes which provided cover to the dodos,
8. The phrase ‘ungainly and harmless pigeon’ refers to the dodo.
Passage 6
Holy Thursday
Is this a holy thing to see
In a rich and fruitful land,
Babes reduc’d to misery,
Fed with cold and usurious hand ?
Is that trembling cry a song ?
Can it be a song of joy ?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty.
And their sun does never shine,
And their fields are bleak and bare,
And their ways are fill’d with thorns :
It is eternal winter there.
For where’er the sun does shine,
And where’er the rain does fall,
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.
-William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake: -William Blake:
(94 words)
False
Read the passage mentioned above and answer the questions that follow :
Questions
1. What is not holy in a rich and fruitful land ?
2. What are the poor children doing ?
3. How is the country ‘a land of poverty ?
4. What are the signs of ‘eternal winter’?
5. What is the important sign of a prosperous land ?
6. Give the meaning of the phrase, ‘fruitful land’.
7. Which word is the opposite of ‘generous’ in the poem ?
8. What is happening on ‘Holy Thursday’ which makes the poet say these words?
Answers:
1. The children should not live in misery in a rich and fruitful land. It is not holy.
2. The poor children are singing a song in their trembling voice ?
3. According to the poet the land where the children live in misery is a land of poverty.
4. The signs of eternal winter are the absence of sunlight, the dry and infertile land and the thorny ways.
5. The happy children are the important sign of a prosperous land.
6. Fertile and productive land.
7. Usurious.
8. The poor children are being made to sing before people who are miserly.
Passage 7
Oil
True
True
The existence of oil wells has been known for a long time. Some of the Indians of North America used to collect and sell the oil from the wells of Pennsylvania. No one, however, seems to have realised the importance of this oil until it was found that paraffin oil could be made from it. This led to the development of the wells and to the making of enormous profits. When the internal combustion engine was invented, oil became of 25 worldwide importance.
-Extracted from ‘Oil by G.C. Thornley (adapted)
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True
Read the passage mentioned above and answer the questions that follow :
Questions
1. Which is the most talked about oil in the world ?
2. Where does the mineral oil come from?
3. Which is the oldest known oil ?
4. Where do we get petrol from ?
5. How has our life style changed ?
6. How does mineral oil help our machines ?
7. Which word in the passage means ‘a thin layer’?
8. Find a word in the passage which means the opposite of ‘few’.
Answers:
1. Mineral oil is the most talked about oil in the world.
2. Mineral oil comes from the earth.
3. Vegetable oil is the oldest known oil.
4. We get petrol by refining the mineral oil.
5. The use of mineral oil in the forms such as petrol has made our life comfortable. Petrol drives our cars and aeroplanes and is used in many other ways.
6. Mineral oil drives our machines. It is also used for lubrication.
7. film.
8. countless.
Passage 8
A Robot About the House
True
By far the most logical step to relieve the housewife of routine, is to provide a robot
slave which can be trained to the requirements of a particular home and can be programmed to carry out half a dozen or more standard operations (for example, scrubbing, sweeping and dusting, washing up, laying tables, making beds), when so switched by the housewife. It will be a machine having no more emotions than a car, but having a memory for instructions and a limited degree of instructed or built in adaptability according to the positions in which it finds various types of objects. It will operate other more specialized machines, for example, the vacuum cleaner or clothes washing machine.
Extracted from ‘A Robot about the House’ by M.W. Thring (adapted)
(331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words) - (331 words)
False
Read the passage mentioned above and answer the questions that follow :
Questions
1. What is the first use of technology in human life ?
2. Which kind of people want to work for shorter hours or raise their standard of living ?
3. What is it that the author takes as self-evident ?
4. What, according to the author, are the routine operations of the home ?
5. How will the new slave which the author envisages to help the house be different from the present-day domestic servants ?
6. How will this new slave be different from the modern machines like the vacuum cleaner or a washing machine ?
7. Pick out the word from the passage which means the same as ‘tasks’.
8. Which word in the passage means the opposite of ‘luxuries’?
Answers:
1. The first use of technology is to satisfy the basic human needs of food, shelter, clothes and warmth.
2. The people whose basic needs have been satisfied will either work to raise their standard of living or work for shorter hours.
3. The author takes it as self evident that after satisfying his basic needs, man will like to work for shorter hours instead of raising the standard of living higher.
4. According to the author, the routine operations of the home are such as scrubbing the floor or the bath or the kitchen utensils.
5. The new slave will be a machine having no more emotions than a car but will have a limited memory for instructions.
6. This new slave will be different from modern machines like the vacuum cleaner and the washing machine because it will operate these machines as a human being does.
7. operations.
8. essentials.
CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Passages Type I
