CBSE Rankers

CBSE Class 12 English Comprehension Passages – Note – Making and Summarising

Read the following passages carefully:

Passage 1:

I remember my childhood as being generally happy and can recall experiencing some of the most carefree times of my life. But I can also remember, even more vividly, moments of being deeply frightened. As a child, I was truly -terrified of the dark and getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me some extremely uncomfortable moments.

Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my familiar room at night that scared me so much. There was never total darkness, but a street light or passing car lights made clothes hung over a chair take on the shape of an unknown beast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw curtains move when there was no breeze. A tiny creak in the floor would sound a hundred times louder than in the daylight and my imagination would take over, creating burglars and monsters. Darkness always made me feel helpless. My heart would pound and I would lie very still so that ‘the enemy’ wouldn’t discover me.

Another childhood fear of mine was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every morning, I got on the school bus right near my home—that was no problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the curve, I was terrified that I would get on the wrong one and be taken to some unfamiliar neighbourhood. I would scan the bus for the faces of my friends, make sure that the bus driver was the same one that had been there in the morning, and even then ask the others over and over again to be sure I was in the right bus. On school or family trips to an amusement park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight. And of course, I was never very adventurous when it came to taking walks or hikes because I would go only where I was sure I would never get lost.

Perhaps, one of the worst fears I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. First of all, I was quite shy. Secondly, I worried constantly about my looks, thinking people wouldn’t like me because I was too fat or wore braces. I tried to wear ‘the right clothes’ and had intense arguments with my mother over the importance of wearing flats instead of saddled shoes to school. Being popular was very important to me then and the fear of not being liked was a powerful one.

One of the processes of evolving from a child to an adult is being able to recognise and overcome our fears. I have learnt that darkness does not have to take on a life of its own, that others can help me when I am lost and that friendliness and sincerity will

encourage people to like me. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps to cope with our lives as adults.

Answers:
1. TITLE: Memories of Childhood

Remembering childhood moments

happy and carefree

terrified of the dark and getting lost

Childhood fears

Feeling helpless in dark

(a) Moving curtains

(b) Creaking sounds

Fear of getting lost (on the way home from school)

(a) Scanning of school buses—friendly faces, same bus driver

(b) Not letting leaders out of sight

(d) Surety of not being lost

Fear of disliking

(a) Quite shy

(b) worried about looks

(d) Imp. of popularity

Overcoming childhood fears

Undg. evolution process

Recognising and overcoming fears

Accepting help from others

Unds. things that scared

Answers:

Deteriorating civic sense in urban India

Bad behaviour of the rich

Bad drinking habits

(a) drinking on roadside

(b) wee hours

Disrespect towards women

(a) Passing lewd comments on women

(b) No difference in behaviour: rich or not so rich

Police apathy compounding the problem

(a) Policemen looking the other way

(b) Not interested in happenings

An accident in Gurgaon as example

Small car hit by big car symbolising class division in society

(a) Man test driving: hitting family in small car, killing husband and injuring wife

Money power coming to the rescue of the rich

(a) Police turning a blind eye towards the culprit

(b) Culprit managing to flee from the scene

Pondering over reasons for the current situtn

Overpowering sense of sudden wealth

(a) sudden wealth: people irresponsible citizens

(b) All pervasiveness of uncivil behaviour

Questionable role of media in framing value system

(a) Media ignoring important social issues

Searching for solution

Stop accepting the state of affairs

(a) individual unable to resist crime

Challenging the perpetrators of crime

(b) group to fight crime, bad behaviour

rapid ecomic growth and slow econmic growth

(a) which is better

(b) The preferred situation

Answers:

Introduction

Muezzin’s call in Cairo

(a) melodious: prayer

(b) question to visitor: from India?

Cross cultural tribute to Indian tradn

eclecticism: Indutva

(a) anektavada: see through others’ perspective

Opposite of great truth

(a) Greater truth

(b) not lies

Welcoming of multiplicity

bedrock of Indie civilisatn

(a) Little bit of this and little bit of that

(b) Ability to absorb everything

Sponge: inaccurate metaphor

(a) non-elective absorption by sponge

(b) India absorbs + internalises

Doctrines from major beliefs

(a) influence from Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, etc.

(b) Like Westminster style democy and cricket

Hindu majority with many beliefs

Atheist Hindus

Hindus believing in Islam,

Christians having caste system: relic of past roots

Sufis: unique way of practising Islam

Multiplexes of Worship

Shatadurga Shrine: Goa

(a) devotees from Hindu & Christian and also from neither

Salim Chisti Memorial: Fatehpur

(a) Pilgrims of all faiths: multiplicity of Indutva

Celebration by all

(a) Holi, Diwali, Eid and Christmas

(b) Indutva: bouquet of many faiths – new threads added everyday

All Invited

identify & explore: myriad strands

(a) woven over millennia

(b) seamless fabric of Indutva

Role of News in making history

news of era detmines. it

(a) missed by news: lost forever

Examples of unknown figs

(a) Shakespeare’s contemporaries: unknown

(b) People coming with Babar: unknown

(d) Who led Portuguese, Dutch or French in India?

No description by media or historians of the period

Consumption of news: Fleeting experience

Powerful image today: forgettable tmorrow

current news driving out old news

(a) Bofors, HDW come in memory after some news story

(b) L N Mishra: Nobody knows why he was killed, secret millions vanished?

Stories and history

History chooses what it remembers

(a) indelibly stamped

(b) Gossip fades

We choose truths to forget

(a) Forget loads of data

(b) To move on

Gap between news & entertainment

Earlier sacrosanct

(a) News: fact

(b) Entertainment: fiction

Blurring of lines

(a) News & entertainment: on same platform

(b) scary situation

Preposterous lies

(a) shunned earlier

(b) accepted now

Commoditisation of news

(a) news to be exploited commercially

(b) don’t blame media/joumalists

(d) forgettable chapters of history

My favourite book

Bound in red cloth

(a) rough: smoothened in places

(b) caresses received over y’rs

Boldly etched name in gold

Spine holding firmly

(a) age old pages

(b) much thumbed: dog-eared: yellowing pages

Illustrations

(a) lithographs

Frayed red ribbon as bkmark

Journey to the old book alley

Proud city of book alley

Freq’t trips to book alleys

(a) fifteen minute walk

(b) meagre pocket money

Shop owners

(a) bespectacled

(b) bibliophiles: in own right

Prized possession

(a) Sita: by Raja Ravi Verma

(b) Illust’n by the great artist

Pleas’r of books

Feel of cold spine

(a) weight of pages

(b) pages’ reluctance to open spontaneously

Musty smell

(a) yellowing pages

(b) whiff of ink

Enam’rd with other cities

Enam’rd by books

(a) all shapes, sizes, colours

(b) pampered by gems from dusty attics

Stepping out to different cities

(a) as resident in some

(b) as visitor in some

(d) as varied as with books

Changes with time

initial returns to old book alley

(a) Replenish quota of books

Start of change

(a) old books replaced by short cuts on different exams

(b) cheap reprints of old classics

Makeshift shops

(a) encroaching narrow alley

(b) Threat’ng orgnl inhabitiants

Inevitable disappointment

(a) disappointment sets in

(b) Looking for solution elsewhere

Canada denies visas

Indian officials

human rights violat’ns

Canada accepts mistake

Indian govt, issues warnings

(a) may take retaliatory measures

(b) Canada to take corrective measures

Real truth in India

Human rights violations: Indian security forces

(a) Routine violations

(b) tortre

deceiving ourselves

(a) acting righteous

(b) unaccountable security forces, unlike west

(d) any number of torture cases

Primitive Society

(a) violence: kind of catharsis

(b) Baying for Kasab’s bid: chopping of limbs

Canada holding a mirror

Thank Canada

diplomatic slip-ups

showing the true face

Challenge for India

Prove its credentials

Civilians: stop flattering themselves

make a new beginning

End of life

Tonga goes off the road

(a) May 31 deadline

(b) 200 tongawallahs affected

End of a way of life for commutrs

End of livelihood

(a) horse shoe-makers

(b) cleaners

Phase out rationales

MCD: tongas cause congestion, traffic threat

(a) knee-jerk reaction

(b) 10-15 lakh rickshaws Vs 200 tongas?!

Alternative provided

Tehbazaari

Tongawallahs not keen

(b) Location far away from old Del

(d) No inclination to part with horses

Better solutions

workable soln

(a) refurbish tongas as buggies

(b) cater at tourist spots: India Gate, Red Fort

Examples

(a) Victorias near Gateway of India

(b) Chariots in Rome

Giving new experience to tourists

follow examples of old cities

Do a bit more

(a) Mughal ancestry + colonial past

(b) Refurbish according to tourist area

Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes using headings and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. 5
2. Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also suggest a suitable title. 3
NOTES:

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(56-1)

2. SUMMARY
My childhood moment was the happiest and carefree moment. Darkness scared me with its shadows, moving of curtains, and creaking sounds. It made me quite helpless and I used to lie still with a pounding heart. I had the fear of getting lost while on way from home to school. Before getting in school bus, I scanned it for friendly faces. I had the fear of being disliked by others. During the course of evolution from a child to an adult, I realised those things that scared me as a child. I was always expecting help from others.

Passage 2:
If you live in a rapidly urbanising India, especially in the North, and feel that things are getting from bad to worse as far as civility, sensitivity and respect for law is concerned, you are not alone.
I go out cycling almost every morning, at the crack of dawn. The total lawlessness that has come to grip the society scares me. As early as 5 am, our cycling group notices people huddled around their cars, drinking outside eateries or liquor joints, fighting, arguing loudly, or simply passing lewd comments at the women riders in our group. The comments do not vary from a Mercedes or a Maruti Swift. They are uniformly distasteful. We often see police vehicles at these joints too, and they are certainly not there attending to an SOS call.
Several of you would remember the horrific accident that took place in Gurgaon. Forty seven year old Avinash Shah, driving his small car with his wife and daughter was hit by a businessman test driving a powerful new Audi. Avinash died instantly and his wife and daughter barely survived.
The gent who rammed the big Audi into the small car, is out on bail. According to eye-witnesses, soon after ramming into Avinash’s car, this gent got out, made a few phone calls using his mobile, and got picked up by his own driver in his car and vanished. The police said they did not have his address for two days despite knowing that he was on a test drive and had deposited his driving licence at the car showroom before taking the car out. Two days later, this gent reappeared, with a lawyer in toe and surrendered, only to be bailed out in a jiffy.
Why is it that things are reaching such a pass? Sudden wealth, easy availability of ‘good things’ in life, general feeling that money can buy anything, or what else? Is it just a North Indian phenomenon or nationwide? Why it is that uncouth, uncivil and insensitive behaviour is all pervasive?,,Why is the society so willing to circumvent, indeed buy, law at will? Do you think the media is responsible having abdicated its responsibilities by concentrating on flashy things alone while bypassing the real issues that would positively impact the society?
Whatever the answer to those questions is, the solution lies with us alone. We need to stop accepting being pushed around. An individual cannot take on those who mock at our law, but together we can do wonders. The choice is ours, whether to stare down the barrel of the gun as lawlessness gains ground faster than these guys drive their fast cars, or start coming together to challenge the perpetrators of these crimes. I have often heard the argument that our economy is growing rapidly and this is just a brief side effect of such growth. I would rather have a slower growth rate of economy, but a saner, civilised society to live in.

Questions:

1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Nadir of Civic Sense and Possible Solution

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(58-1)

2. SUMMARY
It has been observed that urbanisation has promoted insensitivity, arrogance and selfishness. The narrator feels disturbed to see the youngsters consuming alcohol and passing indecent comments. The horrible accident that took place in Gurgaon is the pinnacle of absurdity and injustice. Avinash Shah was killed by a businessman test driving a new car. His wife and daughter barely survived. The culprit was not arrested. He was arrested after two days so that the law can be manipulated. Who is responsible for such mishaps? Media, police or ; the system? The reply may be any. But we need to fight against such malpractices together. The slower growth rate of economy is preferred than insane and uncivilised society.

Passage 3:
An Indian visitor to Cairo stopped to hear a muezzin’s melodious call to prayer. When the azzan had ended, the muezzin approached the visitor and, in rudimentary English, asked where he was from. “India”, replied the visitor. “Muslim?” asked the muezzin. “No”, said the visitor. “Little bit Muslim?” asked the muezzin. “Yes, little bit Muslim,” agreed the visitor.
That exchange represents a cross-cultural tribute to what is often referred to as India’s long tradition of eclecticism, or what might be called Indutva. It is a tradition based on anekantavada, the ability to see the other person’s point of view. Or as a western philosopher has put it, the realisation that the opposite of a great truth need not be a lie but another, and equally valid great truth.
This ambiguity of faith, this welcoming of multiplicity, is the bedrock of Indie civilisation, of Indutva. It is not an acceptance but a celebration of the fact that, at times, we can all be a little bit of this and a little bit of that. The Indian knack of being able to absorb and internalise whatever comes our way is often compared to a sponge which soaks up any moisture that it comes into contact with. It’s an inaccurate metaphor, for a sponge is a passive object, its capacity to absorb is not elective, not something that it chooses. Indian eclecticism, or Indutva, on the contrary, is highly creative; there is nothing passive or
constrained about it. It is an active engagement with diverse cultural norms and beliefs, which it seeks to link. It’s like a universal language of faith, a spiritual Esperanto, if you like. Indutva’s vocabulary includes idioms not just from the major belief systems like Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism, but of minor religions as well which India has made its own, 1 and which include Westminster style democracy and cricket.

The great majority of Indians are Hindu. But there are almost as many kinds of Hinduism as there are Hindus. There are atheist Hindus, and Hindus who eat beef. There are Hindus who partly believe in Islam, and Muslims who are part Hindus, like the Sufis. There are Hindus who are Buddhists, or Jains, or vice versa; Hindus who are part Christians, like the Brahmos, and Christians who remain Hindus, like converts who retain their caste and other social traditions even after embracing Christianity.

Long before we had multiplex cinema halls in India, we had multiple places of worship, like the Shantadurga Shrine in Goa which attracts devotees who are both Hindus and Christians—or, indeed, who are neither. Salim Chisti’s memorial in Fatehpur Sikri—where pilgrims of all faiths flock—is another example of the multiplicity of Indutva. Shrines apart, Holi and Diwali, Eid and Christmas, are celebrated by people of all creeds. Indutva is a bouquet of many faiths, a garland of festivals.
You are invited to identify and explore the myriad strands that, over the millennia, have been inextricably woven together to create the seamless fabric of Indutva, to which new threads are added every day.

Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Idea of Induism

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(60-1)

2. SUMMARY
An Indian heard a muezzin’s call to prayer. The muezzin interacted with Indian visitor and inquired if he was a Muslim. The visitor agreed that he was a bit Muslim. India is a secular country. It may be called Indutva. Hindus respect each religion without any bias. The chief attribute of India civilisation is the multiplicity of religions, castes and beliefs. Indutva is exceptionally creative. It has incorporated the words from various religious viz Islam, Jainism, Buddism, Sikhism in its scriptures. Most of the Indians are Hindus. But Hinduism has innumerable forms. Indutva celebrates all festivals like Holi, Diwali, Eid and Christmas. It unites the world.

Passage 4:
An era, a culture is eventually determined by its news. What is missed out by those who track the news of that time is lost forever. We know nothing about Shakespeare’s contemporaries even though some of them may have been better playwrights. We know nothing about those who came in with Babar, or around the same time, to loot India and stayed back as rulers. Or the many soldiers of fortune who landed here during the time of the East India Company. We know of a few and, apart from avid historians, no one knows who led the Portuguese, Dutch or French into India or ran their empires here till they were dismantled. Why is that? Simple. The media of that time, known as historians, did not mention them.
We who consume news today see it as a fleeting experience. We observe a powerful image on TV, are moved by its impact or repelled by its horror, and move on. We read a headline today and can’t even recall it tomorrow. Current news always drives out the old (often with ruthless cunning) and It’s only when the media goes back in time to recall a particular (7 story that we suddenly remember that, yes, there was something called HDW or Bofors that once shook up the entire nation and held it in thrall for a decade. We are suddenly reminded that Congress treasurer LN Mishra was mysteriously killed in a bomb blast on
a train and no one ever knew who killed him or where his secret millions vanished.
Since I’m a journalist I can tell you many such stories. There are others too, full of stories.
But, like news, the stories die with them. History only remembers what it chooses to, or what is indelibly stamped on its pages. The rest is occasionally recalled as gossip. But is it gossip? Or is it truth that we are trying to forget so that we can move on and make space in our hearts and minds for more recent news? Our memory, collective as well as individual, has limited storage and however many data cards we may insert, there’s simply too much to absorb and retain. The information surge that hits us every morning is so i large, so intimidating that we remember only a tiny fraction of it. It’s that fraction which actually scares us by the possibility of impacting our lives.
The gap between news and entertainment was always sacrosanct. News was about facts. Entertainment was about imagination, ergo fiction. To see them occupy the same media platforms today is scary for those like me who have spent a lifetime pursuing facts in the search for news. Even the dividing line has blurred. What we once shunned as preposterous lies slip in so casually today into our news menu. It’s no one’s fault. It’s just that the fault lines have shifted. News has become just another consumable, another platform to commercially (and cynically) exploit. No, don’t blame our journalists and media owners. They are only following a global model that, for better or for worse, is making our times an entirely forgettable chapter of history.

Questions:

1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Problems of Plenty of News

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(62-1)

2. SUMMARY
The world we are living in is replete with incidents, accidents and happenings. It becomes difficult for us to remember each news printed in the newspaper or telecast on screen. People don’t know anything about Shakespeare’s and Babar’s contemporaries as India was not so effective at that time. Modem media follows a global models nowadays. The gap between news and entertainment was always sacrosanct. News was about facts and entertainment was about imagination. But now news has become a platform to be exploited commercially.

Passage 5:
It was bound in a rough, red cloth, now smoothened in places with the many caresses it had received over the years. Its name boldly etched in gold over its hard cover. Its spine still holding on firmly to the age old pages, much thumbed, dog-eared, yellowing pages. Its illustrations, lithographs by the author himself, and a frayed red ribbon placed between the pages I had read the last time. That is my favourite book. .
That book startled me off on a journey that inevitably took me to the book alleys that still make the three hundred year old city proud. The fact that my lane meandered through several by-lanes and reached the book alleys in less than fifteen minutes made my trips frequent and my pocket-money meagre. The narrow lanes were lined with small shops with dusty shelves. Their bespectacled shop-owners—bibliophiles in their own right—were always eager to help me find treasures in all shapes and sizes, bound in cloth or leather, some new and some which had changed several hands; others which had comers folded, many in tatters, a few boasting of an autograph or a note written in attention of a loving reader. My prized possession in those days was a book called Sita that was illustrated with paintings by the illustrious Raja Ravi Verma.
Nothing gave me more pleasure than the feel of a cold spine against my palm, the weight of the pages, their slight reluctance to open spontaneously, the faint crick at the turn of each page, and the musty smell of the yellowing pages mixed with a slight whiff of the jet-black ink that filled my nostrils as I brought the book close to my face.

Thus enamoured by books of all shapes and sizes, colours and textures and thus pampered by the abundance of such gems in dusty attics and tiny shop windows, I stepped out of my city’s boundaries and stepped into different cities. As a resident in some, whilst a tourist in others. My experiences in each of those cities have been varied as have been my encounter with books.
In the beginning, I would wait to return from those cities and visit the old, familiar book alleys for my ration of books for the rest of the year. But soon I realised that the character of the alleys, the shops lining them and the books they sold had started to change. The old, dusty spines of ageless classics were fast being replaced by Last Minute Suggestions for Board Examinations, Questions & Answers Made Easy, cheap reprints of old classics, poor translations of world famous children’s classics and photocopies of what were otherwise intellectual masterpieces. Makeshift shops had encroached upon the pavements
of the narrow alleys and had started to threaten the original inhabitants themselves. Disappointment was inevitable, and it didn’t take too long to set in. Like many others, I soon decided it was time to park my hopes elsewhere.

Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Musings of a Bibliophile

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(65-1)

2. SUMMARY
The author speaks about a book bound in a rough, red cloth, now smothered in places with the many caresses received over years. It was the narrator’s favourite book. This book took him to the old book alley. He was habitual of spending his pocket money on books. His prized possession was Sita by Raja Ravi Verma. The books were a source of fascination to the writer. His experience of the various cities has been varied as has been his encounter with books. Time has undergone a sea change, the classics have been replaced by last Minute for Board suggestions, Questions and Answers made easy type of books. The narrator found it disappointing and decided to satisty his curiosity somewhere else.

Passage 6:
Canada says its denial of visas to Indian security officials on grounds of human rights violations, torture and espionage is a mistake.
India was hurt to the quick at the charges. The government issued an angry warning and said it would take retaliatory measures if Canada did not take corrective measures. Now that it has done so, the two countries could resume the pleasantries. But that wouldn’t alter the truth. And the truth is that Indian security forces, like most other security forces in the world, routinely commit human rights violations, certainly torture and seriously play at espionage.
Now, we can protest our innocence and act righteous. But we’d be deceiving ourselves. The security forces anywhere in the world will do all these. That is their job. But unlike the more civilised west, our men are not accountable. Consider the high number of custodial deaths -127 last year alone, according to NHRC, or any number of torture cases. This is a primitive country and sees in violence a kind of catharsis. The recent baying for Kasab’s public execution, preceded by chopping of limbs is a case in point.
So, instead of getting hot under the collar, the Indian authorities should be thanking Canada for holding up a mirror to our ugly face. It is through such diplomatic slip-ups that we know how we are really perceived in a world, at least a part of which is seriously giving a shot at evolving ethically driven societies.
I suggest Canada take back its apology, and ask India to prove its credentials of civility. And I suggest Indians stop flattering brainwashing themselves into thinking, no doubt with the help of an embarrassingly patriotic media, that they have arrived. The truth, ah, comrade, is we have just about started and it’s such a long way to go.

Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Undo the Past Wrongs

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(66-1)

2. SUMMARY
Canada refuses Visas to Indian security officials considering the grounds of human right violation, torture and espionage. The Indian government warns Canada that it may take retaliatory measures. Human rights are violated frequently in the country. We are deceiving ourselves that we act righteously. There were 127 high custodial deaths last year. Our society is primitive. Violence is considered a kind of catharsis. India should prove its credentials and make a new beginning.

Passage 7:
Tomorrow, May 31, is when Delhi’s tongas go off the road. In one stroke, over 200 tongawallahs will be left with no option but to discontinue a profession that many of them have been involved in, for generations. It will also be the end of a way of life for many people in old Delhi — used to having the tonga in their midst for commuting around the area. Or, for those who are dependent on it for their livelihood, like horse-shoe makers and cleaners.
Why are tongas being phased out? Apparently, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) decided last year that the tongas cause congestion and pose a threat to traffic security. Therefore, they have to go. It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction, at best. Even if one were to accept MCD’s argument, banning tongas completely is hardly a solution to Delhi’s traffic mess. Considering that there are almost 10-15 lakh rickshaws in the capital — which some would say add to the traffic problem even more, the 200 odd tongas are a mere drop in the ocean.
The alternative being provided to the tongawallahs is a tehbazaari or a roadside shop. This shift in profession is something that most tongawallahs are not too keen about— they feel that the shops are located too far away from the Old Delhi area where they live. And neither do most of them have the capital to equip the shops with goods nor do they have the inclination to let go of their horses, which inevitably, they will have to, once their tongas are gone.
Is there a solution to their plight? Majority of tongawallahs that I spoke to, are keen on an idea which, if it is implemented, can be a workable solution. It is simply, to let them refurbish their tongas as buggies(carriages) and allow them to cater to tourists in areas like India Gate, Red Fort etc. Indeed, many cities across the world are doing this already from the ‘Victorias’ operating near the Gateway of India in Mumbai to the chariots rented out to tourists near the Colosseum in Rome to Fiacres, the quaint carriages that carry visitors around the old city of Vienna.
Delhi can easily follow the examples of these cities and probably do a bit more, considering that it has a rich Mughal ancestry as well as a colonial past. Carriages can be furbished according to the areas where they ply. In the process, they can give tourists a chance to relive that era in style and thereby ensure that a slice of the past is still relevant in the present.

Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
2. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
1. TITLE: End of Road for Tonga?

cbse-class-12-english-comprehension-passages-note-making-summarising-(69-1)

2. SUMMARY
The government of Delhi has banned tongas in old Delhi. Consequently 200 tongawallals have become unemployed. The horse shoe-makers and cleaners have nothing to do now. MCD opined last year that tongas create traffic problems. But banning tongas only will not solve the problem as there are 10-15 lakhs reakshaws on the city. Tongawallahs have been provided roadside shops. But they say that they don’t have money to equip theme with goods and moreover, they are on the outskirts of the city. The solution to the problem is to allow them to refurbish their tongas as buggies following the examples of other cities.

Pages

CBSE Rankers

English Comprehension Passages – Note – Making and Summarising

CBSE Class 12 English Comprehension Passages – Note – Making and Summarising

CBSE Class 12 English Comprehension Passages – Note – Making and Summarising

About us

Popular Posts