ADVANCED READING AND WRITING

(Brief-answer Questions)

Reading – I

22. Read the following composition attentively and answer any five of the questions:

Stress is the twentieth century illness. The pressures on all of us are very great because speed and competition have become part of everyday life. Social isolation, overcrowding, the competitiveness of our society and several other factors are responsible for stress. In English we refer to the competition as the rat –race. All of us react to the rat race in different ways. Some of us get tired easily others get depressed others are often irritable or worried and so on. The rat race affects everybody in society from toddlers to senior citizens. There is always something that worries us. Sometimes the stresses on us are too great we fall out of the race and have a nervous breakdown. Extreme cases of illness can lead to suicide. There is hope because only some people crack while most others do not.

Tag the following statements as True, False or Not given.

a.      Most of the people fall ill due to stress.

Ans: False

b.      Only young people are affected by competitive tendency.

Ans: False

c.       So called 'rat-race' is a healthy competition.

Ans: False

d.      Stress may even lead to suicide.

Ans: True

e.       The paragraph ends in an optimistic tone.

Ans: True

Answer the following questions:

f.     To whom does the rate-race affect?

Ans: The rat-race affects people of all ages living in society, from teenagers to elderly  people.

g.   What are the reasons for stress?

Ans: The reasons for stress are social isolation, overcrowding, the competitiveness of our society and several other factors.

h.   What do we refer as 'the rat-race'?

Ans: We refer to competition in society as 'the rat-race'.

i.     What happens when the pressure is extreme?

Ans: When the pressure is extreme, people may commit suicide.

j.   When do we have nervous breakdown?

Ans: We have nervous breakdown when the stresses on us are too great for us to tolerate

k.   Why are the pressures great?

Ans: The pressures are great because of the speed and the competition in our day to day life.