Read the passage given below and answer the questions that

follow:

1. One of the great values of punctuality is that it gives discipline to life. We

have to get up in time.

We have to do things at the appointed time. All these entail certain amount
of sacrifice. It dispels laziness and removes our ‘take-it-easy attitude’. A
disciplined person always gets recognition and social acceptance. He is
wanted and appreciated. Therefore, punctuality can make us socially
acceptable people.

2. Another significant merit of punctuality is that it provides ample time to do

our work correctly and properly. Doing things hurriedly or haphazardly can
have disastrous consequences. When we do things in time there is every
chance that they end up as fine works.

3. The virtue of punctuality is said to be the key to success. Look at the great
world leaders who have achieved fame and success. Punctuality was their
hallmark. They kept their promises. Punctuality is a virtue that is appreciated
by all. Washington once took his secretary to task for being late. The
secretary laid the blame upon his watch. Washington reported: “Then, Sir
either you must get a new watch or I must get a new secretary.” People like
them are ideals whom we should follow in earnest.

4. When individuals are not punctual they cause a lot of inconvenience to

others. People have to wait for them and waste their valuable time. Want of
punctuality reveals want of culture and is discourteous to the person we fail.
Unpunctuality invites trouble and worry. History is full of cases which show
that lack of punctuality has caused defeat, loss of kingdom and golden
opportunities. It is said that Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo in 1815
because one of his generals came late. Many people lose good. opportunities
of job or promotion when they reach late for appointment.

5. All of us are not born with the virtue of punctuality. We have to cultivate it
painstakingly. Only constant vigil and practice can implant this virtue. It calls
for great deal of sacrifice. It calls for courage to root out laziness and the
‘take-it easy attitude’. It demands a disciplined life. That is why very few
individuals have the virtue of punctuality. But, know it for certain that it is
the surest way to success.

2.1 Read the given questions and write the answer in about 30-40
words:
(a) What is the writer’s concern in this passage?
Answer:
In this passage, the writer intends to say that no one is born with the virtue
of punctuality but one has to cultivate it through constant vigil and practice.

(b) What would be the consequences of not maintaining punctuality in your

work?
Answer:
If punctuality is not maintained in our work, it invites trouble and worry. We
cannot do our work successfully. As a result, it has disastrous consequences
—we lose opportunity and have to suffer for unpunctuality in the work.

(c) Give some examples to show that lack of punctuality has caused trouble
and worry.
Answer:
Lack of punctuality causes trouble and worry. Look at the great world leader
like Washington. His secretary was taken to task for being late. He lost his
job. Again, Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo in 1815 because one of his
generals came late.

(d) How did the great world leaders achieve fame and success in their life?
Answer:
The world leader achieved fame and success in their life by dint of
punctuality and strict discipline.

2.2 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the

following:

(a) A disciplined person always gets:

(i) recognition
(ii) social acceptance
(iii) work done correctly and property
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) all of the above

(b) If you are not disciplined, you will:

(i) Work hurriedly or haphazardly
(ii) You will be punctual
(iii) be appreciated by people
(iv) none of the above
Answer:
(i) Work hurriedly or haphazardly
(c) We are not born with the virtue of punctuality.
Answer:
True

(d) Give one word for ‘to keep a strict watch’. (para 5)
Answer:
vigil

3. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that
follow:

1. The apologists of terror tell us that the root cause of terrorism is the
deprivation of national and civic rights, and that the way to stop terror is to
redress the supposed grievances that arise from this deprivation.

2. But the root cause of terrorism, the deliberate targeting of civilians, is not
the deprivation of rights. If it were, then in the thousands of conflicts and
struggles for national and civil rights in modern times we would see
countless instances of terrorism. But we do not.

3. Mahatma Gandhi fought for the Independence of India without resorting to

terrorism. So too did the people of Eastern Europe in their struggle to bring
down the Berlin Wall and Martin Luther. King’s campaign for equal rights for
all Americans eschewed all violence, much less terrorism.

4. If the deprivation of rights is indeed the root cause of terrorism, why did
all these people pursue their cause without resorting to terror? Put simply,
because they were democrats, not terrorists. They believed in the sanctity of
each human life, were committed to the ideals of liberty, and championed
the values of democracy.

5. But those who practise terrorism, do not believe in these things. In fact,
they believe in the very opposite. For them, the cause they espouse, is so all
encompassing, so total, that it justifies anything. It allows them to break any
law, discard any moral code and trample all human rights in the dust. In their
eyes, it permits them to indiscriminately murder and maim innocent men
and women, and lets them blow up a bus full of children.

6. There is a name for the doctrine that produces this evil. It is called
totalitarianism. Only a totalitarian regime, by systemically brainwashing its
subjects, can indoctrinate hordes of killers to suspend all moral constraints
for the sake of a twisted cause. That is why from its inception totalitarianism
has always been wedded to terrorism–from Lenin to Stalin to Hitler to the
Ayatollahs to Saddam Hussein, right down to Osama Bin Laden and Yasser
Arafat

7. It is merely that the goals of terrorists do not justify the means they
choose, it is that the means they choose tell us what true goals are. Those
who fight as terrorists, rule as terrorists. People who deliberately target the
innocent, never become leaders who protect freedom and human rights.
When terrorists seize power, they invariably set up the darkest of
dictatorships—whether in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan or Arafatistan.

3.1 Read the given questions and write the answer in about 30–40
words:

(a) What according to some, is the root cause of terrorism? How can it be
stopped?
Answer:
The root cause of terrorism is the deprivation of national and civic rights.
Terrorism, according to apologists, can be stopped redressing the grievances
of those deprived of their rights.

(b) Prove that the root cause of terrorism is not the deprivation of rights.
Answer:
Deprivation is not the root cause of terrorism. This is proved by the fact that
conflicts and struggles for national and civil rights have been fought without
resorting to terrorism.

(c) Mention two international personalities who fought for rights without
resorting to terrorism.
Answer:
Gandhiji fought for the independence of India without resorting to terrorism.
In the same manner when Martin Luther King fought for equal rights for all
Americans, he too did not resort to any form of terrorism and eschewed all
forms of violence.

(d) What are the beliefs of terrorists?

Answer:
Terrorists believe in their cause and for fulfilling that, they are willing to
break any law, discard moral codes, trample human rights and
indiscriminately take the lives of innocent women and children and blow up
buses and bridges.

3.2 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the

following:
(a) People who fought for equal rights without resorting to terrorism were
……..
(i) terrorists
(ii) autocrats
(iii) democrats
(iv) socialists
Answer:
(iii) democrats

(b) Those who practice terrorism justify ………….

(i) murdering people indiscriminately
(ii) maim innocent women and children
(iii) blow up buses filled with children
(iv) all of the above
Answer:
(iv) all of the above

(c) The name for the doctrine that produces this evil is called ………
Answer:
totalitarianism

(d) Find the word from the passage that is similar to ‘aiming’. (para 2)
Answer:
‘targeting