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

Research has shown that the human mind can process words at the rate of about 500 per minute, whereas a speaker speaks at the rate of about 150 words a minute. The difference between the two at 350 is quite large.

So a speaker must make every effort to retain the attention of the audience, and the listener should also be careful not to let his mind wander. Good communication calls for good listening skills. A good speaker must necessarily be a good listener.

Listening starts with hearing but goes beyond. Hearing, in other words, is necessary but is not a sufficient condition for listening. Listening involves hearing with attention. Listening is a process that calls for concentration. While listening ,one should also be observant. In other words, listening has to do with ears, as well as with eyes and the mind. Listening is to be understood as the total process that involves hearing with attention, being observant and making interpretations. Good communication is essentially an interactive process. It calls for participation and involvement. It is quite often a dialogue rather than a monologue. It is necessary to be interested and also show or make it abundantly clear that one is interested in knowing what the other person has to say.

Good listening is an art that can be cultivated. It relates to skills that can be developed. A good listener knows the art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey. He knows how to prompt, persuade but not to cut off or interrupt what the other person has to say. At times the speaker may or may not be coherent, articulate and well organized in his thoughts and expressions. He may have it in his mind and yet he may fail to marshal the right words while communicating his thought. Nevertheless a good listener puts him at ease, helps him articulate, and facilitates him to get across the message that he wants to convey. For listening to be effective, it is also necessary that barriers to listening are removed. Such barriers can be both physical and psychological. Physical barriers generally relate to hindrances to proper hearing whereas psychological barriers are more fundamental and relate to the interpretation and evaluation of the speaker and the message.

(a)   On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes in points only, using abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply a suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 80 words.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:                          
1. While there is no denying that the world loves a winner, it is important that you recognize the signs of stress in your behaviour and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike anytime, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to be able to recognise your individual limit. For instance, there are some who accept competition in healthy fashion. There are others who collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam or on comparing marks-sheets and finding that their friend has scored better.
2. Stress is a body reaction to any demands or changes in its internal and external environment. Whenever there is a change in the external environment such as temperature, pollutants, humidity and working conditions, it leads to a stress. In these days of competition when a person makes up his mind to surpass what has been achieved by others, leading to an imbalance between demands and resources, it causes psycho-social stress. It is a part and parcel of everyday life.

3.   Stress has a different meaning, depending on the stage of life you are in. The loss of a toy or a reprimand from the parents might create a stress shock in a child. An adolescent who fails an examination may feel as if everything has been lost and life has no further meaning. In an adult the loss of his or her companion, job or professional failure may appear as if there nothing more to be achieved.

4.   Such signs appear in the attitude and behaviour of the individual, as muscle tension in various parts of the body, palpitation and high blood pressure, indigestion and hyper-acidity. Ultimately the result is self-destructive behaviour such as eating and drinking too much, smoking excessively, relying on tranquilisers. There are other signs of stress such as trembling, shaking, nervous blinking, dryness of throat and mouth and difficulty in swallowing.

5.   The professional under stress behaves as if he is a perfectionist. It leads to depression, lethargy and weakness .Periodic move shifts also indicates the stress status of the students, executives and professionals.

6.   In a study sponsored by World Health Organization and carried out by Harvard school of Public Health, the global burden of disease and injury indicated that stress diseases and accidents are going to be the major killers in 2020.

7.   The heart disease and depression-both stress diseases-are going to rank first and second in 2020. Road traffic accidents are going to be the third largest killers in 2020. These accidents are also an indicator of psycho-social stress in a fast moving society. Other stress diseases like ulcers, hypertensions and sleeplessness have assumed epidemic proportions in modern societies.

8. A person under stress reacts in different ways and the common ones are flight, fight and flee depending upon the nature of the stress and capabilities of the person. The three responses can be elegantly chosen to cope with the stress so that stress does not damage the system and become distress.

9.   When a stress crosses the limit, peculiar to an individual, it lowers his performance capacity. Frequent crossing of the limit may result in chronic fatigue in which a person feels lethargic, disinterested and not easily motivated to achieve anything .This may make the person mentally undecided, confused and accident prone as well. Sudden exposure to un-nerving stress may also result in a loss of memory. Diet, massage, food supplements, herbal medicines, hobbies, relaxation techniques and dance movements are excellent stress busters. 
(a)    
(i) What is stress? What factors lead to stress?   (2)
(ii) What are the signs by which a person can know that he is under stress?     (2)
(iii) What are the different diseases a person gets due to stress?   (2)
(iv) Give any two examples of stress busters.   (1)
(v) How does a person react under stress?   (2)   

(b) Which words in the above passage mean the same as the following?  (3)
(i)  fall down (para 1)                                  
(ii) rebuke (para 3) 
(iii) inactive (para 9)

Your school has planned an excursion to Lonavala near Mumbai during the autumn holidays. Write a notice in not more than 50 words for your school notice board, giving detailed information and inviting the names of those who are desirous to join. Sign as Naresh/Namita, Head Boy/Head Girl, D.V. English School, Thane, Mumbai.

C.P.R. Senior Secondary School, Meerut is looking for a receptionist for the school. Draft an advertisement in not more than 50 words to be published in classified columns of the Hindustan Times. You are Romola Vij, Principal of the school.

Your school celebrated International Year of Chemistry. 36 schools from Delhi participated in various competitions. Chairman, CBSE was the Chief Guest. As Coordinator, draft a report in 100-125 words for your school magazine. You are Ram/Ramya of G.B. Secondary School, Delhi.

You witnessed a bomb blast in a Delhi market when you went there for shopping along with your parents for Diwali purchases. Write a report in 100-125 words for your school magazine.

You are Pritam/priti,27,W.E.A.Karol Bagh, Delhi. You have decided to shift your residence to Faridabad and hence decided to discontinue your membership to Brain Trust Library, Karol Bagh. Write a letter to the librarian, requesting him to cancel your membership and refund your security deposit of Rs five thousand and explaining your inability to continue your membership.

You are Anu/Arun,13W.E.A.Karol Bagh, New Delhi. You feel very strongly about the ill-treatment meted out to stray dogs at the hands of callous and indifferent people. Write a letter to the editor of a national daily giving your views on why some people behave in such a manner and how these dogs should be treated.

Spurt of violence previously unknown in Indian schools makes it incumbent on the educationists to introduce value education effectively in schools. Write an article in 150-200 words expressing your views on the need of value education. You are Anu/Arun.

Regular practice of yoga can help in maintaining good health and even the prevention of so many ailments. Write a speech in 150-200 words to be delivered in the morning assembly on the usefulness of yoga.