ICSE Class 8 English Unseen Passages Comprehensions With Answers

Unseen Passage for Class 8

Read the following passage carefully.

A FOR ALLERGY

(1) Like bad news and common cold, allergies can pop up when least expected. I suddenly developed an allergy to crocin (paracetamol) some years ago after having it all my life to treat everything, from headache to fever to toothache.

(2) A stuffed or drippy nose, frequent sneezing, an itchy throat, rashes, sinus, ear pain, difficulty in breathing, stomach cramps, itchiness, red or watery eyes are some of the common symptoms of an allergic reaction. Pollen, dust, polluted outdoor air, and indoor pollutants, such as dust mites, animal dander, cigarette smoke, and mould are among the common environmental pollutants, while other triggers include medicines, paint, and chemicals in cleaners and cosmetics, such as hair colour and skin creams. Among foods, eight allergens account for almost 90% of food allergies: milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.

(3) Most of us wrongly believe that people with allergies are either born with them or develop them in early childhood. An allergy can develop at any time in your life and its prevalence among adults is rising. While most people who develop allergies as adults have experienced some allergic reaction—either to the same or an unrelated trigger before—a few have no history of sensitivity.

(4) In an acute immune reaction, the allergy trigger may be one, but the symptom is usually caused by a combination of factors. Stress, a sterile environment that prevents the body from developing immunity and lifestyle-induced changes in the body’s hormonal balance are thought to be some triggers. This has been borne out by clinical evidence that women are more likely to develop allergies at puberty, after pregnancy, and at menopause, all pointing to hormonal causes.

(5) Avoiding the allergy trigger and taking anti-allergy medication as soon as you can, after exposure to an allergen is the best possible protection. Since pollen levels generally peak in the morning, people with airway sensitivity and asthma should postpone outdoor exercises to later in the day or stick to exercising indoors, as deeper and more rapid breathing induced by aerobic exercise causes more pollen and dust being inhaled, which can wreck your airways and lungs. Since air pollutants tend to cling to clothes and hair, changing your clothes when you come home or washing your hair before going to bed, lowers exposure.

On the basis of your reading of the given passage, choose the correct option. 

Question. Which of the following are the common symptoms of an allergic reaction? 
(i) Itchy throat and frequent sneezing
(ii) Muscle pain
(iii) Dryness
(iv) Hair fall

Question. Most of us wrongly believe that:   
(i) allergies can pop up when least expected
(ii) people develop allergies as adults
(iii) allergies among adults are rising
(iv) allergies are either born with them or develop them in early childhood

Question. What is the best possible protection?      
(i) Avoiding the allergy trigger and taking anti-allergy medication.
(ii) Rapid breathing induced by aerobic exercise.
(iii) Washing your hair before going to bed.
(iv) Pointing to hormonal causes.

Question. Based on your reading of the passage, choose the incorrect statement from the following.     
(i) An allergy can develop at any time in your life.
(ii) The allergy trigger is usually caused by a combination of factors.
(iii) Among foods, eight allergens account for almost 90% of food allergies.
(iv) Taking anti-allergy medication as soon as you can, after exposure to an allergen is the best possible protection.

Question. Which of the following best explains the phrase ‘account for’, as used in the passage?   
(i) Pass off
(ii) Make up
(iii) Write up
(iv) Look up

Class 8 English Unseen Passage

Read the following passage carefully. 

ZOO OR NO ZOO

(1) The funding crisis at many zoos has reopened the debate over the value of zoos and whether they should be allowed to exist at all.

(2) People who are in favour of zoos argue that they perform an essential role in conserving rare animal species. Conservationists estimate that today at least 1,000 species of animals are threatened. Over the past 20 years, zoos have developed programmes designed to help preserve endangered species. This involves breeding animals in captivity in ‘captive breeding programmes’ and then reintroducing them into their natural habitats, to replenish the number living in the wild.

(3) Zoos cooperate with each other in order to ensure the success of their breeding programmes. Animals are passed from one zoo to another in order to prevent inbreeding. If animals that are closely related to one another mate, there is a danger that they will produce deformed offspring.

(4) If zoos were forced to close, it would be disastrous for world conservation, say zoo supporters, adding that most animals in captivity would have to be killed.

(5) According to the National Federation of Zoos, it does not take much imagination to realise that the closure of all zoos would mean the deliberate destruction of wildlife on a scale never before witnessed.

(6) Opponents of zoos accept that some species have been saved from extinction by the captive breeding programmes, but they argue that this offers no solution to the worldwide conservation crisis.

(7) The number of animals protected by zoos is tiny compared with the overall problem. It costs millions to save the Arabian oryx from dying out; but could that amount be available for every species that is endangered? The value of zoo-breeding programmes is also questioned as some species, such as the African elephant, do not reproduce well in captivity.

(8) Captive animals are often kept in poor and inhumane conditions, the opponents say. In the worst zoos, animals are still displayed for the purpose of public entertainment. When animals are placed in impoverished and unsuitable surroundings, they often behave in abnormal and neurotic ways. It is common for polar bears to constantly pace up and down or twist their heads. This behaviour is now recognised by scientists as a sign of stress and frustration.

(9) When children visit zoos where animals are acting in neurotic and abnormal ways, they are not being educated. Instead, opponents say, they are being given information that is inaccurate.

On the basis of your reading of the given passage, choose the correct option. 

Question. What has reopened the debate over the values of zoos?      
(i) Existence of many zoos
(ii) Funding crisis at many zoos
(iii) Cruelty towards animals
(iv) None of these

Question. Why do zoos cooperate with each other? 
(i) To help preserve endangered species
(ii) To ensure the success of their breeding programmes
(iii) To conserve rare animal species
(iv) None of these

Question. Based on your reading of the passage, choose the incorrect statement from the following.   
(i) The number of animals protected by zoos is tiny compared with the overall problem.
(ii) It is common for polar bears to constantly pace up and down or twist their head.
(iii) Conservationists estimate that today at least 1,000 species of animals are threatened.
(iv) Animals are passed from one zoo to another in order to prevent infection.

Question. Why do opponents say that the children are not being educated by visiting zoos?     
(i) Because animals are displayed only for the purpose of public entertainment
(ii) Because animals are placed in impoverished and suitable surroundings
(iii) Because the children are provided with inaccurate information about the way animals act
(iv) All of these

Question. Which of the following explains the word ‘opponent’?        
(i) A person who advises others
(ii) A person who engages in a fight
(iii) A person who supports something or someone
(iv) A person who disagrees with something or someone

Unseen Passage for Class 8 with Answers

Read the following passage carefully. 

BENEFITS OF POLITENESS

(1) Politeness has been well-defined as benevolence in trifles. It is the desire to put those whom we meet perfectly at ease, and save them from every kind of petty discomfort and annoyance. The limited part of benevolence called politeness requires only an inclination to make them happy temporarily, while they are in our presence, and can be done without any sacrifice on our part or only with a slight sacrifice of our personal comfort.

(2) Politeness is said to be one of the most important characteristics of a civilised person. Politeness is the art of choosing from among your thoughts. It must be implemented in every walk of life. When we deal with people elder to us, we are polite. But an honest polite person is polite with everyone, including people of lower status, workers, and even children. Not just with humans, we must also be polite with animals as they help us.

(3) Politeness is a skill, and like any other skill, can be mastered with practice. The greatest enemy of politeness is ego. To be a polite person, you have to sacrifice your ego. It is difficult for an egoist to be polite. You have to imply politeness in your thinking, speech, and action. Actions speak louder than words. Polite actions will render fine results. Politeness will reduce your stress and boost you to be productive. Apart from your present benefits, you protect your future. Being polite makes you mentally healthy.

(4) Different rules of behaviour have to be observed depending on whether we are in the street or the drawing room, at home or school, among friends or with strangers, and so on. Our behaviour also varies on the basis of the country we hail from as there is great diversity of social etiquette between the cultures of different countries.

(5) Politeness, besides being a duty that we owe to others, is a valuable possession for ourselves. It costs nothing, and yet may, in many cases, bring much profit. The great advantage of this excellence of conduct was very clearly expressed by Dr Johnson when he said that the difference between a well-bred and an ill-bred man is that the former immediately attracts your liking and the latter your dislike.

On the basis of your reading of the given passage, choose the correct option.     

Question. Define politeness.         
(i) Doing something without any sacrifice.
(ii) An inclination to make people happy temporarily.
(iii) The desire to put those whom we meet perfectly at ease.
(iv) A skill to annoy someone’s personal comfort.

Question. Our behaviour varies on the basis of:    
(i) diversity of social etiquette 
(ii) the country we hail from
(iii) the excellence of conduct
(iv) politeness in thinking, speech and action

Question. Which of the following best explains the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words’?   
(i) What someone actually does means more than what they say will do.
(ii) What someone says shows their intentions and feelings more clearly than what they do.
(iii) People are more likely to believe what you say than what you do.
(iv) Words have a greater impact than actions on someone.

Question. Based on your reading of the passage, choose the incorrect statement from the following.   
(i) There is great diversity of social etiquette between the cultures of different countries.
(ii) Being polite makes you mentally weak.
(iii) The greatest enemy of politeness is ego.
(iv) Politeness is a skill.

Question ‘Being polite will render fine results’. Substitute the underlined word with the most appropriate option from the following.    
(i) Give
(ii) Leave
(iii) Support
(iv) Surrender

Comprehensions for Class 8 English with Solutions

Read the following passage carefully.

CHILD MARRIAGE: AN EVIL

(1) Child marriages are rampant in North India. They continue to blight the lives of people. Children bound by marriage are victims of blind customs and superstitions prevalent in rural areas and certain urban concentrations among the weaker socio-economic groups. Nothing seems to stop this anti-social practice despite the Child Marriage Act passed as early as in 1929, which makes child marriage a grave offence.

(2) Why do child marriages take place and what can be done to prevent them from happening? The evil thrives because of illiteracy and other related causes—the most important of which is the anxiety of parents to marry off their daughters at the earliest. In many high-illiteracy states, like Rajasthan, the practice of child marriage is in vogue. Akhha Teej is D-day for the parents of minor girls, since, on that day, the parents seek salvation from the anxiety of girls growing up in their midst.

(3) A child marriage is less likely to take place if the parents are literate or at least the father is. He is, then, aware of the legal minimum age for marriage and the health hazards his daughter will face by an early marriage. If the mother, otherwise literate, has been exposed to the importance of family planning, she is also less likely to solemnise her daughter’s wedding before the legal minimum age.

(4) Among the other reasons that parents give away young daughters in marriage is the need, felt especially by families with more than one daughter, to keep wedding expenses down. By marrying two daughters simultaneously, parents save on expenses. Parental anxiety about grown-up (14 years and above) daughters going astray, forces the less educated to give away their female children in marriage.

(5) The Child Marriage Restraint Act in 19710, raised the minimum age of marriage for girls from 15 to 110 years and for boys from 110 to 21 years. The committee, on the status of women, in its report in 1974, had recommended that all offences under the Child Marriage Restraint Act should be made cognizable and special officers be appointed to enforce the law.
(6) The crux of the problem is that the role of a girl-child in traditional rural areas is circumscribed around marriage and motherhood.

On the basis of your reading of the given passage, choose the correct option. 

Question. Children bound by marriage are victims of:   
(i) blind customs
(ii) superstitions
(iii) both (i) and (ii)
(iv) neither (i) nor (ii)

Question. What is Akhha Teej?      
(i) The day when the family planning is exposed.
(ii) The day when parents seek salvation from the anxiety of girls growing up in their midst.      
(iii) The day when the daughter faces health hazards.
(iv) The day when two daughters marry simultaneously.

Question. Why do parents marry two daughters simultaneously?       
(i) To support the daughters
(ii) To avoid health hazards
(iii) To save on expenses
(iv) To enforce the law

Question. In what circumstance will a child marriage be less likely to take place?       
(i) If the children are victims of blind customs
(ii) If the parents are literate
(iii) If the parents seek salvation
(iv) If the parents keep wedding expenses down

Question. Select the option that makes the correct use of ‘grave’, as used in the passage, to fill in the blank space.     
(i) Life is a battle from cradle to _____________.
(ii) In the _____________, the rich and poor lie equal.
(iii) We realised very quickly that we had made a _____________ mistake.
(iv) She knelt beside her father’s _____________ to place flowers.

Solved Unseen Passage for Class 8 English

Read the following passage carefully. 

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SPARROWS GONE?

(1) They were once everywhere. Chirping and flapping their wings at the window sills, on top of cupboards, and on the branches of trees. Where have all the little sparrows gone? This is the most frequently asked question about sparrows these days.

(2) The association between humans and house sparrows dates back to several centuries and no other bird has been associated with humans on a daily basis like the house sparrow. It is a bird that evokes fond memories of childhood. The nests of sparrows dotted almost every house in the neighbourhood as well as public places like bus stands and railway stations, where they lived in colonies and survived on food grains and tiny worms.

(3) A study conducted by the Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, highlighted the fact that the population of sparrows had fallen by over 60 per cent even in the rural areas of coastal Andhra Pradesh. A survey conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology showed that the house sparrow’s population in Britain has declined by about 510 per cent since 1970.

(4) Certainly, there is no single reason for the decline of the house sparrows. Mobile tower radiation and excessive use of chemical fertilizers are aggravating the problem and have been identified as potent sparrow killers. 

(5) It is said that sparrow chicks, which require insect food for their survival in their early days, have not been getting adequate supply from their parents. This has triggered large scale death of chicks, leading to a gradual decline in their population.

(6) Urban landscape too, has been dramatically altered over the years. No longer are sparrows able to find the tiny nooks, crannies, and holes where they used to build their nests.

(7) Typically, sparrows were never an issue of concern for us with their diminutive presence in our household. Perhaps, it is this diminutive presence because of which even their gradual disappearance has gone unnoticed. Mohammed Dilawar is rightly called the Sparrow Man of India as he has been successful in drawing the attention of the world towards the declining number of house sparrows.

(8) House sparrows are an important bioindicator and their decline is a grim reminder of the degradation of the urban environment and the danger from it to the humans in the long run.

On the basis of your reading of the given passage, choose the correct option. 

Question. What is the most frequently asked question about sparrows these days?     
(i) Where have all the sparrows gone?
(ii) What do sparrows eat?
(iii) Where do sparrows live?
(iv) Why are sparrows everywhere?

Question. A survey conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology showed that:       
(i) house sparrows evoke fond memories of childhood
(ii) there is no single reason for the decline of the house sparrows
(iii) chemical fertilizers are aggravating the problem and have been identified as potent sparrow killers
(iv) house sparrows’ population in Britain has declined by about 59 per cent since 1970

Question. What has triggered leading to a gradual decline in their population?   
(i) Chicks not getting adequate supply from their parents
(ii) Mobile tower radiation
(iii) Degradation of the urban environment
(iv) None of these

Question. Which of the following definition explains the term ‘bioindicator’?   
(i) The species which have beaks and wings, and are sensitive to pollution.
(ii) The species which reveal the health of the natural ecosystem.
(iii) The species which reveal the presence of toxic pollutants in the environment.
(iv) The species which are on the verge of extinction.

Question. ‘Their degradation is a grim reminder of the degradation of the urban environment’. Substitute the underlined word with the most appropriate option from the following. 
(i) Gloomy
(ii) Mild
(iii) Fruitful
(iv) Ultimate