PRACTICE QUESTIONS
PASSAGE-1
Read the passage given below:
[Link] isn’t a mountain region of mere subjective beauty. Nor one,
which claims its greatness, based on just an Overwhelming opinion
of a large majority. Sikkim is a treasure that few know about.
However, the facts of its
Remarkable geography bear enough testimony to pitch Sikkim in a
slot that no other mountain region, anywhere in the world, could
duplicate or rival.
[Link] Everest is to peaks, Sikkim is to the mountains. Tragically, a
region so wild and exotic and with such Geographic and climatic
extremes, that its amazing wilds and not its unremarkable hill
stations, ensure its
accessibility to the adventurous only. Just delve on these facts a bit.
From the plains, in a mere 80 kms as the crow flies, the altitude
reaches 28,168 feet at the very top of Kangchenjunga, the third
highest peak in the world. Such a
Sharp elevation is unrivalled anywhere else and is the first
geographical claim of Sikkim. The second is an offshoot of the first.
Nowhere else do so many 7,000 metre plus peaks crowd up such a
confined space. And the third is really
a consequence of the first and the second with the sharp gradation
creating the most variegated flora and fauna possible anywhere in
the mountains. The fourth uniqueness is also a consequence of the
first and the second and
Lies in the extremes of the climate which ranges from the tropical to
the typical arctic type. And the fifth claim is its thin permanent
population and relatively fewer travellers by virtue of its remote far-
eastern Himalayan location.
[Link] startling facts about Sikkim never seem to end. For starters,
all of Sikkim lies in a mere 110 kms by 65 kms of mountains, peaks,
glaciers, rivers and forests. A little dot on the map at a latitude 27
degrees North and longitude 88 degrees East. Its 7,000-sq kms make
it about as large as the National Capital Region of India! To the North
and extending to the East of Sikkim, is Tibet / China and to the West
is Nepal. To the South are the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions
of West Bengal. It is, in fact these geographical extremes and the
resulting ambience, that makes Mountaineers trek here, when they
are not climbing, besides fuelling mountaineering dreams in the
minds of
trekkers, what with the closest possible proximity to magnificent
peaks while trekking.
4. On the subject of trekking here, it is strange but true that
acclimatisation is much tougher in Sikkim than elsewhere. It may
have something to do with being closer in latitude to the Tropic of
Cancer, besides the rather sharp stages involved in each day of
trekking. The closeness to the Tropic of Cancer has meant that the
snowline will always be much higher and therefore human
settlements are seen even at altitudes of 16,000 feet! (Adapted from
a travelogue by Ashish Kaul, Travel Writer)
(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage,
make notes on it using headings and subheadings. Use
recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four)
and a format you Consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate
title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.