Q. 3.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that
follow: (20)
The New Year is the time for resolution. Mentally, at least most of us could compile
formidable lists of ‘do’s and ‘don’ts’. The same old favorites recur year in and year out with
the children, do a thousand and one job about the house, be nice to people we don't like,
drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that
certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain deep rooted liars, it is only
because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.
Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious
and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of
announcing our resolution to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip
back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my
resolution to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions, to do physical exercise every
morning and to read more in the evening. An overnight party on New Year’s Eve provided
me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day
of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
The daily exercise lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the
morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed
eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down
into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about in the
carpet and twisted the human frame into uncomfortable positions. I sat down at the
breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning
the whole family trooped into watch the performance. That was really unsettling but I
fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good humoredly and soon everybody got used
to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned, the time I spent at exercises gradually
diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th I was back to
where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in
the morning. I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work. Resisting
the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued
to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of
the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to the
old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven’t given up my resolution to do
more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled ‘How to Read a Thousand Words a
Minute’. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just have not had time to read it.
Questions:
1. Why most of us fail in our efforts for self-improvement? (5)
2. Why is it a basic mistake to announce our resolution to everybody? (5)
3. Why did the writer not carry out his resolution on New Year’s Day? (5)
4. Find out the words in the above passage which convey the similar meaning to the
following:
(1) intimidating (2) peril (3) dwindle (4) repel (5) barb (5)
Answers:
1. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious
and we never have the time to carry them out.
2. It is a basic mistake to announce our resolutions to everybody because it makes us look
even more foolish when we slip back into our old bad ways.
3. The writer did not carry out his resolutions on New Year’s Day because an overnight
party on New Year’s Eve provided him with a good excuse to skip them for the first day.
4. Words with similar meanings from the passage:
(1) intimidating -> formidable
(2) peril -> pitfalls
(3) dwindle -> diminished (or waned)
(4) repel -> fended off
(5) barb -> jibes (or taunts)