CHOITHRAM SCHOOL NORTH CAMPUS

WORKSHEET 2025-26
SUBJECT-ENGLISH CLASS-XI
WRITING SKILLS-NOTE-MAKING
I. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
[Link] does television affect our lives? It can be very helpful to people who carefully choose
the shows that they watch. Television can increase our knowledge of the outside world; there
are high quality programmes that help us understand many fields of study, science, medicine,
the different arts and so on. Moreover, television benefits very old people, who can’t leave the
house, as well as patients in hospitals. It also offers non-native speakers the advantage of daily
informal language practice. They can increase their vocabulary and practise listening.
2. On the other hand, there are several serious disadvantages of television. Of course, it
provides us with a pleasant way to relax and spend our free time, but in some countries people
watch television for an average of six hours or more a day. Many children stare at the TV
screen for more hours a day than they spend on anything else, including studying and sleeping.
It’s clear that TV has a powerful influence on their lives and that its influence is often
negative.
3. Recent studies show that after only thirty seconds of television viewing, a person’s brain
‘relaxes’ the same way that it does just before the person falls asleep. Another effect of
television on the human brain is that it seems to cause poor concentration. Children who view
a lot of television can often concentrate on a subject for only fifteen to twenty minutes. They
can pay attention only for the amount of time between commercials.
4. Another disadvantage is that television often causes people to become dissatisfied with their
own lives. Real life does not seem so exciting to these people. To many people, television
becomes more real than reality and their own lives seem boring. Also many people get upset
or depressed when they can’t solve problems in real life as quickly as television actors seem
to.
5. Before a child is fourteen years old, he or she views eleven thousand murders on the TV. He
or she begins to believe that there is nothing strange about fights, killings and other kinds of
violence. Many studies show that people become more violent after viewing certain
programmes. They may even do the things that they see in a violent show.
(a) One the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings
and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations (minimum four) and a format you
consider suitable. Supply a suitable title to it.
(b) Make a summary of the above passage in about 80 words.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Watching Television
1. Benefits
1.1 increases know.
1.1.1 of outside world
1.1.2 science
1.1.3 medicine
1.1.4 diff. Arts
1.2 recreation for old ppl. & patients
 1.3 informal lang. practice
1.4 increases vocab. & helps practise listening
2. Disadvantages
2.1 ppl. watch for 6 hrs. or more
2.2 students stare at screen for hrs.
2.3 negative influence
2.4 effect on human brain
2.4.1 poor conc.
3. Impact
3.1 feels life not very exciting
3.2 TV more real, life seems boring
3.3 depression when can’t solve problems
4. Violence shown on TV
4.1 children become violent
4.2 killings seem normal
Key to Abbreviations

Summary
Advantages and Disadvantages of Watching Television
Watching television increases knowledge of the outside world, science, medicine and different
arts. It helps old people and patients to recreate. It assists in informal language practice, improving
vocabulary and practise listening. However, watching television for more than six hours and
staring on screens has a negative influence on students. It affects the human brain and leads to
poor concentration. Television makes life boring and nothing feels exciting. People can feel
depressed when they are unable to solve problems as quickly as actors do. Television normalises
violence which can make children violent.
II. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow
1. Occasional self-medication has always been part of normal behaviour in India. Only during the
last hundred years or so has the development of scientific techniques made diagnosis possible.
The doctor is now able to follow up the correct diagnosis of many illnesses — with specific
treatment of their causes. In many other illnesses of which the cause remains unknown, he is still
limited to the treatment of symptoms. The doctor is trained to decide when to treat symptoms only
and when to attack the cause. This is the essential difference between medical prescribing and
self-medication.
2. The advance of technology has brought about much progress in some fields of medicine,
including the development of scientific drug therapy. In many countries public health organisation
is improving and people’s nutritional standards have risen. Parallel with such beneficial trends are
two trends which have an adverse effect: one is the use of high pressure advertising by the
pharmaceutical industry which has tended to influence both patients and doctors and has led to the
overuse of drugs generally. The other is the emergence of the sedentary society with its faulty
ways of life: lack of exercise, overeating, unsuitable eating, insufficient sleep, smoking and
drinking. People with disorders arising from faulty habits such as these, as well as from unhappy
human relationships, often resort to self-medication and so add the taking of medicines to the list.
Advertisers go to great lengths to catch the market.
3. Clever advertising, aimed at chronic sufferers who will try anything because doctors have not
been able to cure them, can induce such faith in a preparation, particularly if steeply priced, that it
will produce — by suggestion though — a very real effect in some people. Advertisements are
also aimed at people suffering from mild complaints such as simple cold and cough which clear
up by themselves within a short time.
4. These are the main reasons why laxatives, indigestion-remedies, painkillers, cough mixtures,
tonics, vitamins and iron tablets, etc., are found in many households. It is doubtful if taking these
things ever improves a person’s health, it may even make it worse. Worse, because the
preparation may contain unsuitable ingredients; worse because the taker may become dependent
on them; worse because they might be taken in excess; worse because they may cause food
poisoning and worst of all because symptoms of some serious underlying cause may be masked
and therefore medical help may not be sought. Self-diagnosis is a greater danger than self-
medication.
Questions
(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and
subheadings. Use recognisable abbreviations (wherever necessary – minimum four) and a format
you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage.
Title Self-Medication
1. Self-medication
1.1. Part of normal living—last 100 yrs
1.2. Advance in diagnostic technology
1.3. Doc required – diagnosis & treatment of disease
 2. Self-medication differs from medical prescription
2.1. Technological Advmnt in medicine
2.2. Drug therapy
2.3. Improvement in public health organisations
2.4. Increase in nutritional standards
3. Emrgng trends with advrs effects
3.1. Advertising
3.1.1. Influences patients and doctors
3.1.2. Led to overuse of drugs
3.2. Sedentary lifestyle
3.2.1. lack of exercise
3.2.2. overeating
3.2.3. unsuitable eating
3.2.4. insufficient sleep
3.2.5. smoking & drinking
3.3. Clever advertising by pharmaceutical companies
4. Take advantage of people’s need
4.1. Chronic sufferers
4.2. Ppl will try anything
5. Dangers of self-medication
5.1. Preparation of some drugs contains unsuitable ingredients
5.2. Taker becomes dependent
5.3. Taker consumes medicine in excess
5.4. Preparations may cause food poisoning
5.5. Real cause of illness gets suppressed or untreated
Key to Abbreviations
Yrs — Yearss
Advmnt — Advancement
Doc — Doctor
Emrgng — Emerging
Advrs — adverse
Ppl — People
 Summary
(b) Self-medication is part of normal living. Medicinal experts are required for diagnosis and
treatment of diseases according to symptoms and causes. The development of drug therapy and
improvement in public health organisations as well as nutritional standards have helped progress
in medicinal science. Excessive advertising by pharmaceutical companies and emergence of the
sedentary society are two counter trends. Self-medication is dangerous as the preparation may be
toxic or contain unsuitable ingredients; the user becomes dependent and consumes medicine in
excess. Self-diagnosis is worse than self-medication.
Practice Questions
I. It is surprising that sometimes we don’t listen to what people say to us. We hear them, but we
don’t listen to them. I was curious to know how hearing is different from listening. I had thought
both were synonyms, but gradually, I realised there is a big difference between the two words.
Hearing is a physical phenomenon. Whenever somebody speaks, the sound waves generated reach
you, and you definitely hear whatever is said to you. However, even if you hear something, it
doesn’t always mean that you actually understand whatever is being said. Paying attention to
whatever you hear means you are really listening. Consciously using your mind to understand
whatever is being said is listening. Diving deeper, I found that listening is not only hearing with
attention, but is much more than that. Listening is hearing with full attention, and applying our
mind. Most of the time, we listen to someone, but our minds are full of needless chatter and there
doesn’t seem to be enough space to accommodate what is being spoken. We come up with a lot of
prejudices and preconceived notions about the speaker or the subject on which he is talking. We
pretend to listen to the speaker, but deep inside, we sit in judgement and are dying to pronounce
right or wrong, true or false, yes or no. Sometimes, we even come prepared with a negative
mindset of proving the speaker wrong. Even if the speaker says nothing harmful, we are ready to
pounce on him with our own version of things. What we should ideally do is listen first with full
awareness. Once, we have done that, we can decide whether we want to make a judgement or not.
Once we do that, communication will be perfect and our interpersonal relationship will become so
much better. Listening well doesn’t mean one has to say the right thing at the right moment. In
fact, sometimes if words are left unspoken, there is a feeling of tension and negativity. Therefore,
it is better to speak out your mind, but do so with awareness after listening to the speaker with full
concentration. Let’s look at this in another way. When you really listen, you imbibe not only what
is being spoken, but you also understand what is not spoken as well. Most of the time we don’t
really listen even to people who really matter to us. That’s how misunderstandings grow among
families, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters. Questions
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it, using headings and sub-
headings. Use recognisable 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.
II. 1. Physical education which is commonly part of the curriculum at school level includes
training in the development and care of the human body and maintaining physical fitness. Physical
education is also about sharpening overall cognitive abilities and motor skills via athletics,
exercise and various other physical activities like martial arts and dance. 2. Physical education
promotes the importance of inclusion of a regular fitness activity in the routine. This helps the
students to maintain their fitness, develop their muscular strength, increase their stamina and thus,
stretch their physical abilities to an optimum level. Physical fitness helps them to inculcate the
importance of maintaining a healthy body, which in turn keeps them happy and energised. 3.
Participating in sports, be it team sports or dual and individual sports, leads to a major boost in
self-confidence. The ability to go on the field and perform instills a sense of self-confidence,
which is very important for the development of a person’s character. Every victory achieved on
the field, helps to boost a person’s self-confidence. Moreover, the ability to accept defeat on the
field and yet believe in your capabilities brings a sense of positive attitude as well. 4. Physical
education classes are about participating in the physical fitness and recreation activities, but they
are also about learning the overall aspects of physical health. For example, in today’s world the
problem of obesity, or anaemia and bulimia are common amongst teenagers. Physical education
provides an excellent opportunity for teachers to promote the benefits of healthy and nutritious
food and warn against the ill effects of junk food. Promoting sound eating practices and guidelines
for nutrition are some of the most valuable lessons that can be taught through physical education
classes at school level. 5. Participation in team sports and even dual sports helps to imbibe a sense
of team spirit amongst the students. While participating in team sports, the children have to
function as an entire team, and hence they learn how to organise themselves and function together.
This process of team building hones a person’s overall communication skills and the ability to get
along with different people. 6. Participation in sports and physical education activities help to
sharpen the reflexes of the students. It also brings order and discipline to the body movements and
helps in development of a sound body posture. The hand-eye coordination improves as well. 7.
Physical education classes also include lessons about the importance of personal hygiene and
importance of cleanliness. Thus, these classes help the students to know the important hygiene
practices that must be practised in order to maintain health and wellness throughout life. 8.
Physical education classes help to enhance the overall cognitive abilities of the students, since
they get a knowledge of the different kinds of sports and physical activities that they participate
in. For example, a person who is participating in a specific type of martial arts class, will also gain
knowledge of the origins of the martial arts, and the other practices and historical significance
associated with it.
Questions
(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and
subheadings. Use recognisable abbreviation (wherever necessary – minimum four) and a format
you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage.