ENGLISH PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT TEST NOV/DEC 2016

READING SKILLS PRACTICE MATERIALS

Question Paper - 8
Q.I. Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:
A cloud is made of water drops or ice crystals floating in the sky. There are many kinds of
clouds. Clouds are an important part of Earth's weather. The sky can be full of water. But
most of the time you can't see the water. The drops of water are too small to see. They have
turned into a gas called water vapor. As the water vapor goes higher in the sky, the air gets
cooler. The cooler air causes the water droplets to start to stick to things like bits of dust, ice
or sea salt.
Clouds get their names in two ways. One way is by where they are found in the sky. Some
clouds are high up in the sky. Low clouds form closer to Earth's surface. In fact, low clouds
can even touch the ground. These clouds are called fog. Middle clouds are found between
low and high clouds. Another way clouds are named is by their shape. Cirrus clouds are high
clouds. They look like feathers. Cumulus clouds are middle clouds. These clouds look like
giant cotton balls in the sky. Stratus clouds are low clouds. They cover the sky like bed
sheets. Most of the water in clouds is in very small droplets. The droplets are so light they
float in the air. Sometimes those droplets join with other droplets. Then they turn into larger
drops. When that happens, gravity causes them to fall to Earth. We call the falling water
drops "rain." When the air is colder, the water may form snowflakes instead. Freezing rain,
sleet or even hail can fall from clouds.
Clouds are important for many reasons. Rain and snow are two of those reasons. At night,
clouds reflect heat and keep the ground warmer. During the day, clouds make shade that can
keep us cooler. Studying clouds helps NASA better understand Earth's weather. NASA uses
satellites in space to study clouds. NASA also studies clouds on other planets. Mars has
clouds that are like the clouds on Earth. But other planets have clouds that aren't made of
water. For example, Jupiter has clouds made of a gas called ammonia.

Answer each question in about 25 30 words

1. What is the role of cooler air in the atmosphere?
2. Write about low clouds?
3. What are the types of clouds and their other names?
4. How does a droplet turn into rain?
5. Discuss the role of clouds during day and night.
Q.II. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:
(disconnection, virtues, fabric, yellow , bond, words, silent, speck, detachment, periods, heat,
not feeling, minute, vices, touch)
Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the ___(1)____of the sea. Besides
holding our hearts together through long ___(2)____of separation, it had the effect of making
us tolerant of each other's yarns-and even convictions. The Lawyer-the best of old fellowshad, because of his many years and many__(3)____, the only cushion on deck, and was lying
on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying
architecturally with the bones. Marlow sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzenmast. He had sunken cheeks, a ___(4)____complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and,
with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. The Director,
satisfied the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We
exchanged a few ___(5)__lazily.
Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. For some reason or other we did not begin
that game of dominoes. We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day
was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically; the sky,
without a____(6)____, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex
marshes was like a gauzy and radiant___(7)____, hung from the wooded rises inland, and
draping the low shores in diaphanous folds. Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the
upper reaches, became more sombre every___(8)___, as if angered by the approach of the
sun.

And at last, in its curved and imperceptible fall, the sun sank low, and from glowing white
changed to a dull red without rays and without__(9)____, as if about to go out suddenly,
stricken to death by the ___(10)___of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men.
Q. III. Read the given passage and match the words given in column A with those in
column B
The garden in my backyard hummed with the songs of summer twilight. Crickets hiding
under lush green foliage chirped around me. Bumblebees buzzed along thick honeysuckle
vines bordering the back of the garden. Maple tree leaves rustled in the soft evening breeze.
The setting sun cast shadows on the patches of red clay between the rows of green plants.
There were plants of all sizes: tall, short, thick, thin and climbing. Some plants had flowers.
Others bowed with plump red tomatoes, long green beans, shiny chili peppers, or round
purple eggplants. On the far left, a watermelon patch sprawled out. Leaves glistened from a
recent watering.
In the front right corner, clumps of spiky grass poked from the ground. I pulled one clump
and unearthed a small orange carrot. Brushing the damp dirt off, I tossed it into my basket.
Squelch, squelch. My shoes left imprints in the red clay as I moved farther back into the
garden. Swatting a mosquito away, my arm brushed against the wet leaves of a tomato plant
taller than my knees. I bent down to pluck a slippery ripe cherry tomato and bit into it. Sweet
tangy juice oozed out and warmed my tongue. Plunk. Two handfuls of tomatoes joined the
lonely carrot in my basket.
Past the tomatoes, a small kerala patch spread across the ground. My hand covered one of the
hard oval bumpy green Indian squashes. Although too bitter for me, my mom and dad would
relish it. Snip. I cut a few from the vine with my scissors.
To my right, a loki vine climbed so high and thick I couldnt see through the metal link fence
it covered. Light green Indian squashes the size of baseball bats hung from the vine. They
were too heavy for me to carry so I left them there.
I moved to my left to a small bare mound between the kerala patch and green bean plants.
The clay was freshly packed. Yesterday, I had secretly planted a peach pit hoping a tree full
of juicy peaches would grow. Walking next to the honeysuckle vines, I continued to the left.
Delicate white buds dotted glossy dark green leaves against a wooden fence. The sweet smell
of honeysuckle was intoxicating but I didnt get too close; I didnt want a bee sting.

In front of me, most of the chili peppers were still green but a few had aged to carnation red. I
reached for a red pepper the size of my index finger. My hand tingled from its spicy heat. I
quickly dropped it in my basket. A red ladybug sat on a dewy green bean leaf. I snapped a
handful of smooth green beans from the fragile plant. Water droplets sprayed my arm. The
ladybug fluttered away.
It was time for me to leave too. I ran out of the garden and back to my house where mom
would cook our garden dinner.
COLUMN A

COLUMN B

1.hummed

shining brightly

2.Foliage

grit

3.glistened

special mark

4.poked

dull

5.imprints

gourd vegetable

6.bumpy

stimulating

7.squashes

clear

8.mound

singing with lips closed

9.intoxicating

strike noisily

10.snapped

flat
messy heap
uneven
silently
making hole
leaves

Q. IV. Read the following passage and match Column A with Column B.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a multi-island archipelago at the southern tip of the
Bahamas chain, approximately 550 miles south-east of Florida. The islands are an overseas
territory of the United Kingdom although they exercise a high degree of local political
autonomy. The economy of the islands rests mainly on tourism, with some contribution from
offshore banking and fishing.

Primary schooling is divided into eight grades, with most pupils entering at the age of four
years and leaving at twelve. After two kindergarten years, Grades 1-6 are covered by a
graded curriculum in maths, language and science that increases in difficulty as pupils get
older. There is little repetition and pupils are expected to progress through primary school in
their age cohorts. At the end of primary schooling, pupils sit an examination that serves to
stream them in the secondary setting. Primary and secondary school enrolment is virtually
universal.
There are a total of ten government primary schools on the islands. Of these, seven are large
enough to organize pupils into single grade classrooms. Pupils in these schools are generally
grouped by age into mixed-ability classes. The remaining three schools, because of their
small pupil numbers, operate with multigrade groupings. They serve communities with small
populations whose children cannot travel to a neighbouring larger primary school. Pupils in
these classes span up to three grade and age groups.

As far as classroom organization is concerned, the multigrade and monograde classrooms are
similar in terms of the number of pupils and the general seating arrangements, with pupils in
rows facing the blackboard. There is no evidence that the multigrade teachers operate in a
particularly resource-poor environment in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This is in contract to
studies conducted in other developing country contexts.

Column A
1. I

paragraph

Column B
most primary pupils are in multigrade classes

2. II paragraph

similarity in the grade classrooms

3. III paragraph

multigrade classes are for the youngest three grades

4. IV paragraph

primary schools and its curriculum in the island

parents can choose to send their child to a multigrade school
economy of The Turks and Caicos Islands
most secondary pupils are in mixed-ability classes
multigrade classes are mostly found in smaller schools

Q. V. Rearrange sentences ABCD in the logical order. Pick the right answer from the
given options. Sentences S1 and S6 are in the correct position.

S1 :
A:
B:
C:
D:
S6:

For some time in his youth Abraham Lincoln was manager for a shop..
Then a chance Customer would come.
Young Lincoln way of keeping shop was entirely unlike anyone else's.
Lincoln would jump up and attend to his needs and then revert to his reading.
He used to lie full length on the counter of the shop eagerly reading a book.
Never before had Lincoln had so much time for reading as had then.

1. DCBA

2.ABCD

3.BDAC

4.BCDA