CBSE Papers, Questions, Answers, MCQ ...: CBSE Class 9/10 - English

Reading Comprehension Passage

From CBSE Class 10 Sample Question Paper

When my maternal uncle was alive, his only son quietly made plans to settle in Germany with his wife. Without informing his father or sister he bought tickets ‘and sold all movable things at home. A week before he left, everyone was informed of his plans. People criticised him for abandoning his father. The married daughter who was settled in Bhopal, shifted to Delhi to look after her father. A year later the father was admitted to a private hospital and died. The son came from Germany, paid the bills and performed all the death ceremonies.

People now said that after all, he had come all the way so he was not a bad son. No word about how he had neglected his father or how his sister had to disrupt her personal life to take care of old Dad.
This is what life teaches every daughter. That our society values a son more because he has the religious sanction to perform death ceremonies and grant them liberation - (Mukti). A daughter may have given them love, care, sensitivity, time, service, but the son gets preference because he carries forward the family name and performs shraadh. He may be uncaring, arrogant and indifferent but for parents, a son is their treasure.

Two years back in our neighbourhood a man died without leaving a will. His only son sold the bungalow and took away his sick mother without informing his three sisters who then approached the courts for a share of the property. Is this the family structure we boast of to the world? Where do love and laughter vanish when siblings become adults? Are we right in blaming a newlywed for poisoning a son’s brain? Love for a daughter has to come from within. Saints repeatedly clarify that death ceremonies need not be performed only by one’s own son. And what guarantee is there that a son will perform the shraadh? If parents do not reciprocate a daughter’s love, won’t Heaven, which claims to be just and fair, reproaches them for their insensitivity?

Questions

(a) Why did people criticise the son?

(b) The girl shifted from Bhopal to Delhi. Why?

(c) People changed their views about the son later on. Why? Do you agree with their views?

(d) The parents consider their son as a treasure because :
i. He is uncaring and arrogant.
ii. He goes abroad to earn money.
iii. He sells the property.
iv. He carries forward the family name.

(e) Daughters are the gifts for the parents. Do you agree? Give reasons.

(f) Find words from the passage which mean same as -
i. leave permanently

ii. disappear suddenly
(g) Do you think that society is insensitive to a daughter’s love for her parents? Give an example.

(h) Frame two questions based on the underlined part of the passage.

Answers:

(a) Because he quietly moved to Germany.

(b) Because she wanted to look after her parents.

(c) Yes because he performed ceremonies and paid bills.

(d) iv. Carries forward the family name.

(e) Yes because girls are caring, sensitive and affectionate.

(f) (i) abandon (ii) vanish

(g) Yes, society is insensitive to daughter's feelings because she was not allowed to perform shraad.

(h) (i) What did the son do after the death of his father?

(ii) Why did his sisters approach the courts?

(iii) How much devalued are our family values?