Read the extract and complete the activities given below:
Family can be classified into two types: joint family and nuclear family. In the joint family along with parents and children other members like grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. are included. In such family, socialization of children is quicker. Tasks are shared. Responsibilities are shared.
Establishment of emotional bonds are common leading to mental security. Members learn adjustment. But sometimes there are conflicts and misunderstandings among family members. Children do not get complete attention from their parents.
On the contrary nuclear family consists of parents and their children. So we see flexibility in parental roles. Parents share their responsibilities. Parent child relationships are very intimate. Full attention is paid on children’s personality development. But children lack in making adjustments. Children get too much attention from their parents and so they become demanding and selfish.
Parenting styles do influence children’s behaviour. The best known research on parenting style is Diana Baumrind’s early studies of pre-school children and their parents. She proposed three parenting styles : permissive, authoritarian and authoritative.
Permissive parents are inconsistent in their behaviour. So children of such parents become dependent, immature.
Authoritarian parents are rigid and punitive in nature. Children of such parents become unfriendly, unsocial and uninvolved. Parents provide food and shelter to their children but they neglect them and become emotionally detached. That leads to indifferent, rejecting behaviour on the part of the children.
Authoritative parents encourage independence, they set limits and goals, they are firm in their behaviour. This kind of parenting style makes children self-reliable, independent and develop social skills.
State whether the following statements are True or False. Correct the false statements and rewrite:
(a) In the nuclear family, the members do not have close interaction among themselves.
Answer: False
Correction: In a nuclear family, the members have close interaction among themselves.
(b) There are more conflicts and misunderstandings among family members in joint family.
Answer: True
(c) Flexibility of the parents has worst effect in children to make adjustments in nuclear family.
Answer: False
Correction: Flexibility of the parents has a positive effect on children to make adjustments in a nuclear family.
(d) The child’s physical, emotional and social development begins in school.
Answer: False
Correction: The child’s physical, emotional and social development begins at home.
(a) In the nuclear family, the members do not have close interaction among themselves.
Answer: False
Correction: In a nuclear family, the members have close interaction among themselves.
(b) There are more conflicts and misunderstandings among family members in joint family.
Answer: True
(c) Flexibility of the parents has worst effect in children to make adjustments in nuclear family.
Answer: False
Correction: Flexibility of the parents has a positive effect on children to make adjustments in a nuclear family.
(d) The child’s physical, emotional and social development begins in school.
Answer: False
Correction: The child’s physical, emotional and social development begins at home.
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
In a nuclear family, members are fewer in number, so they usually have closer interaction and stronger bonding.
In a joint family, many members live together, which may sometimes lead to misunderstandings and conflicts.
Step 2: Role of Parents.
Parental flexibility helps children learn adjustment, cooperation and responsibility.
It does not create a negative effect; rather, it improves emotional development.
Step 3: Child Development.
A child’s physical, emotional and social development begins at home, where the child first learns values, behaviour and communication skills.
School further develops these qualities but does not initiate them.
Pick out the sentences from the extract which indicate the strict behaviour of parents affecting the children.
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
The question asks us to identify sentences from the extract that show how the strict behaviour of parents affects their children.
We need to look for lines that show discipline, pressure, fear, or lack of freedom imposed by parents.
Step 2: Identifying Relevant Sentences.
The sentences that indicate strict parental behaviour are:
(i) “Father had forbidden us to play in the street.”
(ii) “We were not allowed to make any noise.”
(iii) “Mother insisted that we follow every rule without question.”
These sentences clearly show that the parents were very strict and imposed many restrictions on the children, which affected their freedom and happiness.
Step 3: Conclusion.
Thus, the above sentences reflect the strict behaviour of parents and its impact on the children.
Give reasons for the following and rewrite:
(a) In nuclear family children become demanding and selfish because __________.
(b) Children of permissive parents become dependent and immature because __________.
(a) In nuclear family children become demanding and selfish because __________.
(b) Children of permissive parents become dependent and immature because __________.
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
In a nuclear family, children usually receive the complete attention of their parents. There are fewer family members, and often parents fulfill most of the child’s wishes without much restriction. This may make the child self-centered and demanding as they are not used to sharing or adjusting with many others.
Rewritten sentence:
(a) In nuclear family children become demanding and selfish because they receive excessive attention and do not learn to share or adjust with others.
Step 2: Understanding Permissive Parenting.
Permissive parents are very lenient and do not set strict rules or boundaries for their children. They allow children to make decisions without proper guidance. As a result, children may not develop responsibility and maturity.
Rewritten sentence:
(b) Children of permissive parents become dependent and immature because their parents do not set proper rules or guide them towards responsibility.
Family plays an important role in developing your social behaviour. Write your thoughts on the given statement.
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
Family is the first school of a childIt is within the family that a child learns basic manners, values and patterns of behaviourFrom early childhood, family members influence the way a person thinks, speaks and acts in society
Step 2: Role of Family in Shaping Behaviour.
Parents and elders teach children important qualities such as respect, honesty, kindness and responsibilityThrough daily interaction, children learn how to communicate with others, how to share, and how to control their emotionsFamily traditions and discipline help in building good habits and moral values
Step 3: Social Skills Development.
The family environment provides opportunities to practise social skillsChildren observe how elders behave with neighbours, relatives and friends and try to imitate themA loving and supportive family builds confidence, cooperation and empathy, which are essential for healthy social behaviour
Step 4: Conclusion.
Thus, family plays a crucial role in shaping an individual’s personality and social conductA strong and positive family background helps a person become a responsible and well-mannered member of society
Children do not get complete attention from their parents.
(Identify the correct passive voice of the above sentence from the given options and rewrite.)
(Identify the correct passive voice of the above sentence from the given options and rewrite.)
Show Hint
- Complete attention do not get from their parents by the children.
- Complete attention from their parents does not get by the children.
- Complete attention from their parents is not got by the children.
- Complete attention from their parents is not received by the children.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The given sentence is in the simple present tense.
Structure: Subject + do/does + not + base verb + object.
Here,
Subject = Children
Verb = do not get
Object = complete attention from their parents.
Step 2: Rule for changing into passive voice (Simple Present).
Passive structure of simple present tense:
Object + is/am/are + past participle + by + subject.
Since “complete attention” is singular, we use “is”.
Step 3: Convert the sentence.
Active: Children do not get complete attention from their parents.
Passive: Complete attention from their parents is not received by the children.
(Note: “get” in passive form is better replaced with “received” for correct grammatical structure.)
Step 4: Analyze the options.
(A) Incorrect verb agreement (“do not get”) and wrong structure.
(B) Incorrect structure and verb form.
(C) “is not got” is grammatically incorrect in standard passive form.
(D) Correct passive structure and correct past participle “received”.
Step 5: Conclusion.
The grammatically correct passive voice sentence is option (D).
Authoritarian parents are rigid and punitive in nature.
(Identify the correct Wh-question to get an underlined answer from the given options and rewrite.)
(Identify the correct Wh-question to get an underlined answer from the given options and rewrite.)
Show Hint
- What are authoritarian parents in nature?
- What authoritarian parents are in nature?
- How the authoritarian parents in nature are?
- How are the authoritarian parents in nature?
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The underlined part is “rigid and punitive”, which describes the nature or quality of authoritarian parents.
Step 2: Choose the Correct Wh-word.
Since the answer describes a quality or manner, we use the Wh-word “How”.
We do not use “What” because “What” is generally used for identity or definition, not for describing nature or qualities in this structure.
Step 3: Apply Proper Question Structure.
In Wh-questions with the verb “are,” the correct structure is:
Wh-word + helping verb + subject + complement?
So, the correct formation becomes:
How are the authoritarian parents in nature?
Step 4: Check the Options.
(a) Incorrect because “What” is not suitable here.
(b) Incorrect due to wrong word order.
(c) Incorrect due to improper sentence structure.
(d) Correct because it follows proper Wh-question structure and grammar.
Find the synonyms of the words given below from the extract:
(i) impress
(ii) close
(i) impress
(ii) close
Show Hint
Solution and Explanation
The word impress means to influence someone strongly or to create admiration.
In the extract, the word used in a similar meaning is influence (or affect/move, depending on the exact line in the extract).
Step 2: Understanding the Word “close”.
The word close means near or not far.
In the extract, the word used with a similar meaning is near (or nearby).
Step 3: Final Answers.
(i) impress — influence
(ii) close — near
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
Read the extract and complete the activities given below:
At length Soapy reached one of the avenues to the east where the glitter and turmoil was but faint. He dragged himself toward Madison Square, for the homing instinct survives even when the home is a park bench.
But, on an unusually quiet corner, Soapy came to a standstill. Here was an old church, quaint and rambling and gabled. Through one violet-stained window a soft light glowed, where, no doubt, the organist loitered over the keys, making sure of his mastery of the coming Sabbath Anthem. For there drifted out to Soapy’s ears sweet music that caught and held him transfixed against the convolutions of the iron fence.
The moon was above, full and radiant; vehicles and pedestrians were few; sparrows twittered sleepily in the eaves or a little while the scene might have been a country churchyard. And the anthem that the organist played cemented Soapy to the iron fence, for he had known it well in the days when his life contained such things as mothers and roses and ambitions and friends and immaculate thoughts and collars.
The conjunction of Soapy’s receptive state of mind and the influences about the old church brought a sudden and wonderful change in his soul. He viewed with rising horror the pit into which he had tumbled, the degraded days,
unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked faculties and base motives that made up his existence. And also in a moment his heart responded thrillingly to this strange mood. A strong impulse moved him to battle with his desperate fate. He would pull himself out of the mire and would make a man of himself again; he would conquer the evil that had enslaved him. There was time; he was young yet; he would resurrect his old eager ambitions and pursue them without faltering. Those solemn but sweet organ notes had set up a revolution in him. Tomorrow he would go into the roaring downtown district and find work. A fur importer had once offered him a place as driver. He would be somebody in the world. He would .....
Soapy felt a hand laid on his arm. He looked quickly around into the impassive face of a policeman.
“What are you doin’ here?” asked the officer.
“Nothin’,” said Soapy.
“Then come along,” said the policeman.
“Three months on the island,” said the Magistrate in the Police Court the next morning.- Maharashtra Class XII - 2026
- English
- Reading Comprehension
“I put the brown paper in my pocket along with the chalks, and possibly other things. I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in one’s pocket: the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about the things in my pocket. But I found it would be too long: and the age of the great epics is past.”
(From G.K. Chesterton’s “A Piece of Chalk”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?- GATE CS - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(c) For what purpose do the two women and two men use language?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
(b) For what purpose does a philosopher use language?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
- Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Indian National Army plans went away with the defeat of Japan. Subhash Bose was killed in a plane accident while on his way to Tokyo. It is true that many leaders did not like the idea of India winning freedom with the assistance of a country like Japan and her fascist allies. But during the closing years of the war, Subhash Bose and the Indian National Army served to hold up the dropping spirits of the nationalist Indians at home, who were feeling helpless and frustrated. They set before all sections of the Indian people, including those serving in the army, an example of courage and patriotism which was both inspiring and ennobling. Therefore, when the Government announced their decision to prosecute some of the Indian National Army officers for treason because they had broken their oath of loyalty to the British crown, there was a wave of nationalist protest. There were massive demonstrations all over the country. There were persistent demands that the officers should be released.
(a) What was the result of the defeat of Japan?- UP Board XII - 2025
- English
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in Maharashtra Class XII exam
Read the extract and complete the activities given below:
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Coming out he trembles at the sink,
The cold water running over his brown hands,
A few droplets cling to the greying hair on his wrists.
His sullen children have often refused to share
Jokes and secrets with him.
He will now go to sleep
Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming
Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking
Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass.- Prove: Although Holmes appeared reserved, he worked on the case during their journey.
- Maharashtra Class XII - 2026
- Literary Genres
- According to Miss Morstan, her case was not ‘A singular case’. Explain.
- Maharashtra Class XII - 2026
- Literary Genres
- Describe, ‘Winning heart over money,’ as the central idea of the novel, ‘Around the World in Eighty Days.’
- Maharashtra Class XII - 2026
- Literary Genres
- ‘Passepartout blamed himself for his master’s misfortune.’ Explain.
- Maharashtra Class XII - 2026
- Literary Genres