Unseen Passage for Class 6 with Questions

Reading comprehension lesson 21: Science and environment passages · Set 109 · 12 questions

Reading tip (Cause and effect): Find the topic of the passage in the first sentence. Look for cause-and-effect words: because, so, as a result. Work out new science words from the sentence that explains them.

1. 1.A vaccine helps the body fight a disease before the disease attacks. It contains a weak or harmless form of a germ. The body’s defence system learns to recognise it. It then makes special fighters called antibodies. Later, if the real germ enters, the body knows how to beat it quickly. Children in India get vaccines against polio, measles and other diseases. Most vaccines are given as injections, but the polio vaccine can be given as drops. Vaccines have saved millions of lives.
   
   How can the polio vaccine be given? (a) As a bandage (b) As a tablet (c) As a cream (d) As drops
2. 2.The Earth spins like a top on an imaginary line called its axis. One full spin takes about twenty-four hours. As the Earth spins, one half faces the Sun and has day. The other half faces away and has night. The Earth also moves around the Sun. One trip around the Sun takes about 365 days, which is one year. The tilt of the Earth’s axis gives us seasons. So spinning gives us day and night, while the tilt and the yearly trip give us seasons.
   
   What gives us seasons, along with the yearly trip? (a) The ocean (b) The clouds (c) The tilt of the axis (d) The Moon
3. 3.The monsoon is a seasonal wind that brings rain to India. In summer, the land heats up faster than the sea. Moist winds then blow from the sea towards the land. The south-west monsoon usually reaches Kerala in early June. Over the next few weeks, it spreads across most of the country. Farmers wait eagerly for it because many crops need its rain. Rice, for example, grows in fields full of water. A weak monsoon can mean a poor harvest.
   
   What heats up faster in summer? (a) The rain (b) The clouds (c) The sea (d) The land
4. 4.The monsoon is a seasonal wind that brings rain to India. In summer, the land heats up faster than the sea. Moist winds then blow from the sea towards the land. The south-west monsoon usually reaches Kerala in early June. Over the next few weeks, it spreads across most of the country. Farmers wait eagerly for it because many crops need its rain. Rice, for example, grows in fields full of water. A weak monsoon can mean a poor harvest.
   
   Why do farmers wait eagerly for the monsoon? (a) Crops need its rain (b) Schools close (c) It brings snow (d) It is cool
5. 5.The Sun heats water in seas, rivers and lakes. The water turns into an invisible gas called water vapour. This change is called evaporation. High in the sky, the vapour cools and turns into tiny drops of water. These drops join together to form clouds. When the drops become too heavy, they fall as rain. This is called precipitation. Rainwater flows back into rivers and seas, and the cycle begins again.
   
   What do the tiny drops join together to form? (a) rivers (b) snow (c) lakes (d) clouds
6. 6.Earthworms are called the farmer’s friends. They dig tunnels as they move through the soil. These tunnels let air and water reach plant roots. Earthworms eat dead leaves and bits of rotting plants. Their waste, called castings, makes the soil rich. A field with many earthworms is usually healthy. Chemical sprays can kill these helpful creatures. So many farmers now use natural manure instead.
   
   What is earthworm waste called? (a) manure (b) sprays (c) tunnels (d) castings
7. 7.Plastic is cheap, light and strong. But most plastic does not rot away like leaves or fruit peels. A plastic bag may stay in the soil for hundreds of years. Plastic thrown on the road often blocks drains during the monsoon. Cows and other animals sometimes swallow plastic with food scraps. In the sea, turtles can mistake floating bags for jellyfish. We can help by carrying cloth bags and saying no to straws. Sorting dry and wet waste at home also helps.
   
   How long may a plastic bag stay in the soil? (a) One month (b) Hundreds of years (c) Ten minutes (d) A few days
8. 8.Plastic is cheap, light and strong. But most plastic does not rot away like leaves or fruit peels. A plastic bag may stay in the soil for hundreds of years. Plastic thrown on the road often blocks drains during the monsoon. Cows and other animals sometimes swallow plastic with food scraps. In the sea, turtles can mistake floating bags for jellyfish. We can help by carrying cloth bags and saying no to straws. Sorting dry and wet waste at home also helps.
   
   What can plastic on roads block during the monsoon? (a) trains (b) drains (c) rivers (d) clouds
9. 9.In many Indian cities, people face water shortages in summer. Rainwater harvesting is one simple answer. Rain falling on rooftops is collected through pipes. It is then stored in tanks or sent into the ground through pits. Water sent into the ground raises the level of water in wells. A single roof can collect thousands of litres in one monsoon. Some states have made rainwater harvesting compulsory for new buildings. Saving rain today means more water tomorrow.
   
   How is rain from rooftops collected? (a) In buckets (b) With nets (c) By pumps (d) Through pipes
10. 10.In many Indian cities, people face water shortages in summer. Rainwater harvesting is one simple answer. Rain falling on rooftops is collected through pipes. It is then stored in tanks or sent into the ground through pits. Water sent into the ground raises the level of water in wells. A single roof can collect thousands of litres in one monsoon. Some states have made rainwater harvesting compulsory for new buildings. Saving rain today means more water tomorrow.
    
    Where is the collected water stored? (a) On roofs (b) In clouds (c) In bottles (d) In tanks
11. 11.Sound is made when something vibrates, or moves quickly back and forth. When you pluck a sitar string, it vibrates and makes a sound. The vibrations travel through the air to our ears. Sound can also travel through water and solids. In fact, it moves faster through solids than through air. Sound cannot travel through empty space, where there is no air. That is why space is completely silent. Loud sounds for a long time can harm our hearing.
    
    Why is space completely silent? (a) It is too cold (b) It is too big (c) There is no air (d) It is too dark
12. 12.Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the sky. It happens when electric charges build up inside storm clouds. A flash of lightning heats the air around it very quickly. The hot air expands with a loud bang, which we hear as thunder. Light travels much faster than sound. That is why we see the flash before we hear the thunder. During a thunderstorm, stay indoors and away from tall trees. Standing under a tree is not safe, as lightning often strikes tall objects.
    
    Why is standing under a tree unsafe? (a) Birds live there (b) It strikes tall objects (c) Trees fall in rain (d) Leaves are wet

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