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Unseen Passage for Class 6 with Questions

Reading comprehension lesson 21: Science and environment passages · Set 119 · 12 questions
TalentJR

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.

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  1. 1.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.

    What can harm our hearing?
    (a) Soft music (b) Quiet rooms (c) Bird songs (d) Long loud sounds
  2. 2.Mangroves are trees that grow in salty water along the coast. Their roots stick out of the mud like knobbly fingers. These roots help the trees breathe in wet, airless soil. Mangrove forests protect the coast from strong waves and storms. They also give shelter to fish, crabs and birds. The Sundarbans, shared by India and Bangladesh, is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It is home to the Royal Bengal tiger. Cutting mangroves leaves the coast open to damage.

    Where do mangroves grow?
    (a) In deserts (b) In salty coastal water (c) On high mountains (d) In cold forests
  3. 3.A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust. Deep under the ground, rocks are so hot that they melt. This melted rock is called magma. When pressure builds up, magma pushes its way to the surface. Once it comes out, it is called lava. Lava can be hotter than 1,000 degrees Celsius. When it cools, it hardens into new rock. India’s only active volcano is on Barren Island in the Andaman Sea.

    What is melted rock under the ground called?
    (a) lava (b) ash (c) magma (d) crust
  4. 4.The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. It goes around the Earth once in about a month. The Moon does not have its own light. It shines because it reflects light from the Sun. As it moves, we see different amounts of its lit side. These changing shapes are called phases. On a full moon night, we see the whole bright face. On a new moon night, we can hardly see it at all.

    In “It goes around the Earth”, what does “It” refer to?
    (a) the Moon (b) a star (c) the Sun (d) the Earth
  5. 5.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.

    True or false: Vaccines have saved millions of lives.
    (a) False (b) True
  6. 6.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 dark (c) It is too big (d) There is no air
  7. 7.Every winter, thousands of birds fly to India from colder lands. These travellers are called migratory birds. Many of them come from Siberia and Central Asia. They escape the freezing cold and find food in our lakes and wetlands. Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Chilika Lake in Odisha are famous places to see them. Flamingos, cranes and ducks are among the visitors. In spring, the birds fly back to breed. Protecting wetlands keeps their winter homes safe.

    Why do the birds come to India?
    (a) To drink sea water (b) To see people (c) To lay eggs (d) To escape the cold
  8. 8.Every winter, thousands of birds fly to India from colder lands. These travellers are called migratory birds. Many of them come from Siberia and Central Asia. They escape the freezing cold and find food in our lakes and wetlands. Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Chilika Lake in Odisha are famous places to see them. Flamingos, cranes and ducks are among the visitors. In spring, the birds fly back to breed. Protecting wetlands keeps their winter homes safe.

    What does the passage call these travelling birds?
    (a) Song birds (b) Wild birds (c) Water birds (d) Migratory birds
  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.

    Where is the collected water stored?
    (a) On roofs (b) In bottles (c) In tanks (d) In clouds
  10. 10.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.

    Which word in the passage is the opposite of “heavy”?
    (a) cloth (b) cheap (c) strong (d) light
  11. 11.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.

    What special fighters does the body make?
    (a) vaccines (b) antibodies (c) injections (d) germs
  12. 12.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 can kill earthworms?
    (a) Natural manure (b) Dead leaves (c) Chemical sprays (d) Rain water

Answer key

  1. Long loud sounds
  2. In salty coastal water
  3. magma
  4. the Moon
  5. True
  6. There is no air
  7. To escape the cold
  8. Migratory birds
  9. In tanks
  10. light
  11. antibodies
  12. Chemical sprays

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