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Unseen Passage for Class 6 with Questions

Reading comprehension lesson 21: Science and environment passages · Set 50 · 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.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.

    What rises when water is sent into the ground?
    (a) Soil heat (b) Water in wells (c) Rainfall (d) The roof height
  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.

    Which big cat lives in the Sundarbans?
    (a) Royal Bengal tiger (b) Snow leopard (c) Asiatic lion (d) Cheetah
  3. 3.Bees visit flowers to collect sweet nectar. While they feed, yellow dust called pollen sticks to their hairy bodies. When a bee flies to the next flower, some pollen rubs off. This carrying of pollen is called pollination. Pollination helps plants make fruits and seeds. Mangoes, apples and many vegetables depend on it. Without bees, farmers would harvest far less food. So bees are tiny helpers of every farm.

    What would happen without bees?
    (a) More rain would fall (b) Farms become quieter (c) Farmers get less food (d) Flowers grow bigger
  4. 4.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) A few days (b) One month (c) Hundreds of years (d) Ten minutes
  5. 5.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) Bird songs (b) Long loud sounds (c) Quiet rooms (d) Soft music
  6. 6.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 is the imaginary line the Earth spins on called?
    (a) Orbit (b) Axis (c) Equator (d) Pole
  7. 7.Every living thing needs food for energy. Plants make their own food using sunlight. A grasshopper eats grass. A frog eats the grasshopper. A snake eats the frog, and an eagle eats the snake. This link of who eats whom is called a food chain. Every food chain begins with a green plant. If one link disappears, the whole chain is affected.

    What does the frog eat?
    (a) The grass (b) The snake (c) The eagle (d) The grasshopper
  8. 8.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.

    When do people in cities face water shortages?
    (a) At night (b) In summer (c) In winter (d) In the monsoon
  9. 9.Green plants make their own food. This process is called photosynthesis. Leaves take in carbon dioxide from the air through tiny holes. Roots take up water from the soil. A green substance in the leaves, called chlorophyll, traps sunlight. Using the energy of sunlight, the leaf turns water and carbon dioxide into sugar. Oxygen is given out into the air. Animals and people breathe in this oxygen.

    Which gas is given out during photosynthesis?
    (a) Oxygen (b) Smoke (c) Carbon dioxide (d) Water vapour
  10. 10.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.

    Where is India’s only active volcano?
    (a) Kerala (b) Ladakh (c) Sundarbans (d) Barren Island
  11. 11.Bees visit flowers to collect sweet nectar. While they feed, yellow dust called pollen sticks to their hairy bodies. When a bee flies to the next flower, some pollen rubs off. This carrying of pollen is called pollination. Pollination helps plants make fruits and seeds. Mangoes, apples and many vegetables depend on it. Without bees, farmers would harvest far less food. So bees are tiny helpers of every farm.

    What is the yellow dust on flowers called?
    (a) honey (b) nectar (c) pollen (d) wax
  12. 12.Green plants make their own food. This process is called photosynthesis. Leaves take in carbon dioxide from the air through tiny holes. Roots take up water from the soil. A green substance in the leaves, called chlorophyll, traps sunlight. Using the energy of sunlight, the leaf turns water and carbon dioxide into sugar. Oxygen is given out into the air. Animals and people breathe in this oxygen.

    What is the main idea of the passage?
    (a) How plants make food (b) How roots grow long (c) Why animals breathe (d) Why leaves fall

Answer key

  1. Water in wells
  2. Royal Bengal tiger
  3. Farmers get less food
  4. Hundreds of years
  5. Long loud sounds
  6. Axis
  7. The grasshopper
  8. In summer
  9. Oxygen
  10. Barren Island
  11. pollen
  12. How plants make food

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