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Unseen Passage for Class 6 with Questions

Reading comprehension lesson 21: Science and environment passages · Set 52 · 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.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.

    Where do the roots take up water from?
    (a) From the soil (b) From sunlight (c) From the air (d) From the leaves
  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.

    How long does one full spin take?
    (a) About one hour (b) About twenty-four hours (c) About 365 days (d) About one week
  3. 3.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.

    True or false: Most plastic rots away like fruit peels.
    (a) False (b) True
  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.

    When does the monsoon usually reach Kerala?
    (a) Early June (b) Early January (c) Late October (d) Mid March
  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.

    What special fighters does the body make?
    (a) germs (b) antibodies (c) vaccines (d) injections
  6. 6.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.

    True or false: Water vapour can be easily seen.
    (a) False (b) True
  7. 7.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) With nets (b) By pumps (c) In buckets (d) Through pipes
  8. 8.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 heats the water in seas and rivers?
    (a) The clouds (b) The Sun (c) The wind (d) The Moon
  9. 9.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.

    What do we hear as thunder?
    (a) Trees falling (b) Rain hitting roofs (c) Hot air expanding (d) Clouds crashing
  10. 10.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.

    How often does the Moon go around the Earth?
    (a) Once a day (b) Once a year (c) Once a week (d) About once a month
  11. 11.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 magma called once it comes out?
    (a) lava (b) magma (c) steam (d) crust
  12. 12.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) In summer (b) In the monsoon (c) In winter (d) At night

Answer key

  1. From the soil
  2. About twenty-four hours
  3. False
  4. Early June
  5. antibodies
  6. False
  7. Through pipes
  8. The Sun
  9. Hot air expanding
  10. About once a month
  11. lava
  12. In summer

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