Unseen Passage for Class 6 with Questions

Reading comprehension lesson 21: Science and environment passages · Set 88 · 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.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.
   
   In “It is home to the Royal Bengal tiger”, what does “It” refer to? (a) The Sundarbans (b) The mud (c) A crab (d) The coast
2. 2.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 sunlight (b) From the leaves (c) From the air (d) From the soil
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 can a weak monsoon mean? (a) A big flood (b) More rice (c) A cold winter (d) A poor harvest
4. 4.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) Equator (b) Orbit (c) Pole (d) Axis
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.
   
   How can the polio vaccine be given? (a) As a cream (b) As drops (c) As a bandage (d) As a tablet
6. 6.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.
   
   True or false: Plants make their own food using sunlight. (a) True (b) False
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.
   
   When do these birds come to India? (a) Every winter (b) Every spring (c) During the monsoon (d) Every summer
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 do the tiny drops join together to form? (a) snow (b) lakes (c) clouds (d) rivers
9. 9.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 turtles mistake floating bags for? (a) fish eggs (b) rocks (c) seaweed (d) jellyfish
10. 10.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 trip around the Sun take? (a) About 365 days (b) About 100 days (c) About 24 hours (d) About 30 days
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 dark (c) It is too big (d) There is no air
12. 12.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 does “vibrates” mean in the passage? (a) Moves back and forth (b) Stays still (c) Becomes hot (d) Breaks apart

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