Class 12 English A Voyage Chapter 6 If the Well Goes Dry Questions and Answers
Students can also download MP Board 12th Model Papers to help you to revise the complete Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.
If the Well Goes Dry Class 12th Question Answer
Word Power
A. Answer the fol lowing questions in about 60 to 75 words each:
Column – A Column B
1. spiritual – (i) mystical, divine, physical
2. profound – (ii) shallow, intense, acute
3. populated – (iii) inhabited, desolate, populous
4. frequent – (iv) irregular, repeated, recurrent
5. exacerbate – (v) worsen, aggravate, soothe
6. massive – (vi) colossal, gigantic, infinitesimal
7. impaired – (vii) unhindered, diminished, weakened
8. vulnerable – (viii) susceptible, exposed, impregnable
9. untreated – (ix) natural, preserved, crude
Answer:
The odd ones in the choices given in column ‘B’ are the following:
- physical
- shallow
- desolate
- irregular
- soothe
- infinitesimal
- unhindered
- impregnable
- preserved.
B. Homophones are the words that have almost the same sound but differ from one another in origin, spelling and meaning. Example:
new (adj.)—not existing before, recent: Let me show you my new dress.
knew (v.)—had information: I knew where he was hiding.
Now distinguish between the following pairs of words and use them in sentences to bring out the meaning.
soul—sole, sight—site, birth—berth, peace—piece, write—right, made—maid
Answer:
1. Soul—spirit: Soul never dies.
Sole—one and only : Mr Raj is the sole claimant of this empire.
2. Sight—vision : There was nothing in sight around the temple.
Site—spot : The police reached the site of accident.
3. Birth—origin : Gandhi was not of a high born.
Berth—a sleeping place in a ship or train: I have reserved two berths in Rajdhani Express.
4. Peace—quietness, serenity : I love peace.
Piece—a bit : Cut the fruit into pieces and distribute them.
5. Write—to peri : He asked me to write my name clearl
Right—correct :1 was right in my assessment.
6. Made—prepared :1 have made this proposal with labour.
Maid—a girl: His maid servant is absent today.
C. Look at the ‘conforms’ in the sentence,…… the same geographic pattern The conforms to the distribution of freshwater in the planet.’ The word looks very similar to ‘confirm’ and therefore confuses us : There are several other pairs of words like this.
Now complete each sentence by selecting the correct alternative:
(i) Did he (maintain/mention) where he was going?
(ii) One has to be (judicial/judicious) in choosing one’s friends.
(iii) He wanted to (compliment/complement) his friend on the beautiful portrait, he had drawn.
(iv) The escaped criminal (eluded/alluded) arrest for over a week.
(v) The (effect/affect) of the principal’s (advice/advise) was immediately seen.
(vi) From the hints provided, I (deduced/deducted) that the figure was a hexagon.
(vii) The (precise/concise) distinction between these two words is hard to explain.
(viii) There has been an appreciable (raise/rise) in prices.
(ix) Friends and relatives of the (diseased/deceased) attended the memorial meeting.
(x) Many (imminent/eminent) scholars agree with her new theory.
Answer:
(i) Did he mention where he was going?
(ii) One has to be judicious in choosing one’s friends.
(iii) He wanted to compliment his friend on the beautiful portait he had drawn.
(iv) The escaped criminal eluded arrest for over a week.
(v) The effect of the principal’s advice was immediately seen.
(vi) From the hints provided, I deduced that the figure was a hexagon.
(vii) The precise distinction between these two words is hard to explain.
(viii) There has been an appreciable rise in prices.
(ix) Friends and relatives of the deceased attended the memorial meeting.
(x) Many eminent scholars agree with her new theory.
A. Answer the following questions in one sentence each:
Question 1.
How much water does the human body contain?
Answer:
The human body contains 71 per cent water.
Question 2.
Since when has man been changing his relationship with the earth drastically?
Answer:
Man has been changing his relationship with the earth drastically since the industrial revolution.
Question 3.
Where do we get freshwater from?
Answer:
We get most of the freshwater from ground and less than 0.1 per cent is obtained from lakes, rivers etc.
Question 4.
What threat do rising sea levels pose to human population?
Answer:
Rising sea levels will lead to loss of low-lying coastal areas around the world which will further give rise in number of refugees as one-third of population live within sixty kilometers of coastline.
Question 5.
Where do chemical pollutants come from? (M.P. Board 2015)
Answer:
Chemical pollutants come from industrial establishments.
B. Answer the following questions in about 40-60 words each:
Question 1.
Why does water carry spiritual significance in most religions? (M.P. Board 2009)
Answer:
Water plays a significant role in our life. It is 71 per cent of the whole human body. In most of the religions, it has a spiritual significance for it is considered to be a divine purifier. No worship or offerings to God in Hindu religion is performed without purification with water. In Christian baptism too, it is used symbolising purification and regeneration.
Question 2.
What is the resemblance between the patterns of human civilization and those of the distribution of fresh water?
Answer:
The human civilization is spread over for many more centuries. But now it has been decayed or on the path of decay. It is very rare. In the same way, freshwater is now a rarity for us. It is only 2.5 per cent of the total amount of water on earth.
Question 3.
What drives the cold ocean stream from the poles towards the equator?
Answer:
As the warm ocean water from the tropics moves northward, most of it evaporates along the way. When it hits the cold polar winds between Greenland and Iceland, the evaporation accelerates leaving behind much salter sea water which grows denser and heavier. This rapidly cooling water sinks to the bottom forming a deep current near the ocean floor. tn the process, it transfers cold streams from the poles back towards the equator.
Question 4.
Write two ways in which global warming raises sea levels. (MP. Board 2016)
Answer:
Two ways in which global warming raises sea level are:
- Higher average temperatures result in the melting of glaciers, in ice being discharged into the oceans from the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, and in the thermal expansion of the volume of the sea as its water warms.
- In some coastal cities like Miami, the freshwater aquifer on which it relies for its drinking water actually floats on salt water, so that rising seas would push the water table up in some cases, to the surface.
Question 5.
What causes the average hurricane to be more powerful? How?
Answer:
Warming causes the average hurricane to be more powerful because the depth and warmth of the ocean’s top layer is the single most important factor in determining the speed of hurricane’s winds, More powerful and more frequent storms coming into the land from the ocean would in turn greatly exacerbate the damage from rising sea levels for it is during storm surges that the sea advances farthest inland from the coast.
Question 6.
How do the forests produce rain clouds?
Answer:
Forests produce rain clouds partly because of evapotranspiration (Transpiration is the plant equivalent of sweat, add to it the evaporation from surfaces like broad leaves). Immediately after the rain falls on a rain forest, a fine mist begins to float back into the sky. It increases both humidity in the air and the odds of more rain just downwind.
Question 7.
How do the forests attract rain?
Answer:
Forests attract rain by producing gases called terpenes and small amounts of a compounds called dimethylsulfide, which float into the atmosphere as a gas, undergo oxidation, and are transformed into an aerosol of sulfate particles which then serve as the tiny “grains” around which droplets of rainwater form the same way a pearl forms around a tiny grain of sand or shell in an oyster.
Question 8.
Describe the effects of chemical pollutants on mankind.
Answer:
Chemical pollutants are the threat to human life. They cause severe contamination of water. They pollute atmosphere. As a result our body gets badly affected. Several diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea that arise from both viral and bacteriological sources are caused by these pollutants. We lack proper sanitations.
Question 9.
Why do the solutions to freshwater problem like desalinization plants and flowing of glaciers seem unfeasible?
Answer:
The solutions to freshwater problem like desalinization and flowing of glaciers seem unfeasible because this scheme is too costly to afford for the poor countries that actually need it. Moreover this technology, Like the schemes to lasso icebergs pull them from the polar regions to the populous tropics and is unlikely to solve the underlying problem because of the enormous energy and CO2 costs involved.
Question 10.
What should we do to solve the problem of freshwater?
Answer:
Since human beings are the worst victims of the problem of the freshwater, they need to lasso their common sense. The rains bring us trees and flowers; the droughts bring gaping cracks in the world. The lakes and river sustain us slowing through the veins of the earth and into our own. So, we must be aware to take care to let them flow back out as pure as they come. We should not poison and waste them.
C. Answer the following questions in about 75 Words each:
Question 1.
Write the chemical composition of the human body. In what way is the human body similar to the earth?
Answer:
Human body is a composition of several chemical elements. Water is the most prominent of all of them. Human body contains 23 per cent carbon, 2.6 per cent nitrogen, 1.4 per cent calcium, 1.1 per cent phosphorus, with tiny amounts of roughly three dozen other elements, Added to these, we have 61 per cent of oxygen and 10 percent of hydrogen fused together in the unique molecular composition known as water. A human body contains 1 per cent of water. Similar to earth, as earth to has 70 per cent water and 30 per cent land.
Question 2.
How does global warming affect the climate pattern? (MP. Board 2011)
Answer:
Global warming affects the climate pattern of the earth in a very adverse manner. The health of the planet Earth depends on maintaining a complex balance of interrelated system. Global warming is changing the way water is transferred from oceans to the land and precipitation accelerating the entire cycle. In addition, the increased warmth also increases the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere which magnifies the greenhouse effect and speeds the process still further. As the global warming heats up the polar regions faster than the tropics, it changes the way the earth achieves a balance between hot and cold.
Question 3.
How does rising sea-level threaten freshwater supply?
Answer:
Global warming causes a rise in sea level in several ways. Higher average temperatures result in the melting of glaciers, in ice being discharged into the oceans from the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland and in the thermal expansion of the volume of the sea as its water warms. The rising seas would push the water table up, in some cases to the surface.
Warming oceans are also likely to cause the average hurricane to be more powerful because the depth and warmth of the ocean’s top layer is the single most important factor in determining the speed of a hurricane’s winds. More powerful and more frequent storms coming into the land from the ocean would, in turn, greatly exacerbate the damage from rising sea levels. It would change the entire water cycle and cause great damage to our freshwater system.
Question 4.
Describe the effects of deforestation on the eco-system. (M.P. Board 2012)
Answer:
Widespread deforestation is a great concern for the future of human life. The destruction of a forest can affect the hydrological cycle (the natural water distribution system) in a given area. More water is stored in the forests of the earth especially the tropical rain forests than its lakes. Forests themselves produce rain clouds partly because of evapotranspiration. Immediately after the rain falls on a rain forest, a fine mist begins to float back into the sky It increases both the humidity in the air and the odds of more rain just downwind.
Forests also attract rain by producing gases called tempenes and small amounts of a compound called dimethyl sulfide which float into the atmosphere as a gas, the tiny grains around which droplets of rainwater form. The deforestation would cause damage to eco-system as it would cease these contribution by the forests and thereby that of the rain amidst.
Question 5.
Describe the effects of population growth on the global water system. (M.P. Board 2020)
Answer:
Population growth is one of the major factor which threatens the existence of human life. Population is growing at a very rapid speed but resources are limited. Naturally, the pressure of population is becoming grave on the resources. As a result resources are exhausted, because the speed of the ability of nature to refill or recharge its resources is much slower in comparison to the speed of growth of human population. Hence, resources are sinking. We are cutting forests and digging the earth and this is all an invitation to our own doom.
D. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
Question 1.
Man is paving the path of his own doom. How?
Answer:
Man is said to be the creator of his own destiny. He is the most sensible creature who takes everything logically and wisely. But sometimes, it is felt that he himself is paving the path of his own doom. There are a number of reasons behind such feelings. First, man himself is responsible for the rapid population growth which is one of the many reasons for man’s doom. As the population grows, a pressure is created on the resources which are limited. Its refilling or recharging speed is very slow. Hence, resources in all their capacity fail to fulfill the human need. As a result, man starts to over-exhaust the resources.
This damages the eco-system in fact, the entire system of life. We have no enough
habitation, no enough water to drink, no sanitation, no education and above all no healthy living condition. We are polluting the whole atmosphere, water, food, etc. Only man can do something for the safety of the earth and its resources. He must be sensible otherwise he is doomed to die.
Question 2.
Recount and explain the five strategic threats to the global water system, as described by Al Gore.
Answer:
Al Gore in a very specific manner recounts five major threats to the global water system which are the redistribution of freshwater supply, the rise of sea levels resulting in the low-lying coastal areas, widespread deforestation, contamination of water resources and the pressure of rapid population growth.We depend largely on freshwater which is only 2.5 per cent of the total amount of water on earth.
Most of that is locked away as ice in Antarctica and to a lesser extent in Greenland, the north polar ice cap and mountain glaciers. Groundwater makes up most of what remains leaving less than .01 per cent for all the lakes. creeles, streams, rivers and rainfalls. This still leaves more than enough water to meet all our needs, but it is distributed unevenly throughout the world. As a result, human civilization has been ‘estricted to more or less the same geographic pattern.
Any lasting alteration of that pattern would therefore pose a strategic threat to global civilization. In the same way, rise in the sea level due to the global-warming is damaging the eco-system. The widespread contamination of water causes several deadly diseases. Deforestation causes flood. The pressure of rapid population growth represents the biggest major strategic threat to the global water system.
In many parts of the world, groundwater is being extracted from acquifers at rates that
far exceed the ability of nature to refill or recharge them. Man alone can save his future by adopting a discretionary approach.
Grammar
A. Note the position of the adverb in the following sentences:
- Unfortunately, the dramatic change in our relationship to the earth is causing profound
damage to the global water system.
- Human beings are made up mostly of water.
- We must think logically.
Order of adverbs is very elastic in English. Many shades of emphasis can be expressed by a change of position. Except for Frequency Adverbs (often, never; always, sometimes, generally, usually, just, etc.) the normal position of adverbs is at the end of a sentence, in the order—manner, place and time (MPT).
Example: He spoke well at the debate this morning. The adverb of time may come at either end of sentence, but not in the middle, as a general rule. Exact time expressions come before general time expressions.
Example :
He was born at six o’clock on Christmas morning in the year 1991.
Now insert the adverbs given in brackets in their correct places:
1. He walked (afterwards, slowly, away).
2. They stayed (all day, quietly, there).
3. I shall meet you (outside your office, tomorrow, at 2 o’clock).
4. Our teacher spoke to us (in class, very rudely, this morning).
5. He played (at the Town Hall, last night, beautifully, in the concert).
6. We are going (for a week, to Nainital, on Saturday).
7. He gave up his claim (recently, reluctantly, at the meeting).
8. Their son was born in the year 2006, at 10.00 a.m. on 7th June.
Answer:
- Afterwards, he walked away slowly.
- All day, they stayed there quietly
- Tomorrow, I shall meet you outside your office at 2 o’clock.
- This morning, our teacher spoke to us very rudely in class.
- Last night, he played in the concert at the Town Hall beautifully.
- On Saturday, we are going to Nainital for a week.
- Recently ) at the meeting he gave up his clame reluciantly.
- Their son was born at 10.0 am on 7th June in the year 2006.
B. Study the excerpt carefully:
Many scientists are worried that as the polar regions warm up faster than the tropics and the temperature differences between the two get smaller, these ocean currents, which are driven in large part by those differences, may slow down or seek a new equilibrium. If the circulatory pattern changes, the climate pattern will also change: some regions will get more rain, others less; some areas will get warmer, others colder. The words in bold have some special purpose. They are used to show how the noun is
bring used. These are called determiners. You have studied them in detail in class XI.
Now fill in the blanks with suitable determiners.
1. Rohit came to my house. He asked me how ………. a………. money I had. I told him that I
had ……….b………. money which I had saved from ……….c………. pocket money. He told me that he needed ……….d………. money to buy e book on current affairs.
2. There was a knock at my door. When I opened ……….a………. door, I saw ……….b………. stranger with ……….c………. tool bag in his hand. I didn’t allow him to enter ……….d………. room as I had never seen him earlier.
3. Shivani needed ……….a………. paper to write her homework. She said to her father, “There isn’t ……….b………. paper left. Please buy ……….c………. paper for me when you go to the market.”
4. ……….a………. man bought………. b………. ox and sold it in ……….c………. open market. But he got only ………. d………. little money from the sale.
5. Aamir is a honest man. He never accepts money as ……….a………. bribe. According to him, honesty is ……….b………. best policy.
6. To be able to read ……….a………. language you have to learn its alphabet. Perhaps you already know how to read this. Let me explain by giving ……….b………. example.
7. ……….a………. penguin is ………. b ……….fearless bird. It walks in………. c………. very funny manner. Many………. d………. time it falls flat on its stomach.
8. As ……….a………. potter was going round ……….b………. market, he saw ……….c………. same toy he had made ……….d ……….previous week, It was in same spot as before.
9. Mohit told me that he needed ……….a………. money to buy a book on English literature. I simply denied saying that I did not have ……….b………. money. However, I gave him ………. c………. book, which contained ………. d ……….topics on literature.
10. I asked him, “What is ………. a………. matter?” He said to me, “Would you lend me ………. b………. money?” I replied, “My father is ………. c………. bank employee. He doesn’t earn …..d………. So, I can’t help you.”
Answer:
- (a) much (b) some (c) my (d) some (e) a
- (a) the (b) a (c) a (if) the
- (a) some (b) any (c) some
- (a) A (b) an (c) an (d) a
- (a) an (b) the
- (a) a (b)an
- (a) The (b) a (c) a (d) a
- (a) a (b) the (c) the (d) the (e) the
- (a) some (b) any (c) the (d) some
- (a) the (b) some (c) a (d) much
B. The following sentences have not been edited. There is an error in the usage of determiner in each sentence. Write the incorrect word and the correct one as shown in the example under the correct blank.
Answer:
Incorrect – Correct
(ii) other – more
(iii) some – either
(iv) Every – All
(y) any – no
(vi) Much – Many
(vii) any – a
(viii) don’t – doesnt
(ix) More – All
(x) a – some.
Speaking Activity
A. Arrange an elocution competition in your class on ‘Global Warming’. Each student will be given 3 minutes to express his opinion.
Answer:
Class-room activity.
B. Work in groups of four or five. Hold a discussion on the theme, ‘The earth is like a greenhouse, too.’
Answer:
Class room activity.
C. Given below are different viewpoints on the damage, we are causing to our planet by felling trees. In groups of four, discuss and add to these views.
Answer:
Do yourself at class level with the help of your teacher.
Writing Activity
A. Suppose you are Anjali, a student of class XII. Write an article on ‘Indilstrialization and Air Pollution forming ideas froth the given visual.
Answer:
Industrialization and Air Pollution. Industrialization is a boon as well as a curse for the society. It is a boon because it has made our lives comfortable and full of luxury. But we are paying heavy prices for this easy life. Industries have no doubt generated a fast life style but at the same time caused so much pollution. The air is contaminated, water is dirty and land is getting barren. The air pollution is the biggest threat as it is taking up lives of people. Diseases like asthma, bronchitis, allergies are affecting every generation. Recently, most part of north India was under ‘smog’ (smoke + fog) causing trouble to the people.
Anjali
XII class student
B. Water is very precious. Some people even go to the extent of saying that World War III may be fought on the issue of water. Keeping in view the need for saving each drop of water, write an article.
Answer:
Water is precious at all levels. We can’t live without water. Our body is made up of 71 per cent of fresh water. It maintains the whole eco system. We need water at every step. However, the store of fresh water is being exhausted at a very fast speed. The pressure of growing population is becoming severe. Nature fails to compensate or refill or recharge its store at the speed it is being used. Thus, its demand is increasing but supply is less. It is no exaggeration to say that the Third World War may be fought for water. We should make efforts to conserve each drop of water. Since water supports life, we need to preserve it for future generations.
Think It Over
A. The lesson is titled “If The Well Goes Dry”. If such a thing happens and happens in our lifetime, think of the consequences. Describe its effects on you, on your neighbourhood, on your town, on
your country and on the planet.
Answer:
Do yourself with the help of your teacher.
B. There are hints on the far-fetched ideas of desalination of salt-water from the sea to solve the problem of freshwater, and also on pulling the glaciers from the poles to the populated areas, in the lesson. Such ideas may be unfeasible but they are certainly catchy and creative. Can you think of any such idea, however impracticable it may be, to solve the global freshwater problem?
Answer:
Do yourself with the help of your teacher.
Things to Do
A. Prepare a poster on any one of the following themes:
(a) Rainwater harvesting.
(b) Noise pollution.
(c) Non-renewable natural resources.
Answer:
Do yourself.
B. Write slogans on ‘Water Conservation’ using pieces of card-sheet approximately
30 cm × 15 cm. Decorate the sheets creatively.
Answer:
Do yourself.
If the Well Goes Dry by Albert Gore Introduction
In the lesson, the author urges us to use water judiciously Water Is precious because we can’t live without Hence, it should not be misused over-extrated at any cost. There must be a balance between its demand and supply .
If the Well Goes Dry Summary in English
Human beings are made components of water. It occupies 71 per cent of the human body. The major of water are oxygen (61 per cent) and hydrogen (10 per cent). Some other elements are carbon, nitrogen calcium and phosphorus which are only 23,2.6,1.4 and 1.1 per cent respectively.
We all are parts of the earth. Land is a self-contained store of the sea water to which we are connected chemically and biologically Water also carries spiritual significance in most religions like it is used in Christian baptism and as Hinduism’s sacred water.
Our life depends on freshwater which is only 2.5 per cent of the total amount of water on earth, though unevenly distributed throughout the world. It is a threat to globalisation. The dramatic change in our relationship to the earth since the industrial revolution especially in this century, is now causing profound damage to the global water system.
A balance is needed to maintain the health of the earth. Warmer temperatures speed up both evaporation and precipitation accelerating the entire cycle. The increased warmth also increases the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere which causes the greenhouse effect and speeds the process still further. Warming oceans are likely to cause the average hurricane to be more powerful.
Another threat to the earth’s water system involves massive changes in landuse patterns especially widespread deforestation. The destruction of a forest can affect the hydrological cycle. More water is stored in the forests of the earth for they themselves produce rain clouds. They also attract rain producing gases like terpenes and dimethylsulfide. It is clear that when forests are destroyed. the rains eventually taper off and bring less moisture.
The rivers get shallower. Their capacity to drain the flood waters is impaired and flooding and along the banks becomes even worse. Contamination of water resources is another strategic threat. It is caused by chemical pollutants produced by industrial civilization. Its tragic effect is felt in Third World with the high rates of death from cholera, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea that arise from both viral and bacteriological sources. More than 1.7 billion people do not have an adequate supply of
safe drinking water.
More than 3 billion people do not have proper sanitation and are thus at the risk of having their water contaminated. The pressure of rapid growth of population adds to the misery of greater concern. Groundwater is being extracted at rates higher than that of the ability of nature to refill or recharge them.
As the groundwater reservoirs are out of sight, they remain out of mind until they begin to dry up or until the ground above them begins to sink or subside. It invites more and more natural calamities. Any damage to water resources is a damage to the whole human race for water sustains us. We must rethink and take care to let the water remain in its natural state and not waste it without thinking of the future.
If the Well Goes Dry Summary in Hindi
मानव अधिकांशतः जल से बना है। मानव शरीर में यह 71 प्रतिशत है। इसके प्रमुख तत्त्वों में ऑक्सीजन (61 प्रतिशत) और हाइड्रोजन (10 प्रतिशत) और कुछ अन्य तत्वों में कॉर्बन, नाइट्रोजन, कैल्शियम और फॉसफोरस है जो क्रमशः 23, 2.6, 1.4 और 1.1 प्रतिशत हैं। हम सभी मूलतः धरती के भाग हैं। धरती समुद्री जल का स्वाभाविक सम्पूर्ण भंडार है जिससे हम रासायनिक और जैविकी रूप में जुड़े हैं। जल का बहुत से धर्मों में दैविक महत्त्व है, ईसाइयों का बपतिस्मा और हिन्दुओं का पवित्र शुद्धिकरण जल से ही होता है।
हमारा जीवन शुद्ध जल पर निर्भर करता है जो धरती पर प्राप्त जल का केवल 2.5 प्रतिशत है जो कि सम्पूर्ण विश्य में असमान रूप से वितरित है। यह भूमंडलीकरण के लिए एक खतरा है। औद्योगिक क्रान्ति के बाद से पृथ्वी के साथ हमारे रिश्तों में नाटकीय परिवर्तनों से भूमंडलीय जल प्रणाली में भयंकर खतरा पैदा हो गया है। धरती के स्वास्थ्य के लिए एक संतुलन की ज़रूरत है। बढ़ता हुआ तापमान, वाष्पीकरण और बारिश के सम्पूर्ण चक को त्वरित करता है। बढ़ी हुई गर्मी से जल का वाष्प वायुमण्डल में तेज़ी से बनता है और हरित चकीय प्रभाव को अधिक प्रभावित करता है। गर्म होता हुआ समुद्र सामान्य ओला वृष्टि को अधिक शक्तिशाली बनाता है।
घरती के जलीय प्रणाली का दूसरा प्रमुख संकट है-बड़े पैमाने पर वृक्षों की कटाई और ज़मीन को उपयोग करने के बदलते तरीके जंगलों की कटाई से जलीय प्रणाली बुरी तरह प्रभावित होती है। जंगलों में ज़्यादा जल संचित है, क्योंकि धरती के जंगल ज़्यादा से ज़्यादा जलीय बादल उत्पन्न कर सकते हैं। वे वर्षा को उत्पन्न करने वाले Terpene और Dimethylsulfide जैसे गैसों को आकर्षित करते हैं। यह स्पष्ट है कि जब जंगलों की कटाई होती है तो वर्षा अपने आप कम होने लगती है और नमी में कमी आ जाती है। नदियाँ छिछली होने लगती हैं, उनकी बाढ़ के पानी को आत्मसात करने की क्षमता कम हो जाती है और किनारों पर बाढ़ की स्थिति और भी खराब हो जाती है।
जल संसाधन का प्रदूषीकरण एक अन्य महान खतरा है। यह औद्योगिक संस्थानों से उत्पन्न रासायनिक प्रदूषकों से फैलता है। इसका दुःखद प्रभाव तीसरी दुनिया के क्षेत्रों में ज़्यादा देखने को मिलता है, जैसे हैजा, टायफाईड, पेचिश एवं दस्त जैसी बीमारियों से होने वाली मौत की दरें बहुत अधिक हैं जो संक्रामक एवं जीवाणु स्रोतों से होता है। 1.7 अरब लोगों के पास पर्याप्त शुद्ध पेयजल उपलब्ध नहीं है। 3 अरब से अधिक लोगों के पास पर्याप्त स्वच्छता का अभाव है जिससे उनके जल प्रदूषण का खतरा बढ़ जाता है।
तेज़ी से बढ़ती हुई जनसंख्या का दबाव इस दर्द को और भी बढ़ाता है। धरती के पानी का अवशोषण प्रकृति की उस क्षमता से कई गुणा ज़्यादा है जिससे वह इसे पुनः प्राप्त करती है चूँकि धरती के अन्तःस्थलीय जल खोत नज़रों से ओझल होता है, इसलिए उसका तब तक अवशोषण होता है, जब तक कि वहाँ कि धरती की सतह पैंस न जाए। इससे ज़्यादा-से-ज्यादा प्राकृतिक आपदाएँ आती हैं। जल-संसाधन की कोई भी क्षति सम्पूर्ण मानव प्रजाति की क्षति है, क्योंकि जल हमारी रक्षा करता है। हमें पुनर्विचार करना चाहिए और ध्यान देना चाहिए कि जल अपनी प्राकृतिक अवस्था में ही रहे, न कि बिना भविष्य का विचार किए इसे बर्बाद होने दे।
If the Well Goes Dry Word Meaning
If the Well Goes Dry Important Pronunciation
If the Well Goes Dry Passages for Comprehension
Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow them:
1. Human beings are made up mostly of water, in roughly the same percentage as water is to the surface of the earth. Our tissues and membranes, our brains and hearts, our sweat and tears all reflect the same recipe for life, in which efficient use is made of those ingredients available on the surface of the earth. We are 23 per cent carbon, 2.6 per cent nitrogen, 1.4 per cent calcium, 1.1 per cent phosphorus, swith tiny, amounts of roughly three dozen other elements. But above all we are oxygen (61 per cent) and hydrogen (10 per cent), fused together in the unique molecular combination known as water, which . makes up 71 per cent of the human body. (Page 39)
Questions:
(i) What are the contents of a human body?
(ii) Find the opposite in meaning to ‘roughly’.
(iii) Give noun form of the word ‘reflected’.
(iv) Find a word from the passage which means same as ‘capable’.
Answers:
(i) The contents of human body are water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium, hydrogen and some other tiny elements.
(ii) ‘Exactly’ is opposite to ‘roughly’.
(iii) ‘Reflection’ is the noun form of ‘reflected’.
(iv) ‘Efficient’ has same meaning as ‘capable’.
2. We depend especially on freshwater, which is only 2.5 per cent of the total amount of water on earth. Most of that is locked away as ice in Antarctica and to a lesser extent in Greenland, the north polar ice cap, and mountain glaciers. Groundwater makes up most of what remains, leaving less than .01 per cent for all the lakes, creeks, streams, rivers, and rainfalls. This still leaves more than enough water to meet all our needs, both now and in the foreseeable future, but it is distributed unevenly throughout the world. As a result, human civilization has been restricted to more or less the same geographic pattern that conforms to the distribution of freshwater around the planet. Any lasting alteration of that pattern would therefore pose a strategic threat to global civilization as we have known it.(Page 40)
Questions:
(i) What does our life depend upon largely? How much per cent of freshwater is available on earth?
(ii) Find a word similar in meaning to ‘restricted’.
(iii) Give noun form of ‘distributed’.
(iv) Find a word from the passage which means opposite to ‘equal’.
Answers:
(i) Our life largely depends upon freshwater. Freshwater is only 2.5 per cent of the total amount of water on earth.
(ii) ‘Prohibited’ has similar meaning to ‘restricted’.
(iii) ‘Distribution’ is the noun form of ‘distributed’.
(iv) ‘Uneven’ is opposite to ‘equal’.
3. Many scientists are worried that as the polar regions warm up faster than the tropics and the temperature differences between the two get smaller, these ocean currents, which are driven in large part by those differences, may slow down or seek a new equilibrium. If the circulatory pattern changes, the climate pattern will also change: some regions will get more rain, others less; some areas will get warmer, others colder.
If the first strategic threat to the global water system is a redistribution of freshwater supplies, the second, and perhaps the most widely recognized, is the rise of sea levels and the loss of low-lying coastal areas around the world. Since one third of humankind lives within sixty kilometres of the coastline, the number of refugees likely to be created will be unprecedented. (Page 40)
Questions:
(i) What would be the result of warming up of the polar region?
(ii) Find a word which is opposite to the word ‘widely’.
(iii) Give adjective form of ‘region’.
(iv) Give a word from the passage which means same as ‘danger’.
Answers:
(i) The warming of the polar regions will result in drastic change of climate pattern and some regions will get more rains while some others will get less, some areas will get warmer, other colder.
(ii) ‘Narrowly’ is opposite of ‘widely’.
(iii) ‘Regional’ is the adjective of ‘region’.
(iv) ‘Threat’ has same meaning as ‘danger’.
4. The next strategic threat to the global water system is the world-wide contamination of water resources with the chemical pollutants produced by industrial civilization. Unlike the global atmosphere, which is a single giant reservoir of air that is constantly and thoroughly ‘stirred’ into an homogeneous mixture, the global water system contains a number of large reservoirs and stores that are not always thoroughly mixed with all the other water on earth. Because molecules circulate freely throughout the global atmosphere, contaminants like CFCs, which break down into chlorine atoms, can become ubiquitous in the atmosphere everywhere on earth. That is not true with the global water supply. (Page 42)
Questions:
(i) What causes contamination? How are pollutants produced?
(ii) Give noun form of the word ‘industrial’.
(iii) Find a word which has the opposite meaning to the word ‘supply’.
(iv) What is the meaning of ‘contamination’?
Answers:
(i) Chemical pollutants cause contamination. These pollutants are produced by industrial establishments which release harmful CFCs.
(ii) ‘Industry’ is the noun form of ‘industrial’.
(iii) ‘Demand’ has opposite meaning to the word ‘supply’.
(iv) ‘Pollution’ is the meaning of ‘contamination’.
5. The pressure of rapid population growth, especially in the Third World, represents the
biggest major strategic threat to the global water system. In many parts of the world, groundwater is being extracted from aquifers at rates that far exceed the ability of nature to refill or recharge them. Yet, because these underground reservoirs are out of sight, they remain out of mind—until they begin to dry up or until the ground above them begins to sink or “subside.” California’s Sacramento River delta, which supplies the canal system known as the California Aqueduct with half its water, is sinking about three inches each year, perhaps because it is getting less sediment. As a result, this area—which already had to be protected by a network of levees from being flooded by the ocean—is becoming much more vulnerable to the consequences of the kind of earthquake common in the adjacent earthquake zone. (Page 42)
Questions:
(i) How does growing population affect the natural resources? What happens to the resources with the pressure?
(ii) Find a word which has the opposite meaning to the word ‘slow’.
(iii) Give noun form of the word ‘represent’.
(iv) Give a word from the passage which means same as ‘drowning’.
Answers:
(i) The growing population exerts a pressure on the demands of natural resources. The resources are being over-extracted and are decreasing day-by-day.
(ii) ‘Rapid’ is opposite in meaning to ‘slow’.
(iii) ‘Representation’ is the noun form of ‘represent’.
(iv) ‘Sinking’ is similar in meaning to ‘drowning’.
MP Board Class 12th English A Voyage Textbook (Fiction and Drama)
