Grade 12: English Language

Reading Comprehension

Question 4
Read carefully the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

(1) There were all kinds of trees growing there: chikrasia, chiloni, a few sal here
and there. ‘These trees are not very valuable,’ said Uncle Dinesh. ‘So, they’ll be
cleared away and then the ground burnt to get rid of all the rubbish- the mosses, dead
wood, scrub and so on. The burnt ground will then be prepared, and holes will be
made at intervals of about six feet, ready to take root and shoot cuttings of the teak
tree, which gives valuable timber. These cuttings grow much faster than seedlings.
After every three lines a few rows of other trees are grown to act as a barrier against
insect attack. After five years, alternate trees are cut down in alternate rows so that
the trees are spaced twelve feet apart. After another five years another thinning takes
place so that the young saplings are thinned out and both the roots and crown can
grow strong and spread. In the next twenty years the trees are thinned twice more,
and once again after another twenty years, so that they are finally spaced forty-eight
feet apart. The trees are first grown close together so as to allow them to grow high
and straight, giving a clear, tall trunk, discouraging them to fork out too early into
branches. Then they are thinned and spaced wide apart to allow them to grow in girth
until full maturity is reached ten to twenty years after the last thinning. The thinned-out
trees are used for fencing poles, mine props and pulpwood for plywood. What is left is
a fine plantation of fully grown teak, well-spaced out and ready for the sawmills.’ He
paused, ‘In other words, your grandchildren might see those teak trees being felled,
by the time they’re old enough to have grandchildren of their own! Forestry is a work
of patience.’

(2) ‘And then, when they’re felled, will the ground be burnt to start all over again?’
asked Viren.

(3) ‘Yes, it will, because teak does not regenerate naturally here. But for coniferous
forests like spruce and pine, you can let them follow a natural cycle.’ He stopped as
the deep silence around them was suddenly broken by a distant, persistent, metallic
drone. ‘We’re in luck; that’s a motor saw at work. Come on, let’s see. Usually, you
would hear the rasp of a handsaw.’

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(4) The droning became steadily louder and soon they reached the spot where two
men were at work. Even as they arrived a large teak tree trembled and came
thundering down to earth.

(5) ‘It’s a bit sad, isn’t it?’ Sarika said in a low voice.

(6) ‘I know,’ said Uncle Dinesh. ‘There’s something tragic and helpless about a big
tree like that falling to the ground.’

(7) They watched for some time. First the mechanical saw held in position, then
that searing, insistent voice of the blade as it ate steadily into the bole of the tree, then
the magnificent tree shuddering and wavering and finally falling with the last sighing
rustle of branches. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

(8) ‘What happens to the poor stumps?’ asked Sarika, going up to look at one.

(9) ‘Oh, they’re left to rot usually. It is too expensive to uproot them. Look at those
rings on the cut surface of the trunk,’ pointed Uncle Dinesh. ‘If you count them
carefully, they will tell you how old the tree was.’

(10) Viren was counting. ‘This one was eighty years old,’ he exclaimed.

(11) The children followed Uncle Dinesh along a narrow forest fire line to a large
clearing near the edge of the dirt road leading into the forests. As far as they could
see, the clearing was heaped with logs upon logs, some in neat stacks, some in piles
forming a ramp along which logs were hauled up on to the lorries. It was a hive of
incredible activity. Some of the men were de-barking the logs with long, swift
movements of a curved blade, others were rolling them down tracks towards the
clearing, some were levering them onto the ramps guiding them with long poles, to
load them on to the lorries. Yet others were measuring and stamping them. Further
down the dirt road a group of men were hauling rocks to put under the wheels of a
lorry. Its driver was in a jam because the wheels had sunk in the soft soil and
undergrowth and just kept spinning in the same spot.

(a) (i) Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the
underlined words in the following sentences. [3]

(1) The fallen boulder was an obstacle preventing access to the narrow forest
trail.
(2) The constant criticism was reducing his confidence in his ability to succeed.
(3) The craftsman measured the log to calculate its circular width before cutting.

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(ii) For each of the words given below, choose the correct sentences that uses
the same word unchanged in spelling, but with a different meaning from that
which it carries in the passage. [3]

(1) rows
(i) The farmer planted neat rows of carrots.
(ii) The auditorium had ten rows of chairs.
(iii) The siblings had frequent rows about who would do the dishes.
(iv) The boys rowed across the lake before sunrise.

(2) pine
(i) She began to pine for her childhood home.
(ii) Pine trees lined the snowy driveway.
(iii) The old bench was made from pine wood.
(iv) The puppy was pining in the rain.

(3) saw
(i) He picked up the saw and began cutting wood.
(ii) She saw the eagle soar across the valley.
(iii) The saw screeched as it met the hard bark.
(iv) He was seeing the stars after being hit.

(b) Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words.

(i) What is done to make the ground ready for a teak plantation? [2]
(ii) Why are rows of other trees grown in between teak trees in a plantation?
What is thinning? [2]
(iii) Why are teak trees first planted close together and later thinned? [2]

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