59. Reading Skills Comprehension: CULTURE

CULTURE

Read the passage given below:

1.A culture takes its form after it has undergone a process of growth over a period of time. This time may extend over centuries or over millennia. As the waves from rivulets or a river deposit the fine and rich alluvial matter alongside its banks and make the bank-side land fertile, so also the surge of wisdom from the family, the religion, the philosophy and many more sources, deposits layer upon layer and makes the family or the social soil rich and fertile for the growth of the succeeding generations. This social and family soil, formed of fine deposits of reflections, observations, experiences, reforms and practices, of great people is congenial for growth and is called Culture.

2. As bees from a honey-comb move and flit from flower to flower, take essence from them and form tasteful and nourishing honey, even so, do the sages, the seers, the thinkers, the philosophers and men of wisdom or ordinary people, who have a developed and keen sense of observation. They leave some nourishing honey of utterances, experiences, useful practices and understanding of many a natural phenomenon and these together make a Culture.

3. The Culture is a treasure of collected gems of experiences and wisdom of the ages, gifted by a lot many earlier generations. It is the essence of the distilled experiences of so many people, carried over from the past. It is a reservoir of tried and tested values, norms, observances and principles that have taken the form of lifestyles, manners, etiquette, folklore, celebrations, quotations, festivals and visual and performing arts, such, like dance, drama, songs, conventions, traditions and even rituals. How the youngsters should meet, greet and treat the elders and vice-versa, how one should treat a guest, neighbour or friend and how one should respect one’s teacher or a sage, what and how one should cat and drink or what one should not eat and not drink; at what hour in the morning should one get up and at what hour should one sleep; what kind or form of dress one should wear: how agents should treat ladies or what manners should each gender observe in the presence of the other— all these and thousand more things are included in the term ‘Culture’.

4. Culture has a very’ wide connotation. It enjoins upon people certain norms to be observed on various occasions, in various relationships and various situations. The older the culture, the wider is its expanse and richer are its contents. Its observances start from the time of the birth and last till the time of one’s last breath. In fact, there is no moment in life for which Culture does not ask us to observe a particular rule or follow a particular way and to refrain from certain doings.

5. Most of the conventions, traditions, norms and practices — which are part of a culture – have some rationale behind them and have the support of the experiences of a large number of people who observed them over a period of time or who, by violating them saw the negative results. So, every point in a Culture is not a dogma or a set of whims and fancies or a collection of superstitions or meaningless rituals It is based on some sound laws of good living, told by the ancestors and predecessors. Some of the cultural norms may be necessary for a particular section of humankind, living in a particular geophysical setting or in a particular climatic region and some or any of the conventions and practices may be useful for all and may, therefore, be of universal nature.

Choose the correct alternatives from the options given below:                                        

(a) According to the writer, the main source of wisdom is

(i) the family               (ii) philosophy

(iii) religion                 (iv) all the above

(b) Wisdom does not include

(i) reflection                                                    (ii) observation

 (iii) learning from others’ experiences         (iv) superstitions

Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:

 (c) What effect does culture have on us?

(d) Why does the writer use the example of the bees?

 (e) What does the writer mean by the phrase ‘tried and tested values’?

 (f) What is the relationship between culture and civilization?

 (g) Why do cultural norms differ from region to region?

 (h) By saying that there is a rationale behind traditions and norms what does the writer want to say?

Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following:

 (i) going against (para 5)

 (j) ancestors (para 5)

ANSWERS:-

 (a) (iv)

(b) (iv)

 (c) A culture is formed over centuries or millennia. It consists of a treasure of collected gems of experiences and wisdom gifted to succeeding generations. It teaches us how to conduct ourselves in every aspect of life. This collected wisdom is congenial for our growth. (Made up the answer. No direct answer in the passage that I found.)

 (d) Bees collect essence from many flowers to create nourishing honey. The writer uses this example to imply that like these bees, many sages, seers, thinkers, philosophers, people of wisdom and ordinary people create a culture by collecting together their observations and understanding about many a natural phenomenon.

 (e) By using the phrase ‘tried and tested values’ the writer implies that since culture is the essence of the distilled experiences of many people from the past, it contains values that have been tested many times and proved to be successful.

(f)Similar living conditions bring people together to form a society. They create certain common norms of behaviour and rituals that bind them into a community. People of a community share experiences and ways of living which begin to collect into a shared culture. In time, this leads to the creation of a civilization. Civilization is marked by unique cultural expressions like folklore, festivals, performing arts, etc. (This is more a product of what I remember from sociology classes than this passage. Please modify if needed).

(g) Since culture is a collection of experiences shared by people of a community over time, many of its norms are influenced by geo-physical experiences such as weather, food, occupations, etc. This is why cultural norms differ from region to region. For instance, the cultural norms of people who live in hilly areas differ from those who live in the plains.

(h) The writer says that many traditional norms and practices are supported by the experiences of people who have observed them and seen the negative results of violating them. Hence, such practices are grounded in rationality and are not the products of superstitions.

 (i) Violating.

(j) Ancestors should be the answer, not the question.

Download the above Passage in PDF Worksheet (Printable)

More Comprehension Passages:-

Passage No-71. A system of Education (550 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage No-72. Friendship (550 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

This friendship essay in English describes friendship meaning. Read this friendship paragraph on friendship topic to get great friendship note.

Passage No-73. Value of Mentor (600 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage No-74. Zakir Hussain (500 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage No-75. Forest Rights Act (750 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage No-76. Artist Arpita Singh (550 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Passage No-77. Digital Interaction (350 Words Subjective Solved)

Passage No-78. Instructions (450 Words Subjective Solved)

This passage is all about instructions meaning. Read and find out the real instructions meaning.

Passage No-79. Joy (450 Words Subjective Solved)

This joy definition is all about joy meaning. Read be always joyful.

Passage No-80. Healthcare Turns Costlier (400 Words Subjective Solved)

Need our help or have some question