79. Reading Skills Comprehension: NEWSPAPER

NEWSPAPER

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Today when we pick up a daily newspaper, we invariably find an increased incidence of vandalism, fraud, theft, robbery, rape, child spouse, battered spouses, murders, hate crimes, genocide (now termed as “ethnic cleansing”) along with a multitude of other senseless violent acts that have become disturbingly common. These are not the actions of people who like themselves.

2. The solution to a great many problems, whether personal, national or global, lies in improving our feelings about ourselves both as individuals and members of society. When the significance of good self-esteem is well understood and it achieves the prominence it deserves, a transformation will begin, for as the people will learn they are deserving of self-respect, their respect for others will automatically increase.

3. Most of our behaviour has been shaped by our parent’s caregivers and authority figures who played an important part in our early springing and were responsible for crystallizing our ideas about ourselves and the world. While everyone has self-esteem, only a small percentage of us have high self-esteem. High self-esteem denotes that we accept ourselves unconditionally exactly as we are, we appreciate our value as a human being. When, on the other hand, we have low self-esteem, we believe that we have little intrinsic worth.

4. We believe our personal value is in direct proportion to the value of our accomplishments. If we cannot accomplish certain results, we tend to feel low about ourselves. Some of us try too hard and become workaholics and over-achievers, Witha few genuine feelings of self-worth, we try to create some and prove that we are somebody by our successes and achievements. Because our desire for perfection is so great, we tend to set unrealistic goals and place unreasonable demands on ourselves. Failing, rather than encouraging us to have realistic aspirations, only leads to a mere punishing round of self-blame and a resolve to drive ourselves harder next time. If we do finally achieve our goals we are disappointed; despite everything we have done, we still feel empty inside.

5. Vulnerable to the opinions of others, we desperately try to gain their recognition and approval sometimes through risky and dangerous behaviour. Thus, we are at the mercy of our emotions, instead of controlling them, we permit them to control us. Since we allow circumstances to influence our feelings, we are inclined to be moody. The insecurity we feel as a result of devaluing ourselves makes us react with jealousy, envy and possessiveness. Fear makes us greedy and acquisitive, and feelings of self-hate alternate with those of futility, unhappiness and depression.

6. Sound self-esteem is the basis for ALL self-improvement. As human beings, our potential is limitless, our abilities inexhaustible, and the possibilities for creative and constructive changes are endless. But, we won “t experience satisfactory progress towards our goals or make any lasting improvements unless we believe we deserve the good we want. Conditions in our lives will improve permanently only when we believe we are entitled to something better. So improving our self-esteem inwardly is a vital ingredient for improving our lives.

—Dr. AparnaChattopadhyay (Enhance’ H.T.)

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer each of the questions given below with the help of options that follow:

(a) These days newspapers are full of———–

(i) news about the development of the country

(ii) news about politics

(iii) news about acts of crime and violence

(iv) news about educational matters and employment

(b) Such acts are done by people ———–

(i) to preserve their honour

(ii) because they lack tolerance

(iii) who have high self-esteem

(iv) who do not like themselves

(c) good self-esteem is stressed upon because————

(i) it is essential in solving many problems

(ii) it builds up self-confidence

(iii) it increases one’s reputation

(iv) it helps one to respect others

(d) high self-esteem is a remarkable asset because ———-

(i) it makes us worthless in our own eyes

(ii) it helps us to believe in our own worth

(iii) it forces us to be achievers

(iv) it causes depression and disappointment

Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:

(e) According to the writer, what will be the outcome when people understand the importance of having a healthy self-esteem?

(f) Why is it important to have healthy self-esteem?

(g) What do unrealistic goals mean?

(h) Why do people indulge in risky behaviour?

(i) What are the reasons that make people moody?

(j) Mention one thing that according to the writer can help in improving our lives?

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

(i) killing/massacre (para 1)

(ii) inherent/basic (pars 3)

ANSWERS:-

(a) (iii); (b) (iv);

(e) When people understand the importance of having healthy self-esteem, the author believes it will result in a social transformation. Since people will realise they deserve self-respect, in turn, they will also start respecting others.

(f) It is important to have healthy self-esteem in order to accept our value as human beings.

(g) Unrealistic goals are our attempts at attaining perfection, which is bound to fail. This failure then leads to self-blame and unhappiness.

(h) Some people indulge in risky or rash behaviour in a desperate attempt at gaining recognition and approval from others.

(i) People become moody when they allow circumstances to affect their feelings, or if they allow their feelings to be influenced by the opinions of others.

(j) One thing that can help improve our lives is to, first of all, believe that we deserve good things to happen to us.

(k) (i) genocide (ii) intrinsic

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