90. Reading Skills Comprehension: Giant Mammoths

Giant Mammoths

Read the passage given below.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago giant mammoths still roamed the earth and the surface of the earth was covered by dense forests. Men took shelter in caves and covered their bodies with animal skins. At that time, dogs became man’s best friend. At first, they followed the man on his hunting trips and waited to get whatever scraps he could get, from the kill his master made. Then the instinct for companionship made him adopt man as his leader. Soon man began to train dogs to help him during the hunt, to cart! his burdens and to give him companionship as he sat by the fireside in the evenings. These changes took place much before recorded history came into practice.

These findings can only be confirmed by the study of the bones of primitive dogs which lay beside bones of primitive men in caves. As the history of the dog goes back to a time when records were maintained, it is impossible to be sure of these happenings.

Some scientists believe that dogs are the result of a mating between wolves and jackals. Other can say that some species of dogs descended from wolves while others descended from jackals. Some go on to say that dogs descended from coyotes and from foxes. A widely held theory is that the dogs that we keep as pets descended from a remote common ancestor.

This last theory substantiates the difference in size and appearance between various breeds of dogs. Other evidence of the wild ancestry of dogs is the built of their bodies, which is very distinctly adopted for speed and strength. Together with their keen sense of smell, quick hearing qualities, it becomes obvious that they have wild hunters in their genes.

From the time when recorded history began, there have been references to dogs in them. Here are images of dogs on Egyptian tombs that are 5000 years old. The Egyptians considered their dog as sacred and the whole family would go into mourning if the dog in an Egyptian home died. Today, the dog is an indispensable part of our lives. For hundreds of young, healthy blind people, the dog is their seeing eye.

 A seeing-eye dog is usually a German shepherd dog. It takes three months to train a guide dog. First, come to the obedience exercises repeated daily as ‘setting up exercises’. Then a U-shaped leather harness is buckled on and the dog learns to walk at the left of the trainer. He is taught to stop and wait at the curb, watch traffic and let cats pass. Before the dog is passed on to a blind master a final check is made. Then the blind master and his dog train together for four weeks before they go home to work smoothly as a team.

 (a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary — a minimum of four) and a format you consider suitable. Also, supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Ans. (a) THE COMPANIONSHIP OF DOG AND MAN

I. Conditions on earth in prehistoric times

 (i) giant mammoths roamed about

(ii) dense forests

(iii) men were cave-dwellers & wore animal skins

(iv) a time when dogs became man’s best friend

II. The companionship between man and dog between

(i)the instinct for companionship led to a friendship

(ii) followed man on hunting trips

 (iii) ate scraps from hunts

(iv) a man trained dogs & became fireside companion

 (v) dog bones recovered around caves

 III. Ancestry of dogs

(i)offspring born of wolves & jackals

(ii) other theory: sep offspring from them

(iii) descended from coyotes and foxes

 (iv) mod dogs descended from a remote common ancestor

(v) size & agility indicates wild dog genes

IV. Dog references in recorded hist

(i)dog images on Egyptian tombs

 (ii) a family member in Egyptian households

(iii) seeing-eye for blind

IV. Findings of pollutants

(i)PM 2.5 and NO2 causing cardiovascular and respiratory complaints in the capital

 (ii) combustion more toxic that road dust

 (iii) Ambient monitoring for assessing long-term, the overall record of pollutants

 (iv) measuring air where people abound

 (v) coal fire and diesel cause for carcinogens

(vi) 30% of lung cancer from ambient air pollution

V. Ways to quantify air exposure

(i) measuring the quality of air both indoors and outdoors

(ii) measuring where people spend time

Key to Abbreviations

 

 

comp      composition

 

 bet       between

bld        blood

%           per cent

 

 

(b)Summary

Air pollutants become dangerous when safety levels are breached. The effects of pollutant PMI is not ascertained. Besides, dangers to natural air arise from a breach in natural levels of CO, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Findings show that PM 2.5 is causing cardiovascular and respiratory) complaints while coal fires and diesel cause carcinogens. Ambient air pollution causes 30% of lung cancer cases. Measuring air quality includes checks of both indoor and outdoor places where people spend time.

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