Unseen Comprehension Passage Class 8 Ex. 1 & 2

unseen passages

Following are the reading comprehension exercises known by many names as comprehension passages, short unseen passage for practice etc. These reading comprehension passages with questions and answers and reading comprehension tips ,will help you improve reading comprehension skills. These English short reading passages for kids may be used as low level reading comprehension worksheets and reading comprehension practice test,  These online  comprehension ks2 exercise will enhance reading skills. Teachers may use them as free reading comprehension worksheets, gre comprehension passages for elementary students, as well as they will help in teaching reading comprehension skills.  Download in pdf and find comprehension strategies and know how to understand reading comprehension questions

PASSAGE -1

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow –
Children are texting, tapping and typing on keyboards more than ever, leaving less time to master that old-fashioned skill known as handwriting. So will the three “T’s” replace a building block of education? It’s not likely. The benefits of gripping and moving a pen or pencil reach beyond communication. Emerging research shows that handwriting increases brain activity, hones fine motor skills, and can predict a child’s personality.
“For children, handwriting is extremely important. Not how well they do it, but that they do it and practice it,” said Karin Harman James, an assistant professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University.Here’s how handwriting makes its mark:
Handwriting can change how children learn and their brains develop. Indiana University researchers used neuroimaging scans to measure brain activation in preliterate preschool children who were shown letters. One group of children then practiced printing letters; the other children practiced seeing and saying the letters. After four weeks of training, the kids who practiced writing showed brain activation similar to an adult’s, said James, the study’s lead researcher. The printing practice also improved letter recognition, which is the No. 1 predictor of reading ability at age 5.
Good handwriting can mean better grades. Studies show that the same mediocre paper is graded much higher if the handwriting is neat.
Handwriting is faster. Researchers who tested second-, fourth- and sixth-graders found that children compose essays more prolifically — and faster — when using a pen rather than a keyboard. In addition, fourth- and sixth-graders wrote mo\led by Virginia Berninger, a University of Washington professor of educational psychology who studies normal writing development and writing disabilities. Her research also has shown that forming letters by hand might engage our thinking brains differently than pressing down on a key.
Handwriting aids memory. If you write yourself a list or a note — then lose it — you’re much more likely to remember what you wrote than if you just tried to memorize it, said occupational therapist Katya Feder, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa School of Rehabilitation.
Handwriting proficiency inspires confidence. The more we practice a skill such as handwriting, the stronger the motor pathways become until the skill becomes automatic. Once it’s mastered, children can move on to focus on the subject, rather than worry about how to form letters.
Handwriting engages different brain circuits than keyboarding. The contact, direction and pressure of the pen or pencil send the brain a message. And the repetitive process of handwriting “integrates motor pathways into the brain,” said Feder. When it becomes automatic or learned, “there’s almost a groove in the pathways,” she said. The more children write, the more pathways are laid down. But if they write them poorly, then they’re getting a faulty pathway, so you want to go back and correct it, Feder said.

(1.1) What are the three “T’s” mentioned in the first paragraph?
(A) How can handwriting aid memory?
(B) Why are the children with good handwriting more confident than those who don’t possess this skill?
(C) How is the brain engaged while writing?
(D) Enumerate any four advantages of handwriting.

1.2 Find out words from the passage which mean the same as:
(A) Holding firmly (Para 1) (B) Inferior in quality (Para 4)

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PASSAGE -2

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow-
Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on 2 August 1861 in the district of Jessore, now in Bangladesh, close to the birth place of Madhusudan Dutt, widely regarded as the Milton of Bengal. It was the best of times and the worst… The British had by n= perfected their role as masters and British values permeated the Indian upper classes to the very last detail like table manners. That of course, was not the worst of the British influence. What was far more demeaning to the educated Indians – and there were several – was the fact that senior government positions were closed to them. Being forfeited of one’s right in one’s land of birth would become the rallying point for the Indian intelligentsia in the years to come. Ray’s father Harish Chandra Ray, a man of learning and taste, was closely associated with the cultural and intellectual leaders of the time and exerted great influence on his son. Ray had his early schooling in the village school founded by his father but soon his father shifted to Calcutta and at the age of nine, little Prafulla set eyes for the first time, on the bustling city that would be his home for many years to come. He was filled with wonder at the ever-changing sights and sounds – the city seemed to change moods ever so often! His formal schooling was interrupted due to illness but that did not affect his education.

1.The British perfected their role as masters because
a. they had enslaved Indians                                     b. they showed that they were superior
c. they were hated by the upper classes                  d. upper class Indians accepted them as role models

2. The educated Indians felt insulted by the fact that
a. They had to follow British Customs
b. They were not allowed to study in institutions of higher learning
c. They were not promoted to senior government positions
d. They were forced to speak only in English.

3. Prafulla Chandra Ray was greatly influenced by…….
a.his brother           b. his uncle              c. his father             d. his cousin

4. Prafulla Chandra’s illness could not stop his
a.Schooling              b. learning                C. routine               d. sportsman spirit

5. ‘Intelligentsia’ here means
a.intelligent animals                                 b. Intel television
c intelligent people                                   d. a special detergent

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