23. Reading Skills Comprehension: Agricultural Land

Agricultural Land

Read the Passage carefully and answer the following Questions:-

India is chiefly an agricultural land. The cultivation of crops depends on a proper supply of water throughout the year. From olden times large parts of our country have suffered from periods of too much rain alternating with periods of drought. People have known that if the excess waters of the flood seasons can be stored away for use in the fields during the dry seasons, the problem would be solved. Unfortunately, they have had neither the knowledge nor the means to do much in this matter. What little they knew they have tried to put into practice. They have dug canals to carry away water from the great perennial rivers. This was heavy and expensive work and practicable over only a small area. Large tanks were excavated, small bundhs or dams built to hold water or hold back floods. But it has not been possible to do anything on a country-wide scale.

Questions :

1. What is the chief occupation of the people in India?

(a) business (b) banking

2. On what thing does the cultivation of land depend in India?

(a) good seeds

(b) proper supply of water throughout the year

(d) the prosperity of the farmer

3. How has our country suffered from olden times?

(a) too much rain and too much draught

(b) poor quality of seeds

(d) poor quality of farming methods

4. What can be the best use of the excess waters of the flood?