Unseen Passage for Class 8 English - Sharpen Reading and Comprehension Skills

1. Unseen Passage for Class 8 English | Sharpen Reading and Comprehension Skills Unseen passages for class 8 English offer significant benefits for Class 8 students. They expose students to diverse literary works, fostering empathy and cultural understanding. These passages improve language and communication skills, enhancing reading comprehension and writing abilities. Unseen passages also promote critical thinking, as students analyze themes and develop independent interpretations. Furthermore, they ignite creativity and imagination, encouraging students to think outside the box. By accessing unseen passages, Class 8 students gain a deeper appreciation for literature, expand their knowledge, and develop essential skills for personal and academic growth. Example 1: Today, with a Nobel Prize to its credit, Grameen is one of the largest micro-finance organizations in the world. It started out lending small sums to poor entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to help them grow from a subsistence living to a livelihood. The great discovery its founders made was that even with few assets, these entrepreneurs repaid on time. Grameen and micro-finance have since become financial staples of the developing world. Grameen’s approach, unlike other micro financiers, uses the group-lending model. Costs are kept down by having borrowers vet one another, tying together their financial fates and eliminating expensive loan officers entirely. The ultimate promise of Grameen is to use business lending as a way for people to lift themselves out of poverty. 3. Recently, Grameen has taken on a different challengeby setting up operations in the US .money may be tight in the waning recession, but it is still a nation 1,00,000 bank branches. Globally, the working microfinance equation consists of borrowing funds cheaply and keeping loan defaults and overhead expenses sufficiently low. Micro lenders, including Grameen, do this by charging colossal interest rates-as high as 60% or 70%-which is necessary to compensate for the risk and attract bank funding. but loans rates much above the standard 15% would most likely be attacked as usurious in America. So, the question is whether there is a role for a Third World lender in the world’s largest economy. Grameen America believes that in a few years it will be successful and turn a profit, thanks to 9 million US households untouched by mainstream banks and 21 million using the likes of pay-day

2. loans and pawn shops for financing. But enticing the unbanked won’t be easy. After all, profit has long eluded US micro financiers and if it is not lucrative, it is not micro-lending, but charity. When Grameen first went to the US, in the late 1980s, it tripped up. Under Grameen’s tutelage, banks started micro loans to entrepreneurs with a shocking 30% loss. But Grameen America says that this time results will be making loans, not training an American bank to do it. More often than not, the borrowers, Grameen finds, in the US already have jobs(as factory workers for example) or side business-selling toys, cleaning houses etc. The loans from Grameen, by and large, provide a steadier source of funding, but they don’t create businesses out of nothing. But money isn’t everything. More importantly for many entrepreneurs, group members are tremendous sources of support to one another. So even if studies are yet to determine if Grameen is a clear-cut pathway out of poverty it still achieves something useful. Question. What has adversely affected the success of micro-finance institutions in the US? (i) The focus of these institutions is on making a profit at any cost instead of being charitable to the needy (ii) American banks engaged in micro-lending were the most severely hit during the recession (iii) A widespread perception are better suited to developing countries (iv) Their failure to attract those outside the formal banking system as customers Ans : (iv) Their failure to attract those outside the formal banking system as customers Question. Why was Grameen made a second attempt to launch itself in the US? (i) The willingness of US banks to provide the necessary staff and funds to facilitate the spread of micro-finance (ii) The rates of interest on loans in the US are exorbitant, making it easier to recover capital. (iii) The realization that a large percentage of the American population not reached by mainstream banks can be tapped (iv) None of these Ans : (iii) The realization that a large percentage of the American population not reached by mainstream banks can be tapped Question. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage? (i) Micro-finance has been successful only in Asian countries (ii) Micro-finance makes individual borrowers dependent rather than independent (iii) America has the largest number of banks in the world (iv) There is scope for micro-finance institutions to be profitable in developed countries Ans : (iv) There is scope for micro-finance institutions to be profitable in developed countries Question. According to the author, what has enhanced the likelihood of success for Grameen America at present?

3. (i) Its success in Bangladesh and other developing countries (ii) Absence of other micro-finance institutions for competition (iii) The fact that America is currently in the midst of a recession (iv) None of these Ans : (iv) None of these Question. Which of the following can be said about Grameen? A. Its success in developing countries will ensure its success in developed countries B. It ensures that the poor in developing countries enjoy a subsistence standard of living C. It has demonstrated that the poor are far more likely to repay loans than the affluent (i) Only C (ii) Only A (iii) Only A and C (iv) Only B Ans : (i) Only C Question. What is the central theme of the passage? (i) The conventional that Grameen is doomed to fail in developed countries (ii) A comprehensive evaluation of the current status of the American economy (iii) A discussion about the prospects of Grameen and micro-finance in the US. (iv) The role of banks in facilitating microlending efforts in developed nations Ans : (iii) A discussion about the prospects of Grameen and micro-finance in the US. Question. Why was Grameen America’s initial US initiative of flop? A. Lack of proper training to Grameen America personnel B. Grameen’s refusal to adapt their system to meet the needs of the American poor. C. It ended up giving loans at half their customary rates of interest (i) None (ii) only A (iii) Only A and C (iv) Only C Ans : (iv) Only C Question. Which of the following is a benefit of the Grameen system of micro-finance? (i) If a single member is unable to repay a loan, other group members will repay (ii) Dispensing with the expense of technology networks to monitor advances (iii) It utilizes the vast bank network already existing in a country (iv) Backing that borrowers receive from other group members Ans : (iv) Backing that borrowers receive from other group members

4. Question. Which of the following is most similar in meaning to the word ‘ELUDED’ as used in the passage? (i) Avoided (ii) Duped (iii) Abandoned (iv) intangible Ans : (i) Avoided Question. Which of the following is most opposite in meaning to the word ‘COLOSSAL’ as used in the passage? (i) short (ii) Lavish (iii) Minority (iv) Insignificant Ans : (iv) Insignificant Example 2: Long ago men spent most of their time looking for food. They ate anything they could find. Some lived mostly on plants. They ate the fruit, stems, and leaves of some plants and the roots of others. When food was scarce, they ate the bark of trees. If they were lucky, they would find a bird’s nest with eggs. People who lived near the water ate fish or anything that washed ashore, even rotten whales. Some people also ate insects and small animals like lizards that were easy to kill. Later, men learned to make weapons. With weapons, they could kill larger animals for meat. These early people had big appetites. If they killed an animal, they would drink the blood, eat the meat, and chew the bones. When they finished the meal, there was nothing left. At first men wandered from place to place to find their food. But when they began to grow plants, they stayed in one place and ate what they could grow. They tamed animals, trained them to work, and killed them for meat. Life was a little better then, but there was still not much variety in their meals. Day after day people ate the same foods. Gradually men began to travel greater distances. The explorers who sailed unknown seas found new lands. And in these lands they found new foods and spices and took them back home. The Portuguese who sailed’ around the stormy Cape of Good Hope to reach China took back “Chinese apples”, the fruit we call oranges today. Later, Portuguese colonists carried orange seeds to Brazil. From Brazil oranges were brought to California, the first place to grow oranges in the United States. Peaches and melons also came from China. So did a new drink, tea.

5. Question. What did men eat if there was shortage of food? (i) Rotten whales (ii) The bark of trees (iii) The root of trees (iv) A bird’s nest with eggs Ans : (ii) The bark of trees Question. If men tamed animals, they made the animals for them. (i) Race (ii) Search (iii) Work (iv) Hunt Ans : (iii) Work Question. Where did oranges come from? (i) Brazil (ii) China (iii) U.S.A. (iv) Portugal Ans : (ii) China Question. What difference did weapons make in the kinds of food? (i) With weapons, they could kill animals (ii) With weapons, they could kill both birds and animals for meat (iii) With weapon, they could kill all kinds of animals for meat (iv) With weapons, they could kill larger animals for meat Ans : (iv) With weapons, they could kill larger animals for meat Question. Which of the following statements is not true? (i) The Portuguese colonists carried orange seeds to Brazil. (ii) Oranges grow in California, in the United States. (iii) Explorers took back home new foods and spices. (iv) Peaches, melons, oranges, tea and spices came from China. Ans : (iv) Peaches, melons, oranges, tea and spices came from China. Question. The phrase ‘live on’ in the passage means (i) To eat a certain kind of food in order to survive (ii) To eat greedily (iii) To eat everything that you are given to eat (iv) To depend on plants and foods for a livelihood Ans : (i) To eat a certain kind of food in order to survive

6. Question. At first men wondered from place to place to find their food. Then some of them began to stay in one place, Why? (i) Because they began to grow plants, and ate what they could grow (ii) Because they tamed animals and birds, and killed them for meat (iii) Because they trained wild animals and killed them for meat (iv) Because they began to grow plants and fruits, and ate what they could grow Ans : (i) Because they began to grow plants, and ate what they could grow Question. Which word in the passage means ‘the main axis of a plant that bears buds and shoots’? (i) Roots (ii) Stems (iii) Bark (iv) Leaves Ans : (ii) Stems Question. What does the word ‘stormy’ in the expression ‘the stormy Cape of Good Hope’ mean? (i) Volcanic (ii) Strong (iii) Hopeless (iv) Rough Ans : (iv) Rough Question. Which of the following titles best expresses the main idea of the passage? (i) Eat Healthy Food (ii) The Search for Food (iii) The Foods We Eat (iv) Great Food Regions of the World Ans : (ii) The Search for Food

7. Unseen passages provide invaluable benefits for Class 8 students. They foster empathy, improve language skills, promote critical thinking, and spark creativity. To explore more unseen passages like this, visit StudiesToday.com and unlock a world of engaging literary works for further enrichment of your reading and learning experience.