Skill building exercise – 3
Q1. Fill in the gaps with the most appropriate word…..
From my childhood, I had ———- (aspired, cherished, demanded) to go to the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj to take a dip in the Holy Ganga. I needed a lot of money for this journey which was surely going to be expensive. Luckily, I had some savings in my bank account. But, I realised that it was too ————– (meagre, bulky, insufficient). I decided to ———- (mobilise, arrange, gather) funds from all possible sources. One source was my grandmother who I knew regularly saved money from the ——— (negligible, paltry, little) pocket-money that my grandfather gave her every month. I approached her ———- (hesitantly, boastfully, politely). As expected, she felt happy that I was going to take a dip in the Ganga during Kumbh Mela. She rushed to her chest and brought out her pouch that contained her savings. She said that she had —————- (accumulated, garnered, piled) her money over a period of five years. To my great surprise, she ———– (threw, emptied, poured) her pouch into my bag. I felt more guilty than happy. I felt I had taken undue advantage of her affection for me. I begged her not to part with her hard-earned savings and give me only a small part of it. She didn’t agree and said that taking a dip in the Ganga had long been her desire but her (flagging, decrepit, miserable) health didn’t allow it. Added to that, my grandfather never believed in such ————— (rituals, practices, traditions) that people believed could —————- (wipe out, nullify, reduce) their sins. She said that my decision to ————- (embark upon, start, proceed with) such a journey filled her heart. She blessed me as her eyes —————- (filled, welled up, saddened) with emotions.
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Q2. Fill in the blanks with the best-figtting words.
Due to poorly marked borders, the two giant neighbours, India and China have been ————— (at odds with, stifled with,, suspicious of) each other. The worst thing happened in 1962 when China invaded India. An ill-prepared Indian army was —————- (badly shaken, mauled, down on its knees) by the Chinese forces.
Quite surprisingly, China voluntarily declared a ————— (ceasefire. halt to warfare, deescalation) and withdrew its forces.
Later, in June 2020, there was a deadly ————-(encounter, confrontation, rivalry) between the soldiers of the two sides at Galwan valley. The ————— (incident, face-off, animosity) on that occasion resulted in a few ———— (fatalities, perish, mortality) while many more were injured.
So many negotiations between the two sides have been held but they have all been futile exercises. The two sides have failed to ———— (mitigate, lessen, iron out) their differences relating to the geographical border between the two countries. However, the two sides have now agreed to ————— (pause, withhold, delete) their aggressive military operations in the region, so that the mutual relations can improve.
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Q3. Paraphrase the following paragraphs (Sourced from CNN- Meanwhile in the Middle East. January 15). [Paraphrasing means writing the given sentence or passage in your own words without changing the meaning.]
The Israeli government and Hamas say they are in the final stages of indirect talks over a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Model answer .. The Israeli government and Hamas say their indirect talks about mutual prisoner exchange is about to conclude with agreement. Some Israelis have been held in Gaza as hostages and in the same way, some Palestinians are in Israeli custody.
The agreement is set to be implemented in three phases, the first of which would last 42 days.
The deal would deliver the first reprieve from war for the people of Gaza in more than a year, and only the second since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
The first phase would see the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas and its allies since October 7, including women, children, men over the age of 50 and wounded people.
Israel would release “many hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners in exchange, an Israeli official said, including Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
Israel has not yet committed to an exact number of prisoners to release, the official said, because Hamas has not yet said how many of the 33 hostages are alive. Israel has agreed to release a larger number of Palestinian prisoners for live hostages than for the bodies of the deceased.
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ANSWERS
Fast-track your English skill building, Exercise – 3 —
Q1. Fill in the gaps with the most appropriate word…..
From my childhood, I had aspired to go to the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj to take a dip in the Holy Ganga. I needed a lot of money for this journey which was surely going to be expensive. Luckily, I had some savings in my bank account. But, I realized that it was too meagre / insufficient. I decided to mobilize / arrange funds from all possible sources. One source was my grandmother who I knew regularly saved money from the paltry pocket money that my grandfather gave her every month. I approached her hesitantly. As expected, she felt happy that I was going to take a dip in the Ganga during Kumbh Mela. She rushed to her chest and brought out her pouch that contained her savings. She said that she had accumulated her money over a period of five years. To my great surprise, she emptied her pouch into my bag. I felt more guilty than happy. I felt I had taken undue advantage of her affection for me. I begged her not to part with her hard-earned savings and give me only a small part of it. She didn’t agree and said that taking a dip in the Ganga had long been her desire but her flagging /miserable health didn’t allow it. Added to that, my grandfather never believed in such rituals that people believed could wipe out their sins. She said that my decision to embark upon / proceed with such a journey filled her heart. She blessed me as her eyes welled up with emotions.
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Q2. Fill in the blanks with the best-figtting words.
Due to poorly marked borders, the two giant neighbours, India and China have been at odds with each other. The worst thing happened in 1962 when China invaded India. An ill-prepared Indian army was mauled by the Chinese forces.
Quite surprisingly, China voluntarily declared a ceasefire and withdrew its forces.
Later, in June 2020, there was a deadly encounter / confrontation between the soldiers of the two sides at Galwan valley. The face-off on that occasion resulted in a few fatalities while many more were injured.
So many negotiations between the two sides have been held but they have all been futile exercises. The two sides have failed to iron out their differences relating to the geographical border between the two countries. However, the two sides have now agreed to pause their aggressive military operations in the region, so that the mutual relations can improve.
————————————————————————————————————-.——————————-
Q3. Paraphrase the following paragraphs (Sourced from CNN- Meanwhile in the Middle East. January 15). [Paraphrasing means writing the given sentence or passage in your own words without changing the meaning.]
The Israeli government and Hamas say they are in the final stages of indirect talks over a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Model answer .. The Israeli government and Hamas say their indirect talks about mutual prisoner exchange is about to conclude with agreement. Some Israelis have been held in Gaza as hostages and in the same way, some Palestinians are in Israeli custody.
The agreement is set to be implemented in three phases, the first of which would last 42 days.
Answer .. The agreement will be implemented in three phases. The completion of the first stage of implementation will take 42 days.
The deal would deliver the first reprieve from war for the people of Gaza in more than a year, and only the second since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack.
Answer .. The people of Gaza will see a halt of the continuous war that has been going on for more than a year. The Hamas had launched a brutal assault on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, war operations have been going on. This pause in war operations will be the second such thing to happen after the October 7 attack.
The first phase would see the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas and its allies since October 7, including women, children, men over the age of 50 and wounded people.
Answer .. As many as 33 Israeli hostages will be freed by Hamas and its allies. This batch will includ5 men over 60, women and children. Some wounded Israelis will also be there in this group.
Israel would release “many hundreds” of Palestinian prisoners in exchange, an Israeli official said, including Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.
Answer .. In exchange of these 33 Israelis, hundreds of Palestinians held captive will be released by Israeli authorities. A few of these freed Palestinians were alleged to have murdered some Israelis.
Israel has not yet committed to an exact number of prisoners to release, the official said, because Hamas has not yet said how many of the 33 hostages are alive. Israel has agreed to release a larger number of Palestinian prisoners for live hostages than for the bodies of the deceased.
Answer .. Among the 33 Israelis going to be freed, there will be the remains of some dead Israelis. The number of such dead Israelis has not yet been disclosed by the Hamas. In retaliation, Israel has not divulged the exact number of Palestinians it would fee. In this exchange, Israel has agreed to release far more number of Palestinians for each living hostage. On the other hand, Israel will release much less number of Palestinians for the remains of the dead Israelis.
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