21.

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. While there is no denying that the world loves a winner, it is important that you recognize the signs of stress in your behaviour and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike any time, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to be able to recognize your individual limit. For instance, there are some individuals who accept competition in a healthy fashion. There are others who collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam or on comparing mar-sheets and find that their friend has scored better.

2. Stress is a body reaction to any demands or changes in its internal and external environment. Whenever there is a change in external environments such as temperature, pollutants, humidity and working conditions, it leads to stress. In these days of competition when a person makes up his mind to surpass what has been achieved by others, leading to an imbalance between demands and resources, it causes psycho-social stress. It is a part and parcel of everyday life.

3. Stress had a different meaning, depending on the state of life you are in. The loss of a toy or a reprimand from the parents might create a stress shock in a child. An adolescent who fails an examination may feel as if everything has been lost and life has no further meaning. In an adult, the loss of his or her companion, hob or professional failure may appear as if there is nothing more to be achieved.

4. Such signs appear in the attitude and behavior of the individual, as muscle tension in various parts of the body, palpitation and high blood pressure, indigestion and hyper-acidity. Ultimately the result is self- destructive behavior such a s eating and drinking too much, smoking excessively, relying on tranquillizers. There are other signs of s tress such as trembling, shaking, nervous blinking, dryness of throat and mouth and difficulty in swallowing.

5.The professional under stress behaves as if he is a perfectionist. It leads to depression, lethargy and weakness. Periodic mood shifts also indicate the stress status of the students, executives and professionals.

6. In a study sponsored by World Health Organisation and carried out by Harvard School of Public Health, the global burden of diseases and injury indicated that stress diseases and accidents are going to be the major killers in 2020.

7.The heart disease and depression – both stress diseases – are going to rank first and second in 2020. Road traffic accidents are going to be the third largest killers. These accidents are also an indicator of psycho-social stress in a fast –moving society. Other stress diseases like ulcers, hypertension and sleeplessness have assumed epidemic proportion in modern societies.

8.A person under stress reacts in different easy and the common one's ar3e flight, fight and flee depending upon the nature of the stress and capabilities of the person. The three responses can be elegantly chosen to cope with the stress s so that stress does not damage the system and become distressed.

9.When a stress crosses the limit, peculiar to an individual, it lowers his performance capacity. Frequent crossings of the limit may result in chronic fatigue in which a person feels lethargic, disinterested and is not easily motivated to achieve anything. This may make the person mentally undecided, confused and accident prone as well. Sudden exposure to un-nerving stress may also result in a loss of memory. Diet, massage, food supplements, herbal medicines, hobbies, relaxation techniques and dance movements are excellent stress busters.

(a)

(i) What is stress? What factors lead to stress?

(ii) What rare the signs by which a person can know that he is under stress?

(iii) What area the different diseases a person gets due to stress?

(iv) Give any two example of stress busters.

(v) How does a person react under stress?

(b) Which words in the above passage mean the same as the following?

(i) fall down (para 1)

(ii) rebuke (para-3)

(iii) inactive (Para 9)

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:

Research has shown that the human mind can process words at the rate of about 500 per minute, whereas a speaker speaks at the rate of about 150 words a minute. The difference between the two at 350 is quite large.

So a speaker must make every effort to retain the attention of the audience and the listener should als0 be careful not to let his mind wander. Good communication calls for good l listening skills. A good speaker must necessarily be a good listener.

Listening starts with hearing but goes beyond. Hearing, in other words is necessary, but is not a sufficient condition for listening. Listening involves hearing with attention. Listening is a process that calls of concentration. While listening, one should also be observant. In other words, listening has to do with the ears, as well as with the eyes and the mind. Listening is to be understood as the total process that involves hearing with attention, being observant and making interpretations. Good communication is essentially an interactive process. It calls for participation and involvement. It is quite often a dialogue rather that a monologue. It is necessary to be interested and also show or make it abundantly clear that one is interested in knowing what the other person has to say.

Good listening is an art that can be cultivated. It relates to skills that can be developed. A good listener knows that art of getting much more than what the speaker is trying to convey. He knows how to prompt, persuade but not to cut off or interrupt what the other person has to say. At times the speaker may or may not be coherent, articulate and well-organized in his thoughts and expressions. He may have it in his mind and yet he may fail to marshal the right words while communicating his thought;. Nevertheless a good listener puts him at ease, helps him articulate and facilitates him to get across the message that he wants to convey.

For listening to effective, it is also necessary that barriers to listening are removed. Such barriers can be both physical and psychological. Physical barriers generally relate to hindrances to proper hearing whereas psychological barriers are more fundamental and relate to the interpretation and evaluation of the speaker and the message.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make note in points only, using abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply a suitable title.

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

Spurt of violence previously unknown in Indian schools makes it incumbent on the educationists to introduce value education effectively in schools. Write an Article in 150-200 words expressing your views on the need of value education. You are Anu/ Arun.

Regular practice of yoga can help in maintaining good health and even in the prevention of so many ailments. Write a Speech in 150-200 words to be delivered in the morning assembly on the usefulness of yoga.