The Ailing Planet-Qs-Ans- the Green Movement’s Role by Nani Pakhivala

 

The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role by Nani Pakhivala

Short Answer-type Questions (word-limit: About 30-40)

Q1. Justify the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.

Ans. The Earth has become an ailing planet. Its environment is being polluted. It has become very difficult to breathe in this polluted air particularly in big cities. Environmental pollution has created so many problems for the vegetation and millions of creatures living on the earth. The earth’s temperature is rising up. Climatic changes have further aggravated (worsened) the situation. Its natural resources are depleting day by day.

Q2. What is the ‘Green Movement’?

Ans. The ‘Green Movement’ refers to the activity that is continued together by people to change or improve the present situation by means of united efforts. It is called Green because in this movement much stress is laid on planting more and more trees.

Q3. What is the significance of the Green Movement?

Ans. This movement was founded in New Zealand in 1972 and with the help of so many agencies, awareness among people has spread. Now, we think ourselves as partners on the earth, not the sole owner of it. We have to share this earth with other creatures and the vegetation also.

Q4. What is scientific temperament?

   Ans. Scientific temperament refers to the characteristic of a personality that affects the mood or behaviour. The word ‘scientific’ refers to the careful and systematic or reasonable approach to achieve some aim.

Q5. What is ‘Sustainable development?

  Ans. This is the development in which natural resources are used by keeping in view the share of the coming generations in them. They are not used blindly, rather efforts are made to preserve and increase them for future generations.

   Q6.  What does the notice 'The world's most dangerous animal' at a cage in the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, signify?

  Ans. It emphasizes the fact that man is responsible for making the earth an ailing planet. Man’s activities are making the survival of millions of living beings and vegetation on the earth impossible. That’s why; he has been called the world’s most dangerous animal. The notice at Zambia Zoo is a constant reminder to humans of his guilt to dominate the whole of the earth.

Q7 What awareness and wisdom has dawned upon Man now?

   Ans. Man has now realized his folly (foolishness) and a sort (kind) of wisdom has dawned (became known) upon him. It has made a shift (change) in his thinking, that was based   on dominating (controlling) everything, every creature on the Earth. Now, it is based on partnership, sharing the planet with all the creatures & vegetation on it. Now, man is not the ‘sole’ owner of the earth.

Q8.  What is the significance of the question “Are we to leave our successors a scorched (damaged by heat) planet of advancing (increasing) deserts, impoverished made weaker or worse in quality:) landscapes and ailing environment?’ raised in the first report forwarded by the Brandt Commission?

Ans. In a way, the commission has raised a voice against all human activities which are constantly (continuously) endangering the earth along with all its treasures (resources) . We are cutting trees to fulfil various needs. The environment is being polluted by us. We are polluting and endangering so many birds, animals on land and in water. We will have to stop all these activities to make the earth a better place to live.

Q9. What are the four principal biological systems that form the global economic system, according to Mr Lester Brown,?

   Ans. Mr Lester Brown points out in his book ‘The Global Economic Prospect’ that there are four principal biological systems on the earth. These are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands. These four biological systems form the global economic system.

   Q 10. What do the four biological systems of the global economic system provide us?

   Ans. These four systems fulfil our basic needs including food. They provide all the raw materials for industries, except the synthetics, which are derived from minerals & petroleum.

Q11.  What does the writer mean to say when he quotes the statement, “forests precede (came before) mankind; mankind follow.”?

   Ans. It lays stress on one thing that before mankind took birth on the earth planet, forests were already there on it. Mankind came thereafter, maybe, after a very long time. But after that, human beings started exploiting (recklessly cutting) forests for their personal use in such a way that it disturbed the whole ecosystem of the earth.

Q 12. How does the increase in population at a high rate pose a big hurdle in the way to the country’s progress?

   Ans. He says that if the population continues increasing at the present rate, the development becomes meaningless and its speed may also decrease. Until population control is given topmost priority, the hope for a better condition in life would die in their hungry hutments (group of huts).

Q 13. In the words of Mr Lester Brown, “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.” What does he mean to say in this context?

   Ans. Mr Lester Brown wants to lay stress on the fact that we all human beings must care for the health of the earth. It is not something that we got from our ancestors in inheritance. But we have borrowed it from our coming generation. We will have to keep and use it as we do in case of the borrowed thing. We do not try to harm a borrowed thing in any way. So we will not harm the earth also.

  Q14. What ‘shift’ has occurred now in our views towards the earth?

  Ans. The shift in our outlook to view the earth as a living organism, that has its own metabolism and vital processes that need to be respected and preserved.

 Essay-type Questions (word-limit: About 120-150)

Q1. How are the earth's principal biological systems being depleted?

   Ans. The earth’s principal four biological systems are fisheries, forests, grasslands and croplands.  It is found that these four systems are reaching at a level that can be called ‘unsustainable’. It means that these cannot be prolonged for further use. The day is not far away when fisheries will collapse (finish), forests will disappear, grasslands will be converted (transformed) into barren (infertile) wastelands and croplands (agricultural land ) will become infertile (where nothing grows) due to chemical manure. Over-fishing is being practised in the ‘protein hungry world’.

In poor countries, there is a problem with ‘fuel’ (firewood), so forests are cut to provide firewood for cooking. As a result of all this, several species of life are on the verge of extinction (death).

   Forests are the shelter house for so many animals, big and small. Forests are useful for us in so many ways.

The earth’s fertile land has started changing into deserts. Big buildings are being erected by clearing forests for commercial and residential purposes. The speed of cutting trees is proportionately higher than of planting them.   Human activities are responsible for causing various types of damages done to the ecosystem of the earth. It has to be stopped at any cost in order to save this planet.

Q2. How are forests helpful for us? What is their present condition?

   Ans. Forests are one of the four principal biological systems that form the economical growth of a country. But unfortunately, these are being cut at a very fast speed, which is disproportionate to that of planting trees on the earth. We need to plant five times more than the trees are being planted at present to meet the demand and save greenery on the earth. If this is not done, our earth will become as dry as deserts. That would prove to be the death-knell for not only human-beings but also to millions of other creatures living on it.

   Forests are helpful to all of us in many ways. They provide timber, fuel, fruits, medicine, and shelter to animals. The most important function of trees is to provide us with a free of cost supply of oxygen, which is the lifeline of all living beings on the earth. They save us from heat and bring rain that is necessary for all the vegetation on the earth. All living beings need water to drink; without it, life is impossible on the earth. But, unfortunately, we human beings are not fully aware of the importance of forests. But the Green Movement has done a lot of work in making people aware of saving the earth from all these dangers.

Q3. Discuss the statement, ‘The choice is really between control of population wand perpetuating (making permanent) of poverty.’

   Ans. According to the statement quoted above, our Government has two options, one is to control the fast-growing population and the other is to make poverty the country’s permanent feature.  If the population is not controlled, it would bring so many other problems associated with it. Our country is already over-populated. We are experiencing all the problems which are directly or indirectly associated with the over-population. It is truly said that over-population is the mother of many other problems.

 For example, there are so many problems in our country, like unemployment, rise in prices, increasing crime-rate, traffic-jams on the roads, long queues everywhere, crowd in markets, the crowd in classrooms, need for more houses, etc. No single problem quoted above may be dissociated from over-population.

  Over-population is the cause of perpetuating poverty also. If maximum people of a country remain unemployed, they will not be able to educate their children properly. They will have to depend on getting some labouring jobs, which make them live from hand to mouth only. In this way, poverty will find a permanent place in the huts of the poor section of society.

(C)Important Passages (Textual) for Comprehensions

 Passage 1

  ONE cannot recall any movement in the world history which has gripped the imagination of the entire human race so completely and so rapidly as the Green Movement which started nearly twenty-five years ago. In 1972 the world’s first nationwide Green party was founded in New Zealand. Since then, the movement has not looked back.

Q1.What is Green Movement?

 Ans. Making the earth green but growing more and more trees is called the Green Movement.

 Q2. What special thing did this movement do in world history?

Ans. It caught the attention of the entire human race very quickly.

Q3. Where was the Green party first founded?

 Ans. In New Zealand.

Q4.  Write the synonym of the word ‘gripped’.

Ans. ‘caught’

Q1. Name the title of the lesson and its writer.

Ans. The title of the lesson is: The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role and its writer is Nani Palkhivala

Passage 2

 We have shifted — one hopes, irrevocably — from the mechanistic view to a holistic and ecological view of the world. It is a shift in human perceptions as revolutionary as that introduced by Copernicus who taught mankind in the sixteenth century that the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. For the first time in human history, there is a growing worldwide consciousness that the earth itself is a living organism — an enormous being of which we are parts. It has its own metabolic needs and vital processes that need to be respected and preserved.

  Q1. What was the mechanical view about the earth in the past?

   Ans. It was to view the earth as a dead planet that is to be used to fulfil human needs without paying attention to preserve its treasures.

Q2. What ‘shift’ has occurred now in our views towards the earth?

   Ans. The shift in our outlook to view the earth as a living organism, that has its own metabolism and vital processes that need to be respected and preserved.

Q3.What did Copernicus teach mankind in the 16^th century?

 Ans. He taught mankind that the earth and the other planets revolved around the earth.

 Q4. Which word in the passage has the following synonym ‘ changed ‘

 Ans. ‘Shifted’

Passage 3

In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage where the notice reads, ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage, there is no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has now dawned upon the most dangerous animal in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based on partnership.

Q1. What is a notice placed at a cage in the zoo?

Ans. It reads ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’.

Q2. What does the notice refer to?

Ans. It refers to Man, as the world’s most dangerous animal.

Q3.Why is Man called the world’ most dangerous animal? Ans. Man considers being the ‘owner’ of the earth and the boss of all the creatures found on it. It does not hesitate to do cruelty on any creature and destroy anything that belongs to the earth.

Q4. What new awareness has dawned upon the most dangerous animal of the world?

Ans. He has realised that he is not the owner and the boss of the earth. He is a partner with millions of other creatures and vegetation on the earth.

 Q5. Use ‘dawned upon’ in your own sentence.

 Ans. Suddenly an idea has dawned upon me.

Passage 4.

Article 48A of the Constitution of India provides that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. But what causes endless anguish is the fact that laws are never respected nor enforced in India. (For instance, the Constitution says that casteism, untouchability and bonded labour shall be abolished, but they flourish shamelessly even after forty-four years of the operation of the Constitution.) A recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee has highlighted the near-catastrophic depletion of India’s forests over the last four decades. India, according to reliable data, is losing its forests at the rate of 3.7 million acres a year. Large areas, officially designated as forest land, “are already virtually treeless”. The actual loss of forests is estimated to be about eight times the rate indicated by government statistics.

 Q1. What does article 48 A of the Constitution of India say?

Ans. It says that “The state shall endeavour (try) to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.”

 Q2. What causes anguish to the writer regarding the laws?

Ans. It is a fact that the laws are neither respected nor are they enforced in India.

Q3. What social evils does the writer talk about in this passage?

Ans. The writer talks about casteism, untouchability and bonded labour and these are still present in our society.

Q4. What does the recent report of our Parliament’s Estimates Committee say?

Ans. It says that India is losing forests at the alarming speed of 3.7 million acres a year. The actual loss is about eight times the rate indicated by the government.