WBBSE 10th Class English Solutions Chapter 7 Summary Writing
WBBSE 10th Class English Solutions Chapter 7 Summary Writing
West Bengal Board 10th Class English Solutions Chapter 7 Summary Writing
WBBSE 10th Class English Solutions
WHAT IS A SUMMARY?
Summary means a brief statement of the main points of the given passage.
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD SUMMARY
- At first, you have to read the passage 25620001 attentively again and again until you understand its meaning.
- While reading, underline the key words and phrases in the passage.
- Then, put down the main points in sequential order.
- A summary must be written in indirect speech.
- The length of the summary should be less than half of the original passage.
- Do not try to write any opinion that is not in the original passage.
- Do not try to copy the sentences of the original passage to write the summary.
WORKED-OUT EXAMPLES
1. Write summaries of the following passages:
PASSAGE – 1
In one of our old Sanskrit books there is a verse which can be translated as follows: “For the many sacrifices the individual, for the community the family, for the country the community,and for the soul the whole world.” The lesson that this Sanskrit verse teaches us is the lesson of cooperation and sacrifice for the larger good. We in India had forgotten this sovereign path to real greatness for many a day, and so we had fallen. But again we seem to have glimpses of it, and the whole country is astir. How wonderful it is to see men and women, and boys and girls, smilingly going ahead in India’s cause and not caring about any pain or suffering. Well may they smile and be glad for the joy of serving in a great cause is theirs. To free India is a great thing, but even greater is the cause of humanity itself. And because we feel that our struggle is a part of the great human struggle to end suffering and misery, we can rejoice that we are doing our bit to help the progress of the world.
SUMMARY
There is a Sanskrit saying that teaches us the lesson of sacrifice for the higher good. We Indians, however, long neglected this lesson. But today’s Indian men and women have started to follow the lesson again. Ignoring individual pain and suffering, they have been facing all the hardships with a smiling face just for the sake of their country. In this way they are serving all humanity also, because their struggle is nothing but a part of the struggle of mankind. The struggle basically aims at ending human suffering and misery.
PASSAGE – 2
All through history there have been wars, yet mankind has survived, developed and become civilised in spite of them. But unfortunately, as part of his development, man has learned to tap the hidden forces of our planet and use them for his purpose. Now, if his purposes are those of destruction, each fresh advance in his mastery of nature only increases the danger from war, as men learn to destroy one another in ever greater numbers from ever greater distances, and in ever. more varied and ingenious ways. Man has now discovered how to release the forces locked up in the atom. In consequence, the leading nations of the world are now making atom bombs which would almost certainly be widely used. Nobody knows what the effect of dropping such bombs on a large scale would be, but it is quite possible that the total destruction of the world and its civilisation might ensue. As somebody has jokingly remarked, in the next war men will fight with atom bombs, and in the war after that with bows and arrows.
SUMMARY
There have been wars all through the history. Yet man has progressed. However, there has been a change in the situation. Man has now learned to use the forces of nature. He has now been using these forces for his own purposes. There is a possibility of danger in using natural forces in this way. Man may use this knowledge for destruction. Some great powers are making atom bombs. These bombs will surely be used in a future war. This will certainly cause the destruction of civilization. It ensures only man’s return to the primitive age.
PASSAGE – 3
It is only the poor who really and truly feel for the poor. They alone know each other’s sufferings and each other’s need of sympathy and kindness. The charity of the rich is nothing compared with the charity of the poor. In seasons of sickness, of distress, the poor are each other’s comforters and supporters, to an extent that, among better circles, is never dreamt of. Contented to toil on, from day to day, for a scanty sum, they are ready to spare when a brother is in want or distress. Nor is there wanting some friendly hand to smooth the pillow, or do all those little kindly offices which make sickness and suffering tolerable. The women of the poorer classes are, in this respect, especially devoted and untiring. They make sacrifices and bear hardships and exercise patience and kindness to a degree that the world never knows of and would scarcely believe even if it did know.
SUMMARY
Common suffering makes the poor people sincerely feel for one another. In spite of their poverty, they readily come forward with whatever little they can spare to help a fellow man in need. They do this with heartiness. They heartily nurse the sick. Their sincerity and camaraderie are more valuable than the rich man’s charity. The women among the poor are particularly remarkable for their kindness, patience and sacrificing spirit. Their Philanthropy is just uncomparable.
PASSAGE – 4
It is not good for man that his life should be all joy and prosperity. The lands which know only sunshine and never rain become deserts. The most beautiful countries are those which are regularly visited by both sunshine and rain. It is in these lands that flowers and fruits grow and sweet birds sing. There is nothing more beautiful than a rainbow. If life is to be rounded and many coloured, like the rainbow, both joy and sorrow must come to it. Those who have never known anything but prosperity and pleasure become hard and shallow, but those whose prosperity has been mixed with adversity become kind and gracious.
SUMMARY
Lands that know only sunshine and not rain at all, become deserts. Beautiful lands are those that have both sunshine and rain regularly. Likewise, a perfect life, a blend of kindness and sympathy, is one that has known both joys and sorrows. On the other hand, a life that has known joys only is hard and weak.
PASSAGE – 5
The average schoolboy will admit that his school would never function successfully without rules, and most boys prefer rules to be laid down with precision, for the more exact is the definition, the better the boy understands his place in the school and the duties and obligations which he has to observe. Rules also help him to understand the meaning of co-operation, and even in schools which cater for the individual ego there is some latitude allowed to the children. They are not, for instance, permitted to murder their masters, or to set fire to the school buildings. As a rule, the guiding principle of such schools is that the child is entitled to freedom, so long as he does not abuse that freedom by injuring others. But it is doubtful if a narrow interpretation and the absence of discipline help the child to understand the importance of co-operation.
SUMMARY
An average schoolboy will co-operate in maintaining discipline in school. But for that, a student’s duties and obligations must be exactly defined. In some schools, students, however, are allowed to enjoy a certain freedom. They are allowed this so long as they do not indulge in any destructive activities. But the wrong interpretation and absence of discipline cannot foster co-operation.
PASSAGE – 6
Socrates was arrested and accused of denying the gods, and of corrupting the young men of the city. This was not true, although it seemed so to ignorant people. Socrates worshipped the gods of Greece very scrupulously, offering sacrifices and performing rites as the priests commanded. But he also believed that the gods spoke directly to him by the inner voice, telling him what to do and what not to do. This claim offended the priests who wanted the people to believe that the gods would deal with men only through them. Then, too, Socrates had taught-there was no use believing a thing just because older people said it was so. You must test and examine and be able to give a reason for your belief. This the older people regarded as an attack on their traditions and their faiths: so they accused him of corrupting the young: The great reformer was tried by Athenian law and condemned to death.
SUMMARY
Socrates is the name of a rebel against tradition. Despite his traditional worship of the Greek gods, Socrates believed that the gods gave him moral instruction directly and not through the priests. He also preached that every belief must be based on reason and not on tradition. The enraged priests and the older people, therefore, accused him of corrupting the young. The Athenian people sentenced this great reformer to death.
PASSAGE – 7
The test of a great book is whether we want to read it only once or more than once. Any really great book we want to read a second time even more than we wanted to read it the first time; and every additional time we read it we find new meanings and new beauties in it. A book that a person of education and good taste does not care to read more than once is very probably not worth much. But we cannot consider the judgement of a single individual as final. We may doubt such a judgement. But this is, no doubt, possible in regard to the judgement of generations. Even if we cannot at once perceive anything good in a book which has been admired and praised for hundreds of years, we may be sure that by trying, by studying it carefully, we shall at last be able to feel the reason of this admiration and praise. The best of all libraries for a poor man would be a library entirely composed of such great works only, books which have passed the test of time.
SUMMARY
There are some criteria to ascertain the worth of a book. A book’s worth depends on whether a man of learning and good taste wants to read it repeatedly. Individual opinion may be biased. But that of generations of critics cannot be so. We may not realise at first reading the merit of a book admitted by generations of readers. But a careful reading reveals it. A poor man’s library should have only such books which have passed the test of time.
PASSAGE – 8
A happy man needs opportunities of adventure almost as much as he needs security. He needs security in the general framework of his life, but he needs adventure to give excitement and to enable him to savour the security when he returns to it. Modern life, owing partly to machine production and partly to economic insecurity, leaves little opportunity for adventure in the lives of the majority of mankind. But this is unnecessary. It should be possible for a man, if he feels so disposed, to save out of his earnings until he is in a position to travel to Antarctic, or to indulge in whatever other whim may seize him, provided always, that it does not harm others. Even as things are, opportunities for adventure exist for those who are sufficiently adventurous.
SUMMARY
Security in life is necessary. Opportunities for adventure are also necessary in life because both make life more enjoyable. They bring happiness. But opportunities for adventure are rare in the modern age of machines due to economic insecurity. Travelling to far-off lands in search of adventures will be a possibility only if one has an adventurous mind.
PASSAGE – 9
A student should prepare himself to face the problems that lie before him. He is not only an individual, but also a member of the community. He should try to equip himself fully, so that in future he is able to discharge his duties both as an individual, and as a member of the community to which he belongs. So, if he wastes his time in other activities, his future life will be doomed. He should not allow himself to be blinded by agitational politics. In our country, students are often utilized by political parties for gaining their ends. The students serve as pawns in the political game. As a result, we often find mad excitement and indiscipline. All serious thinkers of the country suggest that the students should not take part in active politics. When they say so, they mean that students should keep themselves away from being tools in the hands of such people to whom politics is a game. A student should not forget that so long as he is a student, his first and foremost duty is to study.
SUMMARY
A student’s primary duty is to study. He/She should prepare himself/herself to serve the community he/she lives in, better. Participation in agitational politics being incited by some self-seeking members of political parties will only breed frenzy and indiscipline. It will doom a student’s career. All serious thinkers are against students’ involvement in active politics. Students should not allow themselves to be used as pawns in the power games of politicians.
PASSAGE – 10
While wealth is a great factor for ensuring happiness in human life, it is easily liable to be exploited by one set of people against others. Besides, wealth has a tendency to concentrate in the hands of a few, with the result that the rich become richer and the poor pooter. In the existing conditions of the society we find that there are classes of people who are miserable and unhappy, while there are others who are rich, well-fed and comfortable. Such differences in economic conditions are mainly due to the wrong distribution of wealth in the society. In considering the welfare of the society, we must not refer to individual fortunes or conditions of life. By human welfare we are to mean the greatest good of the greatest number.
SUMMARY
Proper distribution of wealth is the key to human welfare. Because of wrong distribution of wealth in society some people become richer and happier while others become poorer and more miserable. The welfare of the society does not depend upon individual fortunes or conditions of life. It depends upon the best conditions of life available to most of the people.
PASSAGE – 11
Shyness is an attribute of noble souls. It betokens a heightened awareness of one’s own limitations and a tolerant attitude towards others’ shortcomings. It helps those who possess it to develop on the whole, a balanced outlook on life and its problems. It is the antithesis of arrogant selfassurance which, in the young, betrays a certain lack of sensibility, and leads to an artificiality of manner and seeming precocity bordering on impertinence. Such people may grow up to be competent but not imaginative, knowledgeable and understanding. They go through life more or less like trained circus animals so that by the time they are middle-aged, all finer feelings they might have got are atrophied. They may excel in the art of money-making and may even become social celebrities on the strength of their riches, but theirs is the bliss of ignorance which they very often try to conceal behind a certain haughtiness of bearing and loudness of manner and speech very much akin to exhibitionism.
SUMMARY
Virtues of shyness and modesty contrast with arrogance and haughtiness. Consciousness of one’s limitations and tolerance for others’ shortcomings lead to shyness. These help to develop a balanced outlook on life. A man of arrogant self-assurance betrays a lack of sensibility that leads to an artificiality of manner. He may become rich and famous, competent and clever, but not imaginative and understanding: He Covers his ignorance by loud exhibitionism.
PASSAGE – 12
Self-reliance is the pilgrim’s best staff, the worker’s best tool. It is the master-key that unlocks all the difficulties of life. “Help yourself and Heaven will help you,” is a maxim which receives daily confirmation. He who begins with crutches. will generally end with crutches. Help from within always strengthens, but help from without invariably enfeebles the recipient. It is not in the sheltered garden but on the rugged Alpine cliff, where the storms beat most violently, that the toughest plants are reared. It is not by the use of corks, bladders and lifebuoys that you can best learn to swim, but by plunging courageously into the waves and buffeting them. To wait until some charitable man passes, to stand with arms folded, sighing for “a helping hand,” is not the part of any manly mind. The habit of depending upon others should be rigorously resisted, since it tends to weaken the intellectual faculties and paralyse the judgement. The struggle against adverse circumstances has. on the contrary, a bracing and strengthening effect.
SUMMARY
Self-help is the best help. In order to thrive in life one must be self-reliant. This strengthens the mind enabling one to fight against the mighty odds of life. On the other hand, help from others weakens the mind of a person. Hence, one should shun dependence on others. One should fight all alone against adverse circumstances. Dependence on others weakens the mental powers and deadens judgement. When one struggles to overcome difficulties by oneself one gets divine help.
PASSAGE – 13
Indian civilisation has been like a big tree which, though very old, still has green leaves, bears fruit and gives shelter to many people. Historians tell us that many influences have gone to the making of this civilization. The people who lived at Mohenjo Daro contributed something to it. Then came the Aryans who perfected it after the Dravidians had made their own contribution. The Persians, the Greeks, the Mughals added something to it. The English brought with them their own culture, the traces of which we find everywhere in India today. Many influences in this way from within and without have had an effect upon Indian civilization, but it has always retained and will ever retain its own fundamental characteristics.
SUMMARY
Indian civilization, though very old, is still very alive. It has been influenced by the people of Mohenjo Daro, the Dravidians, the Aryans, the Persians, the Greeks, the Mughals and the British through the ages. Yet, it retains some basic individual features. One of them is the singularity of Indian civilization despite its composite character.
PASSAGE – 14
It is said that once, while hunting, one of the arrows of the king accidentally wounded a young man. The aged mother of this man accused the king before the Kazi. The Kazi was a very upright man and never shrank from duty. He passed a sentence upon the king and ordered him to pay full compensation to the old woman. The king was pleased and at once paid the fine imposed. When leaving the court, he drew his sword and said to the judge, “If you today had failed to punish me, as I am the King, I would have beheaded you with this sword of mine.” The Kazi showing a cane retorted, “If you had disobeyed me today, I would have flogged you with this cane. I am glad that we both have come through this ordeal of God.”
SUMMARY
Once, while hunting, the King accidentally wounded a young man and was taken to court by the victim’s mother. Following the Kazi’s verdict, the King fully compensated the old mother. Then he told the Kazi that he would have beheaded the Kazi if he had not punished him (the King). The Kazi retorted that he would have whipped the King if he (the king) had disobeyed him.
PASSAGE – 15
Parents and teachers sometimes forget that the proper function of a child is to grow; that the brain cannot in early years be overworked without serious injury to physical health, that the body, muscles, lungs and stomach-must first have their soundness established, and that the brain is one of the last organs to come to maturity. Indeed, in early life digestion is of greater importance than thinking: exercise is necessary for mental culture; and discipline is better than knowledge. Many are the causes of children blooming early only to wither and run their little course in a few short years. The strain upon their nervous system is more than their physical constitution can bear and they perish as soon as they have begun to live. Boys and girls at present are much too occupied in sitting, learning, studying and reciting. Their brain is overworked and their body is underworked.
SUMMARY
That growing is the proper function of a child should not be forgotten. And the maturity of brain comes last. Hence, too much attention to the development of a child’s brain neglecting the body is detrimental. Greater strain on the nerves for learning reciting and studying tell upon the children’s bodies. They may display intellectual preeminence at an early age, but ultimately they break down.
PASSAGE – 16
The idea that education should cover all useful fields of equipment is futile and erroneous. The limitations of time and immaturity should be kept in mind and more time should be spent on evolving the capacity to acquire knowledge and to think aright than on substantial equipment straight away. The pressure of too many subjects is not a good thing for a young brain. On the other hand, it is only when the brain is young that the capacity to think aright can be developed and correct method of work can be implemented. To give an example, I would point out that history cannot be understood by boys and girls who have not seen or experienced much of life and its problems. The brain is a machine which should be properly assembled and adjusted during youth. Once this is done it will take care of itself and there is plenty of time for acquiring information in all branches. The stress during youth should be on training, on creating a habit of correct observation, of scientific curiosity and of thinking aright and not on cramming the brain with information.
SUMMARY
Many believe that education must cover each and every field of equipment useful to children. But this is an incorrect concept of education. We should keep in view the immaturity of the young brain. We should not overload the young brain with too many subjects, however useful they might be. What is needed is training the youth to think aright and develop the habit of correct observation and scientific curiosity. Once the brain is properly developed and adjusted it can gather information on different subjects later.
PASSAGE – 17
History is an account of the past. We read history because of the fact that we cannot understand the present without reference to the past. If we read history merely as an account of events or a catalogue of facts and dates, we only skip over the outer surface of history. The proper study of history consists in going deep into its inner meaning. It does not consist in simply knowing what took place in the past, but in understanding how the past events took place and what lesson they have for the present. What took place in the past has a connection with what is happening to us now. We should learn from history how to avoid the evils that brought about misfortunes in the past. We should also learn from it the path that leads to progress and prosperity. This is the real purpose of the reading of history.
SUMMARY
The worth of reac history does not lie in the mere accounting of events or gathering a catalogue of facts. History has a connection with current events. By presenting the examples of the past, history enables us to avoid evils and misfortunes and to progress and prosper in life. Thus, history is to be studied for the lessons it gives, not for mere events or information. [66 words)
PASSAGE – 18
The desire to collect makes its appearance very early in life. Hardly a little boy is to be found who does not collect something: marbles, stamps, coins, cheese labels or birds’ eggs. Children are concerned not so much with the quality of the things they gather, as with the number. They will proudly tell you they have 4,876 stamps and go on counting and recounting them, like a miser going through his hoard. They engage in a primitive kind of barter and drive hard bargains: two matchboxes equal four stamps and so on. Most of us grow out of this tendency. Those who do not, become obsessed with their collections and throughout their lives go on adding to them relentlessly, classifying them scientifically, and boring their friends with long accounts of their progress. Those few who have made a successful job of collecting money, find new and exciting toys to buy: expensive antiques, rare pictures and autographed manuscripts replace the tin soldiers and cigarette-ends of their childhood. People who claim that they never collect anything often have the biggest collections of all. And so the collection grows.
SUMMARY
Almost all young boys or girls collect articles in their childhood. In this regard children often give more importance to number than to quality. Sometimes they engage themselves in exchanging their collections. When grown up, most of these children give up this habit of collection. Those who do not give it up, collect and classify things scientifically and bore their friends with accounts of their success. Some with accumulated money, purchase costly antiques, rare pictures, etc. People are often strangely unaware of the remarkable collections they possess.
PASSAGE – 19
It is no doubt true that we cannot go through life without sorrow. There can be no sunshine without shade. We must not complain that roses have thorns but rather be grateful that thorns bear flowers. Our existence here is so complex that we must expect much sorrow and suffering. But although a good man may at times be angry with the world, it is certain that no man was ever discontented with the world, who did his duty in it. The world is a looking glass; if you smile, it smiles; if you frown, it frowns back. If you look at it through a red glass, it seems red and rosy, if through a blue, all blue; if through a smoked one, all dull and dingy. Always try to look at the bright side of things; almost everything has a bright side. There are some persons whose smile, the sound of whose voice, whose very presence, seem like a ray of sunshine, and brighten a whole room. While we should feel grateful, and enjoy to the full the innumerable blessings of life, we cannot expect to have no sorrows and anxiety.
SUMMARY
‘Joy and woe are woven fine’ in our day to day life. Life without sorrow and suffering is impossible. One may complain against this world of suffering. Yet some others will find satisfaction in the same world. If one looks at the dark side of life, life will appear troublesome. If one looks at its gladsome aspects, life will appear bright. There are some people whose very presence gives joy and pleasure. While man enjoys life’s blessings man cannot escape its sorrows. cares and anxieties. [85 words]
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