Comprehension Passage – 8 marks (Delhi 2019)
Q. Read the following passage carefully and answer the Questions that follow.
1. Few guessed that this quiet, parentless girl growing up in New York City would one day become the First Lady of the United States. Even fewer thought she would become an author and lecturer and a woman much admired and loved by people throughout the world.
2. Born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1884 to wealthy, but troubled parents who both died while she was young, Roosevelt was cared for by her grandmother and sent to school in England. In 1905, she married her distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She and her husband had six children. Although they were wealthy, her life was not easy and she suffered several personal tragedies. Her second son died when he was a baby. In 1921, her strong athletic husband was stricken with polio, which left him physically disabled for life.
3. Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman who had great intelligence and tremendous strength of character. She never let things get her down. She nursed her husband back to good health and encouraged him to remain in politics. She then helped him to become Governor of New York, and in 1933, President of the United States.
4. While her husband was President, she took a great interest in all the affairs of the country. She became her husband’s legs and eyes; she visited prisons and hospitals; she went down into mines, up scaffoldings and into factories. Roosevelt was tireless and daring. During the depression she travelled all over the country bringing goodwill, reassurance and help to people without food and jobs. During World War II she visited American soldiers in camps all over the world. The United States had never known a First Lady like her.
5. Roosevelt also kept in touch with the American people through a daily newspaper column called ‘My Day’. She broadcast on the radio and delivered lectures, all first for a First Lady.
Questions
(a) How was Eleanor Roosevelt’s personality in contrast to what she became?
(b) Apart from being the First Lady what else did she have to her credit?
(c) What challenges did she face in her personal life but remained unfazed?
(d) Eleanor was a strong woman who helped her husband become the President of America. How?
(e) What does the statement: ‘she became her husband’s legs and eyes’ mean?
(f) What was her special contribution during the depression?
(g) How did she motivate soldiers during World War II?
(h) What did she do for the first time as a First Lady?
(i) What side of her personality is reflected in this passage?
Answers
(a) As a child Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was a quiet, parentless girl who grew up to become a remarkable woman, an author, lecturer and the First Lady of the United States.
(b) Apart from being the First Lady of the US, she was also an author and a lecturer and a woman of substance much admired and loved by the people throughout the world.
(c) Anna was born to wealthy, but troubled parents who died while she was young. Her second son died when he was a baby and then her physically strong husband was stricken with polio. But she remained unfazed and handled every situation with poise.
(d) Anna E. Roosevelt nursed her husband back to good health and encouraged him to remain in politics. She helped him become Governor of New York, and in 1933, President of the US.
(e) When her husband became president, she took a great interest in politics, visiting prisons and hospitals, going down mines and into factories. She was tireless and daring and thus became the eyes and legs of her husband.
(f) During depression Anna travelled all over the country bringing goodwill, reassurance and help to people without food and jobs.
(g) During World War II she visited American soldiers in camps all over the world to motivate them.
(h) She took a great interest in all the affairs of the country. She helped common people and motivated soldiers during World War II.
(i) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt comes across as a helpful, caring, intelligent, benevolent and a strong woman of substance through the paragraph.
