English Olympiad Class 7 - Sample paper 11

Read the passages carefully and answer the questions

Passage 1 - Sun Bear

The solitary sun bear, smallest member of the global bear family, lives an insular life in the dense lowland forests of southeast Asia.

Found from southern China to eastern India and as far south as Indonesia, sun bears, also called Malayan sun bears, take their name from the bib-shaped golden or white patch on their chest, which legends say represents the rising sun. They have a stocky, muscular build, small ears, and a short muzzle, which has earned them the nickname “dog bear”. Their sleek, black coat is short to avoid overheating in the tropical weather but thick and coarse to provide protection from twigs, branches, and rain.

Sun bears grow to only about half the size of an American black bear. Males, slightly larger than females, are about five feet (1.5 metres) in length and weigh up to 150 pounds (70 kilograms). They have been observed making sleeping platforms high above the ground out of branches and leaves.

Ironically, sun bears are nocturnal. They lumber through the forests by night, snacking on fruits, berries, roots, insects, small birds, lizards, and rodents. They have an excellent sense of smell and extremely long claws, exceeding four inches in length, which they use to rip open trees and termite nests. They also have an almost comically long tongue for extracting honey from bee nests, giving them their other nickname, “honey bear”.

Mother bears, called sows, make ground nests and give birth to one or two blind, helpless babies that weigh about 11 ounces (325 grams). Mothers have actually been observed cradling a cub in their arms while walking on their hind legs, a rare trait among bears. Cubs can move about after two months, but they remain with their mothers for two years or more. Adult females are frequently killed so their cubs can be taken and raised as pets.

Passage 2 - The Beach

After another long year, this time when the summer holidays began, Madhu and her family decided to go to a beach for a vacation. You can’t imagine how thrilled Madhu was, but her brother was a bit unsure. He wanted to go skiing instead to sun himself.

This was their first time on a beach and when Madhu saw the sea she took off her pink sandals and ran on the sweltering sand. She tiptoed into the water, giggling as a wave washed her legs. Her brother kept pulling her back because he was scared that she might fall. She looked back at the big red and blue umbrella and waved at her mother, who was sitting under the umbrella with her little hanky over her head trying to keep herself cool. Her mother smiled and waved signaling her to push a bit more and go further into the water.

A huge wave came and swept Madhu’s feet, making her collapse into the water like loose sand. She tried to scream but swallowed a gulp of salty water instead. She didn’t know which way was up and which was down. Her sweeping hand touched something with a tiny claw in the sand.

She imagined that to be a crab or some other sea creature, which made Madhu even more scared. She screamed bubbles and tried hard to swim. The wave receded, dumping the startled girl upon the soft, wet beach. Madhu coughed and rubbed her eyes, struggling to get back up. Grains of sand in her blue swimsuit scratched her skin.

She looked back toward her mother, who was standing up with a worried frown partly covered by the hanky. Madhu ran back to the big umbrella, tiptoeing through the hot sand. She smelled of salt and seaweeds. She took her mother’s big, warm hand with her cold, wet one. “Come play with me in the waves, mommy! This is the best vacation ever!”