🖥️ Table of content
Word Meaning
| AIDS | Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: a serious disease caused by a virus which destroys the body's natural protection from infection, and which usually causes death |
| Alien | Something foreign or unfamiliar |
| Barnacle | A type of marine crustacean |
| Biodegradable | Capable of breaking down naturally |
| Bryozoans | Small aquatic colonial animals |
| Carcinogen | A substance that can cause cancer |
| Contaminate | To make impure or polluted |
| Crab | A crustacean with a hard shell |
| Debris | Scattered fragments or waste material |
| Ecosystem | A community of living organisms and their environment |
| Ethylene | A hydrocarbon gas used in chemical production |
| Infertility | Inability to conceive or reproduce |
| Leach out | To wash or dissolve through a liquid |
| Marine | Relating to the sea or ocean |
| Mollusk | A soft-bodied invertebrate with a shell |
| Moderate | Being within reasonable limits |
| Myriad | Countless or an immense number |
| Non-permeability | The quality of not allowing substances to pass through |
| Polymer | A substance made up of repeating units |
| Polychaetes | A type of marine annelid worm |
| Posterity | Future generations or descendants |
| Residue | Remains or something left behind |
| Resin | A sticky substance from plants or synthetic sources |
| Retard | To slow down or impede progress |
| SRO | Statutory Regulatory Order (legal document) |
| Sewerage | System for disposing of waste and wastewater |
| Stink | A strong, unpleasant odor |
| Stray | Lost or wandering away from a place or group |
| Synthetic | Created through artificial means |
| Thrombosis | A blood clot that forms in a blood vessel |
| Trophic | Relating to nourishment and food chains |
| Veterinary | Pertaining to the medical care of animals |
Summary
Every day, hundreds of new products flood the market and become a part of our daily lives. Polythene is one such product that has gained widespread popularity due to its convenience, durability, lightness, waterproof nature, and affordability. It's primarily used for packaging and storage, especially in the form of carry bags. However, with the increasing use of polythene, there's a significant rise in the accumulation of polythene waste, particularly in urban areas. It's common to see polythene bags littering public places, residential areas, and tourist spots, which not only spoil the scenery but also pose serious environmental problems.
Polythene is non-degradable, meaning it doesn't break down easily and can take hundreds of years to degrade naturally. Chemically, it's a high-molecular-weight polymer of ethylene, a thermoplastic material that softens when heated due to weakening intermolecular forces and solidifies when cooled.
The primary issue with polythene is its non-degradable nature, which raises questions about how to dispose of it properly. Often, after using the items inside polybags, the bags are discarded. Being lightweight, they can be carried away by the wind, ending up in drains and causing blockages and street flooding, inconveniencing the public. It's a common practice to pack household trash in polybags and toss it away, without realizing that this prevents biodegradable kitchen waste from decomposing naturally in the soil or being consumed by animals. Sometimes, cows and stray animals attempt to open these bags in search of food, leading to injuries from broken glass, blades, pins, and other hazardous items that people often don't separate from their kitchen waste.
Question and Answers
Q1. What is polythene? Who discovered it?
Ans: Polythene is a strong, lightweight, and flexible man-made material created by combining ethylene molecules through a process called polymerization. It's mainly used for making items like plastic bags, food containers, and packaging materials. This material was discovered by a German scientist named Hans Von Pechmann.
Q2. What does Rakesh’s father expect from kids?
Ans: Rakesh's father hopes that the younger generation, including Rakesh, will stop using polythene bags, even though the older generation has struggled to do so.
Q3. Why is polythene widely used?
Ans: Polythene is commonly used because it is affordable and easy to carry everywhere.
Q4. What is biodegradation?
Ans: Biodegradation is a chemical process in which the breakdown or decomposition of organic matter occurs. This dissolution of materials is accomplished by bacteria, fungi, or other biological methods.
Q5. What are the harmful effects of polythene?
Ans: Polythene has numerous harmful effects. It can lead to diseases like cholera and malaria. Because it doesn't break down naturally (non-biodegradable), it contributes to soil infertility. Additionally, it plays a significant role in clogging water systems such as sewage and water pipes, leading to floods during heavy rainfall. Animals sometimes ingest polythene bags, which can result in their deaths.
Q6. How, is soil affected by polythene?
Ans: Polythene, being non-biodegradable, doesn't break down in the soil. Over time, it harms the soil ecosystem by reducing its carrying capacity. Additionally, polythene's non-permeable nature restricts soil respiration, affecting not only plant life but also other organisms living in the soil.
Q7. How does polythene affect animals?
Ans: When polythene bags, used for carrying items like fruits, are discarded on open roads, they are often consumed by stray animals, which can sometimes lead to their death. Additionally, polythene pollution affects marine animals significantly, causing the death of approximately one billion marine animals each year.
Q8. What is SRO 182?
Ans: SRO 182 is a law created by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir on June 18, 2008. This law prohibits the use of polythene within the boundaries of the state.
Q9. How can we save our posterity from the harmful effects of polythene?
Ans: We can protect future generations by completely avoiding the use of polythene. Instead, we can opt for bags made of jute and cotton. This shift can help us steer clear of the diseases and harmful consequences associated with polythene.
LANGUAGE WORK
- Look at the following sentence from the lesson;
While they [polythene bags) were rarely found during the 1960s and 70s, their usage has increased at an alarming rate since they became popular during the 1980s.
In the above sentence, mark the use of article "the" and the letter "s" with 1960, 1970 and 1980. (The" with 1960 is common to 1970 as well). When we do so, we are actually referring to a particular decade of a century. However, when we refer to a particular year, we neither use "the" nor" Now in the following sentences, choose the correct sentences:
- I have known him since 2009.
- The freedom struggle against the Maharaja started in 1930s.
- Television revolutionized the game of cricket in the 1980.
- The economic depression in the USA started in the 1920s.
Ans: only sentences 1 and 4 are correct
- The letters SRO in the text stand for Statutory Rules and Orders as indicated in the glossary. This kind of an abbreviation is called an acronym. What do the following acronyms stand for:
(a). IPL: Indian Premier League
(b). WHO: World Health Organization
(c). WWF: World Wildlife Fund.
(d). ILO: International Labour Organization (Office)
(e). BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation
(f). FIFA: Federation International Football Association
(g). HBO: Home Box Office
(h). PIL: Public Interest Litigation
(i). ICC: International cricket council
(j). IMF: International Monetary Fund
Exercise
1. Identify the following sentences as Simple, Compound, or Complex sentences:
1. I don’t like girls/boys who are lazy……..Complex Sentence
2. He called her but didn’t respond………Compound Sentence
3. She went because she was invited……..Compound sentence
4. You should work hard or you will fail…….Compound sentence
5. He stood first in the class……Simple sentence
6. They must apologize or they will be punished……Compound sentence
7. She must apologize to avoid punishment…..Complex sentence
8. The mother hit him and made him cry……..Complex sentence
9. She succeeded in the very first attempt………Simple sentence
10. She has lost the book that my brother had given her…….Complex sentence
11. Men may come and men may go but I go on forever……..Compound sentence
12. We eat so that we may live……Complex sentence
13. They serve God well who serve his creatures…….Complex sentence
14. One blushes when one is guilty…..Complex sentence
15. Man proposes, but God disposes……..Compound sentence
