61. Reading Skills Comprehension: Remember

Remember

Read the passage given below carefully.

1.How often do we remember to treat others as you would like them to treat you? In our quest to get more and more, we forget that the quality of our lives depends on the kind of personalities we have cultivated for ourselves. Genes might play a role when it comes to one’s disposition, but the major portion of our attitudes and behaviour is influenced by the choices we make. So in the beginning of every year should you resolve to make more money, learn a new language, travel more frequently then you must discontinue being the same grumpy, impatient soul you always were, should you then not seek to refine your character, focus on nuances like how you treat people, react to challenges and deal with stress situations? For most people, such a course would yield rich results.

2. According to Mary Thomas, usually our New Year resolutions remain unachieved because we try to achieve the impossible or, sometimes, just add more goals that we wish to accomplish to the list of resolutions, but, strangely, we do not remember much about them during the course of the year as we do not seem to value them enough to complete them. The better option would be to address something fundamental to you, to who you really are, and go ahead with completing them instead of making any drastic resolutions which you will never be able to fulfil. You could resolve to be a better person by having a positive attitude towards people you come across in life. This could involve being nice with the lady who cleans the house, or your colleague who sits near you, but you never interacted with. Another trick is to acknowledge people for the value they add to your personal or professional life. By extending basic courtesies to people around you, you add value to your life and that pays off in the long run.

3. Sometimes, we know that there is room for improvement as far as our personalities are concerned but we have little or no idea where to make the start. An easy starting point could be to look for opportunities in one’s immediate surroundings. One positive starting point could be taking a positive attitude towards life and dispelling all negative thoughts. You could make a positive beginning by being a better person at work. This means treating everyone with respect. You should not only interact politely but also value each person’s ideas however far removed these may be, to your own. After all, your friend’s ideas are an integral part of the organisation to which both of you belong. Inculcating this habit of making an effort to talk to people you would normally not have to interact with on a daily basis, would make you a better person at the workplace.

4. Also, you do not have to do something extraordinary to prove your good intentions. Just greeting or smiling at your colleague’s first thing in the morning could always brighten someone’s day. These are simple things that we are taught while growing but tend to forget as we move through life. So essentially, being better is an exercise in learning to be nice, and you will see that playing nice will get your work done better than scolding or frowning or passing orders.

5. A purposeful life should contain skills that lead to practical changes. After all, no people are alike, so why should your ideas be the only right solution? A company, where individual differences are nurtured, information is not suppressed, soon becomes a workplace that adds value to its employees, rather than merely extracting work out of them. It makes workers feel intrinsically rewarded. It is, therefore, imperative that co-workers and partners share a camaraderie that transcends mere professional conduct and delivery. Thus, for a person who wishes to remain happy and content, it is as valuable to spend time on nurturing qualities like friendship and consideration as it is on acquiring skills and knowledge.

(I) On the basis of your understanding of this passage answer the following questions with the help of the given options.

(a) The quality of our lives depends on——————–

(i) the personalities we have cultivated for ourselves

(ii) the number of New Year resolutions we make

(iii) the challenges that people give us

(iv) None of the above

(b) Our New Year resolutions remain unfulfilled, according to Mary Thomas, because of we————–

(i)make too many resolutions

(ii) add more goals than what we can accomplish

(iii) get caught up with our studies

(iv) feel happy about them

(c) To add value to your life you ———————-

(i) must earn more money

(ii) become more hardworking

(iii) should be nice to the people in your immediate surroundings

(iv) only (ii) and (iii)

(d) Workers feel intrinsically rewarded if——————–

(i) they are given bonuses

(ii) their work is given recognition

(iii) their individual differences are acknowledged

(iv) none of the above

(II) Answer the following questions briefly.

(a) What kind of workplace adds value to its employees?

(b) What is the key to remaining happy and content?

(d) What are the advantages of extending courtesies to people?

(e) Mention three resolutions that people usually make in the New Year.

(f) Why are New Year resolutions left unresolved?

(III) Find words from the passage which mean the same as:

(a) the natural qualities of a person’s character (para 1)

(b) basic (para 2)

Ans. (I) (a) (i) the personalities we have calculated for ourselves

(b) (ii) we add more goals than what we can accomplish

(d) (iii) their individual differences are acknowledged

(II) (a) A workplace where individual differences are nurtured and the information is not suppressed, adds value to its employees.

(b) The key to remaining happy and content is to nurture qualities like friendship and consideration and not merely knowledge and skills.

(d) The advantages are that it would make you a better person in the workplace.

(e) The three common resolutions are:

(i) Make more money, (ii) travel more frequently, and I (iii) learn a new language.

(f) New Year resolutions remain unresolved because we try to achieve the impossible; we choose to pack in too many resolutions and we, during the course of the year, do not deem them fit for completion.

(III) (a) disposition

(b) fundamental

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