TREES
1. Trees are very useful. They supply us with daily conveniences. They help to support man’s life by supplying the atmosphere with oxygen which is essential to life. The oxygen in the air is constantly being used up and turned into carbon dioxide when animals breathe and things burn. Carbon dioxide is the food that plants ‘eat’. The green leaves of trees (in fact of all green plants) absorb this carbon dioxide and with the help of sunlight, break it down into carbon and oxygen. The carbon is used to make starch and the oxygen is released into the atmosphere.
2. Starch and other carbon compounds made in the green leaves of trees (and of other green plants too) serve as food for animals. The tiny green cells of plants are wonderful laboratories which produce all the starch in the world. If this service is denied by plants, all animals would sooner or later die due to the lack of food; for they must get all their food either directly from plants or indirectly by eating animals that have fed on plants.
3. You must have noticed how, on a hot day, it is often cooler under a tree than inside a building. This is because the leaves of trees breathe out water vapours and they help to cool the air more or less as a mud pot cools the water in it. In this way, forests help to cool the atmosphere and rain clouds passing through it cause rain. Where new forests have been planted, rainfall is known to have increased.
4. Trees help to protect the surface soil of the earth and prevent floods. Our earth has a covering of fine soil at the surface, and under the soil lie rocks of various kinds. Nature takes millions of years to form soil 25 cms thick. But sometimes, a single heavy shower washes off that much of the valuable surface soil on an open hill slope. This does not happen in forests and other places where there are plenty of trees. The trees stop the free flow of water and their roots hold the soil together, and so the soil is protected from being washed off. Moreover, forest soil has a way of quickly absorbing water; this helps to prevent sudden floods.
5. There are many kinds of trees that are very useful to man. There are rubber trees growing in Kerala, Assam and Malaya from whose sap we get rubber which we use for numerous purposes. There is the coconut tree, every part of which is useful. In South America, there is an interesting tree called the ‘cow-tree’ whose sap is used in place of milk.
6. Trees are of importance not only to man but also to birds and animals. Their branches give shelter to millions of birds, and forests support the lives of wild animals of many kinds.
7. We value trees not only for their usefulness but also for their beauty. They have a way of refreshing the eyes and bringing peace to the mind. Perhaps that is why our ancient Rishis were attracted to the forest and they chose to live with their pupils in forest homes in the company of nature. When Rabindranath Tagore started a school, he too chose a place full of trees for his school and called it Shantiniketan or the Home of Peace.
Word-Meanings
Para1. 1. conveniences (noun): comforts 2. essential (adjective): very important 3.starch (noun): a vegetable substance used for stiffening linen etc.
Para2. 1. tiny (adjective): very small 2. denied (verb): to refuse to do something 3.lack (noun): deficiency
Para5. 1. numerous (adjective): many 2. sap (noun): juice of a plant
Para6. 1. shelter (noun): living place
Para7. 1. refreshing (verb): invigorate 2. ancient (adjective): belonging to a time long past 3.pupils (noun): students 4. company (noun): to be with someone and not alone
Questions:
1. Choose the correct option:
(a) Trees suck in:
(i) oxygen (ii) carbon monoxide
(iii) carbon dioxide (iv) sulphur oxide
(b) Whose brainchild was Shantiniketan?
(i) Swami Vivekanand (ii) Ravi Thakur
(iii) Guru Pragya (ii) Ravindranath Tagore
(c) The sap of which tree is used in place of milk?
(i) Neem tree (ii) Eucalyptus tree (iii) Cow-tree (iv)Mango tree
(d) Which of the following places are rubber trees not found?
(i) Kerala (ii) Malaya (iii) Assam (iv) Bihar
(e) How much surface soil can be washed off by a single heavy shower on an open hill slope?
(i) 25 cms (ii) 50 cms (iii) 75 cms (iv) 15 cms
(f) Forest soils help to prevent sudden floods as they—
(i) are covered with thick soil (ii) help water to drain away
(iii) absorb water quickly (iv) divert water to thick foliage
2.Answer the questions briefly:
(a) How do trees support life?
(b) What happens when rain clouds pass through the cool atmosphere?
(c) Why are trees and forests important to birds and animals?
(d) What is the food of plants?
(e) A word for the ‘juice of a plant’ is……………..
(f) Why are trees valued for their beauty?
Answers:
1.(a) iii (b) iv (c) iii (d) iv (e) i (f)iii
2.(a) Trees supply oxygen to the atmosphere which is essential for life.
(b) Upon passing through the cool atmosphere, rain clouds cool down and pour like rain.
(c) The branches of trees give shelter to millions of birds and forests support the lives of a variety of wild animals. Hence, they are essential for birds and animals.
(d) Carbon dioxide is the food of plants.
(e) sap
(f) Trees are valued for their beauty as they refresh our eyes and help to relax and soothe our minds.
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