NCERT Class 12 English Grammar Factual Passage: Factual passages convey information in a straightforward and direct manner about a particular subject.

A factual passage provides clear clarification on the topic under discussion. The entire passage gives the reader a clear description of what’s being discussed.

It provides a detailed overview of the subject discussed by offering step-by – step explanation of the same

There is less complexity to a discursive section. The passage must spontaneously address different subjects that do not seem to be connected to one another. Tracking the shifts in subject also is a difficult task.

Usually, the language and the style are simple and clear. Factual passages may give instructions or descriptions or report of an event or a new finding.

NCERT Class 12 English Grammar Factual Passage Sample – 1

The work of the heart can never be interrupted. The reason is that the heart’s job is to keep oxygen rich blood flowing through the body. All the body’s cells need a constant supply of oxygen, especially those in the brain. The brain cells live only for four to five minutes after their oxygen is cut off, and then brain death occurs, leading to the entire body dying.

The heart is a specialized muscle that serves as a pump. This pump is divided into four chambers, two called atria and two called ventricles, connected by tiny doors called valves. The chambers work to keep the blood flowing round the body in a circle with a detour to the lungs to purify the blood by removing carbon dioxide from it and adding oxygen to it.

At the end of each circuit, veins carry the blood to the right atrium, the first of the four chambers. Two-fifths of the oxygen by then is used up and it is on its way back to the lungs to pick up a fresh supply and to give up the carbon dioxide it has accumulated. From the right atrium the blood flows through the tricuspid valve into the second chamber, the right ventricle. The right ventricle contracts when it is filled, pushing the blood through the pulmonary artery, which leads to the lungs. In the lungs the blood gives up its carbon dioxide and picks up fresh oxygen. Then it travels to the third chamber, the left atrium. When this chamber is filled, it forces the blood through the mitral valve to the left ventricle. From here it is pushed into a big blood vessel called aorta, the main artery, and sent round the body through the various arteries.

Heart disease can result from any damage to the heart muscle, the valves or the natural pacemaker’ of the heart. Electrical impulses from the heart muscle cause our heart to beat (contract). This electrical signal begins in the sino-atrial (SA) node, located at the top of the heart’s upper-right chamber (the right atrium). The SA node is sometimes called the heart’s ‘natural pacemaker’.

If the muscle is damaged, the heart is unable to pump properly. If the valves are damaged blood cannot flow normally and easily from one chamber to another, and if the pacemaker is defective, the contractions of the chambers will become un-coordinated.

Until the twentieth century, few doctors dared to touch the heart. In 1953 all this changed. After twenty years of work, Dr John Gibbon in the USA had developed a machine that could take over temporarily from the heart and lungs. Blood could be routed through the machine, bypassing the heart so that surgeons could work inside it and see what they were doing. The era of open heart surgery had begun.

In the operating theatre, it gives surgeons the chance to repair or replace a defective heart. Many parties have had plastic valves inserted in their hearts when their own was faulty. Many people are being kept alive with tiny battery operated pacemakers; none of these repairs could have been made without the heart-lung machine. But valuable as it is to the surgeons, the heart-lung machine has certain limitations. It can be used only for a few hours at a time because its pumping gradually damages the bloods cells.

QUESTIONS

1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply an appropriate title to it.
2. Write a summary of the above passage in 80-100 words.

Answer:

1. Title How the Heart Works

Notes

1. Functions of Heart
   1. vital for living
      • never stop wrkg
   2. supplies oxygen rich blood to diff parts of body
2. Structure of Heart
   1. divided into 4 chambers connected by vlvs
   2. blood purified in lungs
   3. arteries carry pure blood to diff parts of body
3. Causes of Heart Disease
   1. weak heart muscles
   2. defective vlvs
   3. defective natural pacemaker
4. History of Open Heart Surgery
   1. 1953: Dr Gibbon invents Heart lung m/c
      • blood could pass through m/c bypassing heart and lungs
   2. enabled open heart srgy
   3. m/c limitations
      • used only for few hrs at a time because it damages blood cells

Key to Abbreviations

2. Summary

The heart is a vital organ of the body which never stops working. It supplies oxygen rich blood to all parts of the body. It is divided into four chambers inter-connected by valves. Blood is purified in the lungs and arteries carry it to different parts of the body.

Heart disease has various causes such as weak heart muscles, defective valves or a defective natural pacemaker. The era of open-heart surgery began in 1953 when Dr Gibbon developed the heart-lung machine. Replacement of valves and other areas of a damaged heart is now possible.

NCERT Class 12 English Grammar Factual Passage Sample – 2

The Maasai tribe live on the wide plains in southern and northern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known local populations due to their residence near the many game parks of the African Great Lakes, as well as their distinctive customs and dress. The Maasai were famous fighters. They used to raid the neighbouring tribes and carry away their cattle. All the other tribes were afraid of them because of their skills in war.

The Maasai are handsome people, tall and slim with light brown skins, straight noses and long hair. They do not belong completely to the Negro race. They belong mostly to the same race as the people of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians probably looked like the Maasais of today.

The Maasais live in a very beautiful part of Africa. It consists of miles of rolling grassland, on which you can find thorny bushes and here and there a rocky hill. The people move from one place to another according to the seasons, looking for the grasses and other plants on which their cattle can graze. They have no permanent home. When they want to settle in a place for some time, they build a kind of camp called a ‘Manyatta’, where a few families live for a few weeks or months. Then they move on again, taking their few belongings with them, and burning the old *Manyatta’ to the ground.

To make a hut, they take a number of long thin wooden poles and plant them in a circle. Then each pole is bent into a shape of a ‘U’ and its other end is also planted in the earth. Now the framework for the hut is ready.

Next, the space between the poles is filled with leaves, and small branches of tree and mud. Then the outside of earth hut is covered or plastered with cow-dung, which quickly becomes hard in the sun. An opening is left for the door but there are no windows. The hut is about 5 feet high, so that grown-up men cannot stand up straight inside his hut.

There is no furniture, except perhaps a small wooden stool for the head of the family.

The huts are arranged in a big circle. Around the outside of the circle the Maasais build a thorn fence, about 7 feet high, with several openings so that the people can go in and out with their cattle. After dark, all the openings are closed. Then all the people and cattle in the ‘Manyatta’ are safe from wild animals.

Nowadays there are no wars between the tribes. So a Maasai warrior has very little to do now. But they sometimes go hunting. The Maasais like to kill lions with spears, and a lion- hunt is a great test of courage. The warrior who first kills a lion is given great honour, and he wears the lion’s mane round his neck to show that he is a lion-killer.

The Maasais are fairly well-to-do and intelligent and live comfortable lives. However, most of them are happy to live as their ancestors lived hundreds of years ago. The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programmes to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. Many Maasai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visits to their village to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle.

QUESTIONS

1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary. Supply an appropriate title to it.
2. Write a summary of the above passage in 80-100 words.

Answer:

1. Title The Maasai Tribe – Life and History Notes
   1. Maasai Tribe- Famous Fighters
      1. live in Kenya & northern Tanzania
      2. carried away cattle of nbrg tribes
   2. Maasais Handsome People
      1. tall & slim with light brown skins
      2. straight noses & long hair
      3. don’t blg to Negro groups
      4. blg to people of ancient Egypt
   3. Maasais are Nomadic Cattle Herders
      1. move from place to place looking for grass for cattle
      2. build ‘Manyatta’ – a camp
      3. use wan poles to build huts
         • plant U shaped wdn poles in circle on earth
         • fill frmwk with leaves, branches & mud
         • plaster outside with cow-dung
         • opening kept for door – no windows
      4. no furniture-won stool for family head
      5. put thorn fence around Manyatta’
         • keeps them safe from wild animals
   4. Nowadays- No War Between Tribes
      1. Maasai warriors go hunting for lions
         • Lion hunt- test of courage
      2. lion killer wears lion’s mane as sign
      3. Maasais live comfortable life
      4. invite people to experience their lives

Key to Abbreviations

2. Summary

The Maasai tribe live in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They were famous fighters and attacked other tribes for cattle. They were handsome people and belong mostly to the same race as that of ancient Egypt, and not to the Negro race.

They move from place to place looking for grass for their cattle. When they settle in a place they build a camp called “Manyatta’ with dome shaped wood-frame huts in a big circle. They put a thorn fence around the ‘Manyatta’ to save themselves from wild animals. Lion hunting is a test of courage for them. They are intelligent and live comfortable lives.