This unseen passage with subjective questions about Handicraft was released in the CBSE class 10 Term 2 Sample paper. Daily practising one unseen passage will help students in improving English language reading and writing skills. Term 2 CBSE Class 10 Sample Paper Fully Solved
Unseen Passage Fully Solved | Handicraft Passage | CBSE Class 10 Sample Paper Term 2
Technology is Making Advancements at a Rapid Rate Answers
Technology is making advancements at a rapid rate but at the cost of a valued tradition—the crafts industry. The traditional crafts industry is losing a lot of its trained and skilled craftsmen. With that, the art of embellishing brass and copper utensils with fine engravings is also disappearing. The government has identified around 35 crafts as languishing crafts.
The speciality of handcrafted items is their design, an association with long traditions belonging to a specific region. The word ‘handcrafted’ does not imply the involvement of dexterous human fingers or an agile mind with a moving spirit anymore. Lessening drudgery, increasing production and promoting efficiency have taken precedence. The labour-saving devices are taking the place of handcrafted tools and this has jeopardized the skills of these artisans.
Mechanisation has made its way into everything – cutting, polishing, edging, designing etc. Ideally, the use of machinery should be negligible and the handicrafts should be made purely by hand with a distinguishable artistic appeal. However, with the exception of small-scale industries, the export units are mostly operated by machines. The heavily computerised designs contribute to faster production at lower costs.
Although mechanization of crafts poses a challenge to safeguarding traditional crafts, the artisans are lured with incentives in order to impart handicrafts training. Some makers see machines as a time-saving blessing since they can now accomplish difficult and demanding tasks with relative ease. These machines might give a better finesse to these products but they don’t stand out as handcrafted. Quantity has overtaken quality in this industry.
A need to highlight the importance of the handmade aspect is required by both the government and private sectors, in order to amplify awareness and also support the culture of making handicrafts. A few artisans are still trying their best to rejuvenate and revive their culture and heritage but it’s an uphill task competing with machine-made goods. A multitude of artisans have changed their professions and are encouraging their progeny to follow suit. There are others who have stayed their ground but are clearly inclined toward buying machines.
Nearly two decades ago, there were around 65 lakh artisans in the country. Three years ago, when the government started the process of granting a unique number to the artisans based on the Aadhaar card, 25 lakhs were identified. Loss of traditional crafts is clearly a worrying issue, but it stands to reason that forcing any artisan to follow old ways when concerns of livelihood overrule other considerations, is unfair.
Source: CBSE 2022 Term 2
Adapted from: https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/business-newshandicraft-uncrafted-by-artisan-hands/302877
Word – Meaning
| Drudgery | donkeywork, hard and boring routine work |
| Languishing | not making any progress for a long time |
| jeopardize | to put something in danger |
| progeny | kids, children, offspring |
| lured with incentives | to persuade someone to do something by giving/offering nice things |
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer ANY FIVE questions from the six given below. Each question carries 1 mark.
i. What does the writer mean by calling handicrafts a ‘valued tradition’?
ANS: The writer means to say that handicrafts preserve rich traditional art, heritage and culture, traditional skills and talents which are associated with people’s lifestyle and history.
ii. Rewrite the following sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with a word that means the same from lines 5– 15. If it continues, the workcation (work + vacation) trend will be a powerful boost to domestic tourism operators failing to make progress in the economic slump caused due to the pandemic.
ANS: If it continues, the workcation (work + vacation) trend will be a powerful boost to domestic tourism operators languishing in the economic slump caused due to the pandemic.
iii. State any two reasons why artisans are choosing to work via machines rather than handcrafted tools.
ANS: Artisans are choosing to work via machines because machines are time-saving and easy. The products made with machines might give better finesse than handcrafted products.
Hint: Saves labour / reduces drudgery / increases production / finesse / efficiency
iv. Why do the artisans need to be ‘lured with incentives’ to impart handicraft training?
ANS: Most handicraft artisans are poor and struggle to make ends meet. If artisans impart training to
mass/bulk producers, they run the risk of losing their traditional livelihood to them and hence need to be tempted via benefits, to do so.
v. List one likely impact of the support of government and private sectors towards the culture of making handicrafts.
ANS: Government and private sector support might leave a positive impact on retaining the number of artisans that is reducing with the passage of time. Consequently, they would not change their professions expecting better livelihoods.
vi. How does the writer justify an artist’s act of abandoning her/his traditional craft for a more lucrative option?
ANS: The author says that it is unfair to force the artisans to follow old ways if they are unable to earn a bare livelihood from those traditional ways of handicrafts. Nobody likes to follow an unprofitable profession.
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