Gujarat Board | Class 10Th | English (Blackbuck-Supplementary Reader) | Model Question Paper & Solution | Chapter – 18 Mind Power

1. Thinking is rather a painful activity for most of the people. Many avoid thinking in their day-to-day life. We call them “dull.’ Even if you are not brilliant, you can act as genius by applying right mental skills.

Dr Edward de Bono, a psychologist and professor of medicine at Cambridge University, England had suggested some steps to improve thinking. He believes: Thinking skills help in solving the problems of everyday life and everyone can learn them.

(1) Why do people avoid thinking?

(2) Whom do we call ‘dull’?

(3) How can you act as a genius?

(4) Who is Dr Bono?

(5) What does Dr Bono believe?

(1) People avoid thinking because it is a very painful activity.

(2) People who avoid thinking in their day-to- day life are called ‘dull’.

(3) We can act as a genius by applying the right mental skills.

(4) Dr Bono is a psychologist and professor of medicine at Cambridge University, England.

(5) Dr Bono believes that thinking skills help in solving the everyday problem and everyone can learn them.

2. Plus-Minus, Interesting (PMI): The first step for better thinking is to see things without limiting your vision. Try this experiment. Look around the room for red objects (Don’t read further until you have done so.) Now close your eyes and ask yourself how many green objects there are. Look again. Surprised? You focused attention on red. It kept you away from noticing things of another colours.

It is the same with an idea. When most of us first hear a new idea or a new solution to a problem, we react either liking it or disliking it. Then we use our intelligence to support that idea. An easy way to escape this trap is to do a PMI. One normally presents his/her reaction about the idea presented immediately.

Using PMI, think about your school. Spend three minutes writing down every good point you can make about it, every bad point and every point that is neither good, nor bad but simply interesting.

The aim of doing a PMI is to achieve broad-mindedness in our thinking. This saves us from becoming the obedient servant of our own prejudices. To put it another way: the PMI is an attention expander; it prevents us from seeing only red.

(1) Which is the first step for better thinking?

(2) How do we react to a new idea?

(3) What do we do to support a new idea?

(4) How will do a PMI of your school?

(5) What is the full form of PMI?

(6) What is the aim of doing a PMI?

(7) What does Bono call PMI ?

(1) The first step for better thinking is to see things without limiting your vision.

(2) We react to a new idea by either liking it or disliking it.

(3) We use our intelligence to support that idea.

(4) To do a PMI of my school, I will spend three minutes writing down the good points, the bad points, every point that is neither good, nor bad but simply interesting.

(5) The full form  of PMI is Plus-Minus, Interesting.

(6) The aim of doing a PMI is to achieve broad-mindedness in our thinking and save ourselves from becoming servants of our own prejudices.

(7) Bono calls PMI an attention expander.

3. Consequences & Sequel (C&S): We differ from animals in our ability to imagine the results of our actions. We can greatly improve this ability by learning to use it in a systematic way. The de Bono technique is to imagine the probable outcome of a decision at four distances in the future: immediate, short term (1 to 5 years), medium term (5 to 25) and long term (over 25 years).

Alternative, Possibilities, Choices (APC): Edison, in searching for a light-bulb filament tried thousands of unlikely materials, including cork, fishing line and tar. The key to finding alternatives is to look for possibilities, outside your usual thinking pattern. Learn to “think wild.” Let yourself imagine all kinds of possibilities, including those which look impractical or ridiculous. Permit your mind to float free and to take what if offers.

Other’s Point of View (OPV): A problem normally generates out of conflicts with others. You will better be able to find a solution if you try to look at the situation from the other’s point of view.

(1) How do we differ from animals ?

(2) What is the de Bono technique?

(3) What is the key to finding alternatives?

(4) ‘Learn to think wild.’ How?

(5) When does a problem generate ?

(6) How can you find a solution to a problem?

(1) We differ from animals in our ability to imagine the results of our actions.

(2) The de Bono technique is to imagine the probable outcome of a decision at four distances in the future: immediate, short term, medium term and long term.

(3) The key to finding alternatives is to look for possibilities, outside your usual thinking pattern.

(4) You can learn to think wild by letting yourself imagine all kinds of possibilities, including those which are impractical or ridiculous.

(5) A problem normally generates out of conflicts with others.

(6) We can find a solution if we look at the situation from the other’s point of view.

4. Repetition: Repetition is a primary but least interesting method of memorizing. You can learn and remember almost anything if you have the patience to repeat it often enough.

Involving Senses: Bringing as many of your senses as possible helps in memorization. If you see an apple, you would carry a certain impression of it, but if you lift it, smell it, taste it, you can create a clear and more lasting memory.

your power Power of Attention: Use of observation, concentration and attention. Attention means sidetracking everything except the thought or experience you want to remember.

(1) What does the author say about repetition?

(2) How can you learn and remember anything?

(3) What helps in memorization?

(4) Which power should you use to remember?

(5) What is attention?

(1) The author says that repetition is a primary but the least interesting method of memorizing.

(2) We can learn and remember anything if we have the patience to repeat it often enough.

(3) Bringing as many of your senses as possible helps in memorization.

(4) We should use the power of observation, concentration and attention to remember.

(5) Attention means sidetracking everything except the thought or experience you want to remember.

5. Interest: If you are genuinely interested in the subject you will never forget it. Try to develop deep interest in the subjects or situations, you want to remember.

Understanding: If you do not understand a subject or situation, you cannot be expected to remember it. You must know the logical relations between all the given facts.

Selection: No one can remember everything so select things which are important for you to remember. Many people try to remember telephone numbers. But it is wiser to save the mental energy for more important work.

(1) What should you do to remember a subject or a situation?

(2) Which things should you select?

(3) What is wise thing to do?

(4) Why can’t you remember a subject or a situation?

(5) What must you know to remember a subject or a situation?

(1) We should try to develop deep interest in a subject or a situation that we want to remember.

(2) We should select only those things which are important for us to remember.

(3) Saving our mental energy for more important work is a wise thing to do.

(4) We cannot remember a subject or a situation because we do not understand it.

(5) To remember a subject or a situation, we must know the logical relations between all the facts.

A. boastful

B. showy

C. dull

D. intelligent

Ans. D. intelligent

A. use

B. make

C. produce

D. attend

Ans. A. use

A. stability

B. talent

C. nature

D. gift

Ans. B. talent

A. make bad

B. make equal

C. make better

D. make worse

Ans. C. make better

A. statement

B. offer

C. aim

D. thing

Ans. D. thing

A. recollect

B. remember

C. respond

D. recall

Ans. C. respond

A. run into

B. run away

C. run for

D. run towards

Ans. B. run away

A. cause

B. result

C. outcome

D. consequence

Ans. A. cause

A. huge

B. average

C. small

D. big

Ans. C. small

A. score

B. cause

C. reason

D. outcome

Ans. D. outcome

A. gift

B. logic

C. skill

D. technology

Ans. C. skill

A. possible

B. impossible

C. able

D. unable

Ans. A. possible

A. statement

B. announcement

C. forecast

D. declaration

Ans. C. forecast

D. conform

Ans. B. understand

Ans. A. assess

A. offer

B. attend

C. give

D. select

Ans. D. select

A. attentive

B. competitive

C. option

D. repetitive

Ans. C. option

A. silly

B. serious

C. sober

D. genuine

Ans. A. silly

A. legal

B. allow

C. challenge

D. question

Ans. B. allow

A. agreement

B. respect

C. clash

D. confidence

Ans. C. clash

A. appear

B. dress

C. guess

D. wear

Ans. C. guess

A. hurt

B. offer

C. append

D. add

Ans. A. hurt

A. load

B. stress

C. burden

D. lend

Ans. B. stress

A. tiny

B. small

C. secondary

D. main

Ans. D. main

A. money

Ans. C. load

A. faithfully

B. truly

C. rightly

D. wrongly

Ans. B. truly