Note Making
Read the following passage carefully:
Passage 1:
1. I remember my childhood as being generally happy and can recall experiencing some of
the most carefree times of my life. But I can also remember, even more vividly, moments
of being deeply frightened. As a child, I was truly -terrified of the dark and getting lost.
These fears were very real and caused me some extremely uncomfortable moments.
2. Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my familiar room at night that
scared me so much. There was never total darkness, but a street light or passing car lights
made clothes hung over a chair take on the shape of an unknown beast. Out of the corner
of my eye, I saw curtains move when there was no breeze. A tiny creak in the floor would
sound a hundred times louder than in the daylight and my imagination would take over,
creating burglars and monsters. Darkness always made me feel helpless. My heart would
pound and I would lie very still so that ‘the enemy’ wouldn’t discover me.
3. Another childhood fear of mine was that I would get lost, especially on the way home
from school. Every morning, I got on the school bus right near my home—that was no
problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the curve, I was
terrified that I would get on the wrong one and be taken to some unfamiliar
neighbourhood. I would scan the bus for the faces of my friends, make sure that the bus
driver was the same one that had been there in the morning, and even then ask the others
over and over again to be sure I was in the right bus. On school or family trips to an
amusement park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight. And of course, I
was never very adventurous when it came to taking walks or hikes because I would go
only where I was sure I would never get lost.
4. Perhaps, one of the worst fears I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by
others. First of all, I was quite shy. Secondly, I worried constantly about my looks,
thinking people wouldn’t like me because I was too fat or wore braces. I tried to wear ‘the
right clothes’ and had intense arguments with my mother over the importance of wearing
flats instead of saddled shoes to school. Being popular was very important to me then and
the fear of not being liked was a powerful one.
5. One of the processes of evolving from a child to an adult is being able to recognise and
overcome our fears. I have learnt that darkness does not have to take on a life of its own,
that others can help me when I am lost and that friendliness and sincerity will
encourage people to like me. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps to
cope with our lives as adults.
Questions:
1. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes using headings and
subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary. 5
2. Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also
suggest a suitable title. 3
Answers:
NOTES:
1. TITLE: Memories of Childhood
1. Remembering childhood moments
1.1happy & carefree
1.2terrified of the dark & getting lost
2. Childhood fears
2.1 Feeling helpless in dark
(2.1.1) Moving curtains
(2.1.2) Creaking sounds
(2.1.3) Creating burglars and monsters
2.2 Fear of getting lost (on the way home from school)
(2.2.1) Scanning of school buses—friendly faces, same bus driver
(2.2.2) Not letting leaders out of sight
(2.2.3) Taken to some unfamiliar neighbourhood
(2.2.4) Surety of not being lost
2.3 Fear of disliking
(2.3.1) Quite shy
(2.3.2) worried about looks
(2.3.3) wear the right clothes
(2.3.4) Imp. of popularity
3 Overcoming childhood fears
(3.1)Undg. evolution process
(3.2)Recognising and overcoming fears
(3.3)Accepting help from others
(3.4)Unds. things that scared
2. SUMMARY
The narrator tells that his childhood was happy and carefree. Darkness scared him with its
shadows, moving of curtains, and creaking sounds. It made him quite helpless and he used to lie
still with a pounding heart. He had the fear of getting lost while on way from home to school.
Before getting in school bus, he scanned it for friendly faces. He had the fear of being disliked by
others. During the course of evolution from a child to an adult, he realised those things that
scared him as a child. He was always expecting help from others.
