Unit 13 Population & Migration Exercise: Class 10 English Guide

C. Answer these questions.

a. What was the size of the world population in the mid-twentieth century?

Answer: The size of the world population in the mid-twentieth century was about 5 billion inhabitants.

b. What was the fastest population growth rate in the past century?

Answer: The fastest population growth rate in the past century was around 2.1 percent per year, which occurred between 1962-1965.

c. Why has the population growth rate declined in recent years?

Answer: The population growth rate has declined in recent years mainly due to reduced levels of fertility, meaning fewer children are being born.

d. What is the predicted world population size by 2050?

Answer: The predicted world population size by 2050 is estimated to be over 9.7 billion people.

e. How do fertility and mortality contribute to the size of the population?

Answer: Fertility refers to the number of births, and mortality refers to the number of deaths. Both factors affect the size of the population. Higher fertility rates lead to population growth, while higher mortality rates can decrease the population.

f. Which countries contribute to the largest population in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia?

Answer: China and India account for the largest populations in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia.

g. Why will population regions have a different population variation in the next 30 years?

Answer: Different regions will have varying population growth rates over the next 30 years due to differences in fertility rates, mortality rates, and other demographic factors in each region.

h. Which countries are most likely to contribute to the growth of the world population by 2050?

Answer: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and the United Republic of Tanzania are expected to contribute the most to the growth of the world population by 2050.

D. Do you think the world population will increase as projected in the text? Discuss.

The prediction of how many people there will be in the world in the future is not certain and can be affected by many different things. Even though it is estimated that the population will double by 2050, what actually happens might be different because of things like how many babies are born, how good healthcare is, and what society normalizes. So, while we can make predictions about the future, there are many things that can affect whether those predictions come true.

Writing I

Study the graph and chart below and write an interpretation of each of them.

a. Nepali Student Migration

This graph shows how many Nepali students went to study in other countries from 2009 to 2019. In 2009/2010, 26,948 Nepali students went to study abroad. The next year, in 2010/2011, only 11,912 students went. But after that, more and more Nepali students went to study abroad each year.

There were a few years where the number of students went down slightly, but mostly the numbers went up. In 2016/2017, there was a big jump in the number of Nepali students studying abroad, with 50,659 students. After that, even more Nepali students went abroad to study.

Overall, this graph shows that more Nepali students are interested in studying in other countries and are taking advantage of opportunities to do so.

b. Distribution of Population of Kathmandu Metropolitan in Terms of Languages (Based on the population census of 2011.

The pie chart shows the distribution of the population of Kathmandu Metropolitan based on the language they speak, according to the 2011 census data.

The key insight from the chart is that while Nepali is the dominant language spoken in Kathmandu, there is significant linguistic diversity with several other languages spoken by sizeable populations.

Nepali is the largest segment, making up 57% of the population. This indicates that Nepali is the main language used in Kathmandu.

Newari, spoken by 18.5% of the population, is the second most common language. This reflects the historical importance of Newar culture in the Kathmandu Valley.

Tamang and Maithili each make up around 5% of the population, showing that ethnic Tamang and Maithili communities also have a notable presence in Kathmandu.

Hindi and Bhojpuri, likely due to cultural and historical ties with India, together constitute around 3.5% of the population.

The remaining 9.5% encompasses speakers of "Other" languages, indicating a fair degree of linguistic diversity beyond the main languages shown.

In summary, the chart reveals that while Nepali is overwhelmingly dominant in Kathmandu, other languages collectively spoken by over 40% of the population point to the region's rich cultural and ethnic diversity stemming from its multiethnic population.

Unit 13 : Reading - II 

Discovering Migration: What Birds Reveal

C. Answer these questions.

a. What is incredible about the migration of birds?

Answer: The incredible thing about the migration of birds is that they fly thousands of miles to their destinations without a roadmap or compass.

b. What things do birds consider while flying to their destinations?

Answer: While flying to their destinations, birds consider changing winds, their own weight, and storms, adjusting their speed, height, and flight path to conserve energy.

c. Which animals other than the birds migrate to new places?

Answer: Other animals that migrate to new places include insects, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals.

d. What do scoters dive underwater for?

Answer: Scoters dive underwater for up to a minute to grab shellfish from the ocean floor.

e. Which birds travel up and down instead of going north to south?

Answer: Some birds, like brindled titmice and mountain chickadees, travel up and down instead of going north to south, moving from high-altitude evergreen forests to lower elevations.

f. What is partial migration of birds?

Answer: Partial migration is when some birds of a species migrate while others do not. For example, some robins migrate south during winter, while others live year-round in the South.

g. Why can sea terns not stay long in water?

Answer: Sea terns cannot stay long on the water during their flights over oceans because they become waterlogged.

h. How do birds feed themselves during their journeys?

Answer: Birds feed themselves during their journeys by stopping at "stopover points" to rest and refuel, often staying for a few days or weeks to gather energy.

i. What are the signs of birds flying in the night sky?

Answer: When birds travel at night, they are almost invisible in the night sky, but when they pass in front of the moon, they become visible. Moon watching is a way of counting how many migrants travel at night, with as many as 200 birds per hour being observed during migration season.

D. You might have seen or heard of animals migrating to new places. What could be the reasons for animals to migrate? Discuss.

Animals migrate to new places for survival, food, better weather, breeding, escaping predators, and following their natural instincts. Migration helps them find suitable conditions and resources needed for their well-being and reproduction.

Writing II

Write an essay on 'The Impacts of Migration'

The Impacts of Migration

Migration, the movement of people from one place to another, has been a constant phenomenon throughout human history. While migration often arises due to push factors like conflict, poverty and persecution, it also reflects pull factors like desire for better opportunities and quality of life. Regardless of its causes, migration impacts both sending and receiving nations in complex economic, social, political and environmental ways.

One of the most significant impacts of migration is economic. Migrant workers contribute to the economies of recipient nations through their labor, skills, taxes and spending power. They fill demand for low-skill and high-skill jobs that native citizens often shun. However, migration can also strain social services and drive down wages for native low-skill workers. For sending countries, remittances from migrants bring in foreign currency that contributes substantially to the national economy. However, "brain drain" of highly skilled workers limits human capital development.

Socially, migration influences the demographics, cultures and identities of both sending and recipient nations. Migration diversifies the population and enriches the culture of recipient nations through food, art, language and religion. However, tensions can arise if integration policies are insufficient or native populations resist cultural change. For migrant communities, transnational ties and cultural preservation efforts help maintain identities across generations.

Politically, mass migration can influence voter demographics, favoring some political interests over others. It also provokes debates over immigration policy and national identity. In recent decades, some nations have adopted more restrictive policies while others maintain relatively open immigration systems.

In summary, while migration brings economic benefits through labor and skills, it also introduces social and political challenges related to integration, identity and resource allocation. A balanced, humane and evidence-based approach is needed to maximize the opportunities of migration while minimizing its disruptive impacts. With good will and sound policies on all sides, migration can indeed become a engine for progress, cultural exchange and global understanding.