CBSE Class 6 English - Editing Exercise | PDF - Free Printable

Let's go through each passage carefully and identify the errors in grammar, spelling, or word usage. For each line with a blank (a), (b), etc., we will write the incorrect word and provide the corrected version.

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Passage 1: Owls

Original Text:
> 1. Owls spends most of their time in the
> dark and has an acute sense of
> hearing. They can detect there prey just
> by hear them move in the complete darkness.
> Owls have two ears, one on neither side
> of a head. They also have
> a dish like structure at the
> face what is made up of feathers

Now let’s analyze each line:

#### a) "Owls spends"
- Error: "spends" → Subject "Owls" is plural, so verb should be plural.
- Incorrect: spends
- Correct: spend

#### b) "has"
- Error: "has" → The subject "Owls" is plural, so it should be "have".
- Incorrect: has
- Correct: have

#### c) "there prey"
- Error: "there" → Should be "their" (possessive pronoun).
- Incorrect: there
- Correct: their

#### d) "by hear them"
- Error: "hear" → After "by", we need the -ing form (gerund).
- Incorrect: hear
- Correct: hearing

#### e) "one on neither side"
- Error: "neither" → This means "not one nor the other", which is incorrect here. It should be "either" (one or the other).
- Incorrect: neither
- Correct: either

#### f) "of a head"
- Error: "a head" → Should be "the head" (specific head, referring to the owl's head).
- Incorrect: a
- Correct: the

#### g) "dish like structure"
- Error: Missing hyphen in compound adjective. "Dish-like" should be hyphenated when used before a noun.
- Incorrect: dish like
- Correct: dish-like

#### h) "what is made up of feathers"
- Error: "what" → This is not correct; "that" or "which" would be better for defining a noun. Also, "what" is used for questions or clauses that are not restrictive.
- Incorrect: what
- Correct: that / which

> Note: In formal writing, "which" is preferred for non-restrictive clauses, but since this describes the structure, "that" is acceptable. However, "which" is more commonly used here.

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✔ Corrected Passage 1:

> Owls spend most of their time in the dark and have an acute sense of hearing. They can detect their prey just by hearing them move in the complete darkness. Owls have two ears, one on either side of the head. They also have a dish-like structure at the face that is made up of feathers.

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Passage 2: Mother Teresa

Original Text:
> 2. Mother Teresa comes to Kolkata in 1929
> Where she was hardly 19 years old. When
> She first arrived in Kolkata, she just has
> Five rupees on her pocket. The priest
> Helped it in the new and strange city.
> She lived in a small room from
> Nine years where he nursed
> A sick people back to health

Now let’s analyze each line:

#### a) "comes"
- Error: Tense inconsistency — "comes" is present tense, but the event happened in 1929. Use past tense.
- Incorrect: comes
- Correct: came

#### b) "Where she was hardly 19 years old."
- Error: "Where" → This is not correct; it should be "when" because it refers to time.
- Incorrect: Where
- Correct: when

#### c) "she just has"
- Error: "has" → Past tense needed. Should be "had".
- Incorrect: has
- Correct: had

#### d) "on her pocket"
- Error: "on" → Incorrect preposition. We say "in her pocket".
- Incorrect: on
- Correct: in

#### e) "Helped it"
- Error: "it" → What is being helped? It should be "her" (Mother Teresa).
- Incorrect: it
- Correct: her

#### f) "from"
- Error: "from" → Incorrect preposition. "Lived in a room for nine years" is correct.
- Incorrect: from
- Correct: for

#### g) "where he nursed"
- Error: "he" → Mother Teresa is female, so use "she".
- Incorrect: he
- Correct: she

#### h) "A sick people"
- Error: "A sick people" → "People" is plural, so cannot be preceded by "a". Also, "sick" should be "sick person" or "sick people".
- Incorrect: A
- Correct: sick people (no article) or "many sick people"

But since it says "A sick people", the error is in using "a" with plural "people". So:
- Incorrect: A
- Correct: (remove "A") → "sick people"

Alternatively, if you want to keep the article, it could be "a sick person", but "people" is plural.

So best correction: remove "A".

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✔ Corrected Passage 2:

> Mother Teresa came to Kolkata in 1929 when she was hardly 19 years old. When she first arrived in Kolkata, she just had five rupees in her pocket. The priest helped her in the new and strange city. She lived in a small room for nine years where she nursed sick people back to health.

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Final Answers:

#### Passage 1:
| Letter | Incorrect Word | Correction |
|-------|----------------|------------|
| a) | spends | spend |
| b) | has | have |
| c) | there | their |
| d) | hear | hearing |
| e) | neither | either |
| f) | a | the |
| g) | dish like | dish-like |
| h) | what | that/which |

#### Passage 2:
| Letter | Incorrect Word | Correction |
|-------|----------------|------------|
| a) | comes | came |
| b) | Where | when |
| c) | has | had |
| d) | on | in |
| e) | it | her |
| f) | from | for |
| g) | he | she |
| h) | A | (remove) |

> Note: For (h), the sentence becomes: "sick people back to health" — no article needed.

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✔ Summary of Corrections:

Passage 1:
- a) spends → spend
- b) has → have
- c) there → their
- d) hear → hearing
- e) neither → either
- f) a → the
- g) dish like → dish-like
- h) what → that/which

Passage 2:
- a) comes → came
- b) Where → when
- c) has → had
- d) on → in
- e) it → her
- f) from → for
- g) he → she
- h) A → (remove)

Let me know if you'd like this formatted as a printable answer sheet!