1. Read the passage and answer the questions A and B: Adolescents constitute a nation’s core resource for national renewal and growth. Adolescence is a period in when transition from childhood to adulthood takes place and behaviours and lifestyles are shaped. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescence is the period which shapes the future of girls or boys There are 28 million adolescents in Bangladesh 13.7 million of them are girls and 14.3 million boys. The situation of adolescent girls in Bangladesh is characterised by inequality and subordination within family and society. This inequality leads to widespread practice of child marriage, marginalisation exclusion from health, education and economic opportunities and vulnerability to violence and sexual abuse In Bangladesh the legal age of marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. However, 33 percent of adolescents are married before the age of 15 and 60 percent become mothers by the age of 19. Research finds the adolescents with higher level of education and from more affluent families tend to marry at a later age. Boys, however, become ready for marriage only after several years of adolescence and young adulthood. \\ \boxed{\mathbf{~A~}} Choose the correct answer from the alternatives: a. What could be the closest meaning of the word ‘constitute’ in the first sentence? (i) take (ii) form (iii) add (iv) make \\ b. The phrase ‘take place in the second sentence stands for----- (i) occur (ii) recur (iii) go to a place (iv) all of them \\ c. Adolescence is a period from childhood to adulthood. (i) transition (ii) transitory (iii) transitional (iv) transient \\ d. The synonym of ‘affluent’ is----- (i) destitute (ii) poor (iii) poverty (iv) well off \\ e. The word “economic’ can be replaced by----- (i) economy (ii) economical (iii) monetary (iv) finance \\ \boxed{\mathbf{~B~}} Answer the following questions: (a) What do you mean by the term ‘adolescence”? (b) Why is adolescence an important period of life? (c) What do the adolescent girls in Bangladesh usually face? (d) What are the effects of female inequality in Bangladesh? (e) How do wealth and education influence a girl’s marriage?