ENGLISH (FIRST LANGUAGE)
SECTION ‘A’
[READING SKILLS, GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY (PROSE)
TIME – 3 HRS.
Q1. A. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below.
One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see an awful looking man. I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. His face, lopsided from swelling, was red and raw.
Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, “Good evening. I’ve come to see if you’ve a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there’s no bus till morning.” He told me he’d been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face …… I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments…” For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me. “I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning.”
When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn’t take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into the tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.
He wasn’t complaining; in fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease which was, apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving his the strength to keep going.
1. What disease was the old man suffering from? (1)
2. Why was it difficult for the old man to find a room? (1)
3. How did the old man earn his livelihood? (1)
4. a. My bus leaves early in the morning. (Add a question tag) (1)
b. His voice was pleasant. (Rewrite as an Exclamatory Sentence) (1)
5. a. This old man had an oversized heart. (Rewrite the sentence by explaining the underlined phrase) (1)
b. Give the antonyms of: (i) cursing (ii) weakness. (1)
6. Why do you think the old man was grateful to God? (2)
B. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below.
That Monday at school, Keryn sat with her chip propped up on one hand. “You’re looking very thoughtful today, Keryn,” said her teacher, Mrs. Ngeru.
As soon as she got home, Keryn hurried to her bedroom mirror. The spot was bigger. She could see if even she stood right back from her mirror, against her bedroom wall.
She look a book, curled up on the corner of the living room sofa, and tried to forget about her chin. She was still reading when her father came home from work half an hour later.
“That’s a nice little spot you’ve found there, love,” he said. Keryn jumped up and slammed into her room.
“What’s the matter? What did I say?” She heard her father asking behind her.
At dinner that night, Keryn said she didn’t want any lemon meringue, thank you. She’d just have a raw carrot instead.
“You want to be careful of those raw carrots,” Jason told Keryn while he ate her share of the lemon meringue. “They might be good for your skin, but they make your teeth grow, and your ears get all long and floppy.”
1. What upset Keryn on a Monday morning? (1)
2. Why did her father’s comment bother her? (1)
3. How did Jason tease Keryn? (1)
4. a. She would just have a carrot. (Rewrite as a Negative sentence) (1)
b. The spot was bigger than the night before. (Change into Positive Degree) (1)
5. a. Keryn hurried to her bedroom mirror. (Rewrite the sentence using the noun form of the underlined verb) (1)
b. Supply homophones for the words given below. (1)
6. In what way do you consider Keryn and Jason as typical teenagers? (2)
Q2. A. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below.
He asked. Boy, did he ask! First he asked me for a chance, then he asked nearly all the people he came across if they wanted to but a telephone system from him. And his asking paid off. As he likes to put it, “Even a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while.” That simply means that if you ask enough, eventually someone will say ‘yes’.
He cared. He cared about me and his customers. He discovered that when he cared more about taking care of his customers that he cared about taking care of himself, it wasn’t long before he didn’t have to worry about taking care of himself.
Most of all, the Cowboy started every day as a winner! He hit the front door expecting something good to happen. He believed that things were going to go his way regardless of what happened. He had no expectation of failure, only an expectation of success. And I’ve found that when you expect success and take action on that expectation, you almost always get success.
The Cow boy has made millions of dollars. He has also lost it all, only to get it all back again. In his life, as in mine, it has been that once you know and practice the principles of success, they will work for you again and again.
He can also be an inspiration to you. He is proof that it’s not environment or education or technical skills and ability that make you a success. He proved that it takes more: It takes the principles we so often overlook or take for granted. These are the principles of the Ya Gotta’s for Success.
1. What was the Cowboy’s motto? (1)
2. What did the Cowboy learn after he lost millions of dollars? (1)
3. Why did the Cowboy firmly believe that asking would pay off? (1)
4. When you expect success and take action on that expectation, you almost always succeed. (Name the part of speech of the underlined words) (2)
5. a. He cared about me and his customers. (Rewrite using ‘not only ……… but also”) (1)
b. The cowboy has made millions of dollars. (Add a question tag). (1)
6. In what way is the cowboy a source of inspiration for you? (2)
B. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below.
Maggu’s achievements are particularly noteworthy because – as is well – known academic institution in India are less than sold on the idea of inclusive education. In fact, when Maggu Lost her sight in class IV, her school (which she declines to name) expelled her while suggesting she attend a “blind school”. Though shocked, Maggu rejected the advice “Attending a special school would have tarred me the a handicap forever, which was not how I saw my future. Therefore I did the rounds of other public schools with my father, a small – time merchant, explaining that my case was different since I had vision till the age of ten,” she recalls.
Impressed by her persistence and ambition, Delhi’s Bluebells School not only admitted her but pulled out all the stops to support her in academics and in sports. Not surprisingly, she won laurels in inter – school sporting events and also notched up a respectable 73 per cent average in the class XII exam with the help of Braille, interactive textbooks and extra coaching.
This respectable average in her CBSE exam paved the way for admission into LSR where again she proved her mettle by winning medals in a slew of inter – college events (100, 200 and 400 metre sprints) high jump, long jump, javelin and discus throw, resulting in her being declared ‘Athlete of the year’ 2003 at a sports meet for 100 physically challenged athletes. And the cherry on the cake was the selection to the IBSA games last year. “It was a tough regimen”, recalls Maggu. “I had to attend sports camps, manage my studies and officiate as sports president. But I managed.”
1. What qualities of Maggu are highlighted in this passage? (1)
2. Why did Maggu refuse to attend a ‘blind school’? (1)
3. Quote the lines that show that Jyoti Maggu was good in academics as well as in sports. (1)
4. Use any two phrases in sentences of your own: (1)
a. To win laurels b. To pave the way c. To prove one’s mettle d. A tough regimen
5. a. I did the rounds of other public schools with my father. (change the voice) (1)
b. Though shocked, Maggu rejected the advice. (Rewrite as a simple sentence) (1)
6. Should the physically challenged be sent to special schools? Express your views. (2)
Q3. Grmmar
1. Smith: Good Morning, Mr. Jones. It is a long time since I saw you in town. (2)
Jones: Good Morning, Mr. Smith. I only came up for business for few hours. (Rewrite in Indirect Speech)
2. I received his message ________ 8 o’ clock ________ the morning. (Insert suitable prepositions) (1)
3. You _____________ (needn’t, mustn’t, won’t) light a match, the room is full of gas. (choose the correct alternative and complete the sentence) (1)
POEM SECTIONS
1. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The tender snail that fears the sun
Weaves, where the cold fresh night – dews lie,
His shining tract that’s seen by none
But the moon’s shining harmless eye.
Lean – flanked and hungry – eyed, the cat
As stealthy as a wind – blown leaf,
For careless vole or scurrying rat
Lurks in the shadows like a thief.
Beyond the town, in moon – washed grass,
The rabbit and the field – mouse creep,
While moon – white owls like phantoms pass:
Then who says night’s the time for sleep?
QUESTIONS
1. Name the different creatures from the extract. (1)
2. Who lurks in the shadows like a thief? (1)
3. Why does the snail fear the sun?(1)
4. Fill in the blanks with the compound adjectives. (1)
5. Pick out an example of Personification from the extract. (1)
2. Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Defeat! He lied there silently
A tear dropped from his eye
“There’s no sense running anymore:
Three strikes’ I’m out! Why try?”
The will to rise had disappeared;
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error – prone:
A loser all the way.
“I’ve lost, so what’s the use,” he thought
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad
Who soon he’d have to face.
1. What did the boy resolve when he fell the third time? (1)
2. Why did the boy feel a sense of hopelessness? (1)
3. ‘A tear dropped from his eyes’ – What does this line tell you about the boy? (1)
4. List any two pairs of rhyming words. (1)
5. Name and explain the figure of speech: (1)
‘So far behind so error – prone’
Q5. Read the extract and answer the questions given below.
We sang our school fight song dozens of times – en route to Arlington National Cemetery, and even on an afternoon cruise down the Potomac River.
We visited the Lincoln Memorial twice, once in day – light, the second time at dusk. My classmates and I feel silent as we walked in the shadows of those 36 marble columns, one for every state in the Union that Lincoln labored to preserve. I stood next to Frank at the base of the 19 – foot seated statue. Spotlights made the white Georgian marble seem to glow. Together, we read those famous words from Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg remembering the most bloody battle in the War among the States: “… we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…”
As Frank motioned me into place to take my picture, I took one last look at Lincoln’s face. He seemed alive and so terribly sad.
The next morning I understood a little better why he wasn’t smiling. “Clifton,” a chaperone said, “could I see you for a moment?”.
Questions
1. When did the boys visit Lincoln Memorial? (1)
2. What made the Georgian marble glow? (1)
3. What did the words: “… we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom …” remind them? (1)
4. Do you believe in building memorials? What kind should they be, if your answer is ‘yes’? If no, give reasons why you do not believe in memorials? (2)
Sections ‘D’
(Writing skills)
Q. 6. A. Write a complaint letter regarding over flow of gutter in your locality / village. [5]
Or
Letter to your friend explaining him about the importance of Joint family system. (5)
B. Imagine it is Doctor’s day. Frame 10 questions to interview a doctor. (5)
or
Write a speech to be delivered among your class mates, regarding EYE donation (5)
Q7. A. Write a fact file of a place of your interest keeping in mind the following. (5)
a. Name of Place
b. Conveyance
c. Distance from Mumbai.
d. Climate
e. Things to do
Or
Prepare 10 questions to interview a 14 year old boy, who won the Bravery Award. (5)
B. Observe the following pie chart and prepare a write up of about 100 words describing the causes of ‘Increasing Road Accidents’. (5)
Or
Write a dialogue between you and a shop keeper. (5)
Q8. Expand any one in about 100 words. (5)
1. Honesty is the best policy.
2. As you sow, so shall you reap.
3. Action speak louder than words.
