10th English Second Mid Term Test 2024 - Solutions
I. Answer all the Questions (10x1=10)
Choose the Correct Synonyms for the underlined words.
1. He has fixed his GAZE on the icon.
Answer: c) stare
2. India's disabled continue to GRAPPLE with the challenges of access.
Answer: d) to fight inorder to win
3. Lessons were repeated in UNISON.
Answer: d) simultaneous utterance
Choose the Correct Antonyms for the underlined words.
4. M. Hamel was so CRANKY.
Answer: b) cheerful
5. Technology is very important to communicate and be INDEPENDENT.
Answer: b) dependent
6. But it would have been DIFFICULT.
Answer: a) easy
7. Choose the correct expansion of the abbreviation SIM
Answer: b) Subscriber Identification Module
8. Choose the correct plural form of LEAF from the following.
Answer: d) leaves
9. Complete the following sentence with the most appropriate phrasal verb given below.
There will be a __________ next week in the office.
Answer: d) shut down (Note: This is an unusual context for 'shut down'. 'Meeting' or 'event' would be more fitting. However, based on the options, it's the most plausible if 'the office' itself is closing for a week.)
10. Choose the suitable option to pair it with the word SOFT to form compound word.
Answer: b) ware (software)
II. Answer any Three of the following Questions (3x2=6)
11. Why did Mr. Hamel blame himself?
Mr. Hamel blamed himself for his students' inability to learn French properly. He admitted that he had often sent them to water his flowers instead of having them learn their lessons, and he had given them holidays when he wanted to go fishing.
12. Why were the old villagers sitting in the last desk?
The old villagers were sitting on the last desks to show their respect and gratitude to M. Hamel for his forty years of faithful service. They were also there to express their sorrow for not having attended school more often and to show respect for their country and language, which was no longer going to be theirs.
13. Why is the technology important according to David?
According to David, technology is important because it allows him to communicate and be independent. It empowers him to interact with the world, control his environment, and express himself in ways that would be difficult or impossible without it.
14. How does Kim help Alisha?
Kim is an assistive technology device that helps Alisha by allowing her to control appliances in her home. She can operate lights, fans, and music systems using simple voice commands or by using her eye movements, giving her greater control and independence in her daily life.
III. Answer any Two of the following (2x2=4)
15. Change into INDIRECT SPEECH:
"Where are we going, Sir?" asked the Aero coachman.
The Aero coachman respectfully asked where they were going.
16. Punctuate the following:
Well cash what have you got
"Well, Cash, what have you got?"
17. Rearrange the words in the correct order to make meaningful sentences:
a) speaks/he/besides/German/languages/two
Answer: He speaks two languages besides German.
b) as/I/healthy/are/you/am/as
Answer: I am as healthy as you are.
IV. Answer any Two of the following Questions (2x5=10)
18. Technology is a boon to the disabled - Justify.
Technology has proven to be a transformative boon for disabled individuals, breaking down barriers and fostering independence. For those with mobility impairments, powered wheelchairs and smart home devices offer unprecedented control over their environment. For instance, voice-activated assistants like Kim, as seen with Alisha, can manage lighting, entertainment, and more, granting autonomy. Communication, a fundamental human need, is revolutionized by tools like text-to-speech software, eye-tracking devices, and specialized keyboards, allowing non-verbal individuals like David to express their thoughts and connect with others. Furthermore, advancements in prosthetics, hearing aids, and visual aids have significantly enhanced the quality of life, enabling participation in education, employment, and social activities. Thus, technology empowers the disabled, not just by assisting with daily tasks, but by unlocking their potential and integrating them more fully into society.
19. Write a paragraph by developing the following hints:
Holland - dikes - lie below sea level - Peter - prevent-sea water - walks - besides the canal - small hole in the dike - put his finger - Holland - drowned - next morning - a man - notice - people mended - brave hero.
In Holland, a country that lies below sea level, the safety of the land depends on large walls called dikes. A young boy named Peter understood their importance well. One day, as he was walking beside a canal, he noticed a small hole in the dike, with seawater trickling through. Knowing the immense danger a small leak could pose, Peter bravely put his finger in the hole to stop the flow. He stayed there all night, enduring the cold, to prevent Holland from being drowned. The next morning, a man on his way to work noticed Peter and quickly alerted the villagers. People rushed to the spot and mended the dike. Peter's quick thinking and courageous act saved his country, and he was hailed as a brave hero.
V. Reading Comprehension
20. Read the following stanza and answer the questions given below:
We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive.
We can print and plough and weave and heat and light.
We can run and race and swim and fly and dive.
We can see and hear and count and read and write.
a) Who does WE refer to in the stanza?
Answer: 'We' refers to the machines.
b) What can a machine do?
Answer: A machine can pull, haul, push, lift, drive, print, plough, weave, heat, light, run, race, swim, fly, dive, see, hear, count, read, and write.
c) Pick out the rhyming words in the above lines.
Answer: drive - dive; light - write.
d) Write the rhyme scheme of the given stanza.
Answer: The rhyme scheme is aabb.
e) Pick out the alliterating word in the second line.
Answer: The alliterating words are print and plough.
21. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (5x1=5)
Like everybody else in easy circumstances nowadays, Francis Bennett, having abandoned domestic cooking, is one of the subscribers to the Society for Supplying Food to the Home, which distributes dishes of a thousand types through a network of pneumatic tubes. This system is expensive, no doubt, but the cooking is better. So, not without some regret, Francis Bennett was lunching in solitude. He was finishing his coffee when Mrs. Bennett, having got back home, appeared in the telephote screen. When he had finished his lunch, he went across to the window, where his aero-car was waiting.
a) Who has abandoned domestic cooking?
Answer: Francis Bennett has abandoned domestic cooking.
b) What has Francis Bennett subscribed to?
Answer: Francis Bennett has subscribed to the Society for Supplying Food to the Home.
c) What does the society for supplying food to the home do?
Answer: It distributes dishes of a thousand types through a network of pneumatic tubes.
d) With whom was Bennett having lunch?
Answer: Bennett was having lunch in solitude (alone).
e) What was waiting for Bennett near the window?
Answer: His aero-car was waiting for him near the window.
VI. Answer any Two of the following (2x5=10)
22. Prepare an attractive advertisement using hints given below:
Home made taste - hygiene - family restaurant - fresh juice - available - free home delivery - cards accepted.
TASTE OF HOME
Your Family Restaurant
Craving the delicious taste of home-cooked meals?
We serve food with 100% Hygiene and the authentic Home Made Taste!
- Wide range of family recipes
- Fresh Juices Available
- FREE Home Delivery
- All Cards Accepted
Come, taste the love!
Contact: 98765 43210 | Visit us at: 123, Main Road, Thiruvarur
23. You are Vasanth/Vasanthi school pupil leader of GHSS. Your Headmaster has requested you to inform the students about the ECO club meeting in your school. Prepare a notice giving the details such as date of the meeting, time and venue.
GOVERNMENT HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
NOTICE
Date: [Current Date]
ECO CLUB MEETING
This is to inform all the members of the ECO Club that a meeting has been scheduled to discuss the plans for the upcoming 'Green School Initiative'. All members are requested to attend without fail.
- Date: [A Future Date, e.g., 25th October 2024]
- Time: 3:30 PM
- Venue: School Auditorium
Your presence and active participation are highly anticipated.
Vasanth
(School Pupil Leader)
24. Make notes or write summary of the following passage:
Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words. Could any of these mammals be more intelligent than man? Certainly the most common argument in favour of man's superiority over them that we can kill them more easily than they can kill us is the least satisfactory. On the contrary, the more we discover about these remarkable creatures, the less we appear superior when we destroy them.
Notes
1. Dolphins: Friendly Creatures- 1.1 Friendliest in the sea.
- 1.2 Help drowning sailors - stories from Roman times.
- 2.1 Look after ill dolphins.
- 2.2 Care for pregnant mothers.
- 2.3 Protect the weakest.
- 3.1 May have a language.
- 3.2 Comm. without words more probable.
- 3.3 Question of intelligence greater than man's.
- 4.1 Argmnt: Man can kill them easily - unsatisfactory.
- 4.2 Discovering more abt. them makes us less superior when we destroy them.
Summary
Dolphins: The Intelligent CreaturesDolphins are known as the friendliest sea creatures, with historical tales of them rescuing sailors. Their society is surprisingly complex; they care for their sick, protect pregnant mothers, and look after the weak, much like humans. Scientists believe they communicate effectively, possibly without using words. The common argument for human superiority, based on our ability to kill them, is weak. In fact, as we learn more about these remarkable and intelligent mammals, our act of destroying them makes us seem less superior.
VII. Quote from Memory (5)
25. Quote from Memory: (Note: The prompt in the question paper "If you make your brains." is unclear/likely a typo. The answer for the standard memory poem "Life" by Henry Van Dyke is provided below.)
Life
Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.