Class - 10 Std:- X English Question Paper.
2nd Prelim
Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
“When I was young,” said 74-year-old William Knowles, of Chalfout St Giles, Buckinghamshire, “We used to breathe well because we worked hard. Men sawed wood, tossed hay, dug ditches. Women washed clothes by hand, scrubbed floors. Everyone walked a lot. Exercise wasn’t something you took. It was something you got. Today all we do is sit. So now we must master the art of breathing through changed habits.” ‘Knowles taught people how to use their lungs properly.
I’d gone to see Knowles because I was impressed by the glowing reports from people he had helped. One doctor had written: “For the first time in seven years I came through the winter without an attack of bronchitis, thanks to your exercise.” There were many more testimonials in the same vein.
“These testimonials as to what you’ve done for people with extremely poor breathing habits are comforting,” I told Knowles “But what about the rest of us? I breathe all right. At least I think do.”
“You’re probably using a sixth our lung capacity. He replied, looking at me appraisingly.
a) What did people learn from “Breather Knowles”?
b) What did the writer think he did all right?
c) What testimonial did the doctor give in praise of Knowles?
d) i) I was impressed by the glowing reports from people. (Change the voice.)
ii) You’re probably using a sixth of your lung capacity,” he replied. (Make indirect)
e) 1) Write from the passage that mean : i) of a similar type ii) managed to get the end of a difficult situation
2) Opposite:- i) impressed ii) changed
f) What must one do to stay well?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we, but the succeeding generations will remember his message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.
Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.
We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good and ill fortune alike.
a) Which day is Nehru referring to in the first line?
b) On the occasion of India getting freedom from British rule, whom does Nehru remember?
c) What is Nehru’s message to the people of free India?
d) 1) He lighted up the darkness that surrounded US. [Rewrite using .ing form of underlined word]
2) Not only we but the succeeding generations will remember his message. [Use- as well as]
e) 1) Explain - Architect
2) Choose the correct meaning for underlined word we have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message.
a) Moved away from b) been unfaithful to c) Wandered away from.
f) What challenges do you think, did the people of the newly freed India face?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
(Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which Lincoln’s son was studying. Lincoln explains to the Headmaster what his son needs to know in life.)
“He will have to learn. I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader ….
Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found….. Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can. Teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick…. Teach him, If you can, the wonder of books…..but also give him quite time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hillside.
In school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat… Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong…Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of thruth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad…. Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much …. Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob….and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient…. let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime.
e) match the pair of column-A with column-B
Column-A
Column-B
1] to steer
a] to defeat somebody easily
2] envy
b] to guide somebody’s thought
c] of the best kind
d] the feeling of wishing to have what somebody has
f) Write 2-3 three sentences on Abraham Lincoln.
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
When Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was working as a professor in the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, his mother sent him word that he should see her at once in their native village in Midnapur. He immediately applied to the Principal of the college for leave, but the Principal would not grant his prayer. Iswar Chandra, thereupon, submitted his letter of resignation stating therein that he considered it a disgrace to continue in service to the distress of his mother’s feeling. The college authorities were taken aback and had to climb dawn. Leave was granted. He set out at noon, and walked till evening to reach the bank of the Damodar. It was impossible to cross the rain-swollen Damodar at night . When he went to the riverside the following morning , he saw that the river had become stormy and the ferry boats had ceased to ply. He offered the boatmen a large reward, but they dared not make the attempt. So he jumped into the river and proceeded to swim across. The men standing on the bank were amazed and remarked,” The Brahmin is bent upon ending his life,” But protected by his mother’s blessing, he fought his way bravely through the mighty waves and reached the other bank in perfect safety.
3) Say wheather the given adjectives are noun as adjectives or pure adjectives.
mother’s feeling ; college authorities
mighty waves ; perfect safety.
I have workout clothes and sweat-bands
Even a ‘get-fit’ coffee cup!
But that scale hasn’t budged an inch
SO, I’m on the verge of giving up!
I’ve just about convinced myself
That it’s true what some folks say….
You have heard it too….. Eat Right!
Get Fit? Die anyway!!
So for those who are devoted
To trying to make me over, PLEASE!
If God wanted me to touch my toes
He would have put them on my knees!
I believe He loves us as we are
That includes both big AND small
So when I reach the gates of Heaven
It will be with flab and all.
India, my India, where first human eyes awoke to heavenly light! All Asia’s holy place of pilgrimage, great Motherland of might! World-mother, first giver to humankind of philosophy and sacred lore, Knowledge thou gav’st to man, God –love, works, art, religion’s opened door. O even with all the grandeur dwarfed or turned to bitter loss and maim, How shall we mourn who are thy children and can vaunt thy might name ? Before us still there floats the ideal of those splendid days of gold; A new world in our vision wakes, Love’s India we shall rise to mould. India, my India, who dare call thee a thing for pity’s grace today? Mother of wisdom, worship, works, nurse of the sprit’s inward ray!
The same office an hour later: Norton and Cooper walk in and sit down.
Norton : Well, I like that house. It’s just big enough for me and it’s in a very good place.
Cooper : Don’t buy it. If you do, you”ll be sorry. Now here I have another house…
Norton : How much is it?
Cooper : Six thousand pounds.
Norton : Well, I don’t want it. I can’t spend all that on a house. I’LL buy Blackwood House. Who’s the owner?
Cooper: Mr. Varley. He lives in London. He’s the woman’s brother.
Norton : Doesn’t he want to sell it?
Cooper : Oh yes, he wants to sell it. But of course no one wants to live there with all these stories about the
White Visitor. That’s the reason for the low Price. But you ought to find another place. Now there’s a
house in Pool Road…
Norton : I don’t want it.
Cooper : Listen, Doctor Norton, suppose you buy Blackwood House. Then, in the middle of the night, the white
Visitor comes into your bedroom-will you like that? Every night …. just when the hands of the big
clock on the other side of the street point to twelve-will you like it? Will you be happy there? Think-
how much sleep will you get in your new home? None.
Norton : I don’t believe all these stories.
Cooper : Well, don’t come back to me later, and say that I didn’t tell you. Suppose you can’t sleep there. What
will you do?
Norton : Sell it.
a) Why does Dr. Norton like Blackwood House?
b) Who was Mr. Varley?
c) What does the first line of this piece indicate?
d) What do you gather about Mr. Cooper’s attitude towards lackwood House in comparison to the other properties?
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
1) She was going around with a stick, her only support. [Use-sub-ordinate]
2) Rising early is the most important prerequisite for successful bird-watching.
[Change into comparative degree]
3) You should trust your friends with your secrets. [Use noun form of underlined word and frame it]
4) She is an ‘angutha chhap’ who cannot even sign her name.
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
You have lost a book that you borrowed from a friend. Write a letter to him/her apologizing for the loss.
OR
Write a letter to the Divisional forest officer, Bhandara, seeking, permission to visit Nagzira sanctuary and make a booking for a weekend visit.
B] Information Transfer / Leaflet / fact file. 5 Marks
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a wild life sanctuary in Maharashtra.
i) Location ii) Distance iii) Mode of transport iv) uniqueness v) Accommodation
vi) what to see vii) Importance viii) anything special
OR
Write a leaflet inviting students of your class to attend a tree plantation programme that you and your friends are organizing. Mention the following in leaflet.
i) Venue, date and timing ii) Chief Guest iii) Need for tree plantation iv) How students may contribute or participate etc.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Delivers a speech on an account of “on teacher’s day” – “What I think of my school”. :
OR
Write a dialogue between the postal officer and you on how to send a letter by speed post.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Your school recently won the ‘Cleanest School Award’ this was the result of the united efforts of all the students. Prepare a report of about 20 lines for the school magazine explaining how it was possible to win the award.
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Role of women in Society. 2) Corruption – the greatest threat 3) Manner’s maketh man
2nd Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-A Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
The house is quite. Everything is as neat as a pin. By noon, all the chores are over. The serenity of the next hour is something I have always cherished. It is a delicious moment to myself. Mine, to white away looking at the garden, mine to spend with a book, mine to use in a million ways. Just as hour before the children return from school, and throw the house back into its customary rough and tumble.
I am, of course, daydreaming. The children no longer go to school. The house will remain as neat as a pin till evening when my husband returns. And even his return is like a drop in a bucket some minor ripples and the calm again.
I brought them up like twins. There was only one year between them and from the beginning they played together, fought together, with hand and foot and fist, as boys will . They went to school together, fighting, laughing, and arguing, all the way. They shared their clothes and toys, and as they grew they shared their thoughts and plans. And through it all, I was growing too, learning on the job, teaching, explaining, understanding.
f) What would the writer do after the children go to the school?
g) ‘I brought them up like twins.’ Who does ‘them’ refer to?
h) How does the writer describe the calmness in the house?
i) i) The house is quite. (Rewrite as an exclamatory sentence.)
ii) I have always cherished it. (Rewrite as a negative sentence)
j) 1) Give noun forms of: i) delicious ii) customary
2) Everything is as neat as a pin. (Write the meaning of the underlined idiom)
f) What, do you think, is the purpose of this extract?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
Knowles stressed that breathing out not only rids the lungs of accumulated impurities but makes breathing in deeply easier if not automatic. One of his exercises calls for breathing into the count of four and out to the count of 12, then increasing the count until you are able to breathe seven and out to 21. Each sequence should be repeated three times. I found myself going around London trying out knowles’s tricks. They work. Take a deep breath and hold it when you have something heavy to lift and note how much lighter the object becomes. As you go up a staircase, breathe in on two steps and out on two steps. You’ll be less winded at the top. And if you do get out of breath, pant deliberately like a dog for a few minutes and you’ll get your wind back in a jiffy. If you’re cold, do the same thing and see how fast you warm up.
These performances demonstrate some of the sources of strength in breath. Athletes know of the second wind that comes during heavy exercise. It is really only the shift from shallow to deep breathing. The aim of deep, rhythmic breathing is to make this energy always available.
g) On what did Knowles put stress to get rid of the impurities of the lungs?
h) How can a person climb stairs easily?
i) What is the aim of deep, rhythmic breathing?
j) 1) If you …….out of breath, pant deliberately. (to get) (Fill in the blank with correct tense of the verb given in the bracket.)
2) As you go up a staircase, breathe in on two steps and out on two steps.
(Pick out the dependent clause and state its relation.)
k) Fill in the blanks:
1) In the good old days, work gave people ……. (excercise, exercise, exercise)
2) This medicine will …… you of your discomfort. (relieve/ relieve/ relieve)
l) What, do you think, are the benefits we get from restoring the lungs to full use?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
Hampi is filled with relics and monuments, which are a mute witness to an empire that lasted 300 years, till the last king RAMA Raya was defeated by the Bahamani Sultans in the battle of Talikota.
Hampi forms one of 16 historic sites declared deemed part of world heritage. Archaeologists consider that one of the extraordinary work excavation at Hampi, to date, is the Pushkarni, the lovely water reservoir, which had remain hidden beneath the earth for centuries. This Pushkarni is a highly functional structure with water running to a depth of three metres, brought from a long distance by a series of stone channels, and also a beautiful monument with steps arranged in a series of small pyramids. Each block of stone bears a short inscription in Kannada indicating its exact position in the construction. Thus, if the entire structure were to be dismantled, it would be completely and accurately reconstructed without difficulty.
Even in the present state, Hampi’s ruins have attracted superlative praise from many people. Artists have marveled at the “floral magnificence” of its temple and their elegantly carved massive pillars.
e) 1) Give antonym of : i) mantle ii) accurately.
2) Give verb forms of : i) inscription ii) magnificence
f) Why, do you think, ‘Pushkarni’ is considered by archaeologists as one of the most extra ordinary works of excavation?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
The term co-operation loses its meaning when become competitive and just a firm of retail shopkeepers, entering into rivalry with either similar co-operatives or private shops. In the issue of licenses, permits, grants, loans ect., the government follows a general policy of preferring co-operatives to private orgnisations. Since the government itself is run on party lines this has led to rival co-operatives, one favoured by the party in power and other trying to checkmate it. To remedy this, one way would be to insist on having only multipurpose co-operative in one unit to eliminate all private dealers in distribution, and to make membership in the co-operative society compulsory for every householder.
My feeling is that co-operatives, weather in selling, purchasing or distributing should be restricted to carry on their operations for and among their members only. They must not become commission agents or middlemen between non-members on the one hand and the government or the world on the other. Their purchases must be for the needs of their members only, and not for sale to the public. Their sales to the public must given to them for proper distribution among their members only.
One favoured by ……party in power should behave in ……..responsible manner.
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
1) Change it into indirect speech.
“What happened to you?” Jason wanted to know. “I’ve got a big spot on my chin,” Keryn said.
2) Fill in the blanks with appropriate preposition:
But when I walked ….. her room, I was shocked ……see the physical condition of my dear mother.
3) Match the words in Column A with words in column B to form collocations:
Column-a
Column- b
i) weak
a) man
ii) strong
b) lunch
iii) light
iv) heavy
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep His shining track that’s seen by none
And all the noisy world has stopped, But the moon’s shining harmless eye.
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep Lean-flanked and hungry-eyed, the cat
To find the crumbs that we have dropped. As stealthy as a wind-blown leaf,
Free from alarms, upon the wall For careless vole or scurrying rat
Hid by the kindly dark again, Lurks in the shadows like a thief.
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl
And spin their threads as fine as rain.
The tender snail that fears the sun
Weaves, where the cold fresh night-dews lie,
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
A children’s race-young boys, young men
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure! But also fear;
It wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race.
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least takes second place.
And father watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.
The whistle blew and off they went!
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win and be the hero there
was each young boy’s desire.
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
Margie was scornful.’ School ? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in Geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, nut he knew how all right and after an hour or so, there it was again, Large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part she hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time.
The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He said to her mother, ‘It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the Geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten year level. Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.’ And he patted Margie’s head again.
e) Why did Margie hate school?
f) Describe the County Inspector.
g) What was the attitude of the County Inspector towards Margie?
h) Write 2 sentences that show Margie’s dislike for the mechanical teacher.
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
Write a letter to your friend telling him/her about your brother/sister and how much you trust him/her and how you share secrets with him/her
OR
Write a letter to a Yoga Expert inviting him/her to inaugurate the ‘Health Club’ in our school.
B] Study the information in the graph below about the time spent on reading for pleasure and watching TV by 15 year old students in Maharashtra. (1999-2005) 5 Marks
Transfer the information in two short paragraphs.
OR
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a hill station in Maharashtra. Indicate the following in the leaflet:
1) Location
2) How to get there
3) Where to stay
4) What to see
5) Add any other information about the place.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a dialogue between two students discussing their choice of carees.
OR
You are asked to deliver a speech on India of Your Dreams, to your junior colleagues, as part of the Independence Day Celebration. Write the speech.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on Social Service Camp, the school organized for the social services students of the VIII, IX and X standards.
OR
Imagine that one of the students from your school has won the overall championship at the state level cricket tournament. Frame 10 questions to interview him. (Do not write answers.)
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) We live in deeds not in years
2) Knowledge is power.
3) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
2nd Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-B Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
There was a time when most diabetologists practised and preached their anti-banana theory. Its high carbohydrate content was said to be the real culprit. However, the good news is that in the last four-five years, the humble banana has managed to achieve its rightful position on the nutrition charts. “Following long-term research co-relating fruits and nutrition, we’ve started recommending banana in a limited amount to patients whose blood sugar is under control,” says Dr V Mohan, President Madras Diabetes Research Foundation. There are many points that make the banana a healthy option due to its low sodium and high potassium content, it helps in regulation blood pressure and lowers the risk of a stroke. High potassium levels also aid in toning up the muscles.
According to Chennai-based clinical nutritionist, Sudha Vasudev, a banana also offers the best value for money, as it’s much cheaper than other fruits. And the feather in its cap is that its one of the least bio-contaminated fruits thanks to its thick outer skin that protects the edible part.
Though there are many varieties of banana, there’s no documented research to prove which type has the highest nutritional content. Most important factor to be considered is the freshness of the fruit.
k) What is the good news about banana?
l) How does the banana protects itself against bio-contamination?
m) What are the important benefits of the banana?
n) i) The banana is cheaper than other fruits. (Change the degree) ii) The humble banana has managed to achieve its rightful position on the nutrition charts. (Add question tag)
o) i) Write from the passage the opposite of : a) worst b) lowest.
ii) Write the adjective forms of : a) practice b) manage
p) What, do you think, is the purpose of this text?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
We ran into her in the charming little town of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. The German girl had been to India seven times in 10 years and did not seem to tire of the country.
In Germany, or for that matter in most places in Europe and around the world, one visits amusement parks in search of thrills, she said. India however, she added, the country was one big, incredible theme park in which there were no safety belts and guard railings. Why, just travelling on an Indian bus or train was as exciting and colourful as any joy ride, she observed.
And, the country offers visitors more themes than any other amusement park in the world-mighty mountains, holy rivers, grand monuments, silent forests brimming with wildlife, stark yet beautiful deserts, romantic backwaters, golden beaches, ancient art treasures, cultural cities, diverse cuisine, etc. The truth is that India is so vast and has so many different faces that it is almost intimidating and often seen as a ‘difficult’ destination.
m) How often did the German girl visit India?
n) What themes does India offer the visitors?
o) What makes India a difficult destination for some?
p) i) The country offers visitors more themes than any other amusement park in the world. (Change the degree)
ii) India has so many different faces that it is often seen as a ‘difficult’ destination. (rewrite using because
q) i) Write from the passage phrases that mean a) Met someone you were not expecting to meet b) full of.
ii) Match the words in Column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’
Column- A
Column-B
i) incredible
a) particular style of cooking
ii) backwater
b) building built to honour a special person or event
c) unbelievable
d) a body of slightly salty water.
r) The text contains several sentences that will be useful for a beautiful narration of your picnic. Make a list of such sentences.
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
From the earliest times the practice of dancing in India began with religious worship. Most of the old Hindu temples provided for a course of dancing, which was full of religious meaning, as part of the worship of the gods. Many of these old dances were in danger of being forgotten, but then came a modern revival in the art of dancing, the most conspicuous figure in this being Uday Shankar. He did not confine himself only to religious dancing, but conceived the idea of an Indian ballet using the gestures and movements of Indian dancing to express modern ideas. In olden days dancing was carried out by women and girls only, but in the ballet arranged by Uday Shankar and others, both men and women danced together.
The origin of Indian dancing is religious, its purpose being to put into movement the stories about the Hindu gods, so as to make them understood by the masses. We are told that there are seventy-two hand gestures, each having a meaning of its own which is as definite as the meaning of the letters of the alphabet. There are also nine sets of facial expressions which help to convey to the audience all the emotions and feelings of human nature.
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
Machines, I take it, were invented to be man’s servants. Their justification lies in their ability to increase productivity and to diminish human toil. In so far as they produce these results, machines are beneficial; in so far do not, they are neither beneficial nor harmful but unnecessary. That machinery has increased production is obvious, that it has lightened human toil is, however, very far from being the case. Men never worked so hard as in the nineteenth century when machines first became important; they never had so little leisure as they have today when machines are dominant. Men’s new-won ability to exploit the forces of nature might been expected to increase their leisure, and to confer a certain spaciousness and dignity upon their lives. Yet they live at great pressure than before, and the whole urgency of the modern world is towards speeding up, greater efficiency and more intense competition, when it ought to be towards more ease, less hurry and greater co-operation. These evil results are due not to the fact that machines exist, but to the fact that they are revered.
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
4) May the star never set. (Rewrite as Assertive sentence.)
5) Better aeration of the lungs relieves chronic bronchitis. (Frame a wh-question.)
6) We have often been unworthy followers of his. (Rewrite as Interrogative sentence.)
7) Dad had a favourite carpet snake that he called Old Tom. (rewrite as simple sentence)
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep
And all the noisy world has stopped,
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep
To find the crumbs that we have dropped.
Free from alarms, upon the wall
Hid by the kindly dark again,
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl
And spin their threads as fine as rain.
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
Life is a gift to be used every day,
Not to be smothered and hidden away;
It isn’t a thing to be stored in the chest
Where you gather your keepsakes and
treasure your best;
It isn’t a joy to be sipped now and then
And promptly put back in a dark place again.
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
At first the tiger-cub, who was named Timothy by Grandmother, was brought up entirely on milk given to him in a feeding –bottle by our cook, Mahmoud. But the milk proved too rich for him, and he was put on a diet of raw mutton and cod liver oil, to be followed later by a more tempting diet pigeons and rabbits.
Timothy was provided with two companions-Tota the monkey, who was bold enough to pull the young tiger by the tail, and then climb up the curtains if Timothy lost his temper and a small mongrel puppy, found on the road by Grandfather.
At first Timothy appeared to be quite afraid of the puppy, and darted back with a spring if it came too near. He would make absurd dashes at it with his large forepaws, and then retreat to a ridiculously safe distance. Finally, he allowed the puppy to crawl on his back and rest there!
One of Timothy’s favourite amusements was to stalk anyone who would play with him, and so, when I came to live with Grandfather, I became one of the tiger’s favourites. With a crafty look in his glittering eyes, and his body crouching, he would creep closer and closer to me, suddenly making a dash for my feet, rolling over on his back and kicking with delight, and pretending to bite my ankles.
i) Who named the tiger-cub?
j) Who were Timothy’s companions at home? How did Timothy develop relations with them?
k) Which of the actions of Timothy do you find particularly amusing? Why?
l) Write from the passage non-English words. Why, do you think, has the writer used them?
m) Hunting of wild animals is banned today. why?
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
Write a letter to your friend about how delighted and inspired you felt when you visited the home for the blind.
OR
Write a letter to the Secretary, Department of Tourism, Maharashtra suggesting ways and means to improve facilities for tourists to the state.
B] Information Transfer/ Leaflet / Fact file: (5 Marks)
Prepare a list of instructions to be put in a school library.
OR
The pie chart given below shows the expenditure of a family on various savings during one year. Interpret this date in a paragraph of 100 words.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a speech on ‘Building a corruption free India’.
OR
Write a dialogue between two students about their career choices.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on blood donation camp held in your area.
OR
You have been privileged to take an interview of Sachin Tendulkar after he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. (Write only ten questions.)
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Cinema both entertains and educates.
2) Half knowledge is dangerous.
3) Home is there the heart is
Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-A Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher. Counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with a 3-in1 cleanser, put on her night solution and age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”
“I’ m on my way,” she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the verandah light was on. she looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TVs, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
q) What does this passage tell you?
r) She was an energy saver. Discuss.
s) Why did the mother put on her night solution?
t) Give one word for each from the passage. i) to show tireness and sleepiness ii) a rooted and floored open space along the side of a house.
u) Give the noun forms of - clean, solve
v) She had a brief conversation with the kid doing home work. (Rewrite using the verb form of the underlined.)
w) In her own room, she set the alarm. (Rewrite the sentence as negative.)
x) What does mother do for us?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
Mr. Robinson looked a trifle disconcerted but asked me how long I would be in London. I told him that I was visiting friends in the county and scoutland and would be back after four weeks or so, for a few days before taking a flight home. He pursed his lips and said, “ I’ m terribly sorry but much as I would like to help, I can’t do it.” I said “Is too short?” To which he answered, “No it’s not that.”
“Then what’s the problem?” was my next query. “ Well you see…….” At which point, I turned on all my persuasive skills and invoked the name of my father. Mr. Robinson looked at me with half a smile on his face and said, “That’s it precisely. Because you are the son of an old and valued customer of ours, I will not accept your order.”
He must have seen the look of bewilderment on my face, and quickly went on to explain, “Now a day we do not do the tailoring ourselves. We send the order to Hong Kong but the finished products goes under our label. Now you know why I have decided not to sell you the suit.”
As I prepared to leave, Mr. Robinson shook me warmly by the hand and escorted me to the door. I stepped out on the street with mixed feelings. Disappointment at not getting my suit, but gratitude for the man’s candour.
s) Why did Mr. Robinson look a trifle disconcerted?
t) What were the two assignments the writer had?
u) Why did the writer use his persuasive skills and invoke his father’s name?
v) Give another word for: - confusion, quality of being truly honest.
w) Give the verb form of – friend, persuasive
x) He must have seen the look of bewilderment on my face. (Frame Wh-type question to get the underlined words as answer.)
y) I told him that I was visiting friends in the country. (Identify and name the clause.)
z) Why do you think that the writer was graceful to Mr. Robinson?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
In ancient, Greece athletics played a very important part in the lives of the people, and athletic festivals had an almost religious character. Three were four especially important athletic festivals in different parts of Greece. The Isthmian , the Nemean, the Pythian and the Olympian – and all of these took place near sacred places and were conducted with all the ceremony of a religious festival. In course of time, the olympian meeting, held every four years in honour of Zeus, won a reputation far greater than the others, and gradually losing its local character, it became a national event. No one knows how far back the olympic Games go; but official Olympic records were kept from 776 B.C. and when in the third century B.C. the practice of reckoning time by Olympiads was begun, the calculation was made from that date.
The plain of Olympia lies in a valley in the Peloponneses, through which ran the sacred river Alpheus. On the athletics ground were temples and altars, as well as altogether about 3,000 statues and monuments. The games took place round the full moon in August before crowds of many thousands of spectators drawn from all parts of the Greek world. No married woman, however was admitted even as an onlooker. Competitors often underwent a 10-month training at the Gymnasium at Elis.
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
People moan about poverty as a great evil and it seems to be an accepted belief that if people had plenty of money, they would be happy, and get more out of life. As a rule, there is more genuine satisfaction in life and more is obtained from life in the humble cottages of the poor man than in the palace of rich men, who are attended by servants and governess at a later stage. At the same time, I am glad to think they do not know what they have missed. It is because I know how sweet and happy and pure the home of honest poverty is, how free from perplexing care and from social envies and jealousies, how loving and united the members are in the common interest of supporting the family that I symphatise with the rich man’s boy and congratulate the poor man’s son.
It is for these reasons that from the ranks of the poor so many strong, eminent self-reliant men have always sprung, if you read the list of the ‘Immortals who were not born to die’ you will find that most of them have been poor.
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
8) Mom said “I love you son and I’m very proud of you. I’m going to miss you very much”. I answered,” So am I.” (Change it into indirect speech.)
9) He was short of sight. (Rewrite using the underlined words to form a compound word.)
10) Sometimes he travelled ……… hours in the hot sun. (for / since)
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep His shining track that’s seen by none
And all the noisy world has stopped, But the moon’s shining harmless eye.
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep Lean-flanked and hungry-eyed, the cat
To find the crumbs that we have dropped. As stealthy as a wind-blown leaf,
Free from alarms, upon the wall For careless vole or scurrying rat
Hid by the kindly dark again, Lurks in the shadows like a thief.
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl Beyond the town, in moon-washed grass,
And spin their threads as fine as rain. The rabbit and the field-mouse creep,
The tender snail that fears the sun While moon-white owls like phantoms pass:
Weaves, where the cold fresh night-dews lie, then who says night’s the time for sleep?
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
India, my India, where first human eyes awoke to heavenly light! All Asia’s holy place of pilgrimage, great Motherland of might! World-mother, first giver to humankind of philosophy and sacred lore, Knowledge thou gav’st to man, God –love, works, art, religion’s opened door. O even with all the grandeur dwarfed or turned to bitter loss and maim, How shall we mourn who are thy children and can vaunt thy might name ? Before us still there floats the ideal of those splendid days of gold; A new world in our vision wakes, Love’s India we shall rise to mould. India, my India, who dare call thee a thing for pity’s grace today? Mother of wisdom, worship, works, nurse of the sprit’s inward ray!
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May, 2155, she wrote, ‘Today Tommy found a real book!’ It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was little bay his grandfather told him that there was time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And then when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had when they read it the first time.
‘Gee’, said Tommy, ‘What a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it way, I guess. Our television screen must have had a millions books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.’
‘Same with mine,’ said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.
She said, ‘Where did you find it?’
‘In my house.’ He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. ‘In the attic.’ ‘What’s it about?’ ‘School.’
Margie was scornful.’ School ? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in Geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
n) What did Margie write in her diary? When?
o) What had Margie’s grandfather told her about books?
p) Why was Margie scornful when she heard the word ‘school’?
q) Do you approve educational system that would exist in 22nd century? Why?
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
You had invited your friend to your native village. Inspite of his promise to come, he/she failed to turn up. Write a letter to him/her enquiring about his/her non-arrival and also about your worry about the same.
OR
Write a letter to Telephone Dept. Complaining about overbilling of your phone calls.
B] Information Transfer/ Leaflet / Fact file: (5 Marks)
The pie diagram given below shows the spending of a family on various items and its savings during a year. Write short paragraph commenting on the data so obtained. You may use words/ phrases such as highest percentage, some amount, equal amounts, as well as expenditure, lowest… etc.
OR
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a hill station in Maharashtra. Indicate the following in the leaflet:
6) How to get there
7) Where to stay
8) Time of the year to visit
9) What to see
10) Special features
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a speech to be delivered on ‘The teacher’s day’.
OR
Write a dialogue between Rajiv and the Clerk at the enquiry window on the railway station.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on cleanliness Day organised by the Brihan Mumbai Mahanagar Palika in the city.
OR
Prepare 10 questions that you would ask Gagan Narang in an interview who won medel in shooting.
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Cleanliness is next to godliness.
2) Experience in a great teacher.
3) Health is wealth
Date: - Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
“When I was young,” said 74-year-old William Knowles, of Chalfout St Giles, Buckinghamshire, “We used to breathe well because we worked hard. Men sawed wood, tossed hay, dug ditches. Women washed clothes by hand, scrubbed floors. Everyone walked a lot. Exercise wasn’t something you took. It was something you got. Today all we do is sit. So now we must master the art of breathing through changed habits.” ‘Knowles taught people how to use their lungs properly.
I’d gone to see Knowles because I was impressed by the glowing reports from people he had helped. One doctor had written: “For the first time in seven years I came through the winter without an attack of bronchitis, thanks to your exercise.” There were many more testimonials in the same vein.
“These testimonials as to what you’ve done for people with extremely poor breathing habits are comforting,” I told Knowles “But what about the rest of us? I breathe all right. At least I think do.”
“You’re probably using a sixth our lung capacity. He replied, looking at me appraisingly.
a) What did people learn from “Breather Knowles”?
b) What did the writer think he did all right?
c) What testimonial did the doctor give in praise of Knowles?
d) i) I was impressed by the glowing reports from people. (Change the voice.)
ii) You’re probably using a sixth of your lung capacity,” he replied. (Make indirect)
e) 1) Write from the passage that mean : i) of a similar type ii) managed to get the end of a difficult situation
2) Opposite:- i) impressed ii) changed
f) What must one do to stay well?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we, but the succeeding generations will remember his message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.
Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.
We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good and ill fortune alike.
a) Which day is Nehru referring to in the first line?
b) On the occasion of India getting freedom from British rule, whom does Nehru remember?
c) What is Nehru’s message to the people of free India?
d) 1) He lighted up the darkness that surrounded US. [Rewrite using .ing form of underlined word]
2) Not only we but the succeeding generations will remember his message. [Use- as well as]
e) 1) Explain - Architect
2) Choose the correct meaning for underlined word we have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message.
a) Moved away from b) been unfaithful to c) Wandered away from.
f) What challenges do you think, did the people of the newly freed India face?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
(Here is a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which Lincoln’s son was studying. Lincoln explains to the Headmaster what his son needs to know in life.)
“He will have to learn. I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader ….
Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend. It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is of far more value than five found….. Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning. Steer him away from envy, if you can. Teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick…. Teach him, If you can, the wonder of books…..but also give him quite time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hillside.
In school teach him it is far more honourable to fail than to cheat… Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong…Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of thruth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad…. Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much …. Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob….and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient…. let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime.
- In what, according to Lincoln, lies the real value of money?
- What should a man put a price on?
- What impression of Lincoln do you get from this letter?
- 1) Do not cuddle him [affirmative sentence]
e) match the pair of column-A with column-B
Column-A
Column-B
1] to steer
a] to defeat somebody easily
2] envy
b] to guide somebody’s thought
c] of the best kind
d] the feeling of wishing to have what somebody has
f) Write 2-3 three sentences on Abraham Lincoln.
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
When Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was working as a professor in the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, his mother sent him word that he should see her at once in their native village in Midnapur. He immediately applied to the Principal of the college for leave, but the Principal would not grant his prayer. Iswar Chandra, thereupon, submitted his letter of resignation stating therein that he considered it a disgrace to continue in service to the distress of his mother’s feeling. The college authorities were taken aback and had to climb dawn. Leave was granted. He set out at noon, and walked till evening to reach the bank of the Damodar. It was impossible to cross the rain-swollen Damodar at night . When he went to the riverside the following morning , he saw that the river had become stormy and the ferry boats had ceased to ply. He offered the boatmen a large reward, but they dared not make the attempt. So he jumped into the river and proceeded to swim across. The men standing on the bank were amazed and remarked,” The Brahmin is bent upon ending his life,” But protected by his mother’s blessing, he fought his way bravely through the mighty waves and reached the other bank in perfect safety.
- Why had the ferry boats ceased to ply?
- Iswar Chandra does two amazing things in order to reach his native village. What are they?
- Why did Iswar Chandra not try swimming the river at night?
- 1) His mother sent his word. [Change Voice]
- 1) Phrase that means “began his journey”
3) Say wheather the given adjectives are noun as adjectives or pure adjectives.
mother’s feeling ; college authorities
mighty waves ; perfect safety.
- What qualities of Iswar Chandra are reflected in this passage?
I have workout clothes and sweat-bands
Even a ‘get-fit’ coffee cup!
But that scale hasn’t budged an inch
SO, I’m on the verge of giving up!
I’ve just about convinced myself
That it’s true what some folks say….
You have heard it too….. Eat Right!
Get Fit? Die anyway!!
So for those who are devoted
To trying to make me over, PLEASE!
If God wanted me to touch my toes
He would have put them on my knees!
I believe He loves us as we are
That includes both big AND small
So when I reach the gates of Heaven
It will be with flab and all.
- Why was the poet about to give up his exercise?
- What is poet’s belief about god?
- What is the tone of the poem? Is it serious or light –hearted?
- Why the words ‘PLEASE’ and “AND” in capital letter?
- Write one example of “Antithesis” from the poem?
India, my India, where first human eyes awoke to heavenly light! All Asia’s holy place of pilgrimage, great Motherland of might! World-mother, first giver to humankind of philosophy and sacred lore, Knowledge thou gav’st to man, God –love, works, art, religion’s opened door. O even with all the grandeur dwarfed or turned to bitter loss and maim, How shall we mourn who are thy children and can vaunt thy might name ? Before us still there floats the ideal of those splendid days of gold; A new world in our vision wakes, Love’s India we shall rise to mould. India, my India, who dare call thee a thing for pity’s grace today? Mother of wisdom, worship, works, nurse of the sprit’s inward ray!
- What question does the poet ask Mother India?
- Write two attributes the poet gives to mother India.
- What does the poet say about the grandeur of India? why?
- Explain – world – mother first giver to humankind.
- name the figure of speech: “How shall we mourn those who are thy children?
The same office an hour later: Norton and Cooper walk in and sit down.
Norton : Well, I like that house. It’s just big enough for me and it’s in a very good place.
Cooper : Don’t buy it. If you do, you”ll be sorry. Now here I have another house…
Norton : How much is it?
Cooper : Six thousand pounds.
Norton : Well, I don’t want it. I can’t spend all that on a house. I’LL buy Blackwood House. Who’s the owner?
Cooper: Mr. Varley. He lives in London. He’s the woman’s brother.
Norton : Doesn’t he want to sell it?
Cooper : Oh yes, he wants to sell it. But of course no one wants to live there with all these stories about the
White Visitor. That’s the reason for the low Price. But you ought to find another place. Now there’s a
house in Pool Road…
Norton : I don’t want it.
Cooper : Listen, Doctor Norton, suppose you buy Blackwood House. Then, in the middle of the night, the white
Visitor comes into your bedroom-will you like that? Every night …. just when the hands of the big
clock on the other side of the street point to twelve-will you like it? Will you be happy there? Think-
how much sleep will you get in your new home? None.
Norton : I don’t believe all these stories.
Cooper : Well, don’t come back to me later, and say that I didn’t tell you. Suppose you can’t sleep there. What
will you do?
Norton : Sell it.
a) Why does Dr. Norton like Blackwood House?
b) Who was Mr. Varley?
c) What does the first line of this piece indicate?
d) What do you gather about Mr. Cooper’s attitude towards lackwood House in comparison to the other properties?
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
1) She was going around with a stick, her only support. [Use-sub-ordinate]
2) Rising early is the most important prerequisite for successful bird-watching.
[Change into comparative degree]
3) You should trust your friends with your secrets. [Use noun form of underlined word and frame it]
4) She is an ‘angutha chhap’ who cannot even sign her name.
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
You have lost a book that you borrowed from a friend. Write a letter to him/her apologizing for the loss.
OR
Write a letter to the Divisional forest officer, Bhandara, seeking, permission to visit Nagzira sanctuary and make a booking for a weekend visit.
B] Information Transfer / Leaflet / fact file. 5 Marks
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a wild life sanctuary in Maharashtra.
i) Location ii) Distance iii) Mode of transport iv) uniqueness v) Accommodation
vi) what to see vii) Importance viii) anything special
OR
Write a leaflet inviting students of your class to attend a tree plantation programme that you and your friends are organizing. Mention the following in leaflet.
i) Venue, date and timing ii) Chief Guest iii) Need for tree plantation iv) How students may contribute or participate etc.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Delivers a speech on an account of “on teacher’s day” – “What I think of my school”. :
OR
Write a dialogue between the postal officer and you on how to send a letter by speed post.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Your school recently won the ‘Cleanest School Award’ this was the result of the united efforts of all the students. Prepare a report of about 20 lines for the school magazine explaining how it was possible to win the award.
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Role of women in Society. 2) Corruption – the greatest threat 3) Manner’s maketh man
2nd Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-A Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
The house is quite. Everything is as neat as a pin. By noon, all the chores are over. The serenity of the next hour is something I have always cherished. It is a delicious moment to myself. Mine, to white away looking at the garden, mine to spend with a book, mine to use in a million ways. Just as hour before the children return from school, and throw the house back into its customary rough and tumble.
I am, of course, daydreaming. The children no longer go to school. The house will remain as neat as a pin till evening when my husband returns. And even his return is like a drop in a bucket some minor ripples and the calm again.
I brought them up like twins. There was only one year between them and from the beginning they played together, fought together, with hand and foot and fist, as boys will . They went to school together, fighting, laughing, and arguing, all the way. They shared their clothes and toys, and as they grew they shared their thoughts and plans. And through it all, I was growing too, learning on the job, teaching, explaining, understanding.
f) What would the writer do after the children go to the school?
g) ‘I brought them up like twins.’ Who does ‘them’ refer to?
h) How does the writer describe the calmness in the house?
i) i) The house is quite. (Rewrite as an exclamatory sentence.)
ii) I have always cherished it. (Rewrite as a negative sentence)
j) 1) Give noun forms of: i) delicious ii) customary
2) Everything is as neat as a pin. (Write the meaning of the underlined idiom)
f) What, do you think, is the purpose of this extract?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
Knowles stressed that breathing out not only rids the lungs of accumulated impurities but makes breathing in deeply easier if not automatic. One of his exercises calls for breathing into the count of four and out to the count of 12, then increasing the count until you are able to breathe seven and out to 21. Each sequence should be repeated three times. I found myself going around London trying out knowles’s tricks. They work. Take a deep breath and hold it when you have something heavy to lift and note how much lighter the object becomes. As you go up a staircase, breathe in on two steps and out on two steps. You’ll be less winded at the top. And if you do get out of breath, pant deliberately like a dog for a few minutes and you’ll get your wind back in a jiffy. If you’re cold, do the same thing and see how fast you warm up.
These performances demonstrate some of the sources of strength in breath. Athletes know of the second wind that comes during heavy exercise. It is really only the shift from shallow to deep breathing. The aim of deep, rhythmic breathing is to make this energy always available.
g) On what did Knowles put stress to get rid of the impurities of the lungs?
h) How can a person climb stairs easily?
i) What is the aim of deep, rhythmic breathing?
j) 1) If you …….out of breath, pant deliberately. (to get) (Fill in the blank with correct tense of the verb given in the bracket.)
2) As you go up a staircase, breathe in on two steps and out on two steps.
(Pick out the dependent clause and state its relation.)
k) Fill in the blanks:
1) In the good old days, work gave people ……. (excercise, exercise, exercise)
2) This medicine will …… you of your discomfort. (relieve/ relieve/ relieve)
l) What, do you think, are the benefits we get from restoring the lungs to full use?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
Hampi is filled with relics and monuments, which are a mute witness to an empire that lasted 300 years, till the last king RAMA Raya was defeated by the Bahamani Sultans in the battle of Talikota.
Hampi forms one of 16 historic sites declared deemed part of world heritage. Archaeologists consider that one of the extraordinary work excavation at Hampi, to date, is the Pushkarni, the lovely water reservoir, which had remain hidden beneath the earth for centuries. This Pushkarni is a highly functional structure with water running to a depth of three metres, brought from a long distance by a series of stone channels, and also a beautiful monument with steps arranged in a series of small pyramids. Each block of stone bears a short inscription in Kannada indicating its exact position in the construction. Thus, if the entire structure were to be dismantled, it would be completely and accurately reconstructed without difficulty.
Even in the present state, Hampi’s ruins have attracted superlative praise from many people. Artists have marveled at the “floral magnificence” of its temple and their elegantly carved massive pillars.
- What is Hampi known for?
- Who was the last king of Hampi and who defeated him?
- What do artists marvel at in Hampi?
- 1) Hampi is filled with monuments. These are a mute witness to an empire. (Combine the sentences into a complex sentence.)
e) 1) Give antonym of : i) mantle ii) accurately.
2) Give verb forms of : i) inscription ii) magnificence
f) Why, do you think, ‘Pushkarni’ is considered by archaeologists as one of the most extra ordinary works of excavation?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
The term co-operation loses its meaning when become competitive and just a firm of retail shopkeepers, entering into rivalry with either similar co-operatives or private shops. In the issue of licenses, permits, grants, loans ect., the government follows a general policy of preferring co-operatives to private orgnisations. Since the government itself is run on party lines this has led to rival co-operatives, one favoured by the party in power and other trying to checkmate it. To remedy this, one way would be to insist on having only multipurpose co-operative in one unit to eliminate all private dealers in distribution, and to make membership in the co-operative society compulsory for every householder.
My feeling is that co-operatives, weather in selling, purchasing or distributing should be restricted to carry on their operations for and among their members only. They must not become commission agents or middlemen between non-members on the one hand and the government or the world on the other. Their purchases must be for the needs of their members only, and not for sale to the public. Their sales to the public must given to them for proper distribution among their members only.
- When does a co-operative lose its proper function?
- What solution has been suggested by the writer to remove rivalry among co-operatives?
- Why should membership be made compulsory for all householders?
- 1) The term co-operation loses its meaning. (Add a question tag.)
- 1) The word ‘operation’ in the passage means: a) a surgical procedure b) work c) management
One favoured by ……party in power should behave in ……..responsible manner.
- Why, do you think, co-operatives become competitive?
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
1) Change it into indirect speech.
“What happened to you?” Jason wanted to know. “I’ve got a big spot on my chin,” Keryn said.
2) Fill in the blanks with appropriate preposition:
But when I walked ….. her room, I was shocked ……see the physical condition of my dear mother.
3) Match the words in Column A with words in column B to form collocations:
Column-a
Column- b
i) weak
a) man
ii) strong
b) lunch
iii) light
iv) heavy
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep His shining track that’s seen by none
And all the noisy world has stopped, But the moon’s shining harmless eye.
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep Lean-flanked and hungry-eyed, the cat
To find the crumbs that we have dropped. As stealthy as a wind-blown leaf,
Free from alarms, upon the wall For careless vole or scurrying rat
Hid by the kindly dark again, Lurks in the shadows like a thief.
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl
And spin their threads as fine as rain.
The tender snail that fears the sun
Weaves, where the cold fresh night-dews lie,
- What happens when darkness lays the house to sleep?
- To what is the cat compared?
- How does darkness make night bustle with life?
- Pick out the compound adjectives from the extract.
- Name and explain the figure of speech “But the moon’s shining harmless eye”.
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
A children’s race-young boys, young men
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure! But also fear;
It wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope
Each thought to win that race.
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least takes second place.
And father watched from off the side
Each cheering for his son.
And each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.
The whistle blew and off they went!
Young hearts and hopes afire
To win and be the hero there
was each young boy’s desire.
- Who participated in race?
- What did each boy hope to show his dad?
- What is the tone of the lines in this extract?
- Pick out a pair of rhyming words from the extract.
- Which line in the extract is an example of Antithesis?
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
Margie was scornful.’ School ? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in Geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, nut he knew how all right and after an hour or so, there it was again, Large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part she hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time.
The Inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He said to her mother, ‘It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the Geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten year level. Actually, the overall pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.’ And he patted Margie’s head again.
e) Why did Margie hate school?
f) Describe the County Inspector.
g) What was the attitude of the County Inspector towards Margie?
h) Write 2 sentences that show Margie’s dislike for the mechanical teacher.
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
Write a letter to your friend telling him/her about your brother/sister and how much you trust him/her and how you share secrets with him/her
OR
Write a letter to a Yoga Expert inviting him/her to inaugurate the ‘Health Club’ in our school.
B] Study the information in the graph below about the time spent on reading for pleasure and watching TV by 15 year old students in Maharashtra. (1999-2005) 5 Marks
Transfer the information in two short paragraphs.
OR
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a hill station in Maharashtra. Indicate the following in the leaflet:
1) Location
2) How to get there
3) Where to stay
4) What to see
5) Add any other information about the place.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a dialogue between two students discussing their choice of carees.
OR
You are asked to deliver a speech on India of Your Dreams, to your junior colleagues, as part of the Independence Day Celebration. Write the speech.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on Social Service Camp, the school organized for the social services students of the VIII, IX and X standards.
OR
Imagine that one of the students from your school has won the overall championship at the state level cricket tournament. Frame 10 questions to interview him. (Do not write answers.)
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) We live in deeds not in years
2) Knowledge is power.
3) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
2nd Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-B Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
There was a time when most diabetologists practised and preached their anti-banana theory. Its high carbohydrate content was said to be the real culprit. However, the good news is that in the last four-five years, the humble banana has managed to achieve its rightful position on the nutrition charts. “Following long-term research co-relating fruits and nutrition, we’ve started recommending banana in a limited amount to patients whose blood sugar is under control,” says Dr V Mohan, President Madras Diabetes Research Foundation. There are many points that make the banana a healthy option due to its low sodium and high potassium content, it helps in regulation blood pressure and lowers the risk of a stroke. High potassium levels also aid in toning up the muscles.
According to Chennai-based clinical nutritionist, Sudha Vasudev, a banana also offers the best value for money, as it’s much cheaper than other fruits. And the feather in its cap is that its one of the least bio-contaminated fruits thanks to its thick outer skin that protects the edible part.
Though there are many varieties of banana, there’s no documented research to prove which type has the highest nutritional content. Most important factor to be considered is the freshness of the fruit.
k) What is the good news about banana?
l) How does the banana protects itself against bio-contamination?
m) What are the important benefits of the banana?
n) i) The banana is cheaper than other fruits. (Change the degree) ii) The humble banana has managed to achieve its rightful position on the nutrition charts. (Add question tag)
o) i) Write from the passage the opposite of : a) worst b) lowest.
ii) Write the adjective forms of : a) practice b) manage
p) What, do you think, is the purpose of this text?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
We ran into her in the charming little town of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. The German girl had been to India seven times in 10 years and did not seem to tire of the country.
In Germany, or for that matter in most places in Europe and around the world, one visits amusement parks in search of thrills, she said. India however, she added, the country was one big, incredible theme park in which there were no safety belts and guard railings. Why, just travelling on an Indian bus or train was as exciting and colourful as any joy ride, she observed.
And, the country offers visitors more themes than any other amusement park in the world-mighty mountains, holy rivers, grand monuments, silent forests brimming with wildlife, stark yet beautiful deserts, romantic backwaters, golden beaches, ancient art treasures, cultural cities, diverse cuisine, etc. The truth is that India is so vast and has so many different faces that it is almost intimidating and often seen as a ‘difficult’ destination.
m) How often did the German girl visit India?
n) What themes does India offer the visitors?
o) What makes India a difficult destination for some?
p) i) The country offers visitors more themes than any other amusement park in the world. (Change the degree)
ii) India has so many different faces that it is often seen as a ‘difficult’ destination. (rewrite using because
q) i) Write from the passage phrases that mean a) Met someone you were not expecting to meet b) full of.
ii) Match the words in Column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’
Column- A
Column-B
i) incredible
a) particular style of cooking
ii) backwater
b) building built to honour a special person or event
c) unbelievable
d) a body of slightly salty water.
r) The text contains several sentences that will be useful for a beautiful narration of your picnic. Make a list of such sentences.
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
From the earliest times the practice of dancing in India began with religious worship. Most of the old Hindu temples provided for a course of dancing, which was full of religious meaning, as part of the worship of the gods. Many of these old dances were in danger of being forgotten, but then came a modern revival in the art of dancing, the most conspicuous figure in this being Uday Shankar. He did not confine himself only to religious dancing, but conceived the idea of an Indian ballet using the gestures and movements of Indian dancing to express modern ideas. In olden days dancing was carried out by women and girls only, but in the ballet arranged by Uday Shankar and others, both men and women danced together.
The origin of Indian dancing is religious, its purpose being to put into movement the stories about the Hindu gods, so as to make them understood by the masses. We are told that there are seventy-two hand gestures, each having a meaning of its own which is as definite as the meaning of the letters of the alphabet. There are also nine sets of facial expressions which help to convey to the audience all the emotions and feelings of human nature.
- What is the purpose of facial expressions in Indian dancing?
- Write two ways in which early Indian dancing differs from that of today.
- How is modern Indian dancing a combination of the old and the new?
- i) Many of these old dances were in danger of being forgotten. (Rewrite using ‘likely’)
- i) Write from the passage a) one word that means’ remarkable or noticeable and b) one phrase that means ‘performed’
- What Indian folk or classical dance from do you like? Give your reasons for your choice.
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
Machines, I take it, were invented to be man’s servants. Their justification lies in their ability to increase productivity and to diminish human toil. In so far as they produce these results, machines are beneficial; in so far do not, they are neither beneficial nor harmful but unnecessary. That machinery has increased production is obvious, that it has lightened human toil is, however, very far from being the case. Men never worked so hard as in the nineteenth century when machines first became important; they never had so little leisure as they have today when machines are dominant. Men’s new-won ability to exploit the forces of nature might been expected to increase their leisure, and to confer a certain spaciousness and dignity upon their lives. Yet they live at great pressure than before, and the whole urgency of the modern world is towards speeding up, greater efficiency and more intense competition, when it ought to be towards more ease, less hurry and greater co-operation. These evil results are due not to the fact that machines exist, but to the fact that they are revered.
- How has man treated machines?
- How has increased production been a curse to man?
- What is this passage about?
- i) None is more striking than this. (Rewrite s an affirmative sentence)
- i) Write one phrase from the passage that means ‘to the extent that’, and one word that means ‘deeply respected and admired’.
- From a reading of this passage would you say that machines have benefited mankind?
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
4) May the star never set. (Rewrite as Assertive sentence.)
5) Better aeration of the lungs relieves chronic bronchitis. (Frame a wh-question.)
6) We have often been unworthy followers of his. (Rewrite as Interrogative sentence.)
7) Dad had a favourite carpet snake that he called Old Tom. (rewrite as simple sentence)
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep
And all the noisy world has stopped,
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep
To find the crumbs that we have dropped.
Free from alarms, upon the wall
Hid by the kindly dark again,
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl
And spin their threads as fine as rain.
- What happens when darkness lays the house to sleep?
- Which animals are mentioned in these lines?
- Do you think that the title ‘The Wakeful Dark’ is apt for the poem? why?
- Mention one compound word from the lines given.
- Write the rhyming scheme of the poem.
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
Life is a gift to be used every day,
Not to be smothered and hidden away;
It isn’t a thing to be stored in the chest
Where you gather your keepsakes and
treasure your best;
It isn’t a joy to be sipped now and then
And promptly put back in a dark place again.
- What, according to the poet, must we not do with the gift of life?
- What does the poet compare life to?
- Explain the line ‘It isn’t a joy to be sipped now and then’.
- How does the poet want us to use the gift of life?
- Write the rhyming scheme of the first four lines..
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
At first the tiger-cub, who was named Timothy by Grandmother, was brought up entirely on milk given to him in a feeding –bottle by our cook, Mahmoud. But the milk proved too rich for him, and he was put on a diet of raw mutton and cod liver oil, to be followed later by a more tempting diet pigeons and rabbits.
Timothy was provided with two companions-Tota the monkey, who was bold enough to pull the young tiger by the tail, and then climb up the curtains if Timothy lost his temper and a small mongrel puppy, found on the road by Grandfather.
At first Timothy appeared to be quite afraid of the puppy, and darted back with a spring if it came too near. He would make absurd dashes at it with his large forepaws, and then retreat to a ridiculously safe distance. Finally, he allowed the puppy to crawl on his back and rest there!
One of Timothy’s favourite amusements was to stalk anyone who would play with him, and so, when I came to live with Grandfather, I became one of the tiger’s favourites. With a crafty look in his glittering eyes, and his body crouching, he would creep closer and closer to me, suddenly making a dash for my feet, rolling over on his back and kicking with delight, and pretending to bite my ankles.
i) Who named the tiger-cub?
j) Who were Timothy’s companions at home? How did Timothy develop relations with them?
k) Which of the actions of Timothy do you find particularly amusing? Why?
l) Write from the passage non-English words. Why, do you think, has the writer used them?
m) Hunting of wild animals is banned today. why?
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
Write a letter to your friend about how delighted and inspired you felt when you visited the home for the blind.
OR
Write a letter to the Secretary, Department of Tourism, Maharashtra suggesting ways and means to improve facilities for tourists to the state.
B] Information Transfer/ Leaflet / Fact file: (5 Marks)
Prepare a list of instructions to be put in a school library.
OR
The pie chart given below shows the expenditure of a family on various savings during one year. Interpret this date in a paragraph of 100 words.
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a speech on ‘Building a corruption free India’.
OR
Write a dialogue between two students about their career choices.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on blood donation camp held in your area.
OR
You have been privileged to take an interview of Sachin Tendulkar after he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. (Write only ten questions.)
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Cinema both entertains and educates.
2) Half knowledge is dangerous.
3) Home is there the heart is
Prelim Exam 2012-13
Std: - X Sub:- English Marks:- 80
Date: - Group-A Time:- 2 Hrs.
Q.1] A] Read the following passage and answers the questions given below it. 9
She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher. Counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
Mom then washed her face with a 3-in1 cleanser, put on her night solution and age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”
“I’ m on my way,” she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the verandah light was on. she looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TVs, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
q) What does this passage tell you?
r) She was an energy saver. Discuss.
s) Why did the mother put on her night solution?
t) Give one word for each from the passage. i) to show tireness and sleepiness ii) a rooted and floored open space along the side of a house.
u) Give the noun forms of - clean, solve
v) She had a brief conversation with the kid doing home work. (Rewrite using the verb form of the underlined.)
w) In her own room, she set the alarm. (Rewrite the sentence as negative.)
x) What does mother do for us?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions. 9 Marks.
Mr. Robinson looked a trifle disconcerted but asked me how long I would be in London. I told him that I was visiting friends in the county and scoutland and would be back after four weeks or so, for a few days before taking a flight home. He pursed his lips and said, “ I’ m terribly sorry but much as I would like to help, I can’t do it.” I said “Is too short?” To which he answered, “No it’s not that.”
“Then what’s the problem?” was my next query. “ Well you see…….” At which point, I turned on all my persuasive skills and invoked the name of my father. Mr. Robinson looked at me with half a smile on his face and said, “That’s it precisely. Because you are the son of an old and valued customer of ours, I will not accept your order.”
He must have seen the look of bewilderment on my face, and quickly went on to explain, “Now a day we do not do the tailoring ourselves. We send the order to Hong Kong but the finished products goes under our label. Now you know why I have decided not to sell you the suit.”
As I prepared to leave, Mr. Robinson shook me warmly by the hand and escorted me to the door. I stepped out on the street with mixed feelings. Disappointment at not getting my suit, but gratitude for the man’s candour.
s) Why did Mr. Robinson look a trifle disconcerted?
t) What were the two assignments the writer had?
u) Why did the writer use his persuasive skills and invoke his father’s name?
v) Give another word for: - confusion, quality of being truly honest.
w) Give the verb form of – friend, persuasive
x) He must have seen the look of bewilderment on my face. (Frame Wh-type question to get the underlined words as answer.)
y) I told him that I was visiting friends in the country. (Identify and name the clause.)
z) Why do you think that the writer was graceful to Mr. Robinson?
Q.2] A] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (9 Marks)
In ancient, Greece athletics played a very important part in the lives of the people, and athletic festivals had an almost religious character. Three were four especially important athletic festivals in different parts of Greece. The Isthmian , the Nemean, the Pythian and the Olympian – and all of these took place near sacred places and were conducted with all the ceremony of a religious festival. In course of time, the olympian meeting, held every four years in honour of Zeus, won a reputation far greater than the others, and gradually losing its local character, it became a national event. No one knows how far back the olympic Games go; but official Olympic records were kept from 776 B.C. and when in the third century B.C. the practice of reckoning time by Olympiads was begun, the calculation was made from that date.
The plain of Olympia lies in a valley in the Peloponneses, through which ran the sacred river Alpheus. On the athletics ground were temples and altars, as well as altogether about 3,000 statues and monuments. The games took place round the full moon in August before crowds of many thousands of spectators drawn from all parts of the Greek world. No married woman, however was admitted even as an onlooker. Competitors often underwent a 10-month training at the Gymnasium at Elis.
- In whose honour was Olympian meeting held?
- Where did they hold the ancient Olympic Games?
- Why were married women not admitted to the ancient Greek Olympic Games?
- Write words from the passage referring to construction.
- What does the word ‘reckon’ mean in the passage?
- No married woman was admitted even as an onlooker. (Rewrite using ‘admission’)
- Olympic records were kept from 776 B.C. (Change the voice)
- What is the origin of the ancient Olympic Games?
B] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (9 marks)
People moan about poverty as a great evil and it seems to be an accepted belief that if people had plenty of money, they would be happy, and get more out of life. As a rule, there is more genuine satisfaction in life and more is obtained from life in the humble cottages of the poor man than in the palace of rich men, who are attended by servants and governess at a later stage. At the same time, I am glad to think they do not know what they have missed. It is because I know how sweet and happy and pure the home of honest poverty is, how free from perplexing care and from social envies and jealousies, how loving and united the members are in the common interest of supporting the family that I symphatise with the rich man’s boy and congratulate the poor man’s son.
It is for these reasons that from the ranks of the poor so many strong, eminent self-reliant men have always sprung, if you read the list of the ‘Immortals who were not born to die’ you will find that most of them have been poor.
- What is this passage about?
- Where can one get more genuine satisfaction in life?
- What kind of men have been given by poor families?
- Find two other words in the passage with similar meaning to ‘confusing’ and reliable.’
- People moan about poverty. (State the word-class of underlined word.
- They do not know what they have missed. (Make it affirmative)
- Most of them have been poor. (Make it negative)
- Write summary based on above passage.
Q.3 Grammar: Do as directed (4 Marks)
8) Mom said “I love you son and I’m very proud of you. I’m going to miss you very much”. I answered,” So am I.” (Change it into indirect speech.)
9) He was short of sight. (Rewrite using the underlined words to form a compound word.)
10) Sometimes he travelled ……… hours in the hot sun. (for / since)
Q.4. A) Read the following poem carefully and answers the questions given below: (5 marks)
When darkness lays the house to sleep His shining track that’s seen by none
And all the noisy world has stopped, But the moon’s shining harmless eye.
Shadowed and soft the grey mice creep Lean-flanked and hungry-eyed, the cat
To find the crumbs that we have dropped. As stealthy as a wind-blown leaf,
Free from alarms, upon the wall For careless vole or scurrying rat
Hid by the kindly dark again, Lurks in the shadows like a thief.
The frail and hunch-legged spiders sprawl Beyond the town, in moon-washed grass,
And spin their threads as fine as rain. The rabbit and the field-mouse creep,
The tender snail that fears the sun While moon-white owls like phantoms pass:
Weaves, where the cold fresh night-dews lie, then who says night’s the time for sleep?
- What happens when darkness lays the house to sleep?
- Why does the snail prefer to be active in the dark?
- How does darkness make night bustle with life?
- Pick out words or expressions denoting naturals description.
- Name and explain the figure of speech ‘And all the noisy world has stopped.
B] Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions given below: (5 Marks)
India, my India, where first human eyes awoke to heavenly light! All Asia’s holy place of pilgrimage, great Motherland of might! World-mother, first giver to humankind of philosophy and sacred lore, Knowledge thou gav’st to man, God –love, works, art, religion’s opened door. O even with all the grandeur dwarfed or turned to bitter loss and maim, How shall we mourn who are thy children and can vaunt thy might name ? Before us still there floats the ideal of those splendid days of gold; A new world in our vision wakes, Love’s India we shall rise to mould. India, my India, who dare call thee a thing for pity’s grace today? Mother of wisdom, worship, works, nurse of the sprit’s inward ray!
- What does the poet call his motherland?
- What virtues are there in the motherland?
- When would the people mourn?
- What do ‘philosophy’ and ‘sacredlore’ mean?
- What is the rhyming scheme used in the poem.
Q.5] Read the following passage and answer the questions given below it. (5 Marks)
Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed 17 May, 2155, she wrote, ‘Today Tommy found a real book!’ It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was little bay his grandfather told him that there was time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And then when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had when they read it the first time.
‘Gee’, said Tommy, ‘What a waste. When you’re through with the book, you just throw it way, I guess. Our television screen must have had a millions books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.’
‘Same with mine,’ said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.
She said, ‘Where did you find it?’
‘In my house.’ He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. ‘In the attic.’ ‘What’s it about?’ ‘School.’
Margie was scornful.’ School ? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. Margie always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in Geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
n) What did Margie write in her diary? When?
o) What had Margie’s grandfather told her about books?
p) Why was Margie scornful when she heard the word ‘school’?
q) Do you approve educational system that would exist in 22nd century? Why?
Q.6] A] Letter writing: (5 Marks)
You had invited your friend to your native village. Inspite of his promise to come, he/she failed to turn up. Write a letter to him/her enquiring about his/her non-arrival and also about your worry about the same.
OR
Write a letter to Telephone Dept. Complaining about overbilling of your phone calls.
B] Information Transfer/ Leaflet / Fact file: (5 Marks)
The pie diagram given below shows the spending of a family on various items and its savings during a year. Write short paragraph commenting on the data so obtained. You may use words/ phrases such as highest percentage, some amount, equal amounts, as well as expenditure, lowest… etc.
OR
Prepare a short tourist leaflet for a hill station in Maharashtra. Indicate the following in the leaflet:
6) How to get there
7) Where to stay
8) Time of the year to visit
9) What to see
10) Special features
Q.7]A] Speech writing / Dialogue writing . (5 Marks)
Write a speech to be delivered on ‘The teacher’s day’.
OR
Write a dialogue between Rajiv and the Clerk at the enquiry window on the railway station.
B] Report writing / Interview questions. (5 Marks)
Write a report on cleanliness Day organised by the Brihan Mumbai Mahanagar Palika in the city.
OR
Prepare 10 questions that you would ask Gagan Narang in an interview who won medel in shooting.
Q.8] Expand any one of the following ideas in about 100 words. (5 Marks)
1) Cleanliness is next to godliness.
2) Experience in a great teacher.
3) Health is wealth