CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Previous Year Question Paper 2019 Set-1

Q 1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Even before the independence of India, father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi had said that, “Sanitation is more important than Independence.” He had emphasized the importance of cleanliness and sanitation in daily lives. However, he failed in his aim because of the incomplete participation of the people. After many years of independence of India, a most effective campaign of cleanliness has been launched to call people for their active participation and complete the mission of cleanliness. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee while addressing the Parliament in June 2014 said, “For ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the nation, a Swachh Bharat Mission will he launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150^th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019.” In order to fulfil the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and make India an ideal country in the world, the Government of India initiated a campaign called Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (2^nd of October). This campaign aims at completing the mission by 2019.
2. Through this campaign the Government of India would solve the problem of lack of sanitation by improving the waste management techniques. Clean India movement is completely linked with the economic strength of the country. The basic goal behind the launch of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is to provide the country with enough sanitation facilities as well as to eliminate all the unhealthy practices of people in their daily routine. The completion of this mission would indirectly draw the attention of business investors to India, enhance the GDP growth, draw tourists from all over the world, create a variety of avenues of employment, reduce health costs, reduce death rate and reduce fatal disease rate and many more. It has been requested that every Indian devote at least 100 hours per year to cleanliness in India which is sufficient to make this country a clean country by 2019. The cleanliness drive also ensures cleanliness in the official buildings. Spitting paan, gutka and other tobacco products in the government offices has been banned.

 1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any eight of the following questions:                                 

(a) What is the passage about?

(b) What was the result of incomplete participation of the people in the mission?

(c) Why has 2019 been kept as the target year of completion?

(d) What did Gandhiji say about sanitation?

(e) How can the problem of lack of sanitation be solved?

(f) How will it impact our economy?

(g) What has been banned in the offices?

(h) What request has been made to Indians to accomplish it?

(i) What does ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ aim at?

 

Q 2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 

1. As a novelist and storyteller, I have always drawn upon my memories of places that I have known and lived in over the years. More than most writers, perhaps, I find myself drawing inspiration from the past – my childhood, adolescence, youth, early manhood … But to talk of my early inspiration I must go back to my very beginnings, to the then small, princely state of Jamnagar, tucked away in the Gulf of Kutch. Here my father started a small palace school for the princesses. I was there till the age of six, and I still treasure vivid memories of Jamnagar’s beautiful palaces and sandy beaches.
2. Some of these landmarks are preserved for me in photographs taken by my father, which I have to this day. An old palace with pretty windows of coloured glass remained fixed in my memory and many years later gave me the story, “The Room of Many Colours”, which also inspired an episode in a TV serial called Ek Tha Rusty. I spent a memorable year and a half with him in New Delhi, then still a very new city – just the capital area designed by Edwin Lutyens and Connaught Place, with its gleaming new shops and restaurants and cinemas. I saw Laurel and Hardy films and devoured milkshakes at the Milk Bar, even as the Quit India Movement gathered momentum.
3. When I was seventeen, I was shipped off to the UK to “better my prospects” as my mother put it. Out of a longing for India and the friends I had made in Dehra came my first novel – The Room on the Roof – featuring the life and loves of Rusty, my alter ego. In the 1950s everyone travelled by sea, as air services were still in their infancy. A passenger liner took about three weeks from Southampton to Bombay (now Mumbai). After docking in Bombay, I took a train to Dehra, where I stepped onto the platform of the small railways station and embarked on the hazardous journey of a freelance writer. Railway station! ‘Trains platforms’ I knew as long it’s these were there I would never run out of stories.
4. I also looked for inspiration in tombs and monuments and the ever-expanding city, but did not find it, and my productivity dropped. Escape from Delhi had become a priority for me. I felt drawn to the hills above Dehra. On the outskirts of Mussoorie I found a small cottage, surrounded by oak and maple trees where the rent, thankfully, was nominal.
5. I’m of the opinion that every writer needs a window. Preferably two. Is the house, the room, the situations …… important for a writer? A good wordsmith should be able to work anywhere. But to me, the room you live in day after day is all-important. The stories and the poems float in through my window, float in from the magic mountains, and the words appear on the page without much effort on my part. Planet Earth belongs to me. And at night, the stars are almost within reach.

2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any four of the following questions in 30 – 40 words each: 

(a) What does the writer remember about Jamnagar?

(b) How did he spend time in Delhi?

(c) What was the inspiration for the first novel and why?

(d) What was the importance of trains and railway stations in his life?

(e) What was the importance of a window in the writer’s life?  

 

2.2 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, fill in any two of the following blanks with appropriate words/phrases: 

(a) He was shipped off to UK for _________________.

(b) Everyone travelled by sea because ____________________.

(c) The productivity dropped because ____________________.

 

2.3 Find out words/phrases from the passage that mean the same as the following. Attempt any two.  

(a) gulped down/swallowed (para 2)

(b) early stage (para 3)

(c) attracted to (para 4)

 

Q 3. You visited a remote area in Himachal Pradesh and observed that people have to travel long distances to get clean and safe drinking water. Write a letter in 100 – 120 words to the Editor, Himachal Times expressing your concern about the situation and requesting the authorities to take appropriate measures to deal with the problem. You are Rama/Krishna, 112 Mall Road, Delhi.

 OR

Write an article in 100 – 120 words on the topic, ’Appropriate Use of Mobile Phones’. You are Vasu/Vani

 

Q 4. Write a short story in 200–250 words, with the help of the cues given below. Give a suitable title to the story.

 

Manish/Manisha discovered that God helps those who help themselves when he/she was nervous about ……………… 

 OR

 Sita wanted to look very beautiful – special day – dress burnt – too upset – all joy destroyed – suddenly a knock on the door ……..

 

Q 5. Fill in the blanks in the paragraph given below by choosing the most appropriate options from the ones that follow. Attempt any four. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. 

The life of soldiers stationed        (a)      Siachen is extremely tough. For drinking water, they have to break ice        (b)        the glacier, boil it and drink it. There is one person        (c)____         to keep the water warm at all times. The main task of the infantry          (d)         to hold the ground and man the post. To show their physical presence is important to      (e)    ____ the enemy at bay.

 

(a)	(i) at	(ii) on	(iii) up	(iv) inside
(b)	(i) in	(ii) from	(iii) upon	(iv) away
(c)	(i) assign	(ii) assigning	(iii) assigned	(iv) has assigned
(d)	(i) be	(ii) were	(iii) was	(iv) is
(e)	(i) keep	(ii) keeping	(iii) keeps	(iv) kept

 

Q 6. In the following paragraph, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it against the correct blank number. The first one has been done for you. Attempt any four.

Today, Mt Everest is drawing attention all	e.g.	Word Before attention	Missing Word for	Word After all
the negative reasons, The entire route the	(a)	____________	____________	____________
climbers follow reach the top is littered with	(b)	____________	____________	____________
rubbish and is in sore need cleaning up. The	(c)	____________	____________	____________
rubbish strewn along mountain slopes	(d)	____________	____________	____________
includes oxygen cylinders, bottles food cans.	(e)	____________	____________	____________

Q 7. Rearrange any four of the following groups of words/phrases to make meaningful sentences:

(a)  is / reading / tea / not / books / cup of / everybody’s

(b)  books / them / only / read / those who / will / love

(c)   long term / on / reading / impact / has / a / one’s personality

(d)  good / is / for / it / substitute / a / watching TV

(e)   is / the / it / hobbies / one / best / of

 

Q 8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Ten minutes or so later Naresh ‘Dutt went looking for Patel Babu near the pan shop and found that he was not there. “That’s odd …. the man hadn’t been paid yet. What a strange fellow!”

(a)  Where had Patol Babu gone?                                                                                              

(b)  Why did Patol Babu leave without informing anyone?                                                    

(c)   Why was Naresh Dutt looking for Patol Babu?

(d)  What does the incident tell us about Patol Babu?                                                             

OR

But must I confers how I liked him,

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water trough

And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,

Into the burning bowels of this earth?

(a)  Who does ‘him’ refer to?

(b)  What dilemma did the poet face? 

(c)   Pick out and explain the figure of speech used in line 2.

(d) Explain: ‘burning bowels of this earth’. 

Q 9. Answer any four of the following questions in 30–40 words each:

(a)  Why did Lavinia decide to leave her husband John?

(b)  In ‘Virtually True’ why did the newspaper article “Miracle Recovery” catch Michael’s attention?

(c)   Did the sculpture of Ozymandias fulfil the purpose for which it had been built? Give reasons.

(d)  What opinion do you form of Calpurnia from the play ‘Julius Caesar’?

(e)  What were the blessings the albatross brought with itself in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’?

 

Q 10. Attempt the following question in 100 – 120 words:

“The Letter” revolves around human relationships and love and faith that cements them. Discuss with reference to the story.

OR

In “Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments”, how does the poet justify that his verse will live on forever?

 

Q 11. Answer the following question in 200 – 250  words:

In ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ how did the Franks and others celebrate two festivals, Hanukkah and St. Nichols Day in the Annexe?

OR

Attempt a character sketch of Margot Frank as shown in ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’.

OR

With reference to ‘The Story of My Life’, describe how a teacher can positively impact a child’s life?

OR

Describe the role of Mr. Keith in the life of Helen in ‘The Story of My Life’.

 Q 1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Even before the independence of India, father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi had said that, “Sanitation is more important than Independence.” He had emphasized the importance of cleanliness and sanitation in daily lives. However, he failed in his aim because of the incomplete participation of the people. After many years of independence of India, a most effective campaign of cleanliness has been launched to call people for their active participation and complete the mission of cleanliness. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee while addressing the Parliament in June 2014 said, “For ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the nation, a Swachh Bharat Mission will he launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150^th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019.” In order to fulfil the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and make India an ideal country in the world, the Government of India initiated a campaign called Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ on the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi (2^nd of October). This campaign aims at completing the mission by 2019.
2. Through this campaign the Government of India would solve the problem of lack of sanitation by improving the waste management techniques. Clean India movement is completely linked with the economic strength of the country. The basic goal behind the launch of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is to provide the country with enough sanitation facilities as well as to eliminate all the unhealthy practices of people in their daily routine. The completion of this mission would indirectly draw the attention of business investors to India, enhance the GDP growth, draw tourists from all over the world, create a variety of avenues of employment, reduce health costs, reduce death rate and reduce fatal disease rate and many more. It has been requested that every Indian devote at least 100 hours per year to cleanliness in India which is sufficient to make this country a clean country by 2019. The cleanliness drive also ensures cleanliness in the official buildings. Spitting paan, gutka and other tobacco products in the government offices has been banned.

 1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any eight of the following questions:                                   

(a) What is the passage about?

(b) What was the result of incomplete participation of the people in the mission?

(c) Why has 2019 been kept as the target year of completion?

(d) What did Gandhiji say about sanitation?

(e) How can the problem of lack of sanitation be solved?

(f) How will it impact our economy?

(g) What has been banned in the offices?

(h) What request has been made to Indians to accomplish it?

(i) What does ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ aim at?

Solution:

(a) The passage is about embarking on the journey of cleanliness and sanitation in India in continuing with what Mahatma Gandhi began.

(b) The incomplete participation of the people in the mission caused the Mahatma to fail in spreading awareness about cleanliness and sanitation.

(c) The 2019 has been kept as the target year of completion because it will be the 150^th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and this will be the best tribute to him.

(d) Gandhiji said that sanitation is more important than independence.

(e) The problem of sanitation can be solved by improving waste management techniques and ensuring participation in making the country clean by all citizens.

(f) Improving sanitation will attract business investors to India, enhance the GDP growth, draw tourists from all over the world, and create a variety of avenues of employment.

(g) Spitting paan, gutka and other tobacco products in the government offices has been banned.

(h) It has been requested that every Indian devote at least 100 hours per year to cleanliness in India which is sufficient to make this country a clean country by 2019.

(i) The aim of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is to provide enough sanitation facilities and eliminate all the unhealthy practice of people in their daily lives.

Q 2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 

1. As a novelist and storyteller, I have always drawn upon my memories of places that I have known and lived in over the years. More than most writers, perhaps, I find myself drawing inspiration from the past – my childhood, adolescence, youth, early manhood … But to talk of my early inspiration I must go back to my very beginnings, to the then small, princely state of Jamnagar, tucked away in the Gulf of Kutch. Here my father started a small palace school for the princesses. I was there till the age of six, and I still treasure vivid memories of Jamnagar’s beautiful palaces and sandy beaches.
2. Some of these landmarks are preserved for me in photographs taken by my father, which I have to this day. An old palace with pretty windows of coloured glass remained fixed in my memory and many years later gave me the story, “The Room of Many Colours”, which also inspired an episode in a TV serial called Ek Tha Rusty. I spent a memorable year and a half with him in New Delhi, then still a very new city – just the capital area designed by Edwin Lutyens and Connaught Place, with its gleaming new shops and restaurants and cinemas. I saw Laurel and Hardy films and devoured milkshakes at the Milk Bar, even as the Quit India Movement gathered momentum.
3. When I was seventeen, I was shipped off to the UK to “better my prospects” as my mother put it. Out of a longing for India and the friends I had made in Dehra came my first novel – The Room on the Roof – featuring the life and loves of Rusty, my alter ego. In the 1950s everyone travelled by sea, as air services were still in their infancy. A passenger liner took about three weeks from Southampton to Bombay (now Mumbai). After docking in Bombay, I took a train to Dehra, where I stepped onto the platform of the small railways station and embarked on the hazardous journey of a freelance writer. Railway station! ‘Trains platforms’ I knew as long it’s these were there I would never run out of stories.
4. I also looked for inspiration in tombs and monuments and the ever-expanding city, but did not find it, and my productivity dropped. Escape from Delhi had become a priority for me. I felt drawn to the hills above Dehra. On the outskirts of Mussoorie I found a small cottage, surrounded by oak and maple trees where the rent, thankfully, was nominal.
5. I’m of the opinion that every writer needs a window. Preferably two. Is the house, the room, the situations …… important for a writer? A good wordsmith should be able to work anywhere. But to me, the room you live in day after day is all-important. The stories and the poems float in through my window, float in from the magic mountains, and the words appear on the page without much effort on my part. Planet Earth belongs to me. And at night, the stars are almost within reach.

2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any four of the following questions in 30 – 40 words each: 

(a) What does the writer remember about Jamnagar?

(b) How did he spend time in Delhi?

(c) What was the inspiration for the first novel and why?

(d) What was the importance of trains and railway stations in his life?

(e) What was the importance of a window in the writer’s life?  

 

2.2 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, fill in any two of the following blanks with appropriate words/phrases: 

(a) He was shipped off to UK for _________________.

(b) Everyone travelled by sea because ____________________.

(c) The productivity dropped because ____________________.

 

2.3 Find out words/phrases from the passage that mean the same as the following. Attempt any two.  

(a) gulped down/swallowed (para 2)

(b) early stage (para 3)

(c) attracted to (para 4)

Solution:

2.1

(a) The writer lived in Jamnagar till the age of six and remembers his father’s small palace school for the princesses, the beautiful palaces, and sandy beaches.

(b) The gleaming new shops and restaurants and cinemas showed how New Delhi was then still a very new city. He saw Laurel and Hardy films and devoured milkshakes at the Milk Bar, even as the Quit India Movement gathered momentum.

(c) The inspiration for the first novel was a longing for India and the friends the writer had made in Dehra. The novel was named– The Room on the Roof – featuring the life and loves of Rusty, the author’s alter ego.

(d) The train journeys and the small railway stations were a very important part of the writer’s life. It was the train platforms where he never run out of stories.

(e) The writer thinks that every writer needs a window, preferably two. The stories and the poems float in through a writer’s window, float in from the magic mountains, and the words appear on the page without much effort on the writer’s part. Planet Earth belongs to the writer. And at night, the stars are almost within reach.

2.2   

(a) He was shipped off to UK for better prospects.

(b) Everyone travelled by sea because air services were still in their infancy.

(c) The productivity dropped because he could not find inspiration.

2.3   

(a) devoured

(b) infancy

(c) drawn to

Q 3. You visited a remote area in Himachal Pradesh and observed that people have to travel long distances to get clean and safe drinking water. Write a letter in 100 – 120 words to the Editor, Himachal Times expressing your concern about the situation and requesting the authorities to take appropriate measures to deal with the problem. You are Rama/Krishna, 112 Mall Road, Delhi.

OR

Write an article in 100 – 120 words on the topic, ’Appropriate Use of Mobile Phones’. You are Vasu/Vani

Solution:

Krishna,

112 Mall Road,

Delhi

28 March 2019

The Editor

Himachal Times

Subject: Access to drinking water is a basic right

Respected Sir,

During my recent trip to Himachal Pradesh, we spend a couple of days in Tirthan Valley.

The valley is no doubt the best place to experience nature in its purest form. We hiked in Great Himalayan National Park and also camped overnight by the Gushaini river. However, there is one thing that left me quite bewildered at the end of my homestay.

Sir, I know for a fact that every year lakhs of tourists flock to Himachal for vacation. The stay, roaming around, eating, and shopping generate quite a revenue for the state. Yet, I am perplexed to see that the regions that attract tourism are grossly neglected when it comes to development. The family that hosted the homestay told us during a conversation at dinner that they had to venture out at the crack of dawn to fetch drinking water, which was available only after they walked for two miles. The mountainous terrain makes it impossible for them to drive in a pick-up to fetch as much water as they can in a single trip.

I really need this letter to highlight the plight of the locals and make the authorities take appropriate measures to deal with the problem. I hope you help me in changing the conditions of the locals for the better.

Thanking you.

Yours sincerely,

Krishna

OR

Appropriate Use of Mobile Phones

Vani

A lot has been said about the increasing misuses of mobile phones in today’s internet frenzy world. But no one talks about how a mobile phone can be used as an advantage.

The very first positive point of mobile phones is communication. With mobile phones you can communicate with anyone from anywhere at any time.  Mobile phones are undeniably convenient. These ubiquitous communication tools allow students to reach their peers and their parents instantly.

Picture-taking and Internet surfing are readily available on most cell phones. This aids students in gathering the information that they need for school or accessing their email or school website. Students benefit from this technology availability as it allows them to create more polished academic products with less effort than before the ready availability of cell phones.

Mobile phones have become a source of unlimited entertainment. Smartphones have come into existence which not only help you in making calls but also help you to stay entertained by allowing you to play games, listen to music and do lots of other stuff. Mobile phone even comes with special apps for kids to increase their brainstorming which is pretty good.

The presence of a cell phone also ensures that students can call parents or emergency personnel in the case of an unforeseen emergency. While most students will never have to use their cellphone as a safety device, the knowledge that it could be used as such puts parents at ease and keeps them paying the monthly cell phone bill.

To conclude, if you are using a Smartphone, you can use it to your advantage. The smartphones which come with Android, Apple iOS and Windows Phone operating system come with educational apps which can be used while you are in college. In the end, it all depends on our usage. Cell phones are the most personal device to us and we should make an optimal use of them.

Q 4. Write a short story in 200–250 words, with the help of the cues given below. Give a suitable title to the story.

 Manish/Manisha discovered that God helps those who help themselves when he/she was nervous about ……………… 

 OR

 Sita wanted to look very beautiful – special day – dress burnt – too upset – all joy destroyed – suddenly a knock on the door ……..

Solution:

It was a fine morning and Manisha wanted to be the best version of herself on the first day of her high school after her long break.

Two months ago, while returning home from school Manisha was knocked down by a speeding biker at a junction just near her apartment. She suffered a broken ankle, a dislocated shoulder, and had a concussion resulting from her head being banged on the street. After being in and out of consciousness for a week, she woke up one night, much to the relief to her doctors and family.

Manisha finally got to go home after two weeks in the hospital. The next few days were the true test of her willpower and faith. She had to undergo rigorous session of physiotherapy to regain normal function of her leg and shoulder. The pain in the shoulders was excruciating when she had to lift the weights and flex to reinstate mobility of her hand.

Manisha lived with her grandparents who adopted her after her parents were killed in a dengue epidemic in the village. It was not possible for the old grandparents to physically help her. So, she had to find a way to go to the physio every day and also practice the exercises and walking all by herself a home. Often, she cried a lot, but always alone when the grandparents were not looking. She didn’t want them to feel incapable.

It seemed impossible for her to do it all alone. She had almost decided to stop going to the physio when she remembered that her parents always believed in the power of faith and self-confidence. So, she discovered that God helps those who help themselves when she was nervous about how she was going to get back up and running in the world again. 

She decided that it was a fine morning and that she wanted to be the best version of herself on the first day of her high school after her long break, even though the accident had left a permanent limp in her foot.

OR

Once upon a time, there lived a family in a village with all the worldly riches. There was a rich landlord and his beautiful wife with whom he had three daughters, all equally beautiful and educated.

The youngest daughter, Sita, was always worried about looking beautiful in all of the land. It so happened that the eldest daughter of the landlord was going to get married and Sita wanted to look very beautiful on the special day. Although it was her sister’s wedding, Sita wanted to look more beautiful than the bride herself. She asked her father to buy her the most exquisite clothes and jewellery for the wedding day.

The landlord was too fond of his youngest daughter and so had overindulged her and turned her into a spoilt child. The wedding day arrived and Sita’s clothes were hung out in her room. Sita had the habit of spraying expensive perfumes on all he dresses so that people could smell her from far away. All she wanted was undivided, often, stolen, attention from every possible human being around.

However, a terrible thing happened on the wedding day. The dress was kept near the window and the sunlight burnt a hole in the dress. When Sita saw what had happened she was very upset. Hell broke loose. The whole house forgot about the eldest daughter and her wedding and started looking for another dress, more exquisite than the one she had earlier, because that was the only way Sita would feel better and they could get back to the wedding.

As Sita sat in her room, all upset, thinking about how her joy was destroyed, suddenly there was a knock on the door. Sita opened the door and saw her bride-to-be sister Seema standing at the door, with her wedding dress in her hand.

“You can wear this dress. I can wear something else. This is the second expensive dress that the tailor made after he cut out yours. It has remains of your dress that because I wanted him to use whatever he could without wasting money.”

On hearing that, Sita broke into tears. She understood how she selfish she had been all these years and how troubled her family was because of her tantrums. She apologized profusely to her sister and ran outside the room in search of her father, to whom she wanted to apologise too. She wanted to promise him to change into a better human being, and a daughter that he would be proud of. 

Q 5. Fill in the blanks in the paragraph given below by choosing the most appropriate options from the ones that follow. Attempt any four. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. 

The life of soldiers stationed        (a)      Siachen is extremely tough. For drinking water, they have to break ice        (b)        the glacier, boil it and drink it. There is one person        (c)____         to keep the water warm at all times. The main task of the infantry          (d)         to hold the ground and man the post. To show their physical presence is important to      (e)    ____ the enemy at bay.

(a)	(i) at	(ii) on	(iii) up	(iv) inside
(b)	(i) in	(ii) from	(iii) upon	(iv) away
(c)	(i) assign	(ii) assigning	(iii) assigned	(iv) has assigned
(d)	(i) be	(ii) were	(iii) was	(iv) is
(e)	(i) keep	(ii) keeping	(iii) keeps	(iv) kept

Solution:

The life of soldiers stationed        at      Siachen is extremely tough. For drinking water, they have to break ice        from        the glacier, boil it and drink it. There is one person        assigned____         to keep the water warm at all times. The main task of the infantry          is         to hold the ground and man the post. To show their physical presence is important to      keep    ____ the enemy at bay.

 

Q 6. In the following paragraph, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it against the correct blank number. The first one has been done for you. Attempt any four.

Today, Mt Everest is drawing attention all	e.g.	Word Before attention	Missing Word for	Word After all
the negative reasons, The entire route the	(a)	____________	____________	____________
climbers follow reach the top is littered with	(b)	____________	____________	____________
rubbish and is in sore need cleaning up. The	(c)	____________	____________	____________
rubbish strewn along mountain slopes	(d)	____________	____________	____________
includes oxygen cylinders, bottles food cans.	(e)	____________	____________	____________

Solution:

Today, Mt Everest is drawing attention all	e.g.	Word Before attention	Missing Word for	Word After all
the negative reasons, The entire route the	(a)	route	that	the
climbers follow reach the top is littered with	(b)	follow	to	reach
rubbish and is in sore need cleaning up. The	(c)	need	of	cleaning
rubbish strewn along mountain slopes	(d)	along	the	mountain
includes oxygen cylinders, bottles food cans.	(e)	bottles	and	food

Q 7. Rearrange any four of the following groups of words/phrases to make meaningful sentences:

(a) is / reading / tea / not / books / cup of / everybody’s

(b) books / them / only / read / those who / will / love

(c) long term / on / reading / impact / has / a / one’s personality

(d) good / is / for / it / substitute / a / watching TV

(e) is / the / it / hobbies / one / best / of

Solution:

(a) Reading books is not everybody’s cup of tea.

(b) Only those who love books read them.

(c) Reading has a long term impact on one’s personality.

(d) It is a good substitute for watching TV.

(e) It is one of the best hobbies.

Q 8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Ten minutes or so later Naresh ‘Dutt went looking for Patel Babu near the pan shop and found that he was not there. “That’s odd …. the man hadn’t been paid yet. What a strange fellow!”

(a) Where had Patol Babu gone?                                                                                              

(b) Why did Patol Babu leave without informing anyone?                                                    

(c) Why was Naresh Dutt looking for Patol Babu?

(d) What does the incident tell us about Patol Babu?                                                             

OR

But must I confers how I liked him,

How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water trough

And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,

Into the burning bowels of this earth?

(a) Who does ‘him’ refer to?

(b) What dilemma did the poet face? 

(c) Pick out and explain the figure of speech used in line 2.

(d) Explain: ‘burning bowels of this earth’. 

Solution:

(a) Patol Babu had gone back home.                                                                                    

(b) As a passionate actor Patol Babu only cared about the intense satisfaction he got after performing his small role.  

(c) Naresh Dutt was looking for Patol Babu because he wanted to pay him.

(d) The incident tells us about Patol Babu that satisfaction mattered more to him than money.

OR

(a) The word ‘him’ refers to the snake.

(b) When the poet sees the snake, he is caught between his sentiments of adoration for animals and his fear of reptiles that wants him to kill the snake.                                                       

(c) The figure of speech used in line 2 is Simile.  The expression ‘like guest’ compares the snake to a guest that quietly comes to the poet’s house.

(d) “Burning bowels of the Earth” implies the extreme hot weather underground.

Q 9. Answer any four of the following questions in 30–40 words each:

(a) Why did Lavinia decide to leave her husband John?

(b) In ‘Virtually True’ why did the newspaper article “Miracle Recovery” catch Michael’s attention?

(c) Did the sculpture of Ozymandias fulfil the purpose for which it had been built? Give reasons.

(d) What opinion do you form of Calpurnia from the play ‘Julius Caesar’?

(e) What were the blessings the albatross brought with itself in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’?

Solution:

(a) John Hallock was a ghost story writer for Jenkins who came across the ghost of Helen while trying to write the story. Lavinia decided to leave John because she thought he was flirting with a woman named Helen on the Ouija board.

(b) In ‘Virtually True’ the newspaper article “Miracle Recovery” caught Michael’s attention because he remembered that the boy who he had read in the newspaper was none other than Sebastian Shultz whom he met about weeks ago in the computer games.

(c) Ozymandias had the sculpture made so that people to know forever how powerful a ruler he was. However, years later travellers passing by find the statue decaying with the head detached, lying in the sand.

(d) Calpurnia was a loving, caring, and sincere wife who was exceedingly anxious about Caesar’s welfare. She appeared to be a clairvoyant who had the power to look into future. She dreamt that Caesar would be assassinated. She tried her best to avert the tragedy of Caesar’s assassination, but the over-confidence in his abilities proved fatal for Caesar. If he had listened to Calpurnia’s advice, he would not have been assassinated.  

(e) The mariners believed that the albatross was a good omen and blessed them with a bright sunshine and a clear weather. As soon as the albatross arrived on the ship the huge ice-bergs surrounding the ship started to break and the sailors were able to steer the ship through.

Q 10. Attempt the following question in 100 – 120 words:

“The Letter” revolves around human relationships and love and faith that cements them. Discuss with reference to the story.

OR

In “Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments”, how does the poet justify that his verse will live on forever?

Solution:

“The Letter” is a short story written by Dhumketu that revolves around human relationships and love and faith that cements them. The story is about Ali, a coachman and a trained hunter who derived pleasure from killing innocent animals.

His only child, a daughter, gets married and moves away from him to Punjab. The longing and separation that he feels for his daughter makes him miserable and ill. Despite his deteriorating health, he makes daily visits to the post office hoping that Miriam has written a letter to him.

Apparently, Miriam has become busy with her new life and is unable to find time for her father. Ali takes this very hard and gets sicker by the day. However, he keeps visiting the post office which annoys the clerk as he thinks Ali’s daily visits are a nuisance and an obstruction to his busy days at the post office.

One day, Ali almost on his death bed, goes to the post office asking if his letter has arrived. Much to his disappointment, the clerk, has not good news for him. However, Ali still has faith in his daughter. He hands over five golden coins to him and asks him to deliver the letter to his grave.

The letter does arrive but there is no sign of Ali. The clerk decides to deliver it himself as he feels sorry for the poor father. Sadly, Ali has passed and the clerk does have to deliver the letter to his grave.  No matter how far children go away, parents always worry about them and never stop having faith in them. The end of the story is a sad realization that love and faith are what hold relationships together.

OR

In ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’, the powerful rulers get monuments and statues built but Time destroys all monuments and statues. Time is more powerful than these man-made creations. It paints a destructive image of time, but explores the immortality of the subjects of poetry through the power of verse.

‘Not Marble nor Gilded Monuments’ one of Shakespeare’s most famous verses, asserts the immortality of the poet’s sonnets to withstand the forces of decay over time. While monuments that princes get erected to be remembered forever will be destroyed, and their creators forgotten, the poet’s friend will continue to shine brightly in this verse. The value that can be derived from this instance is that stone monuments may crumble to dust, blackened by time and devastating war, but neither the god of war nor his quick-burning fires shall destroy poetry.

Q 11. Answer the following question in 200 – 250  words:

In ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ how did the Franks and others celebrate two festivals, Hanukkah and St. Nichols Day in the Annexe?

OR

Attempt a character sketch of Margot Frank as shown in ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’.

OR

With reference to ‘The Story of My Life’, describe how a teacher can positively impact a child’s life?

OR

Describe the role of Mr. Keith in the life of Helen in ‘The Story of My Life’.

Solution:

Amongst all the tension and stress, arrived the Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day. These were celebrated with great enthusiasm. Both the festivals fell on the same day. Anne’s father quietly made some arrangements with the help of his employees. They all had fun on that day and each character managed to snatch some moments of hope and happiness. Mr. Van Daan made a menorah out of wood. Everyone exchanged gifts. Candles were lighted but only for ten minutes as the candles were in short supply. To sum up, each and every member participated in the celebration of Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day in his own way.

OR

Margot was Anne’s elder sister. She was born in Frankfurt in 1926. She was a pretty and smart girl. Anne’s parents, according to Anne, loved Margot more than Anne as she was well-mannered, studious and reserved in contrast to Anne who was outspoken. Margot had her schooling at a public school. She was good at arithmetic and was a brilliant student. Anne was jealous of her as her mother always favoured Margot. It was Margot Frank whose order of deportation had come from the Gestapo. Her father decided not to send her and the whole family went into hiding. Margot had a better relationship with her mother in contrast to Anne. She wished to become a mid-wife. According to Anne she was handsome and clever and Anne admired her for this as she had a tolerant and shy nature. Unfortunately, Margot too died of typhus in the concentration camp a few days before Anne died.

OR

Anne Sullivan is best known as Helen Keller’s teacher and companion who connected her with the outside world. Miss Sullivan was not only successful in bringing Helen out of darkness and uncertainty, but also was instrumental in making her think and thereby helping her make a connection between the abstract and the physical world.

Miss Sullivan and Helen Keller were together for forty-nine years. During this period, Miss Sullivan strived hard to mentor Helen in all possible ways.  Whether it was reading books indoors or exploring the world outside, Miss Sullivan was Helen’s constant companion.

Although Miss Sullivan followed a strict schedule while teaching Helen, she carefully employed ideas that Helen would willingly accept while learning new things. She spelled each word on Helen’s palm and made her feel everything that Helen wanted to explore and know about. Miss. Sullivan even helped Helen in getting her degree from Radcliffe College despite great difficulties.

Miss. Sullivan’s lifelong companionship with Helen Keller is indeed awe-inspiring and helps people understand how a teacher through her perseverance and devotion can miraculously change a student’s life.

OR

Mr. Merton Keith was one of the tutors of Helen Keller at the Cambridge School for Young Ladies.

He taught Algebra, Geometry, Greek and Latin to Helen at Cambridge. According to Helen, Mr. Merton was “gentle and forbearing” towards Helen, a kind, level-headed man who was very patient no matter how much time Helen took to grasp her subjects.

He was a guiding force for her as he helped her with understanding difficult concepts. He also corrected Helen wherever she went wrong thus aiding in her development. He worked in conjunction with Anne Sullivan who would translate his ideas to Helen. He is responsible for piquing Helen’s interest in mathematics. Mr. Keith also trained her to think critically and logically thus making her mind sharper. Helen learnt a great deal from him. Much more than she would have learned in the classroom.