SECTION A (READING)(20 marks)
A1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (8 marks)
1. We’ve just left the dinner table, when I hear music coming from my daughter’s computer. It surprises me that my daughter Ida is listening to music from a time she refers to as the very old days. “What are you playing?” I ask. “It’s Phil Collins,” is her prompt reply, while she shows how, with a few strokes, she can download almost any song from the Internet. Times have certainly been changing since I scratched my first Beatles record Tactfully I don’t mention that I had bought the record she’s listening to before she was born. The concept of a phonograph record belongs to a bygone age and I don’t want to spoil the pleasure she’ll get from discovering her “own” new favourite musician.
2. The music brings memories flooding back. I have a sudden urge to bring back my record collection from the attic, where it has mouldered for almost a decade. Only one thing stops me: my turntable succumbed to the damp air in a cellar where I stored it for a good ten years. No, I don’t care if turntables are ancient technology: I will find one. And I will restore my long lost record collection—which took up a good amount of shelf space—to its former glory. Buying something as uncool as a turntable takes courage and planning. I find a promising TV and radio store in the phone book but I am expecting a mountain of questions from the clerk, who will most certainly have been born and raised after the demise of the turntable.
3. “A turntable? Coming right up!” says the young man behind the counter. He disappears into the storeroom and before I can say long-playing record, he’s back with a small cardboard under his arm. It’s too good to be true. An hour later my new acquisition is in the living room and a respectful atmosphere descends. I’ve sorted my records into piles all over the floor, I find a Beatles album.
4. Behind the wonderful music now flowing through the loud-speaker is the unmistakable sound of vinyl. It doesn’t take long for my twelve year old son’s eagle eye to spot the turntable and he has to try it out. Jonas is technically minded, a child of the computer age, yet I sense a certain reverence as he picks up the tone arm and tries to place it in the middle of the record. Brought up in the CD age how could he know what’s wrong? I say in a soothing voice: “The starting groove is on the edge of the record.” “Does it matter which side is up?” queried my daughter. “It does matter,” I replied. Soon we were listening to a Phil Collins number we both like. The generation gap vanishes as the music takes over. I relish the moment to the full and cast a glance at Ida. She’s relaxed and smiling.
A1.1 Fill in the following summary using only one word for each blank. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. (1/2 x 6=3 marks)
It was a moment of surprise for the author to (a) ..............that his daughter had the same (b) .............for music as he had. This brought back (c) ...............of his (d) ..............collection in the attic. Though, a (e) ..............task, he was (f) ............in locating a turntable.
Al.2 Complete the following sentences. Write the answers in your answer sheet. (1 x 3=3 marks)
(a) Jonas did not know how to handle the turntable as
(b) Music could bridge the generation gap as
(c) The author was reluctant to bring out his turntable from the cellar because
A1.3 Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following. (1x2 marks)
(a) skillfully avoiding giving offence (para 1)
(b) a feeling of respect (para 4)
A2. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (12 marks)
1. Legends will tell you that flamingoes are no ordinary visitors to Kutch. They were the honoured guests of King Lakho and he had forbidden the hunting of flamingoes, which came to. Kutch from various parts of the world every year to breed. For centuries the region has been a haven for the migratory bird. Today, Flamingo City, an island in the middle of the Rann of Kutch, known the world over as one of the biggest breeding grounds of the Greater Flamingo, is strewn with bodies of hundreds of flamingo chicks. The parents of these chicks have fled the island due to lack of food. Zooplanktons, algae and small fish that these birds survive on are dying due to a sudden increase in the salinity of the Rann waters. One can even see dead fish floating.
2. Flaniingoes need salt-encrusted, damp mud to build nests. The place where they build their nests has to be inaccessible to predatory cats and birds. It should also have sufficient food. The right mix of sweet and brackish water in ‘the Rann is crucial for the proliferation of planktons and algae that the flamingoes feed on. Faced with starvation flamingoes have fled the island leaving their chicks to fend for themselves. Till date around a thousand flamingoes have died.
3. Maharaj Kumarshri Himmatsinghji, a member of the royal family of Kutch and an expert on the birds of Kutch, traces the problem of increased salinity in the Rann waters to the construction of dams on rivers that flow into the region. He emphasizes that efforts should be made to ensure that, at least some water flows into the Rann. In fact over the years, the number of flanungoes coming to the island have decreased because of the change in salinity of the Rann water. In 1945, Salim Ali, the late ornithologist, had found 5 lakh birds on the island. Since then, the number has not gone above 2.2 lakh. However, the studies carried out on the Flamingo City so far cannot be taken as 100 percent accurate because very few ornithologists have conducted regular studies on flamingoes in the area. The reason : the terrain is so inhospitable that it is simply not possible to visit the place every year.
4. Says Himmatsinghji, “The ringing of flamingoes is mandatory to conduct accurate and long term studies on the bird.” Unfortunately, ever since Flamingo City was discovered in 1893, not a single bird has been ringed. No wonder questions, like from where these birds migrate every year remain only partially answered.
A2.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage given above, complete the following sentences. Write the answers in your answer sheet. (l x 10 = 10marks)
(a) Planktons and algae, which form the food of flamingoes, require ………. .
(b) Ornithologists find it difficult to conduct regular studies on flamingoes in
the Rann as ……………… .
(c) To conduct long term studies on the bird ………………….
(d) The increase in salinity in the Rann waters is due to …………….
(e) Kutch was referred to as a haven for flamingoes as ……………. .
(f) Lack of food in Rann has caused
(g) The conditions necessary for the flamingoes to build their nests are:
(i) ………………………. (ii) …………………….
(iii) ……………………... (iv) ……………………
A2.2 Find words from the passage, which mean the same as the following, from the paragraphs indicated. Write the answers in your answer sheet. (1 x 2=2 marks)
(a) increase in number (Para 2)
(b) scattered over a surface (para1)
SECTION B (WRITING) (30 marks)
B1. You are Sharat, President of the Interact Club of your school. You wish to organize a snack bar on the Sports Day of your school. The proceeds of the sale will go for charity. You put up a notice on the notice board of your school calling for a meeting to discuss the same. Draft the notice giving all the details in not more than 50 words. Put the notice in a box. (5 marks)
B2. You are Akash. During your holidays you went to Lucknow to visit your cousin. You took part in a hiking expedition, to Nainital, with your cousin and his friends. Write a post-card to your friend Gaurav, B-21, Pandav Nagar, Delhi, about your expedition, in not more than 50 words. Copy the• format of the post-card from the question paper in your answer sheet. (5 marks)
| __________________ __________________ __________________ Pin ________________ |
B3. You are Revathy. You happened to see the following news item in the newspaper about the popularity of Indian Handicrafts abroad. But you are unhappy about the lack of recognition given to the artisans by the Government. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper about the difficulties they face and the steps to be taken to solve their problems. Using the information given below and your own ideas, write the letter in not more than 150 words. (10 marks)
| Indian Handicrafts sought after New Delhi Indians handicrafts are in great demand in the US, Europe and the Gulf countries. The artisans feel their products are not given the required publicity. Further the products are bought form them at very low prices by the middlemen and sold later at high pries abroad, hope that the Government would do something in this regard. |
B4. You are Manasi. You visited “The Green Gardens Resort” during the holidays. Write an article in not more than 200 words for your school magazine about why the place attracted you. Include the following:
(10 marks)
• Accessibility
• Reasonable charges
• Hygienic surroundings
• Scenic beauty
• Facilities available
For Blind Candidates Only
You are Manasi. You visited “The Green Gardens Resort” during the hoildays. Write an article in not more than 200 words for your school magazine about why the place attracted you. Include the following:
(10 marks)
• Accessibility
• Reasonable charges
• Hygienic surroundings
• Facilities available
SECTION C (GRAMMAR) (20 marks)
C1. Look at the notes below. Then use the information to complete the paragraph by writing a suitable word or phrase in each space. Do not add any new information. The first one has been done for you as an example. Write your answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. (1x5 =5 marks)
Galapagos Island Visitors to these pacific Island –- leave unstamped ---- main them ---- return home --- picture post ---show up ----since 1960s --- tradition persisted ---post office --- establish ---1950s ---barrel ----replaced ----many --- weather worn ---- plaques remain. |
Tradition has it that visitors to these Pacific Islands leave unstamped addressed post-cards and letters in a barrel at Post Office Bay, to await pick up by other tourists who affix postage and (a) ……. when they return home. Picture post cards (b) ……… in the barrel since the late 1960s, when tourists began visiting the Galapagos Islands. The self-perpetuating post office (c)…. …… . by whalers in the late 1790s as a way to get news to and from friends and family. The tradition persisted even after a post office (d) ……… on the island of Floreana in the l950s. The barrel (e) …….. many times, but weather worn plaques, where sailors long ago and from far away carved their names, remain.
C2. Fill in the blanks given below using only one word in each blank. The first one is done as an example. Write your answers in the answer sheet against the correct blank number. (½ x 6=3 marks)
A man in an upstairs apartment worked in the night shift and continually woke (a) ......... the occupant in the apartment below by taking (b) …….his boots and tossing them across the room. After complaints, he agreed to change his ways. (c) ………. , on returning home early one morning, he threw one boot (d) ……….. remembering his promise. He gently placed the second shoe (e) ……… his bed. Twenty minutes later, his neighbour pounded on the door. “For God’s sake,” he screamed, (f) ………. the door opened, “Throw the other boot so that I can get back to sleep.”
C3. The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the incorrect word and correction as shown in the example, against the correct blank number in your answer sheet. The first one has been done for you as an example. (½ X 8=4)
Incorrect |
Correct |
|
| Wander along the streets of New York City | e.g.Wander |
Wandering |
| my daughters and me stop at shoe stores | (a) ……… |
...................... |
| wherever we happens to be. This is their choice. | (b) ……… |
...................... |
| These women, who as little girl, teetered around | (c) ……… |
...................... |
| the house balances like cranes in my mother’s | (d) ……… |
...................... |
| high heels. I sits on the bench and wait while they | (e) ……… |
...................... |
| try on shoe on shoe, readjusting their positions | (f) ……… |
...................... |
| in the mirror, eye downcast considering their feet. | (g) ……… |
...................... |
| “So?”, one of the will ask me. “What do you think of these?” “I love them,” I say about every pair. | (h) ……… |
...................... |
C4. Read the dialogue given below and complete the passage. Write the correct answer in the answer sheet against the correct blank number (1x5 =5 marks)
Jam : When is the fancy dress competition in your school?
Manna : It is after two weeks.
Jam : Are you taking part in it?
Manna : Yes, I am taking part as an engine driver.
Jam : Why have you chosen that?
Manna : So that I can reach late.
Jam asked Manna when the fancy dress competition in her school was>.
Manna replied that (a) ………………………………………………………. .
Jam enquired whether (b) …………………………………………………….
Manna said that (c) …………………………………………………………….
Jam asked why (d) …………………………………………………………….
She answered that then (e) …………………………………………………….
C5. Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences. The first one is done for you as an example. Write the correct sentences in your answer sheet. (½x6 =3 marks)
are dream scenarios / picture perfect houses / not a speck of dust I and no cobwebs ever / with a wrinkle-free bedcover, / on shelves /
Picture perfect houses with a wrinkle-free bedcover, not a speck of dust on shelves and no cobwebs ever are dream scenarios.
(a) of its residents / becomes a / it reflects / a house / the personality / home when /
(b) has to look I no rules / how our / there are / as to / home /
(c) thing is / inhabiting them / should enjoy I the important / that we /
(d) about / houses are / our lives / personal statements /
(e) the confidence / in ourselves / they reflect / we have /
(f) we have / will be / the more / individualistic / confidence / the more / our homes /
SECTION D (LITERATURE) (30 marks)
D1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write each answer in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctly. (4 marks)
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the Evil One.
(a) Who is referred to as the evil one? Why? (2)
(b) Why did the peasants wish that he might be paralysed? (1)
(c) What do these lines tell us about the peasants? (1)
D2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write each answer in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctly. (4 marks)
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day like a terrible fish.
(a) Name the poem and the poet. (1)
(b) How was the mirror important for the woman? (1)
(c) Explain: ‘has drowned a young girl, and an old woman....’ (2)
D3. Read the extract given below and answer the question that follows: (5 marks)
Mark Antony in ‘Julius Caesar’ says,
‘Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt!’
How was Antony successful in instigating the people of Rome against the conspirators? Write your answer in 75-100 words.
D4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in your answer sheet Remember to number the answers correctly.
MRS. CRATCHIT (bristling): Mr. Scrooge indeed. I wish I had him here: I’d give him a piece of my mind to feast upon, and I hope he’d have a good appetite for it.
(a) What is Mrs. Cratchit’s opinion of Mr. Scrooge? (1)
(b) How does Cratchit react to it? (2)
(c) What lesson did Scrooge learn from the sight? (2)
D5. Briefly explain the circumstances under which Babuli gave his inherited land to his brother. Your answer should not exceed 75 words. (4 marks)
D6. You are the grandmother in “The Ultimate Safari”. Make a diary entry on your life in the refugee camp and why you don’t want to return to your country. Write the answer in about 150-175 words. (8 marks)
