CBSE English Communicative Past Year Paper SA-1: Set 5 (2016) | Past Year Papers for Class 10 PDF Download

 Page 1


 
 
 
 
W4SESWZ 
 
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – I (2016 – 2017) 
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE 
Class – X 
Time: 3 hours                Maximum Marks: 70 
 
Instructions: 
The question paper is divided into three sections. 
Section A: Reading     20 Marks 
Section B: Writing and Grammar   25 Marks 
Section C: Literature     25 Marks 
 
SECTION A: READING (20 Marks) 
 
1. Read the passage given below and complete the sentences that follow:     (8) 
 
Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched you life, but the time is  
shortly to come.  Recent NASA reports of a 60% loss of ozone over the Arctic provide an 
explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has only begun 
to affect us whether directly or indirectly.  The social, political and economic implications 
are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests disappear and 
desertification is occurring at an alarming rate. 
 
Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week.  This alarming rate of  
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and 
manufacturing practices.  A seventy-feet tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace.  
A seventy-feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and 
bamboo is officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant.    Some species can 
grow 3 feet per day! 
 
Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly 
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable 
green building material over traditional non-sustainable products.  Bamboo is known to 
produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preenting 
erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from 
contaminated soil.  Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building 
material.  Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and to reverse the 
effects of global warming.  Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after 
harvesting. 
 
Traditional hardwood  lumber trees  such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to  
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, 
and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested- all producing negative 
environmental effects.  Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species 
Page 2


 
 
 
 
W4SESWZ 
 
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – I (2016 – 2017) 
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE 
Class – X 
Time: 3 hours                Maximum Marks: 70 
 
Instructions: 
The question paper is divided into three sections. 
Section A: Reading     20 Marks 
Section B: Writing and Grammar   25 Marks 
Section C: Literature     25 Marks 
 
SECTION A: READING (20 Marks) 
 
1. Read the passage given below and complete the sentences that follow:     (8) 
 
Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched you life, but the time is  
shortly to come.  Recent NASA reports of a 60% loss of ozone over the Arctic provide an 
explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has only begun 
to affect us whether directly or indirectly.  The social, political and economic implications 
are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests disappear and 
desertification is occurring at an alarming rate. 
 
Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week.  This alarming rate of  
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and 
manufacturing practices.  A seventy-feet tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace.  
A seventy-feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and 
bamboo is officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant.    Some species can 
grow 3 feet per day! 
 
Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly 
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable 
green building material over traditional non-sustainable products.  Bamboo is known to 
produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preenting 
erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from 
contaminated soil.  Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building 
material.  Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and to reverse the 
effects of global warming.  Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after 
harvesting. 
 
Traditional hardwood  lumber trees  such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to  
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, 
and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested- all producing negative 
environmental effects.  Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species 
 
 
 
 
extinction, and ecosystem pollution.  The choice of bamboo as building material will greatly 
help reverse those negative trends. 
 
(a) According to NASA reports, there has been a loss of ____________ ozone over the Arctic. 
(b)  Use of bamboo is gaining momentum because _______________. 
(c) The greatest advantage of bamboo is that it __________________. 
(d) Traditional hardwood lumber trees____________. 
(e) ‘More soil run off in the spot’ means____________. 
(f) The antonym for the word ‘reliable’ is_______________. 
(g)  The problems troubling the earth are ___________________.  
(h) The author is promoting the use of ___________________ as a building material.   
 
 
2. Read the passage carefully.         (12) 
  Overpowering prey is a challenge for limbless creatures.  Some species inject venom 
like Ressell’s viper.  Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical method-rat snakes, 
for instance grab and gush their prey against the ground, while pythons use their brawn to 
squeeze their quarry to death.  But snakes can’t be neatly divided into venomous and non-
venomous snakes. 
 
 Even species listed as non-venomous aren’t completely devoid of venom.  The 
common sand boa, for instance produces secretions particularly toxic to birds.  So the 
species doesn’t hedge its bets- it constricts its prey and injects venom for good measure. 
 
 Do vipers need venom potent enough to kill hundreds of rats with just one drop?  
After all they  only eat one or two at a time. 
 
 While predators try their best to kill most efficiently, their prey use any trick to 
avoid becoming a meal,  such as developing immunity to venom.  For instance, Californian 
ground squirrels are resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake venom. 
 
 Competition with prey is not the only thing driving snakes to evolve more and more 
toxic venom.  Snakes also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.   
  
 Some snake predators have partial immunity to venom.  Famously, mongooses are 
highly resistant to cobra venom, and with their speed and agility kill snakes with impunity.  
It  would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t evolve more toxic venom to 
immobilize mongooses. 
 
 Venom has another important role.  “It’s an extreme meat tenderizer; specific 
enzymes disintegrate the innards of prey.  Normally, a reptile depends on the sun’s warm 
rays to aid digestion.  Venomous snakes have an advantage:  enzymes and venom digest 
the meal from the inside before it rots in their guts. 
 
Page 3


 
 
 
 
W4SESWZ 
 
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – I (2016 – 2017) 
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE 
Class – X 
Time: 3 hours                Maximum Marks: 70 
 
Instructions: 
The question paper is divided into three sections. 
Section A: Reading     20 Marks 
Section B: Writing and Grammar   25 Marks 
Section C: Literature     25 Marks 
 
SECTION A: READING (20 Marks) 
 
1. Read the passage given below and complete the sentences that follow:     (8) 
 
Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched you life, but the time is  
shortly to come.  Recent NASA reports of a 60% loss of ozone over the Arctic provide an 
explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has only begun 
to affect us whether directly or indirectly.  The social, political and economic implications 
are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests disappear and 
desertification is occurring at an alarming rate. 
 
Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week.  This alarming rate of  
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and 
manufacturing practices.  A seventy-feet tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace.  
A seventy-feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and 
bamboo is officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant.    Some species can 
grow 3 feet per day! 
 
Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly 
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable 
green building material over traditional non-sustainable products.  Bamboo is known to 
produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preenting 
erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from 
contaminated soil.  Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building 
material.  Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and to reverse the 
effects of global warming.  Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after 
harvesting. 
 
Traditional hardwood  lumber trees  such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to  
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, 
and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested- all producing negative 
environmental effects.  Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species 
 
 
 
 
extinction, and ecosystem pollution.  The choice of bamboo as building material will greatly 
help reverse those negative trends. 
 
(a) According to NASA reports, there has been a loss of ____________ ozone over the Arctic. 
(b)  Use of bamboo is gaining momentum because _______________. 
(c) The greatest advantage of bamboo is that it __________________. 
(d) Traditional hardwood lumber trees____________. 
(e) ‘More soil run off in the spot’ means____________. 
(f) The antonym for the word ‘reliable’ is_______________. 
(g)  The problems troubling the earth are ___________________.  
(h) The author is promoting the use of ___________________ as a building material.   
 
 
2. Read the passage carefully.         (12) 
  Overpowering prey is a challenge for limbless creatures.  Some species inject venom 
like Ressell’s viper.  Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical method-rat snakes, 
for instance grab and gush their prey against the ground, while pythons use their brawn to 
squeeze their quarry to death.  But snakes can’t be neatly divided into venomous and non-
venomous snakes. 
 
 Even species listed as non-venomous aren’t completely devoid of venom.  The 
common sand boa, for instance produces secretions particularly toxic to birds.  So the 
species doesn’t hedge its bets- it constricts its prey and injects venom for good measure. 
 
 Do vipers need venom potent enough to kill hundreds of rats with just one drop?  
After all they  only eat one or two at a time. 
 
 While predators try their best to kill most efficiently, their prey use any trick to 
avoid becoming a meal,  such as developing immunity to venom.  For instance, Californian 
ground squirrels are resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake venom. 
 
 Competition with prey is not the only thing driving snakes to evolve more and more 
toxic venom.  Snakes also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.   
  
 Some snake predators have partial immunity to venom.  Famously, mongooses are 
highly resistant to cobra venom, and with their speed and agility kill snakes with impunity.  
It  would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t evolve more toxic venom to 
immobilize mongooses. 
 
 Venom has another important role.  “It’s an extreme meat tenderizer; specific 
enzymes disintegrate the innards of prey.  Normally, a reptile depends on the sun’s warm 
rays to aid digestion.  Venomous snakes have an advantage:  enzymes and venom digest 
the meal from the inside before it rots in their guts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 But I wonder if we, cannot use venom in our favour.  In remote parts of India, local 
hospitalities often involve leather-tough meat.  I chew and chew until my jaws ache.   If I 
spit it out or refuse, our host would be offended.  Eventually I swallow like a python stuffing 
a deer down its throat and hope I don’t choke.  If only I had venom! 
 
2.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the question given 
below:           (2 x4) 
 (a)  Russel viper and Rat snake have different methods to attack their prey.  Explain. 
 (b) How does sand boa kill its prey? 
 (c) There is a constant tussle between the predator and the prey.  Why? 
 (d) Snake have to guard themselves against their predators as well.  How do they do 
this 
 
2.2 Answer the following questions by selecting the correct options:     (4) 
(a) Alternative 
(i)  same 
(ii) partial 
(iii) similar 
(iv)  option 
 
(b)  Devoid 
(i)  avoid 
(ii)  miss 
(iii) lacking 
(iv) abundant 
 
(c) Potent 
(i) very strong 
(ii) painful 
(iii) sticky 
(iv) dependent 
 
(d) Partial 
(i) complete 
(ii) incomplete 
(iii) less 
(iv) lease 
 
 
SECTION B: WRITING AND GRAMMAR (25 Marks) 
 
3. Adult illiteracy is a problem we rarely discuss in our society. Write an  article, in about 100-
120 words, discussing the need for promoting adult education. 
 
Page 4


 
 
 
 
W4SESWZ 
 
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – I (2016 – 2017) 
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE 
Class – X 
Time: 3 hours                Maximum Marks: 70 
 
Instructions: 
The question paper is divided into three sections. 
Section A: Reading     20 Marks 
Section B: Writing and Grammar   25 Marks 
Section C: Literature     25 Marks 
 
SECTION A: READING (20 Marks) 
 
1. Read the passage given below and complete the sentences that follow:     (8) 
 
Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched you life, but the time is  
shortly to come.  Recent NASA reports of a 60% loss of ozone over the Arctic provide an 
explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has only begun 
to affect us whether directly or indirectly.  The social, political and economic implications 
are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests disappear and 
desertification is occurring at an alarming rate. 
 
Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week.  This alarming rate of  
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and 
manufacturing practices.  A seventy-feet tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace.  
A seventy-feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and 
bamboo is officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant.    Some species can 
grow 3 feet per day! 
 
Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly 
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable 
green building material over traditional non-sustainable products.  Bamboo is known to 
produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preenting 
erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from 
contaminated soil.  Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building 
material.  Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and to reverse the 
effects of global warming.  Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after 
harvesting. 
 
Traditional hardwood  lumber trees  such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to  
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, 
and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested- all producing negative 
environmental effects.  Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species 
 
 
 
 
extinction, and ecosystem pollution.  The choice of bamboo as building material will greatly 
help reverse those negative trends. 
 
(a) According to NASA reports, there has been a loss of ____________ ozone over the Arctic. 
(b)  Use of bamboo is gaining momentum because _______________. 
(c) The greatest advantage of bamboo is that it __________________. 
(d) Traditional hardwood lumber trees____________. 
(e) ‘More soil run off in the spot’ means____________. 
(f) The antonym for the word ‘reliable’ is_______________. 
(g)  The problems troubling the earth are ___________________.  
(h) The author is promoting the use of ___________________ as a building material.   
 
 
2. Read the passage carefully.         (12) 
  Overpowering prey is a challenge for limbless creatures.  Some species inject venom 
like Ressell’s viper.  Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical method-rat snakes, 
for instance grab and gush their prey against the ground, while pythons use their brawn to 
squeeze their quarry to death.  But snakes can’t be neatly divided into venomous and non-
venomous snakes. 
 
 Even species listed as non-venomous aren’t completely devoid of venom.  The 
common sand boa, for instance produces secretions particularly toxic to birds.  So the 
species doesn’t hedge its bets- it constricts its prey and injects venom for good measure. 
 
 Do vipers need venom potent enough to kill hundreds of rats with just one drop?  
After all they  only eat one or two at a time. 
 
 While predators try their best to kill most efficiently, their prey use any trick to 
avoid becoming a meal,  such as developing immunity to venom.  For instance, Californian 
ground squirrels are resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake venom. 
 
 Competition with prey is not the only thing driving snakes to evolve more and more 
toxic venom.  Snakes also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.   
  
 Some snake predators have partial immunity to venom.  Famously, mongooses are 
highly resistant to cobra venom, and with their speed and agility kill snakes with impunity.  
It  would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t evolve more toxic venom to 
immobilize mongooses. 
 
 Venom has another important role.  “It’s an extreme meat tenderizer; specific 
enzymes disintegrate the innards of prey.  Normally, a reptile depends on the sun’s warm 
rays to aid digestion.  Venomous snakes have an advantage:  enzymes and venom digest 
the meal from the inside before it rots in their guts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 But I wonder if we, cannot use venom in our favour.  In remote parts of India, local 
hospitalities often involve leather-tough meat.  I chew and chew until my jaws ache.   If I 
spit it out or refuse, our host would be offended.  Eventually I swallow like a python stuffing 
a deer down its throat and hope I don’t choke.  If only I had venom! 
 
2.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the question given 
below:           (2 x4) 
 (a)  Russel viper and Rat snake have different methods to attack their prey.  Explain. 
 (b) How does sand boa kill its prey? 
 (c) There is a constant tussle between the predator and the prey.  Why? 
 (d) Snake have to guard themselves against their predators as well.  How do they do 
this 
 
2.2 Answer the following questions by selecting the correct options:     (4) 
(a) Alternative 
(i)  same 
(ii) partial 
(iii) similar 
(iv)  option 
 
(b)  Devoid 
(i)  avoid 
(ii)  miss 
(iii) lacking 
(iv) abundant 
 
(c) Potent 
(i) very strong 
(ii) painful 
(iii) sticky 
(iv) dependent 
 
(d) Partial 
(i) complete 
(ii) incomplete 
(iii) less 
(iv) lease 
 
 
SECTION B: WRITING AND GRAMMAR (25 Marks) 
 
3. Adult illiteracy is a problem we rarely discuss in our society. Write an  article, in about 100-
120 words, discussing the need for promoting adult education. 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Write a story in about 150-200 words using the following hints.  Give it a suitable, 
title.                                     (10) 
 An old man-sitting on  a beach- remembering past days of life—now doesn’t find life 
interesting – suddenly meets his long time beloved- feels a strange sort of attraction 
towards her -likes to start his life again with her.  
 
5. Read the paragraph given below. Fill in the blanks by choosing the most appropriate 
words/phrases from the given options.          (3) 
 The only reason (a) ________________ people do not have what they want is because they are 
thinking more (b) _______________ what they don’t want than what they do want .  One should 
try to attract the good (c) ________________ of the bad. 
 
 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) 
(a) What  How Why When 
(b) On About Of In 
(c) In spite against instead rather 
 
6. In the following paragraph one word has not been omitted in each line.  Write the 
missing word along with  the words that come before and after it.  The first one has 
been done as an example.               (4) 
  
Most of us are familiar with fact e.g. with the face 
that silk derived from the cocoons of (a)   
mulberry silk worms.  However, insects (b)    
like spiders, beetles and fleas produce silk. (c)    
Silk is mass produced by silk worms are 
reared to produced white silk. 
(d)    
 
 
7. Rearrange the following words/phrases to make meaningful sentences.     (3) 
(a) fire/or an earthquake/more/anger/destructive/is than 
(b) glands/when/you/certain/angry/get/ are activated 
(c) blood pressure/face/reddens/your/and/voice rise/and your 
 
Section C: Literature (25 Marks) 
 
8. Read one of the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:    (3) 
 
“The two boys were seated at the bedside of a girl of about 20 who, propped up on pillows 
wearing a pretty.  lace jacket, was listening to their chatter, her eyes soft and tender”. 
(a) Who are the two boys referred to here? 
(b) Where are the boys at present? 
(c) What does the word,  ‘chatter’ mean? 
 
Page 5


 
 
 
 
W4SESWZ 
 
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT – I (2016 – 2017) 
ENGLISH COMMUNICATIVE 
Class – X 
Time: 3 hours                Maximum Marks: 70 
 
Instructions: 
The question paper is divided into three sections. 
Section A: Reading     20 Marks 
Section B: Writing and Grammar   25 Marks 
Section C: Literature     25 Marks 
 
SECTION A: READING (20 Marks) 
 
1. Read the passage given below and complete the sentences that follow:     (8) 
 
Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched you life, but the time is  
shortly to come.  Recent NASA reports of a 60% loss of ozone over the Arctic provide an 
explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has only begun 
to affect us whether directly or indirectly.  The social, political and economic implications 
are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests disappear and 
desertification is occurring at an alarming rate. 
 
Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week.  This alarming rate of  
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and 
manufacturing practices.  A seventy-feet tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace.  
A seventy-feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and 
bamboo is officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant.    Some species can 
grow 3 feet per day! 
 
Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly 
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable 
green building material over traditional non-sustainable products.  Bamboo is known to 
produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preenting 
erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from 
contaminated soil.  Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building 
material.  Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and to reverse the 
effects of global warming.  Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after 
harvesting. 
 
Traditional hardwood  lumber trees  such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to  
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, 
and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested- all producing negative 
environmental effects.  Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species 
 
 
 
 
extinction, and ecosystem pollution.  The choice of bamboo as building material will greatly 
help reverse those negative trends. 
 
(a) According to NASA reports, there has been a loss of ____________ ozone over the Arctic. 
(b)  Use of bamboo is gaining momentum because _______________. 
(c) The greatest advantage of bamboo is that it __________________. 
(d) Traditional hardwood lumber trees____________. 
(e) ‘More soil run off in the spot’ means____________. 
(f) The antonym for the word ‘reliable’ is_______________. 
(g)  The problems troubling the earth are ___________________.  
(h) The author is promoting the use of ___________________ as a building material.   
 
 
2. Read the passage carefully.         (12) 
  Overpowering prey is a challenge for limbless creatures.  Some species inject venom 
like Ressell’s viper.  Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical method-rat snakes, 
for instance grab and gush their prey against the ground, while pythons use their brawn to 
squeeze their quarry to death.  But snakes can’t be neatly divided into venomous and non-
venomous snakes. 
 
 Even species listed as non-venomous aren’t completely devoid of venom.  The 
common sand boa, for instance produces secretions particularly toxic to birds.  So the 
species doesn’t hedge its bets- it constricts its prey and injects venom for good measure. 
 
 Do vipers need venom potent enough to kill hundreds of rats with just one drop?  
After all they  only eat one or two at a time. 
 
 While predators try their best to kill most efficiently, their prey use any trick to 
avoid becoming a meal,  such as developing immunity to venom.  For instance, Californian 
ground squirrels are resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake venom. 
 
 Competition with prey is not the only thing driving snakes to evolve more and more 
toxic venom.  Snakes also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.   
  
 Some snake predators have partial immunity to venom.  Famously, mongooses are 
highly resistant to cobra venom, and with their speed and agility kill snakes with impunity.  
It  would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t evolve more toxic venom to 
immobilize mongooses. 
 
 Venom has another important role.  “It’s an extreme meat tenderizer; specific 
enzymes disintegrate the innards of prey.  Normally, a reptile depends on the sun’s warm 
rays to aid digestion.  Venomous snakes have an advantage:  enzymes and venom digest 
the meal from the inside before it rots in their guts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 But I wonder if we, cannot use venom in our favour.  In remote parts of India, local 
hospitalities often involve leather-tough meat.  I chew and chew until my jaws ache.   If I 
spit it out or refuse, our host would be offended.  Eventually I swallow like a python stuffing 
a deer down its throat and hope I don’t choke.  If only I had venom! 
 
2.1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the question given 
below:           (2 x4) 
 (a)  Russel viper and Rat snake have different methods to attack their prey.  Explain. 
 (b) How does sand boa kill its prey? 
 (c) There is a constant tussle between the predator and the prey.  Why? 
 (d) Snake have to guard themselves against their predators as well.  How do they do 
this 
 
2.2 Answer the following questions by selecting the correct options:     (4) 
(a) Alternative 
(i)  same 
(ii) partial 
(iii) similar 
(iv)  option 
 
(b)  Devoid 
(i)  avoid 
(ii)  miss 
(iii) lacking 
(iv) abundant 
 
(c) Potent 
(i) very strong 
(ii) painful 
(iii) sticky 
(iv) dependent 
 
(d) Partial 
(i) complete 
(ii) incomplete 
(iii) less 
(iv) lease 
 
 
SECTION B: WRITING AND GRAMMAR (25 Marks) 
 
3. Adult illiteracy is a problem we rarely discuss in our society. Write an  article, in about 100-
120 words, discussing the need for promoting adult education. 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Write a story in about 150-200 words using the following hints.  Give it a suitable, 
title.                                     (10) 
 An old man-sitting on  a beach- remembering past days of life—now doesn’t find life 
interesting – suddenly meets his long time beloved- feels a strange sort of attraction 
towards her -likes to start his life again with her.  
 
5. Read the paragraph given below. Fill in the blanks by choosing the most appropriate 
words/phrases from the given options.          (3) 
 The only reason (a) ________________ people do not have what they want is because they are 
thinking more (b) _______________ what they don’t want than what they do want .  One should 
try to attract the good (c) ________________ of the bad. 
 
 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) 
(a) What  How Why When 
(b) On About Of In 
(c) In spite against instead rather 
 
6. In the following paragraph one word has not been omitted in each line.  Write the 
missing word along with  the words that come before and after it.  The first one has 
been done as an example.               (4) 
  
Most of us are familiar with fact e.g. with the face 
that silk derived from the cocoons of (a)   
mulberry silk worms.  However, insects (b)    
like spiders, beetles and fleas produce silk. (c)    
Silk is mass produced by silk worms are 
reared to produced white silk. 
(d)    
 
 
7. Rearrange the following words/phrases to make meaningful sentences.     (3) 
(a) fire/or an earthquake/more/anger/destructive/is than 
(b) glands/when/you/certain/angry/get/ are activated 
(c) blood pressure/face/reddens/your/and/voice rise/and your 
 
Section C: Literature (25 Marks) 
 
8. Read one of the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:    (3) 
 
“The two boys were seated at the bedside of a girl of about 20 who, propped up on pillows 
wearing a pretty.  lace jacket, was listening to their chatter, her eyes soft and tender”. 
(a) Who are the two boys referred to here? 
(b) Where are the boys at present? 
(c) What does the word,  ‘chatter’ mean? 
 
 
 
 
 
OR 
 The eye of little god, four-cornered. 
 Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall. 
 It is pink with speckles.  I have looked at its so long. 
 I think it is  a part of my heart.  But it flickers. 
 Faces and darkness separate us over and over. 
 
(a) Why has the mirror been called a four-cornered god’? 
(b) When do the wall and the mirror get separated? 
(c) What do the speckles mean here? 
 
9. Answer the following questions in about 30 - 40 words each. 
9(a) What does the poet mean by ‘the living record’? How does it survive the ravages of  
   time?              (2) 
9(b) How did Miss Mebbin blackmail Mrs. Packletide ?                   (2) 
9(c) What is your impression of the postmen and the postmaster in he story, “The 
Letter”?               (2) 
9(d) What changes does the grandfather intend to make in the new will?  What effect does 
his intention have on his daughters?                     (2) 
 
10. Answer one of the following question in about 80 – 100 words: 
 
Grandfather decides to move  away form his daughters and settle with Mrs. John Shorrocks 
rejecting their proposal to take care of him.  Do you think he was right  in doing so ?  Explain 
the values highlighted through Grandfather’s character.         (4) 
 
OR 
 
The frog emerges as a villain and crafty creature in the poem ‘The Frog and the Nightingale’ 
Give instances to prove it.            (4) 
 
11. Answer one of the following questions in about 150 – 200 words: 
The human spirit to live, triumphs in every circumstance? Discuss in the light of  ‘Diary of 
a Young Girl’.            (10) 
OR 
 Human beings continue to be petty-minded even in the most trying circumstance.   
Comment with  reference to ‘Diary of a Young Girl.’ 
What was the fate of Helen’s doll and What  were Helen’s feeling towards the incident? 
             (10) 
OR 
Anne Mansfield Sullivan filled wonder in Helen’s life.  Describe her as a teacher.  (10)