Ques 1: Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
Whales are normally gentle. Jacques Coustean in his book. The Whale: Mighty Monarch of the Sea, testified to the whale's self-control. In all his years of diving, he says, "not a single man has been hurt during our sometimes hazardous whale encounters. Indeed, whales show every sign of wishing to spare man from harm.
"Many whales exhibit strong family ties. The young ones remain with their parents for up to 15 years or more. Like reindeer and other nomadic land mammals, migrating species such as humpbacks and grey whales live in herds, or pods, and travel seasonally between feeding and breeding grounds.
In times of stress, whales look after one another.
A group migrates at the speed of the slowest baby. Mother whales behave like human beings. They have been seen fondling their babies. Their" flippers are used like hands to clasp, coax and discipline. Jacques Coustean describe in his book an incident in which a mother swam after her calf and pushed it away from a ship.
She then struck it several times with her flippers. "The blows had every appearance of being slaps and were obviously administered to teach the baby not to confuse a ship's hull with a mother's stomach."
Answer the following questions.
(i) What did Jacques Coustean write in his book?
(ii) How long do the young whales remain with their parents?
(iii) What do whales do in times of stress?
(iv) Mother whales behave like whom?
(v) What do whales use their flippers for?
(vi) What do many whales exhibit generally?
(vii) What kind of nature do whales have?
(viii) Write the names of any two migrating species of whales.
Ans: (i) He wrote that whales show every sign of wishing to spare man from harm.
(ii) Young whales remain with their parents for up to 15 years or more.
(iii) In times of stress, whales look after one another.
(iv) Mother whales behave like human beings.
(v) Whales use their flippers like hands to clasp, coax and discipline.
(vi) Many whales exhibit strong family ties.
(vii) Whales are gentle by nature.
(viii) Humpbacks and grey whales are migrating species of whales.
Ques 2: Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
A bookshop is not something you find in every gali or mohalla these days. Books, which were once a staple diet for youngsters in their formative years, are fading out of their list of engagements.
Ask any youngster which is the latest book he has read and he will be baffled. Apart from a few consistent readers, other just be fool themselves with a best-seller's name or lament the curriculum load for justifying themselves, like this seventeen year old school goer who says, "I just read my physics book." Television has been blamed much for this calamitous situation, which is producing square faced people and book less society.
Furthermore, today's children are under pressure to be smart and popular, to succeed on a social level.
Parties, dancing, dating and hanging out at places like Nirula's, Wimpys and Priya complex being early. Moreover, the computers, video games, internet, swimming lessons, cricketing and every youngster's passion for hour long tete-a-tete on telephone with friends eat up all their leisure time.
A child who is constantly under pressure to live up to his parent's expectations, at times unreasonable, does not like to throw himself into another set of books after the laborious school work unless the child comes from a family of readers where intoxicating works of Shakespeare and Dickens are just a matter of pulling them out from the shelves.
Many parents also believe that today's children have become aware and demand logical reasoning for everything. They can no longer be fooled by fairy tales or animal stories, as they have seen no fairies or animals except for those old tired ones in the city zoo.
This has made them more interested in Shah Rukh Khan's dancing then a turtle talking to a rabbit or a frog becoming a prince. But a visit to the capital's leading bookstores presents quite a contrasting picture of the youngsters reading habits. These bookshops claim they are doing healthy business and have many regular buyers from this age group.
Though works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain no longer get with the teenagers, best-sellers from Daniel Steele, Sidney Sheldon, Jeffery Archer are in the list of all reading teens. Self-help books such as those on personality development or relationship management are also picked up by most.
(a) Answer the following questions.
(i) Why are books losing their importance?
(ii) Why do children don't want to read books?
(iii) What kind of books are mostly read?
(iv) What perspective do the bookshop owners offer?
(b) Tick the correct option.
(i) ................ and .................. are taking up most of the leisure time of youngsters.
(a) Computers, video games
(b) Cartoons, food
(c) Clothes, shoes
(d) Studies, books
(ii) Parents believe that children demand
(a) money
(b) logical reasoning
(c) food
(d) clothes
(iii) Bookshops claim of doing
(a) healthy business
(b) low business
(c) average business
(d) no business
(iv) Teenagers like to read
(a) classics
(b) romance
(c) detective fiction
(d) bestsellers
Ans: (a) (i) Books are losing their importance because youngsters these days have other means of entertainment to spend leisure time. Television, parties, dancing, hanging out, computers, video games, internet, etc. have taken the place of books.
(ii) Children don't want to read books because there is already too much pressure on their minds to study and get good marks. They don't want to read any more books apart from those in their syllabus.
(iii) Books like works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain and other classics hold no interest for teenagers. They are more interested in reading bestsellers like Daniel Steele, Sidney Sheldon, Jeffery Archer, etc. Self-help books and those on personality development or relationship management are also popular.
(iv) The bookshop owners claim that they are doing healthy business and have many regular buyers from this age group /.e., teenagers. Teenagers are mostly interested in reading bestsellers.
(b) (i) (a) computers, video games
(ii) (b) logical reasoning.
(iii) (a) healthy business.
(iv) (d) bestsellers.
Ques 3: You recently visited a small town in Madhya Pradesh. The sight of small children, around the age often, working in a glass-making factory has disturbed you. Write a letter to the editor of a national newspaper expressing your concern regarding the grave problem in our country. Also highlight the ill-effects of child labour. The letter should be of about 100-120 words.
Or
Write an article on the Health Hazards Caused By Junk Food, in about 100-120 words.
Ans: 36, Govind puri, New Delhi 14th March, 20XX The Editor The Hindu, New Delhi Subject III Effects of Child Labour Sir, In connection with my research project, I recently visited Manjher, a small town in Madhya Pradesh. I was astonished and disturbed to see the sight of a number of small children, of the age of about ten, working in a glass making factory. They had to work in the hot burning furnaces which are needed for making glass items.
At this age, children need personal affection, fresh environment and education. The problem of child labour exists not only in Manjher but also in other towns of the country where children are employed in dhabas, shops, etc. Even in homes some people appoint young girls to work. It is time that the higher authorities take steps to eliminate child labour. I request you to draw the attention of the concerned authorities through the columns of your esteemed newspaper. Thanking you, Yours truly, Mahendra Singh Rajput Or Health Hazards Caused by Junk Food Junk food has become a craze among youth and children today.
It has become so much a part of our fast paced lives that it is almost impossible to not eat fast food. It is made so tasty that children and youth cannot resist it. Samosas, kachoris, burgers, hot dogs, French fries etc., instantly satiate hunger but the health hazards these food items pose are very harmful. If one cannot completely eliminate these from one's lifestyle, at least make sure to eat these in limited quantities and develop a habit of routine exercise. Caesar Barber, 56, a maintenance worker, has now a heart disease.
He says that for years he ate fast food because it was efficient and cheap. He had no idea that it would damage his health. People have started suffering from problems like obesity, stomach ache, indigestion, flatulence, ulcers, etc. We should understand that as long as we have good health, we can enjoy everything.
Rakesh
Ques 4: One night you were suddenly awakened by a ghastly shriek as if it was coming from your window. You went towards the window and saw a shadow seeming to advance towards you.
You felt choked and lost your consciousness. When you came to your senses you were on your bed, puzzled but safe. Describe your experience in the form of a story of about 150-200 words.
Ans: One night I was suddenly awakened by a ghastly shriek as if it were coming from my window. I went near the window where a shadow seemed to advance towards me. I was frightened and tried to quickly close the window but in vain. The shadow chased me around the house shouting that it wanted to kill me and drink my blood.
I felt dead and couldn't even hear my heartbeat or pulse. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. I tried to go near the door and open it but the shadow caught my leg. The knock on the door turned faster. I tried to free myself but the shadow bit my leg and tried to drink my blood.
I was shrieking in pain and all of a sudden I opened my eyes. It was a dream! I couldn't believe it! I was so relieved and frightened at the same time to think what if it was real.
Ques 5: Read the paragraph given below and fill in the blanks,
Humans have always thought of the moon as living. In earlier times, it was seen that it had always been changing. Since, it was the brightest star in the dark sky, humans watched and wondered why it
(a) ................ Humans
(b)...................... always afraid of the dark, so the bright light
(c) .................. both welcome and mysterious.
Ans: (a) was changing
(b) were
(c) was
Ques 6: In the passage given below, 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 in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. Ensure that the word that forms your answer is underlined. The first one has been done for you as an example,
I went to hospital yesterday evening at about to the hospital 6 pm see my uncle there. Last week he had sustained
(a) ............. ............. ............. an injury in his leg in fall from the outer wall and (b) ............ ............. ............. to be hospitalised. I asked him how he was feeling and (c) ............. ............. ............. he told that he was okay except for some pain in leg. (d) ............. ............. ............. However, he looked cheerful and hoped that he would come home after some time. I felt much relieved meeting him. I think that a visit to hospital is always fraught with sadness as its ambience is like this.
Ans: (a) pm to see
(b) in a fall
(c) / had to
(d) in the leg
Ques 7: Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences and write them in your answer sheet.
we / earthworm / know/ the / is / the / best/worm.
The earthworm is the worm we know best.
(i) an / wriggles / like / do / most / earthworm / worms
(ii) they / no / have / but / worms / can / some / swim / legs
(iii) in / earthworms / the / live / ground
Ans: (i) An earthworm wriggles like most worms do.
(ii) Some worms have no legs but they can swim.
(iii) Earthworms live in the ground.
Ques 8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The luncheon party she declined; there are limits beyond which repressed emotions become dangerous.
(i) Who declined the luncheon party?
(ii) Why did she decline the invitation?
(iii) How do repressed emotions become dangerous?
Or
Who's gone dead? It's someone in the family (He chuckles)?
(i) Who speaks these words to whom?
(ii) What makes the speaker think that someone has died?
(iii) What answer does the speaker get to his questions?
Ans: (i) Loona Bimberton declined the party.
(ii) She declined the invitation because she could not bear to see her rival Mrs Packletide in the limelight.
(iii) The repressed emotions can be changed into a feeling of revenge if they go beyond a certain limit.
Or
(i) Mr Abel speaks these words to Jordan and Slater.
(ii) Abel makes this statement on seeing Ben in mourning.
(iii) Abel is told someone in Ben's family had expired.
Ques 9: Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each.
(i) Mrs Jordan says that she has a feeling father hasn't paid his insurance premium. How do all react to it?
(ii) Why was the postmaster bewildered?
(iii) Yet in both these boyish faces there was a seriousness, which was far beyond their years. Explain.
(iv) Why had Helen, the ghost, been helping the narrator write ghost stories?
Why was she going on strike?
What condition did she place for providing help?
Ans: (i) When Mrs Jordan says it, her husband calls his father-in law as a drunken old beggar'. Mrs Slater calls it' swindling' because she has kept father for three years. Mrs Jordan says that she had to put up with him for five years. Thus, all of them show their regret in their own way.
(ii) When Laxmi Das told the postmaster that Ali had died three months before, the postmaster was bewildered. It was because earlier that morning he had seen All come to him. At that time he did not know that he was dead and after listening to Laxmi Das, he was sure that he must have seen All's ghost, which was still waiting for his daughter's letter.
(iii) This statement reveals that both Nicola and Jacopo had grown very mature and considerate in earning money. They were doing all this just to cure their sister from the disease. They had forgotten them selves and their own desires and were very clear about what they wanted to do.
(iv) Helen, the ghost had been helping the narrator write ghost stories because he had been without ideas for his stories. She went on strike because as a reader on a magazine she had terrible days. She placed a condition that she would help him if he got all his friends to stop using Ouija board.
Ques 10: Answer any one of the following questions in about 80-100 words.
Imagine Lucia is fully cured of tuberculosis and is out of hospital. She receives a letter from one of her old friends as to how she passed her life and how she got well. Write a reply to this letter to Lucia's friend Emily showing the values displayed by her brothers.
Or
Inspite of having a melodious voice and being a crowd puller, the nightingale turns out to be a loser and dies. How far is she responsible for her own downfall?
Ans: 7, Ferdinand Street Verona 24th July, 20XX Dear Emily It was a great pleasure to receive your letter. I know you would have been very worried after knowing about my illness. Even I would feel very happy to share my worst as well as the most important episode of my life. Well, the war really destroyed our life. We had been leading a comfortable life, but my father's death left us homeless. Our house was destroyed in the war and we had to live in roadside shelters.
My brothers Nicola and Jacopo went out for some days and when they returned they found me a patient of spinal tuberculosis. They were almost shattered but kept themselves up just for my sake because they had in a way pledged not to lose me. They did all they could to save me. They got me admitted to the hospital for treatment and went out on the streets to work hard to earn money for my treatment.
They did all kind of odd jobs such as selling strawberries, polishing shoes, hawking news paper, conducting tourists and many other menial jobs. Their high sense of determination to see me cured, love, care and deep concern are the reasons behind my getting cured. Today I am well enough, but I am deeply moved by all what they have done for me. I am very proud that God has blessed me with such brothers.
Write about your well being and if possible come and meet me as there is still lot left to tell you. Take care. Yours lovingly Lucia Or The nightingale had a melodious voice. Her song attracted all the creatures of the bog towards her. They admired her song and always demanded her to sing more and more.
She attracted the crowd through her melodious voice. The greedy frog sold her song for money by charging an entry fee from every creature. But inspite of this, the nightingale turns out to be a loser and dies. Her lack of confidence and servile attitude led her to believe the crafty frog.
Ques 11: Answer any one of the following questions in about 150-200 words.
How does Anne feel about the laws that restrict Jews' freedom? (The Diary of a Young Girt)
Or
Write a brief character sketch of Anne Frank. (The Diary of a Young Girt) Give an account of Helen Seller's struggle. (The Story of My Life)
Or
Write a brief character sketch of Helen Keller. (The Story of My Life)
Ans: The Diary of a Young Girl When the Nazis occupied Holland, they enforced Anti-Jewish regulations. The restrictions imposed were in human. Some of these restrictions were-the Jews must wear a yellow star to distinguish themselves from others. The Jews were forbidden to drive their own cars. They were forbidden to visit theatres, cinemas and other places of entertainment etc.
Anne thinks the laws are unjust, but she does not completely understand why the Jewish people have been singled out for this discrimination. Anne feels it is unfair that Jews cannot use streetcars, that they must wear yellow stars, and that she must attend a particular school. Anne accepts the restrictions as a fact of life in Amsterdam and she is thankful to the Dutch people for their sympathy, especially the ferryman, who lets Jews ride the ferry because they are not allowed to ride streetcars. For Anne, these restrictions have become a part of her daily routine but only until she did not go into hiding with her family.
Or
The author of the diary, Anne is very intelligent and perceptive and she wants to become a writer. Anne grows into an empathetic and sensitive thinker at the age of fifteen. When Anne Frank is given a diary for her thirteenth Anne also records her perceptions of herself. She does not think she is pretty, but she is confident that her personality and other good traits make up for it. Through her writing, Anne comes across as playful and comical but with a serious side. Anne is a keen observer and this is evident from her meticulous descriptions of events and persons.
Though critical of other's faults, she is sensitive to their feelings. Anne is assertive but does not hurt others. She is lonely in the crowd and does not want to burden the already burdened adults with her own concerns. Being sensitive, she feels guilty to find other people suffering while she is safe. Anne is an ordinary girl who lives under extraordinary circumstances. The Story of My Life Helen Keller triumphed over adversity to become world famous. She was a normal child at birth. But at 19 months, Helen suffered an illness-Scarlet fever or Meningitis, that left her deaf and blind. After this her life became a struggle.
But she showed dedication and tried to overcome her handicap. With the help of her teacher, she fights for a normal existence. She is a relentless hard worker. Even failures don't deter her from her path. She has the utmost respect for her teacher. No one can even imagine the hardships Helen went through and still never gave up. This shows her determination. Helen was brave and daring both physically and emotionally. When she was accused of plagiarism she felt insulted, but over a period of time she put this incident behind and started to write again.
This showed her courageous side. She climbed a tree on her own despite the earlier cherry tree incident. Outdoor activities interested her and she enjoyed boating, canoeing and sailing. She did not allow her disabilities to stop her from participating in these adventurous sports. She silenced everyone by learning to speak. She is a great inspiration to everyone.
Or
Helen Keller, the deaf and blind girl, triumphed over adversity to become world famous. Helen was born on27th June, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a normal child at birth. But at 19 months, Helen suffered an illness - Scarlet fever or Meningitis that left her deaf and blind. Although Helen learned basic house hold tasks and could communicate some of her desires through a series of signs, she did not learn language the way other children do. 'The Story of My Life' shows, Helen Keller's life is neither a miracle nor a joke. It is a tremendous achievement.
Helen was destined to be imprisoned in darkness and isolation for the rest of her life, but building upon the brilliant work of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, she became an internationally recognized and respected figure. Helen understood the need for education and she was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She did not want to depend on others most of the time. Even before her teacher came, Helen used to spend her time in the garden and feel the flowers and plants to comfort herself. To communicate with others, she initially learnt some signs which were crude but as time passed, she refined her skills to talk to other people.
When she was accused of plagiarism she felt disgraced, but over a period of time, she put this incident behind and started to write again. When she wanted to speak like others many doubted she would succeed, but she silenced everyone when she uttered her first sentence, 'It is warm' and 'I am not dumb'.
