Question 1: Write a composition (350 – 400 words) on any one of the following:
(a) Write an original short story entitled ‘The Gift’.
(b) “Money is important for happiness.” Express your views either for or against this statement.
(c) Narrate an incident from your own experience when you helped to prepare a meal. Explain what you did and what you gained from the experience.
(d) You had been waiting outside the examination hall. Describe what you saw and the sounds you heard when you arrived at the place. What were your feelings? Describe how the scene changed once you entered the hall and the examination started.
(e) Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an account of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the picture or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear connection between the picture and your composition.
Answer:
(a) The story must be original and must bring out the theme of a special or meaningful gift. The giver and receiver should be the main characters.
(b) Argumentative essay: views for or against the motion are to be accepted. Credit is to be given for a cohesive, well-constructed, logical argument and ideas and reasoning based on personal experience. Candidate must take a clear stand and give valid reasons for the stand taken.
(c) Candidate should give clear sequencing of events, the effort involved, assistance given, result of effort and the lesson learnt. It must be a first-person account. ‘I’ is the central theme.
(d) A description of noise, chatter of children, parents, last minute rush to look at notes, etc.
Teachers trying to solve doubts, give answers, telling them to relax.
Parents asked to leave – the bell. The hush of the hall, prayer, silence, the examination begins.
(e) Picture Composition: Accept a wide interpretation. Any relevant ideas taken from the picture should be accepted. However, a mere itemization / listing / description of the picture is to be penalized.
Question 2: Select any one of the following:
(a) Your uncle has offered to get you a pet for your birthday. Write a letter to him telling him what you would like, give reasons for your choice and tell him how you would take care of your pet.
(b) The traffic outside your school is very heavy and chaotic.
Write a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) pointing out the danger of such heavy and chaotic traffic in a school zone. Suggest possible solutions for the problem.
Answer:
INFORMAL LETTER | FORMAL LETTER |
Address | From address |
Date | Date |
Salutation | To address |
X | Salutation |
Subscription | Subscription |
First name | Name + surname/initial |
(a) Informal Letter (Format, Content, Expression)
Name the animal – cat dog, turtle, gold fish, etc. It must be an animal. Not a toy or gadget.
Reasons – unique, loving, easy to care for, no one has, or everyone else has, I am an
animal lover, we have the space, etc.
Care – cleaning, diet, health, walk, visit to vet, brushing, exercise, training.
(b) Formal Letter (Format, Content, Expression)
Body
Danger – Accident, death, no space to walk, jostling, misbehaviour, road rage, late to
school (Danger should be explained).
Solutions: No parking, one way, patrol by police, school safety brigade, carpooling,
school buses, encourage cycling or walking to school, etc.
Question 3: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Granny knew I’d been in the train for two nights, and she had a huge breakfast ready for me.
Later she told me there’d been a letter from Uncle Ken.
‘He says he’s the manager in Firpo’s hotel in Simla,’ she said. ‘The salary is very good.
It’s a steady job and I hope he keeps it.’
Three days later Uncle Ken was on the veranda steps with his bedding roll and battered
suitcase.
‘Have you given up the hotel job?’ asked Granny.
‘No,’ said Uncle Ken. ‘They have closed down.’
‘I hope it wasn’t because of you.’
‘No, Aunt Ellen. The bigger hotels in the hill stations are closing down.’
‘Well, never mind. Come along and have your lunch.’
Over lunch, Uncle Ken talked very seriously about ways and means of earning a living.
‘There is only one taxi in the whole of Dehra,’ he mused. ‘Surely there is business for another?’
‘I’m sure there is,’ said Granny. ‘But where does it get you? In the first place, you don’t
have a taxi. And in the second place, you can’t drive.’
‘I can soon learn. There’s a driving school in town. And I can use Uncle’s old car.’
‘I don’t think it will run now,’ said Granny.
‘Of course, it will. It just needs some oiling and greasing and a spot of paint.’
‘All right, learn to drive.’
So, Uncle Ken joined the driving school.
After a month Uncle Ken announced that he could drive and that he was taking the car
out for a trial run.
‘You haven’t got your license yet,’ said Granny.
‘Oh, I won’t take it far,’ said Uncle Ken. ‘Just down the road and back again.’
He spent all morning cleaning up the car. Granny gave him money for a can of petrol.
After tea, Uncle Ken said, ‘Come along, Ruskin, hop in and I will give you a ride. Bring Mohan along too.’ Mohan and I needed no urging. We got into the car beside Uncle Ken.
‘Now don’t go too fast, Ken,’ said Granny anxiously. ‘You are not used to the car as yet.’
Uncle Ken nodded and smiled and gave two sharp toots on the horn. He was feeling pleased with himself.
Driving through the gate, he nearly ran over a cat.
Miss Kellner, coming out for her evening rickshaw ride, saw Uncle Ken at the wheel of the car and ran indoors again.
Uncle Ken drove straight and fast, tootling the horn without a break.
At the end of the road there was a roundabout.
‘We’ll turn here,’ said Uncle Ken, ‘and then drive back again.’
He turned the steering wheel, we began going round the roundabout, but the steering wheel wouldn’t turn all the way, not as much as Uncle Ken would have liked it to… So,
instead he went on – and straight through the Maharaja of Jetpur’s garden wall.
It was a single-brick wall, and the car knocked it down and emerged on the other side without any damage to the car or any of its occupants. Uncle Ken brought it to a halt in the middle of the Maharaja’s lawn.
Running across the grass came the Maharaja himself. When he saw that it was Uncle Ken at the wheel, the Maharaja beamed with pleasure.
‘Delighted to see you, old chap!’ he exclaimed. ‘Jolly decent of you to drop in again. How about a game of tennis?’
(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:
One word answers or short phrases will be accepted.
(i) battered (line 7)
(ii) mused (line 15)
(iii) emerged (line 48)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
(i) Why did Granny hope Uncle Ken would keep his job at Firpo’s hotel?
(ii) When Uncle Ken arrived with his luggage, Granny remarked that she hoped the hotel
had not closed down because of him. What does this remark tell you about Uncle Ken?
(iii) Why did Uncle Ken think that driving a taxi in Dehra would be profitable?
(iv) Which sentence tells you that the narrator and his friend were waiting to be invited for a drive in a car?
(v) Why did Miss Kellner run indoors when she saw Uncle Ken at the wheel of the car?
(vi) What was Uncle Ken’s intention at the roundabout?
(c) (i) In not more than 60 words, describe what happened after the car went through the wall.
(ii) Give a title to your summary in 3(c)(i). Give a reason to justify your choice of the title.
Answer:
(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage. One-word answers or short phrases will be accepted (meaning should be in the same tense).
(i) battered – damaged, broken, worn out
(ii) mused – spoke thoughtfully, spoke dreamily, thought aloud
(iii) emerged – appeared, came out,
(b) (i) Salary good / steady job
(ii) This is a critical thinking question – plausible answers to be accepted.
Uncle Ken was constantly changing jobs / was not a steady person / irresponsible /
eccentric (implied meaning to be accepted).
(iii) There was only one taxi in Dehra+ (room for another one/ the need was there for another) (any one given in bracket to be accepted).
(iv) “Mohan and I needed no urging.” (Whole sentence to be quoted exactly.)
(v) She was frightened / rash driving / speed / knew Uncle Ken to be an irresponsible driver. (Any two)
(vi) He wanted to turn around + (return home/ drive back/ go back) (Any one in bracket to be accepted).
(c) (i) Points to look for:
1. Knocked it down
2. Emerged on the other side.
3. Brought it to a halt.
4. Maharaja runs to greet them.
5. Beams with pleasure.
6. Invites Ken for a tennis game.
(ii) Any apt title to be accepted (for Precis)
Justification for choice of the title.
Question 4:
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example:
(0) beginning
Alice was (0) ____________ (begin) to get very tired of (1)____________(sit) by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had (2) ____________ (peep) into the book her sister was reading, but it (3) ____________ (have) no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” (4) ____________ (think) Alice, “without pictures or conversations?”
Alice wondered whether the pleasure of (5)___________(make) a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes (6) ____________ (run) close by her. Alice did not think this was very remarkable, until the Rabbit actually (7) ____________ (take) a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and (8)____________ (look) at it, and then hurried on.
(b) Fill in each blank with an appropriate word:
(i) The poet’s mother was stung ____________ a scorpion.
(ii) “Please write ____________ what I tell you otherwise you will forget,” the teacher said.
(iii) The dog was hiding ____________ the bed, barking at the stranger.
(iv) Sheila’s grandmother found it difficult to climb ____________ the steep staircase.
(v) The soldier fought bravely ____________ his country.
(vi) There is no use crying ____________ spilt milk.
(vii) I don’t know what they were arguing ____________ but I could hear angry voices.
(viii) The school playground is out ____________ bounds for the pupils of the primary school.
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but
or so:
(i) They have to go to bed early every night. They are allowed to stay up late on
Saturdays.
(ii) The children were delighted. The exams had been cancelled.
(iii) We are not allowed to play in the sun. We are not allowed to play in the rain.
(iv) This is the place. The dog was rescued from its cruel owner.
(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make
other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence.
(i) She laid the table after she had finished the cooking. (Begin: When…………………)
(ii) He is old but still he works hard. (Begin: Despite…………………)
(iii) The delivery boy was requested to bring the parcel the next day. (Rewrite using direct speech)
(iv) I prefer playing a game to watching television. (Begin: I would rather…………………)
(v) Every family has a black sheep. (Begin: There is no…………………)
(vi) I have never worn a more ill-fitting suit. (End: ………………… ever worn.)
(vii) Anil is too fast a runner not to come first in the race. (Begin: Anil is so…………………)
(viii) As soon as the sports meet ended, the children ran on the field. (Begin: Hardly…………………)
Answer:
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
0. beginning
1. sitting
2. peeped
3. had
4. thought
5. making
6. ran
7. took
8. Looked
(b) Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word:
(i) by
(ii) down
(iii) under
(iv) up / down
(v) for
(vi) over
(vii) about/over
(viii) of
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so:
(i) (Although/Though/Even though) they have to go to bed early every night, they are allowed to stay up late on Saturdays. /They have to go to bed early every night, (while/whereas) they are allowed to stay up late on Saturdays.
(ii) The children were delighted (that/as/since/because) the exams had been cancelled. / The exams had been cancelled therefore the children were delighted.
(iii) We are neither allowed to play in the sun nor in the rain. / we are not allowed to play either in the sun or in the rain. / Neither are we allowed to play in the sun nor in the rain.
(iv) This is the place where the dog was rescued from its cruel owner. / The dog was rescued from its cruel owner(in/at) this place
(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence.
(i) When she had finished the (her) cooking she laid the table.
(ii) Despite being old, he works hard.
(iii) “Please bring (deliver) the parcel, tomorrow” (he/she/I/We/they said to the delivery boy).
(iv) I would rather play a game than watch television.
(v) There is no family that (which) does not have a black sheep.
(vi) This is the most ill-fitting suit (that) I have ever worn.
(vii) Anil is so fast a runner that he (cannot fail to/has to /will/ is sure to/ will surely) come first in the race.
Anil is so fast a runner that he cannot but come first in the race.
(viii) Hardly had the sports meet ended when the children ran on the field.
Hardly did the sports meet end, when the children ran on the field.
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