हिंदी

Read the passage given below. 1 It is generally accepted that leadership development should be a part of the education system's responsibility - English Core

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प्रश्न

Read the passage given below.

1 It is generally accepted that leadership development should be a part of the education system's responsibility for preparing individuals to participate in a democratic and progressive society. Many schools, colleges and universities, across nations, provide their students with leadership courses, curricular programs and co-curricular programs that are designed to develop students’ formal knowledge about leadership as well as opportunities and experiences to develop students as leaders and actually practise leadership. Yet, only a handful of studies have sought to understand leader development from the students’ point of view, with students describing their own experiences and what they learned from them in their own words.
2

A 2014 descriptive study sought to understand student leadership with research through key events via the following research questions:
Research Question 1: What key events do student leaders in college, report as significantly impacting their development as a leader?
Research Question 2: What lessons do student leaders in college, report learning as a result of the key events they have experienced?
Research Question 3: Are certain key events more likely to be linked to particular lessons? Approximately 130 students were contacted and the 72 interested, were interviewed. Two members of the research team were present for each 15 – 45 minute interview. One member served as the primary interviewer while the second ran the audio equipment.
The results for lessons learned (Table 1), were varied, but there were a few that were frequently quoted.

Lessons learned Responses
Identity  
Self Identity 58
Leadership Identity 54
Professionalism 30
Balancing Roles 19
Individual Competencies  
Delegation 17
Decision Making 15
Adaptability/Flexibility 38
Resilience/Persistence/Hard Work 18
Taking Initiative 36
Accountability/Responsibility 29
Big Picture 27
Learing to Teach/Learn 18
Support Systems  
Developing and Using Support Systems 36
Being a Support System 28
Working with Others  
Communication 59
Teamwork 26
Conflict 21
Diversity 32
Inspiring and motivating others 17
Others working with others 30
Getting the job done  
Task skills 55
Environment 34
3 This study described the rich array of leadership lessons that students are learning through their experiences. It revealed that student leaders are learning foundational leadership skills and competencies that have positively impacted how to accomplish work, how to work with others and how to be both supported by and support others.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below.

(i) Does the following statement agree with the information given in paragraph 1? (1)

The researcher believes that educational institutions have ideal resources to study impact of leadership skills on young adults.

Select from the following:

  1. True - if the statement agrees with the information
  2. False - if the statement contradicts the information
  3. Not Given - if there is no information on this

(ii) Do you think the researchers of the study aimed to change the students’ outlook towards the development of leadership skills, directly or indirectly? Support your answer with reference to the text. (1)

(iii) Select the option that displays the most likely reason for including Research Question 3 in the 2014 study. (1)

In order to find out if... 

  1. learning opportunities shape students’ overall personality.
  2. leadership lessons are the result of the designed learning opportunities.
  3. all learning opportunities cater to a specific lesson.
  4. certain lessons are common in more than one learning opportunity.

(iv) Complete the sentence based on the following statement. (1)

More than 50% of the identified student respondents were keen to participate in the 2014 study.

We can say this because ______.

(v) Select the option that displays the key event designed with “Balancing Roles” (Table 1) as the objective. (1)

  1. Students will be able to debate the issue at hand, with different teams.
  2. Students will be able to manage the responsibilities of a mentor, planner researcher and presenter.
  3. Students will be able to surmount minor problems and focus on the final goal.
  4. Students will be able to explain concepts and clarify them for peers.

(vi) Complete the given sentence by selecting the most appropriate option. (1)

The 2014 study attempts to understand student leadership by focussing on ______

  1. experiences that shaped students’ overall personality.
  2. lessons gained by students as they grew up.
  3. relationship of key events with particular lessons.
  4. students in leadership roles.

(vii) The lessons for ‘Individual competencies’ had a range of responses. (1)
Give one reason why having the least number of responses for ‘Decision Making’, is a matter that needs attention.

(viii) Complete the given sentence by selecting the most appropriate option. (1)

The concluding sentence of the text makes a clear case for ______ by listing it as a core competency for student leadership.

  1. collaboration
  2. flexibility
  3. hard work
  4. observation

(ix) Complete the sentence appropriately with one/two words. (1)

In the context of “Working with Others” in Table 1, the lesson of ‘Conflict’ refers to ______.

(x) Based on the reading of the text, state a point to challenge the given statement. (1)

When theoretical knowledge about leadership suffices, it is a waste of funds by educational organisations, to organise leadership camps and programmes.

संक्षेप में उत्तर

उत्तर

(i) False.

The researcher indicates that educational institutions have opportunities and programmes to inculcate leadership skills.

(ii) 

  • No
  • The aim of seeking students’ perspectives was to enable a better designing/creation/of the leadership programmes in educational institutions.
    OR
    promote higher efficacy/betterment of leadership programmes.

(iii) certain lessons are common in more than one learning opportunity.

(iv) We can say this because 72 of 130 students consented and were interviewed.

(v) Students will be able to manage the responsibilities of a mentor, planner researcher and presenter.

(vi) The 2014 study attempts to understand student leadership by focussing on relationship of key events with particular lessons.

(vii) This needs attention because it clearly indicates that the lessons created/student experiences do not allow sufficient opportunity for the development of this crucial skill.

(viii) The concluding sentence of the text makes a clear case for collaboration by listing it as a core competency for student leadership.

(ix) In the context of “Working with Others” in Table 1, the lesson of ‘Conflict’ refers to Being able to amicably and effectively resolve matters/conflict resolution.

(x) I disagree because no amount of theoretical knowledge can aid students in actually applying their learning about leadership and developing various skills.

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Unseen Passage Comprehension
  क्या इस प्रश्न या उत्तर में कोई त्रुटि है?
2022-2023 (March) Sample

संबंधित प्रश्न

AI. Who said to whom 
(i) "Is he going to live, sir?"
(ii) "______ the struggle is too hard at the end ______.”

The doctor said to himself, "If my word can save his life, he shall not die.
The will be damned." He called, "Gopal, listen." This was the first time he was going to do a piece of acting before a patient, simulate a feeling and conceal his Judgement. He stooped over the patient and said, with deliberate emphasis, "Don't worry about the will now. You are going to live. Your heart is absolutely sound."
A new glow suffused the patient's face as he heard it. Be asked in a tone of relief,
"Do you say so? If it comes from your lips it must be true............ . "
The doctor said, "Quite right. You are improving ever second. Sleep in peace. You must not exert yourself on any account. You must sleep very soundly.
I will see you in the morning." The patient looked at him gratefully for a moment and then closed his eyes. The doctor picked up his bag and went out, shutting the door softly behind him.
On his way home he stopped for a moment at his hospital, called out his assistant and said, "That Lawley Extension case. You might expect the collapse any second now. Go there with a tube of .....................................'in hand, and give it in case the struggle is too hard at the end. Hurry up.”
Next morning he was back at Lawley Extension at ten. From his car he made a dash for the sick bed. The patient was awake and looked very well. The assistant reported satisfactory pulse. The doctor put his tube to his heart, listened for a while and told the sick man's wife, "Don't look so unhappy, lady. Your husband will live to be a ninety.’’ When they were going back to the hospital, the assistant sitting beside him in the car asked, "Is he going to live, sir?"
"I will bet on it. He will live to be ninety. He has turned at corner. How he has survived this attack will be a puzzle to me all my life," replied the doctor.

A2. Web
Complete the web:

A3. Personal Response 
What is your opinion about the doctor and his behaviour?


The natural life span of a domesticated horse is about 25 – 30 years, 10 years down from what it was in the wild. You can tell a horse’s age from the number of teeth he has. They get all their teeth by the age of 5, after which those teeth just get longer. Horses have close to 360 degree all round vision. The only place they cannot see is directly behind or right in front of themselves, which is why it’s dangerous to stand behind a horse. If they later I it also means that they cannot see a jump once they are about four feet from it, and have to rely on memory as to its height and shape! Each of the horse’s two eyes work independently wherever a horse’s ear points is where the horse is looking. A horse is able to sleep standing up as he is able to lock his leg muscles so that he dosen’t fall asleep. Nor do all horses in the same field ever lie down at once – one animal always stands “on look out” duty.

1) What is the life span of a wild horse?
(2) Why do the horse owners cover their horse’s eyes with blinkers?
(3) What prevents a horse from falling while asleep?
(4)
(a) Falls /shorter/ the mane/ on the/ side/ legged.[Rearrange the words to make a meaningful sentence]
(b) Form antonyms by adding a prefix :
(i) able
(ii) direct 
(5)
(a) They get all their teeth by the age of five. [Pick out the prepositions]
(b) If they feel something behind them they may kick. [Rewrite using ‘unless’]
(6) How have horses helped man through the ages?


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

These meadows aren't worth much to me. They only come to five dessiatins, and are worth perhaps 300 roubles, but I can't stand unfairness. Say what you will, I can't stand unfairness.

(a) Who speaks the above lines and to whom?

(b) How much are the meadows worth?

(c) Find a word in the extract the means 'not based on what is just.'


Read the passage given below:

1. I rested for a moment at the door of Anand Bhawan, on Market Road, where coffee-drinkers and tiffin-eaters sat still at their tables, uttering low moans on seeing me. I wanted to assure them, "Don't mind me, you hugging the cash box − you are a coward, afraid even to breathe. Go on, count the cash, if that is your pleasure. I just want to watch, that's all. If my tail trails down to the street, if I am blocking your threshold, it is because, I'm told, I'm eleven feet tip to tail. I can't help it. I'm not out to kill − I'm too full. I found a green pasture full of food on my way. I won't attack until I feel hungry again. Tigers attack only when they feel hungry, unlike human beings who slaughter one another without purpose or hunger."

2. To the great delight of children, schools were being hurriedly closed. Children of all ages and sizes were running helter-skelter, screaming joyously. "No school, no school. Tiger, tiger!" They were shouting and laughing and even enjoying being scared. They seemed to welcome me. I felt like joining them. So I bounded away from the restaurant door. I walked along with them, at which they cried, 'The tiger is coming to eat us; let us get back to school!"

3. I followed them through their school gate while they ran up and shut themselves in the school hall securely. I climbed up the steps of the school, saw an open door at the far end of a veranda, and walked in. It happened to be the headmaster's room. I noticed a very dignified man jumping on the table and heaving himself up into an attic. I walked in and flung myself on the cool floor, having a special liking for cool stone floors.

4. As I drowsed, I was aware of cautious steps and hushed voices all around. I was in no mood to bother about anything. All I wanted was a little moment of sleep; the daylight was very bright.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following questions:

(a) How did the diners at Anand Bhawan react on seeing the tiger?

(b) When do tigers attack? In this context, how are human beings different from tigers?

(c) Why were children happy and even enjoying being scared?

(d) What did the headmaster do on seeing the tiger? What did the tiger like to do in the headmaster's office?

(e) Identify the word which means the same as 'hugging'. (Para 1)

(i) counting
(ii) hiding
(iii) rubbing
(iv) holding tightly in the arms

(f) Identify the word which means the same as 'delight'. (Para 2)

(i) pleasure
(ii) fear
(iii) sorrow
(iv) nervousness

(g) Identify the word which means the same as 'dignified'. (Para 3)

(i) tall
(ii) honourable
(iii) terrified
(iv) tired

 
(h) Identify the meaning of the word, 'bounded'. (Para 2)
(i) walked
(ii) jumped forward
(iii) walked with heavy steps
(iv) ran lazily
 
 

Read the passage given below :

1. When you grow up in a place where it rains five months a year, wise elders help you to get acquainted with the rain early. They teach you that it is ignorant to think that it is the same rain falling every day. Oh no, the rain is always doing different things at different times. There is rain that is gentle, and there is also rain that falls too hard and damages the crops. Hence, the prayer for the sweet rain that helps the crops to grow.

2. The monsoon in the Naga hills goes by the native name, khuthotei (which means the rice-growing season). It lasts from May to early or mid-October. The local residents firmly believe that Durga Puja in October announces the end of rain. After that, one might expect a couple of short winter showers, and the spring showers in March and April. Finally, comes the "big rain" in May; proper rainstorms accompanied by heart-stopping lightning and ear-splitting thunder. I have stood out in storms looking at lightning are across dark skies, a light-and-sound show that can go on for hours.

3. This is the season when people use the word sezuo or süzu to refer to the week-long rains, when clothes don't dry and smell of mould, when fungus forms on the floor and when you can't see the moon or the stars because of the rainclouds. But you learn not to complain. Rain, after all, is the farmer's friend and brings food to the table. Rituals and festivals centre around the agricultural rhythm of life, which is the occupation of about 70 percent of the population.

4. The wise learn to understand its ways. I grew up hearing my grandfather say. "It's very windy this year. We'll get good rain." If the windy season was short and weak, he worried there might not be enough rain for the crops. I learned the interconnectedness of the seasons from childhood, and marvelled at how the wind could bring rain. Another evening, many rainy seasons ago, my paternal aunt observed the new moon and worried, "Its legs are in the air, we're in for some heavy rain." She was right. That week, a storm cut off power lines and brought down trees and bamboos.

5. Eskimos boast of having a hundred names for snow. Norwegians in the north can describe all kinds of snow by an equal amount of names : pudder, powder snow, wet snow, slaps, extra wet snow, tight snowfall, dry snow, and at least 95 more categories of snow. Likewise, in India we have names and names for rain. Some are common, some are passing into history.

6. The rains are also called after flowering plants and people believe that the blossoming of those plants draws out rain. Once the monsoons set in, field work is carried out in earnest and the work of uprooting and transplanting paddy in flooded terrace fields is done. The months of hard labour are June, July and August. In August, as the phrogü plant begins to bloom, a rain will fall. this August rain, also called phrogü, is a sign that the time for cultivation is over. If any new grain seeds are sown, they may not sprout; even if they do sprout, they are not likely to bear grain. The rain acts as a kind of farmer's almanac.

7. The urban population of school-goers and office-goers naturally dislikes the monsoon and its accompanying problems of landslides, muddy streets and periodic infections. For non-farmers, the month of September can be depressing, when the rainfall is incessant and the awareness persists that the monsoons will last out till October. One needs to have the heart of a farmer to remain grateful for the watery days, and be able to observe – from what seems to the inexperienced as a continuous downpour – the many kinds of rain. Some of the commonly known rain-weeks are named after the plants that alternately bloom in August and September. The native belief is that the flowers draw out the rain.
8. Each rain period has a job to fulfil : October rain helps garlic bulbs to form, while kümünyo rain helps the rice bear grain. Without it, the ears of rice cannot form properly. End October is the most beautiful month in the Naga hills, as the fields turn gold and wild sunflowers bloom over the slopes, all heralding the harvest. Prayers go up for protecting the fields from storms, and the rains to retreat because the grain needs to stand in the sun and ripen. The cycle nears completion a few weeks before the harvest, and the rain does retreat so thoroughly from the reaped furrows that the earth quickly turns hard. The months of rain become a distant memory until it starts all over again.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements given below with the help of options that follow:
a) The rains are called after flowering plants because

(i) heavy rains kill plants.
(ii) flowers grow in the rainy season.
(iii) it is believed that the plants bring the rain.
(iv) flowers grow all the year round.


b) The rain is like a calendar for farmers because

(i) it tells them when to sow and when to harvest.
(ii) it tells them the birthdays of their children.
(iii) each month has a time for plantation.
(iv) different kinds of rain tell different things.


c) People who live in cities don't like rain because

(i) it brings mud and sickness with it.
(ii) they are not bothered about the farmers.
(iii) they don't like the plants that grow during the rain.
(iv) going shopping becomes difficult.


d) People pray asking the rain the retreat because

(i) the fungus and mould need to dry.
(ii) children don't get a chance to play.
(iii) the crops need the sun and heat to ripen.
(iv) they like to pray.


Answer the following questions briefly:
e) Why do the elders want you to understand the rains in the Naga hills?

f) What does Durga Puja mean to the farmers of the Naga hills?

g) What kind of rain is called sezuo?

h) What is the occupation of more than half the population of the Naga hills?

i) How is the heart of the farmer different from that of the city person?

j) When does rain becomes a memory in the minds of the of the Naga hills?

k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:

(i) flowering (para 6)
(ii) nonstop (para 7)

 Read the passage given below:

1. Every morning Ravi gives his brain an extra boost. We're not talking about drinking strong cups of coffee or playing one of those mind-training video games advertised all over Facebook. "I jump onto my stationary bike and cycle for 45 minutes to work," says Ravi. "When I get to my desk, my brain is at peak activity for a few hours." After his mental focus comes to a halt later in the day, he starts it with another short spell of cycling to be able to run errands.

2. Ride, work, ride, repeat. It's scientifically proven system that describes some unexpected benefits of cycling. In a recent study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, scientists found that people scored higher on tests of memory, reasoning, and planning after 30 minutes of spinning on a stationary bike than they did before they rode the bike. They also completed the tests faster after pedalling.

3. Exercise is like fertilizer for your brain. All those hours spent on exercising your muscles, create rich capillary beds not only in leg and hip muscles, but also in your brain. More blood vessels in your brain and muscles mean more oxygen and nutrients to help them work. When you pedal, you also force more nerve cells to fire. The result: you double or triple the production of these cells – literally building your brain. You also release neurotransmitters (the messengers between your brain cells) so all those cells, new and old, can communicate with each other for better, faster functioning. 'That's a pretty profound benefit to cyclists.

4. This kind of growth is especially important with each passing birthday, because as we age, our brains shrink and those connections weaken. Exercise restores and protects the brain cells. Neuroscientists say, "Adults who exercise display sharper memory skills, higher concentration levels, more fluid thinking, and greater problem-solving ability than those who are sedentary."

5. Cycling also elevates your mood, relieves anxiety, increases stress resistance, and even banishes the blues. "Exercise works in the same way as psychotherapy and antidepressants in the treatment of depression, maybe better," says Dr. Manjari. A recent study analyzing 26 years of research finds that even some exercise – as little as 20 to 30 minutes a day – can prevent depression over the long term.

6. Remember: although it's healthy, exercise itself is a stress, especially when you're just getting started or getting back into riding. When you first begin to exert yourself, your body releases a particular hormone to raise your heart  rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels, says Meher Ahluwalia, PhD, a professor of integrative physiology. As you get fitter, it takes a longer, harder ride to trigger that same response.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, complete the statements given below with the help of the options that follow:

(a) Ravi gets his brain to work at peak level by

(i) drinking three cups of coffee.
(ii) playing games that need brain activity.
(iii) cycling on a stationary bike.
(iv) taking tablets to pump up his brain.


(b) When nerve cells work during exercise then

(i) the body experiences stress.
(ii) the brain is strengthened by multiplying them.
(iii) you start to lose your temper.
(iv) your stationary cycle starts to beep.


Answer the following questions briefly:
(c) How does exercise help the brain?
(d) Why does Ravi do a circuit of 'ride, work, ride'?
(e) What is the work of neurotransmitters?
(f) What benefits other than greater brain activity does one get from cycling?
(g) Why is exercise so important for adults?
(h) How is exercise itself a stress?

(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
(i) manure (para 3)
(ii) inactive (para 4)

Read the passage given below:

Keeping cities clean is essential for keeping their residents healthy. Our health depends not just on personal hygiene and nutrition, but critically also on how clean we keep our cities and their surroundings. The spread of dengue and chikungunya are intimately linked to the deteriorating state of public health conditions in our cities.

The good news is that waste management to keep cities clean is now getting attention through the Swachh Bharat Mission. However, much of the attention begins and stops with the brooms and the dustbins, extending at most to the collection and transportation of the mixed waste to some distant or not so distant place, preferably out of sight.

The challenge of processing and treating the different streams of solid waste, and safe disposal of the residuals in scientific landfills, has received much less attention in municipal solid waste management than is expected from a health point of view.

One of the problems is that instead of focusing on waste management for health, we have got sidetracked into "waste for energy". If only we were to begin by not mixing the biodegradable component of solid waste (close to 60 percent of the total) in our cities with the dry waste, and instead use this stream of waste for compositing and producing a gas called methane.

City compost from biodegradable waste provides an alternative to farmyard manure (like cow-dung). It provides an opportunity to simultaneously clean up our cities and help improve agricultural productivity and quality of the soil. Organic manure or compost plays a very important role as a supplement to chemical fertilisers in enriching the nutrient-deficient soils. City compost can be the new player in the field.

Benefits of compost on the farm are well-known. The water holding capacity of the soil which uses compost helps with drought-proofing, and the requirement of less water per crop is a welcome feature for a water-stressed future. By making the soil porous, use of compost also makes roots stronger and resistant to pests and decay. Farmers using compost, therefore, need less quantity of pesticides. There is also evidence to suggest that horticulture corps grown with compost have better flavour, size, colour and shelf-life.

City compost has the additional advantage of being weed-free unlike farmyard manure which brings with it the seeds of undigested grasses and requires a substantial additional labour cost for weeding as the crops grow. City compost is also rich in organic carbon, and our soils are short in this.

Farmers clearly recognize the value of city compost. If city waste was composted before making it available to the farmers for applying to the soil, cities would be cleaned up and the fields around them would be much more productive.

Quite apart from cleaning up the cities of biodegradable waste, this would be a major and sustainable contribution to improving the health of our soil without further damage by excessive chemical inputs. What a marvellous change from waste to health!

The good news is that some states are regularly laying plastic roads. Plastic roads will not only withstand future monsoon damage but will also solve a city's problem of disposing of non-recyclable plastic. It is clear that if the mountains of waste from our cities were to be recycled into road construction material, it would tackle the problem of managing waste while freeing up scarce land.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary (minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.


Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:           

The most alarming of man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrevocable; the chain of evil it initiates is for the most part irreversible. In this contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world; radiation released through nuclear explosions into the air, comes to the earth in rain, lodges into the soil, enters the grass or corn, or wheat grown there and reaches the bones of a human being, there to remain until his death. Similarly, chemicals sprayed on crops lie long in soil, entering living organisms, passing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death. Or they pass by underground streams until they emerge and combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and harm those who drink from once pure wells.

It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth and reached a stage of adjustment and balance with its surroundings. The environment contained elements that were hostile as well as supporting. Even within the light of the sun, there were short wave radiations with power to injure. Given time, life has adjusted and a balance reached. For time is the essential ingredient, but in the modern world is no time.

The rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature. Radiation is no longer the bombardment of cosmic rays; it is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom. The chemicals to which life is asked to make adjustments are no longer merely calcium and silica and copper and all the rest of the minerals washed out of the rocks and carried in the rivers to the sea; they are the synthetic creations of man’s inventive mind, brewed in his laboratories, and having no counterparts in nature.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply a title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.


1. Read the passage given below :
 1. Maharana Pratap ruled over Mewar only for 25 years. However, he accomplished so much grandeur during his reign that his glory surpassed the boundaries of countries and time turning him into an immortal personality. He along with his kingdom became a synonym for valour, sacrifice and patriotism. Mewar had been a leading Rajput kingdom even before Maharana Pratap occupied the throne. Kings of Mewar, with the cooperation of their nobles and subjects, had established such traditions in the kingdom, as augmented their magnificence despite the hurdles of having a smaller area under their command and less population. There did come a few thorny occasions when the flag of the kingdom seemed sliding down. Their flag once again heaved high in the sky thanks to the gallantry and brilliance of the people of Mewar.
 

2. The destiny of Mewar was good in the sense that barring a few kings, most of the rulers were competent and patriotic. This glorious tradition of the kingdom almost continued for 1500 years since its establishment, right from the reign of Bappa Rawal. In fact only 60 years before Maharana Pratap, Rana Sanga drove the kingdom to the pinnacle of fame. His reputation went beyond Rajasthan and reached Delhi. Two generations before him. Rana Kumbha had given a new stature to the kingdom through victories and developmental work. During his reign, literature and art also progressed extraordinarily. Rana himself was inclined towards writing and his works are read with reverence even today The ambience of his kingdom was conducive to the creation of high quality work of art and literature. These accomplishments were the outcome of a longstanding tradition sustained by several generations.
 
3. The life of the people of Mewar must have been peaceful and prosperous during the long span of time; otherwise such extraordinary accomplishment in these fields would not have been possible. This is reflected in their art and literature as well as their loving nature. They compensate for lack of admirable physique by their firm but pleasant nature. The ambience of Mewar remains lovely thanks to the cheerful and liberal character of its people.
 
4. One may observe astonishing pieces of workmanship not only in the forts and palaces of Mewar but also in public utility buildings. Ruins of many structures which are still standing tall in their grandeur are testimony to the fact that Mewar was not only the land of the brave but also a seat of art and culture. Amidst aggression and bloodshed, literature and art flourished and creative pursuits of literature and artists did not suffer. Imagine, how glorious the period must have been when the Vijaya Stambha which is the sample of our great ancient architecture even today, was constructed. In the same fort, Kirti Stambha is standing high, reflecting how liberal the then administration was which allowed people from other communities and kingdoms to come and carry out construction work. It is useless to indulge in the debate whether the Vijaya Stambha was constructed first or the Kirti Stambha. The fact is that both the capitals are standing side by side and reveal the proximity between the king and the subjects of Mewar.
 
5. The cycle of time does not remain the same Whereas the reign of Rana Sanga was crucial in raising the kingdom to the acme of glory, it also proved to be his nemesis. History took a turn. The fortune of Mewar – the land of the brave, started waning. Rana tried to save the day with his acumen which was running against the stream and the glorious traditions for sometime.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer each of the questions given below with the help of options that follow :
 
(a) Maharana Pratap became immortal because :
(i) he ruled Mewar for 25 years.
(ii) he added a lot of grandeur to Mewar.
(iii) of his valour, sacrifice and patriotism.
(iv) both (ii) and (iii)
 
(b) Difficulties in the way of Mewar were :
(i) lack of cooperation of the nobility.
(ii) ancient traditions of the kingdom.
(iii) its small area and small population.
(iv) the poverty of the subjects.

(c) During thorny occasions :
(i) the flag of Mewar seemed to be lowered.
(ii) the flag of Mewar was hoisted high.
(iii) the people of Mewar showed gallantry.
(iv) most of the rulers heaved a sigh of relief.
 
(d) Mewar was lucky because :
(i) all of its rulers were competent.
(ii) most of its people were competent.
(iii) most of its rulers were competent.
(iv) only a few of its people were incompetent.
 
Answer the following questions briefly:
(e) Who is the earliest king of Mewar mentioned in the passage?
(f) What was Rana Kumbha's contribution to the glory of Mewar?
(g) What does the writer find worth admiration in the people of Mewar?
(h) How could art and literature flourish in Mewar?
(i) How did the rulers show that they cared for their subjects?
(j) What does the erection of Vijaya Stambha and Kirti Stambha in the same fort signify ?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following:
(i) surprising (para 4)
(ii) evidence (para 4)

Read the passage given below :

1. To ensure its perpetuity, the ground is well held by the panther both in space and in time. It enjoys a much wider distribution over the globe than its bigger cousins and procreates sufficiently profusely to ensure its continuity for all time to come.

2. There seems to be no particular breeding season of the panther, although its sawing and caterwauling is more frequently heard during winter and summer. The gestation period is about ninety to a hundred days (Whipsnade, ninety-two days). The litter normally consists of four cubs, rarely five. Of these, generally, two survive and not more than one reaches maturity. I have never come across more than two cubs at the heels of the mother. Likewise, graziers in the forest have generally found only two cubs hidden away among rocks, hollows of trees, and other impossible places.
 
3. Panther cubs are generally in evidence in March They are born blind. This is a provision of Nature, against, their drifting away from the place of safety in which they are lodged by their mother, and exposing themselves to the danger of their being devoured by hyenas, jackals, and other predators. They generally open their eyes in about three to four weeks.
 
4. The mother alone rears its cubs in seclusion. It keeps them out of the reach of the impulsive and impatient male. As a matter of fact, the mother separates from the male soon after mating and forgets all about their tumultuous union. The story that the male often looks in to find out how the mother is progressing with her cubs has no foundation except in what we wish it should do at least.
 
5. The mother carries its cubs about by holding them by the scruff of their neck in its mouth. It trains them to stalk and teaches them how to deliver the bite of death to the prey. The cubs learn to treat all and sundry with suspicion at their mother’s heels. Instinctively the cubs seek seclusion, keep to cover and protect their flanks by walking along the edge of the forest.
 
6. I have never had an opportunity to watch mother panther train its cubs. But in Pilibhit forests, I once saw a tigress giving some lessons to its little ones. I was sitting over its kill at Mala. As the sunset, the tigress materialized in the twilight behind my machan. For about an hour, it scanned and surveyed the entire area looking and listening with the gravest concern. It even went to the road where my elephant was awaiting my signal. The mahout spotted it from a distance and drove the elephant away.
 
7. When darkness descended upon the scene and all was well and safe, the tigress called its cubs by emitting a low haa-oon. The cubs, two in number and bigger than a full-grown cat, soon responded. They came trotting up to their mother and hurried straight to the kill in indecent haste. The mother spitted at them so furiously that they doubled back to its heels immediately. Thereafter, the mother and its cubs sat undercover about 50 feet (15 m) away from the kill to watch, wait, look, and listen. After about half an hour’s patient and fidget less vigil the mother seemed to say ‘paid for’. At this signal, the cubs cautiously advanced, covering their flanks, towards the kill. No longer did they make a beeline for it, as they had done before.
 
8. The mother sat watching its cubs eat. and mounted guard on them. She did not partake of the meal.
 
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage complete the statements given below with the help of options that follow :
 
(a) To protect its cubs the mother panther hides them
(i) among rocks
(ii) in the branches of the trees
(iii) behind the tree trunks
(iv) at its heels
 
(b) The male panther :
(i) is protective of its cubs
(ii) trains its cubs
(iii) watches the progress of the mother
(iv) is impulsive and impatient

Answer the following questions briefly :
 
(c) How many cubs does the mother panther rarely deliver?
 
(d) What may happen if the panther cubs are not born blind?
 
(e) Why did the mahout drive his elephant away?
 
(f) Why did the tigress spit at its cubs?
 
(g) From the narrator's observation, what do we learn about the nature of the tigress?
 
(h) Why does the panther not face the risk of extinction?
 
(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following :
(i) moving aimlessly (para 3)
(ii) came down / fell (para 7)

Read the passage given below:

People tend to amass possessions, sometimes without being aware of doing so. They can have a delightful surprise when they find something useful which they did not know they owned. Those who never have to change house become indiscriminate collectors of what can only be described as clutter. They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards, and attics for years in the belief that they may one day need them. Old people also accumulate belongings for two other reasons, lack of physical and mental energy, and sentiment. Things owned for a long time are full of associations with the past, perhaps with the relatives who are dead, and so they gradually acquire a sentimental value.

Some things are collected deliberately in an attempt to avoid wastage. Among these are string and brown paper, kept by thrifty people when a parcel has been opened. Collecting small items can be mania. A lady cuts out from newspaper sketches of model clothes that she would like to buy if she had money. As she is not rich, the chances are that she will never be able to afford such purchases. It is a harmless habit, but it litters up her desk.

Collecting as a serious hobby is quite different and has many advantages. It provides relaxation for leisure hours, as just looking at one’s treasure is always a joy. One doesn’t have to go out for amusement as the collection is housed at home. Whatever it consists of - stamps, records, first editions of books, china – there is always something to do in connection with it, from finding the right place for the latest addition to verifying facts in reference books. This hobby educates one not only in the chosen subject but also in general matters which have some bearing on it.

There are other benefits also. One gets to meet like-minded collectors to get advice, compare notes, exchange articles, to show off one’s latest find. So one’s circle of friends grows. Soon the hobby leads to traveling, perhaps a meeting in another town, possibly a trip abroad in search of a rare specimen, for collectors are not confined to one country. Over the years one may well become an authority on one’s hobby and will probably be asked to give informal talks to little gatherings and then, if successful, to larger audiences.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also, supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
The Jahangir Art Gallery, the State Bank of lndia building and the canteen close by which offered affordable fare, the amazing street fare, bhelpuri and vadapav. The joy of reading Bombay Times with its page 3 people one would never meet but who seemed like old friends. The Strand bookstore where one could browse for hours. And just when a book was longingly but firmly put down from nowhere, Mr Shanbagh would materialise magically at one's elbow with a special price. Not to forget the joys of trawling the booklined pavements at Fountain, where one could watch the world go by. And wherever I chose to go, there was always my friend, the sea, oh. I loved her, in all her moods, but especially in the monsoon when violent and enraged she splattered Worli seaface with walls of sea spray. My friends are lost, some passed away, some moved away, there were many whose names I never found out, though we took the train together, or met in the lift, every day.

Like every migrant, I promise myself, someday I will return. I may, perhaps, return sometime, but even so, I know, "that one cannot step into the same river twice." You seduced me steadily, o Mumbai, with your glamour and bright lights. City of dreams, tinsel town. I pay tribute to you. Today, I say good-bye with a heavy heart.

(1) What does this extract focus on?

(2) Which mood of the sea did the writer like the most?

(3) How would the writer spend her free time?

( 4) According to you, how can you make your locality clean and beautiful?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) She splattered Worli seaface with walls of sea spray.
(Rewrite it using the Simple Present tense.)

(ii) I never found out their names though we took the train together
(Make it a Compound Sentence.)

(iii) I promise myself, someday I will return.
(Rewrite it using the modal auxiliary 'must'.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean -

(i) courageously

(ii) attracted


(A) Read the fo llowing extract and answer the questions given below :

Kalpana Chawla was extremely proud other birth-place and made every effort to bring it into the lime-light. During space flights she vit, (mid prondk point it out to her Fellow-astronauts. Once, during the second Hight she remembered her closest friend, Dais Chawla, who died in a road accident. In fact, despite her celebrity status, she took pains to track down her former teachers, classmates and friends in India and showed a keen desire to stay in touch with them.

Her affectionate and humble nature won the hearts of all who came in contact with her. Although Kalpana had a strong desire to go to Mars, fly over its canyons she was equally concerned about the well-being of the earth. She always urged young people to listen to the sounds of nature and take care of our fragile planet. During, her space trips, she took many breatlitakilig photographs of the earth for various terrestrial studies later on the ground. When she was in space, she always felt a sense of connection with everyone on the earth.

It was Kalpana's cherished desire to visit India again. But that was not to be. A few months after her tragic death, Harrison visited India. He went to her school and college, met her family, teachers and friends and scattered her ashes over the Himalayas.

(1) What is the extract about? (1)

(2) How was Kalpana connected with India and Indians? (2)

(3) How was Kalpana concerned about the well-being of the earth? (2)

(4) What would you like to do For India? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

(i) She took many breathtaking photographs of the earth.
(Rewrite it using the Present Perfect Continuous tense.) (1)

(ii) He scattered her ashes over the Himalayas.
(Rewrite it beginning with 'Her ashes ...... ')(1)

(iii) Kalpana was extremely proud of her birth-place and made every effort to bring it into limelight.
(Rewrite it using 'not only ...... but also'.)(1)

( 6) Give the antonyms from the extract for -

(i) collected                           (1/2)
(ii) forgot                              (1/2)

(B) Summary :
Write a summary of the above extract with the help of the following
points and suggest a suitable title :
Points : Kalpana's affection towards India and Indians her humble - nature her love for the earth Harrison's visit to India. (4)


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
That day Reuben fold two sacks, which he took to the rambling wooden factory and sold to the man in charge of packing nails. The boy's hand tightly clutched the small five-cent pieces as he ran two kilometres home.
Near his house stood the ancient barn that housed the family's goats and chickens. Reuben found a rusty baking- soda tin and dropped his coins inside. Then he climbed into the loft of the barn and hid the can beneath a pile of sweet-smelling hay.
It was supper time when Reuben got home. His father sat at the big kitchen table, working on a fishing net. Dora was at the black kitchen range, ready to serve dinner as Reuben took his place at the table.
He looked at his mother and smiled. Sunlight from the window gilded her, shoulder-length blond hair. Five foot three, slim and beautiful, she was the centre of the home, the glue that held it together.
Her chores were never-ending. Sewing clothes for her family on the old Singer treadle machine, cooking meals and baking bread, planting a vegetable garden. milking the goats and scrubbing soiled clothes on a washboru·d. But she was happy. Her family and their wellbeing were her highest priority.
Every day after chores and school, Reuben scoured the town, collecting the burlap nail bags. On the day the two-room schoolhouse closed for the summer, no student was more delighted than Reuben. Now he would have more time to devote to his mission.

(1) What is the main theme of the extract? (1)

(2) Where did Reuben keep his savings? Why? (2)

(3) Describe Reuben's mother and her daily chores. (2)

(4) What would you like to present to your mother on Mother's Day? Why? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

(i) He looked at his mother and smiled.
(Rewrite it as a Simple Sentence.) (1)

(ii) Her family and their well-being were her highest priority.
(Rewrite it in the Positive Degree.) (1)

(iii) She was the centre of the home. (1)
(Make it a Rhetorical Question)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean -

(i) dried grass (1/2)

(ii) routine tasks (1/2)


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Now, as I stood on the shore of that desolate Highland loch
I raised my voice in a surge of self-justification : ''By Heavens!
This is my opportunity. Gastric ulcer or no gastric ulcer, I will
write a novel.'' Before I could change 1ny mind I walked straight to the village and bot1ght myself two dozen penny exercise books.
Upstairs in my cold, clean bedroom was a scrubbed deal table and a very hard chair. Next morning, I found myself in this chair, facing a new exercise book open upon the table, slowly' becoming aware that, short of dog-Lati11 prescriptions, I had never composed a significant phrase in all my life. It was a discot1raging thought as I picked 11p my pen and gazed out of the window. Never mind, I would begin. Three hours later Mrs. Angus, the farmer's wife, called me to dinner. The page was still blank.
As I went dow-n to m:y milk and junket-they call this  "curds'' in Tarbert - I felt a dreadful fool. I felt like the wretched poet in Daudet's Jack whose im1nortal masterpiece never progressed beyond its stillborn opening phrase : ''In a remote valley of Pyrenees ..... ". I recollected, rather gri111ly, the sharp advice with which my old schoolmaster had goaded me to action. ''Get it down!'' he had said. ''If it ~tops in your head it will always be nothing.
Get it down.'' And so, after lunch, I went upstairs and began to get it down.

(1) What is the main idea of the extract? (1)
(2) Why did the narrator buy two dozen penny exercise books? (2)
(3) How was the narrator unprepared for writing his novel? (2)
(4) Write in brief about what you will do in your forthcoming vacation. (2)
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) I stood on the shore of that desolate Highland loch.
(Rewrite it using 'used to'.) (1)
(ii) I went down to my milk and junket.
(Rewrite it in the Past Perfect Tense.) (1)
(iii) I walked straight to the village and bought myself
two dozen penny exercise books. (Make it simple). (1)
(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean:
(i) chance  (1/2)
(ii) lake   (1/2)


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
We commemorate so many special days such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Mother's Day and so on. Well, here is one day that deserves not only a commemoration but our total dedication - Earth Day, 22 April. At Sanctuary, we live our lives like every day is Earth Day, but we all believe that it would be, fantastic to remind our relatives, friends, neighbours, teachers, and elders on this day that protecting Mother Earth can end up making us both happy and safe.
Will you do something this Earth Day? Here's a handy list of things you can do-

(1) Cut Consumption: Consume as little as possible on Earth Day. This 'is a day·when you ca!l Refuse (to buy new things), Repair and Reuse (old stuff), Recycle (what you cannot reuse), Reject (stuff that is toxic or dangerous to the environment) and Renew (your purpose and resolve to protect the planet).

(2) Cut Energy: (a) Ditch the old incandescent bulbs and shift to CFLs or LEDs (Google both to find out more). (b) Walk or use public transport, try not to use private cars to save fuel. Carpool. Cut down on trips. Use Skype· instead of traveling for meetings. (c) Switch off unnecessary gadgets. (don't just use the remote .... walk to the mains!).

(3) Cut Waste: Start a waste segregation system in your building, school or neighbourhood. Compost organic waste, sell what you can to the raddi-wallah and give him a small token of.. appreciation also for he is protecting your world. Collect unused papers from old notebooks and make new ones from them.

(4) Cut out plastic: Speak to at least five shopkeepers in your area and tell them you and your friends will only use their shops if they move away from wasteful plastic packaging, particularly thin plastic bags.

(1) What do you understand from this extract?
(2) What steps can we take to keep our environment clean?
(3) Why should we commemorate Earth Day?
(4) What is your opinion regarding shifting to CFLs or LEDs?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) Earth Day deserves a commemoration and our total dedication.
(Use 'not only - but also'.)
(ii) Start a Waste Segregation System in your building.
(Rewrite it beginning with 'Let'.)
(iii) You can sell waste to the raddi-wallah and give him a
small token of appreciation.
(Replace the modal auxiliary by another showing 'obligation'.)
(6) What do the following words in the extract mean?
(i) resolve
(ii) toxic


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Researchers recently announced the earth could actually withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits, and only at 1·3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being ina can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6·5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwide. Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that the population would reach 11·I6 billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9·3 billion. Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11·5 billion. While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure - the poorest 20% a tiny 1·3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated?
  Concerns on the scarcity of food are equally baseless. In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth. If people starve in many countries it is not because food is becoming scarce; it is because those people cannot afford it.

Questions:
(1) What conclusions did the researchers arrive at?

(2) How does the writer explain that fertility is on the decline?

(3) What does the extract predict about the fear of scarcity of food?

(4) How will the population become a gift in the global market scene?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) The earth could withstand up to 200,000 times the current population.
(Rewrite the sentence using the modal auxiliary showing 'certainty'.)
(ii) The earth would be too hot to be habitable.
(Remove 'too' and rewrite the sentence.)
(iii) These resources are being used.
(Rewrite the sentence beginning with, 'We ........... .')

(6) Write the antonyms of:
(i) habitable
(ii) stabilize


Read the following extract and answer the question given below:    (11)
Researchers· recently announced the earth could actually
withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits. and only at l ·3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being in a can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6·5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwideThough
population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that population would reach l l · 16  billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9·37 billion. Moreover, human population will stabilize at about 11 ·5 billion.While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
         True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world 's people in the highest income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure - the poorest 20% a tiny 1 ·3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated? 
     Concerns on scarcity of food are equally baseless. In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth . If people starve in many countries it is not because food is becoming scarce; it is because those people cannot afford it.

Questions: 
(1)  What conclusions did the researchers arrive at? (1)
( 2) How does the writer explain that the fertility is  on the
decline?   (2) 

(3) What does the extract predict about the fear-, of scarcity of food? (2)
( 4) How will population become a gift in the global market
scene? (2) 
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) The earth could withstand upto 200,000 times the
current population.
(Rewrite the sentence using the modal auxiliary showing 'certainty'.)  (I)
(ii) The earth would be too hot to be habitable.
(Remove ' too' and rewrite the sentence.) (1) 
(iii) These resources are being used. 
(Rewrite the sentence beginning with, 'We ............ ') (I)
( 6) Write the antonyms of:
(i) habitable      (1/2)
.
(ii) stabilize       ( 1/2 )


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below.         

            I grew up in India in which telephones were both rare and virtually useless. When I left India in 1975 to go to the US for graduate studies, we had perhaps, 600 million residents in the country and just two million landline telephones. Having a telephone was a rare privilege: if you weren’t an important government official, or a doctor, or a journalist, you might languish in a long waiting list and never receive a phone.

             Telephone were such a rarity (after all, 90% of population had access to a telephone line) that elected members of Parliament had amongst their privileges the right to allocate 15 telephone connections to whomever they deemed worthy.

              And if you did have a phone, it wasn’t necessarily a blessing. I spent my high school years in Calcutta, and I remember that if you picked up your phone, you had no guarantee you would reach the number you had dialled. Sometimes you were connected to someone else’s ongoing conversation, and they had no idea you were able to hear them; there was even a technical term for it, the ‘cross - connection’ (appropriately, since these were connections that made us very cross). If you wanted to call another city, say Delhi, you had to book a ‘trunk call’ in the morning and then sit by the telephone all day waiting for it to come through; or you could pay eight times the going rate for a ‘lightning call’ = but even lightning struck slowly in India those days, so it only took half an hour instead of the usual three or four or more to be connected.
 

Questions:

(1). Why were telephones a rarity before 1975? (1)

(2) What special rights did elected members of Parliament use to have? (2)

(3) How did the author differentiate between a ‘trunk call’ and a ‘lightning call’?  (2)

(4) Do you think the cellphone has made us global?  (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed.  . (3)

(i) You could pay eight times the going rate for a ‘lighting call’. (Rewrite it using modal auxiliary showing compulsion) 

(ii) I spent my high school years in Calcutta. [Rewrite it using past perfect tense] 

(iii) Telephones were a rarity. [Make it a rhetorical question] 

(6) Match the words in column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’.  (1)

  Column A   Column B
(i) Privilege
(i)
means to reach or get
(ii) Access
(ii)
remedy
    (iii) special right

 

 


Read the following extract and answer the questions given
below : 

          In 1945 in Bay Roberts, Canada, a 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price -five dollars-was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family.
         Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. Everything Mark Earle made by fishing, Reuben's mother, Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children.
      Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, "but I don't have the money now. Can you please hold it for me?" ·
    "I will try," the shopkeeper smiled. ''Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while.,.
     Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the May sunlight. The bay rippled in a freshening wind that ruffled his short hair. There was purpose in his loping stride. He
would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.
     Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea.

     He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in burlap sack from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded in the flurry of buildings, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece.

(1) What did Reuben decide to do to raise the required amount?
(2) How much money did Reuben need? Why?
(3) Why couldn't Reuben ask his father for the money?
(4) What is special about the gifts which are given on special occasions?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences as directed :
(i) Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money.
(Rewrite the sentence using ' be able to'.)
(ii) Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea. 
(Rewrite the sentence using 'and'.)
(iii) He could sell them back to the factory.
·(Rewrite the sentence beginning with: 'They ..... ')

(6) Match the words in column 'A' with their meanings in
column 'B':

column 'A' column 'B'
folk natural harbour
bay sticks
  people

Read the following passage and do the activities.

In the early days of farming, people did not understand how plants obtained essential nutrients. It so happened that wood ash, fish remains and slaughterhouse waste were thrown on vacant land just to get rid of them. Then, people started to notice that the grass, bushes and shrubs on this vacant land began to grow very well. They reasoned that if their farmland were similarly treated, the growth of their crops would also improve. People gradually began to realize that the nutrients required by plants came from the soil and that the amount of nutrients could be increased by the application of such organic remains to the soil. Thus started the manuring process in farming.
The practice of manuring has been practised as early since the seventeenth century. However, the importance of manuring was not properly understood until scientists began to study the nutritional needs of plants and gave birth to fertilizers. Thus, gradually, the use of fertilizers became accepted by farmers.
There are many types of manure and fertilizer currently being used. Manure is a substance derived from animals and plants. The most important advantage of using manure is the fact that they not only supply a wide range of plant
nutrients, but also improve the structure of the soil. It cements together the soil particles to form soil crumbs. The crumb structure is a desirable condition of cultivated soil. The addition of manure to soil will increase the inorganic and humus content which helps to prevent soil erosion and loss of plant nutrients when it rains. The common manure used in farming consists of farmyard manure, compost, blood meal, bone meal and fish meal.
Unlike manure, fertilizers are inorganic substances which do not improve the structure of the soil. They only supply extra amounts of nutrients to the growing plants when applied to the soil. The commercial fertilizers commonly used today
can be classified into three major categories; namely, nitrogen (N), phosphate and potash fertilizers.
Besides knowing the type of fertilizer to use, a farmer also needs to know when to apply the fertilizer and how to apply it. The fertilizer should be applied at the time when the plants need a particular nutrient most. The time and method
of application will determine how profitably the fertilizers have been used in farming. Fertilizers which have not been properly applied cannot be absorbed in large quantities by plant roots. These fertilizers may be washed away by rain
or they may kill the plants. This would mean a definite financial loss for the farmer.

(A1) Choose the correct option and rewrite the sentences.
(a) What did the people not understand in the early days of farming ? (1/2)
(i) how farming is done
(ii) how plants obtained essential nutrients
(iii) how grass, shrubs and bushes grow.

(b) What is manure ? (1/2)
(i) a substance derived from animals and plants.
(ii) the soil particles to form soil crumbs.
(iii) a combination of nitrogen, phosphate and potash.

(c) When should fertilizers be applied ? (1/2)
(i) When the plants get dried.
(ii) When the plants need a particular nutrient most.
(iii) In the early days of farming.

(d) What determines the profitability of the fertilizers ? (1/2)
(i) grass, bushes and shrubs
(ii) nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
(iii) The time and method of application.

(A2) How did the process of adding manure to the soil begin? (2)

(A3) Find out similar words from the passage. (2)
(i) necessary (ii) comprise
(iii) step by step (iv) ascertain

(A4)
(i) They supply extra amount of nutrients to the growing plants (Begin the sentence with ‘Extra amount of.......... ’.)(1)

(ii) It cements together the soil particles to form soil crumbs.
(Choose the correct option to name the tense.)(1)
(i) Simple present tense
(ii) Simple past tense
(iii) Simple future tense

(A5) ‘Agriculture plays important role in Indian economy’. Explain. (2)

(B) Read the passage given in Q. 4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable title to your summary. (5)


Read the following passage and do the activities.

Galaxies are vast clusters of thousands of millions of stars, planets, gases and dust, which are held together by gravity. There are over one thousand million galaxies, and each is a very long way from its nearest neighbour.
Galaxies were formed during the Big Bang explosion about 15,000 million years ago. When this phenomenon occurred, everything that was in the universe flew out in different directions. Scientists believe that the galaxies were formed from lumps of matter that resulted. However, the process is nowhere near complete. The universe is still expanding, galaxies are still moving away from each other, new stars are still being created.
Galaxies are classified according to their shapes. There are three main types. The most common type of galaxy is The Spiral. This has several spiral arms radiating out from the center. Spiral galaxies have a large cluster of stars in their nucleus. The second type is the Barred spiral. In this type of galaxy, the spiral arms curve away from the opposite ends of a sort of bar going through the middle of the nucleus. These contain large amounts of gas and dust as well stars. The third type of galaxy is electrical. These consist almost entirely of stars and contain very little gas or dust. Some galaxies have irregular, uneven shapes and cannot be classified.

(A1) State whether the following statements are true or false. 02
(1) The most common type of galaxy is the barred spiral.
(2) Galaxies are clusters, held by gravity.
(3) Scientists do not believe in the Big Bang explosion.
(4) Galaxies are moving from each other.

(A2) Complete the web chart. 02

(A3)
(a) Find out similar words from the passage. 01
(i) mass (ii) happenings
(b) Give the verb form of the given words. 01
(i) classified (ii) directions

(A4) Identify and name the clause. 02
Scientists believe that the galaxies were formed from the lumps of matter.

(A5) Can there be life in another galaxy? Give reasons for your answer. 02

(B) Read the passage given in Q. 4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable title to your summary. (05)


(A) Read the extract and do the activities that follows :

  “Pluck the flowers off”, said the other boy and the daisy trembled for fear, for to be pulled off meant death
to it; and it wished so much to live, as it was to go with the square of turf into the poor captive lark’s cage.
“No, let it stay,” said the other boy, “it looks so pretty.” And so it stayed, and was brought into the lark’s cage. The poor bird was lamenting its lost liberty, and beating its wings against the wires; and the little daisy could not speak or utter a consoling word, much as it would liked to do so. So the forenoon passed. “I have no water,” said the captive lark, “they have all gone out and forgotten to give me anything to drink. My throat is dry and burning. I feel as if I had fire and ice within me and the air is so oppressive. Alas! I must die, and part with the warm sunshine, the fresh green meadows, and all the beauty that God has created.” And it thrust its beak into the piece of grass, to refresh itself a little. Then it noticed the little daisy, and nodded to it, and kissed it with its beak and said : “You must also fade in here, poor little flower. You and the piece of grass are all they have given me in exchange for the whole world, which I enjoyed outside. Each little blade of grass shall be a green tree for me, each of your white petals a fragrant flower. Alas! You only
remind me of what I have lost .

A1. True / False - 
State whether the following statements are true or false :
(i) The boys had kept water in the cage for the lark.
(ii) The daisy had a desire to console the poor lark.
(iii) The lark was reminded of its lost liberty.
(iv) The daisy did not want to go into the lark’s cage.

A2. Write an imaginary ending : 
Write an imaginary paragraph in about 50 words to give a different ending to the above extract.


(B) Read the extract and do the activities that follows :

“May I come in?” asked the pink lady.
“Please come in,” said my mother. “Do sit down. Do you require a room?”
“Not today, thank you. I’m staying with Padre Dutt. He insisted on putting me up. But I may want a room
for a day or two – just for old times’ sake.”
“You’ve stayed here before.”
“A long time ago. I’m Mrs. Green, you know. The missing Mrs. Green. The one for whom you put up that handsome tombstone in the cementery. I was very touched by it. And I’m glad you didn’t add ‘Beloved wife of Henry Green’, because I didn’t love him any more than he loved me.”
“Then – then – you aren’t the skeleton?” Stammered my mother.
“Do I look like a skaleton?”
“No!”, we said together.
“But we heard you disappeared,” I said, “and when we found that skeleton —”
“You put two and two together.”
“Well, it was Miss Kellner who convinced us,” said my mother. “And you did disappear mysteriously. You
were missing for years. And everyone knew Mr. Green was a philander.”
“Couldn’t wait to get away from him,” said the pink lady. “Couldn’t stand him any more. He was a ladykiller
but not a real killer.”
“But your father came looking for you. Didn’t you get in touch with him?”
“ My father and I were never very close. Mother died when I was very young, and the only relative I had
was a cousin in West Africa. So that’s where I went – Sierra Leone!”

B1. Complete - 
Complete the following sentenses :
(i) Mrs. Green couldn’t stand Mr. Green, because ________.
(ii) The relationship between Mrs. Green and her father ________.
(iii) Mrs. Green cousin lived in ________.
(iv) Miss. Kellner convinced the narrator’s mother that the skeleton was of Mrs. Green, because ______.

B2. Convert dialogue into a story :
Convert the above dialogue into a story form in about 50 words.


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 be launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma Ghandhi on his 150 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" 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.

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

  1. What is the passage about?
  2. What was the result of incomplete participation of the people in the mission?
  3. Why has 2019 been kept as the target year of completion?
  4. What did Gandhiji say about sanitation?
  5. How can the problem of lack of sanitation be solved?
  6. How will it impact our economy?
  7. What has been banned in the offices?
  8. What request has been made to Indians to accomplish it?
  9. What does ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ aim at?

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

In 1945 in Bay Roberts, Canada, a 12- year old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price - five dollars- was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family.

Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. everything Mark Earle made fishing. Reuben's mother. Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children.

Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, "but I don't have the money now. can you please hold it for me?"

"I will try," the shopkeeper smiled. "Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while."

Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the May sunlight. The bay rippled in a freshening wind that ruffled his short hair. There was purpose in his loping stride. He would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.

Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street. Reuben had an idea.

He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in burlap sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded is the flurry of building, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents apiece.

Questions: 

(1) What is the passage about?

(2) What did Reuben ask the shopkeeper? What was the shopkeeper's reply?

(3) Why could not Reuben ask his father for five dollars?

(4) How do you express your love and respect for your parents?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

i. He opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. (Make it simple)

ii. "I will try."
(Rewrite the sentence using another modal Auxiliary showing 'obligation'.)

iii. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts.
(Frame a Wh question to get the underlined part as ita answer)

(6) Give the opposite words of:

(i) respectfully 

(ii) Usually 


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

        But being named an 'AdarshGaon' is far from easy. Villages had to give a proposal after which a committee headed by Mr. Pawar inspected the villages. "The Villages had to show dedication in the struggle to fight mediocrity. They had to follow all the conditions of becoming an 'AdarshGaon'. We chose villages with a revolutionary spark, "Mr. Pawar says.

        Villages need to follow strict rules. The process begins with effective water management through the watershed technique and water auditing. taking responsibility for the village's natural resources-planting trees and stopping grazing. contributing labour for the village work, and then expanding to bring about behavioral changes in the people for harboring social change. Hiware Bazaar is free of any kind of addiction and there are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village. Vasectomy has been made compulsory, as is the pre-marital HIV test. 

        The 'AdarshGaon' model prides itself on being based on the joint decisions made by the Gram Sabha, where all the villagers are present. Even while selecting the new villages under the scheme, Mr. Pawar made sure that the decision to become an ideal village was taken by the entire village together.

        The greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar so far has been the reverse migration that the village has witnessed since 1989. As many as 93 families have come back to the village," from the slums in Mumbai and Pune," Mr. Pawar says.

Questions:

(1) What features of 'Adarsh Gaon' are given in this extract? 

(2) What is the procedure for selecting 'Adarsh Gaon'?

(3) What is the greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar?        

(4) Do you think all villages in Maharashtra should follow the ideals of Hiware Bazaar? why?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

 i.  Mr. Pawar inspected the villages. 

    (Rewrite it using the noun form of the word underlined.)     

ii. Vasectomy has been made compulsory by the villagers.

   (Rewrite it beginning with-"The villagers........".)

iii. There are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village.

   (Rewrite it using 'neither......nor'.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean: 

(i) causing a great change 

(ii) the quality of being average


Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 

  To read a lot is essential. It is stupid not to venture outside the examination 'set books' or the textbooks you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books in English as you can., not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not close the most difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new words as possible. choose what is likely to interest you and be sure in advance, that it is not too hard. You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Lookup a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead. guessing what words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra reading and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which extensive reading gives. As you read, you will become more and more familiar with words and sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only slightly from others. 

       Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe that the spoken language and written language are quite different things. This is not so.    

Questions:

(1) What does the author tell us about the importance of reading English?

(2) What different steps are suggested to improve reading?

(3) What do some people say about learning the spoken form of a language?

(4) What will you do to improve your English?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed: 

i. To read a lot is essential. 

(Rewrite using gerund form of the words underlined.)

ii. Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book.

(Rewrite it using 'be able to'.)

iii. It is extensive. 

(Make it a Rhetorical question.) 

(6) You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning.

The underlined word here means: 

(i) develops

(ii) deprives of 

(iii) creates

(B) Write a summary of the above extract with the help of the outline given below and suggest a suitable title. 

Read a lot --- outside the textbooks --- for pleasure --- avoid difficult books ---read interesting ones --- avoid dictionary --- guess meanings --- extensive and not intensive reading --- different opinions. 


Read the first activity, read the extract and then do all the activities:

A1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct alternatives:

He goes for a morning walk at 1  p.m., because -
(1) ______________________________________________
(2) ______________________________________________
(a) He arrives from work past midnight.
(b) He has to stay in bed for a longer time till late morning.
(c) He has a special plan for early morning.
(d) He does not like to join the early birds' club.

Some people can just never wake up early. They munch their breakfast on the way to work.

They have excuses ready when they reach the office late. They miss trains on a regular basis. They have never seen a sunrise or met the milkman.

Until a loved one turned over a new leaf recently, she was one such late riser. Try as she might, she couldn't help pressing the snooze button a hundred times before she finally got up. She felt terrible about this tendency but there was nothing she could do about it. Come morning, She would just not be able to shrug off the desire to sleep a while more. Only when divine intervention answered her prayers recently was she able to join the early bird's club.

Another relative has no plans of joining this league through. She is rather unabashed about waking up past noon on a daily basis. To be fair, her husband is a media personality who typically arrives home from work past midnight. That does indeed give them sufficient justification to stay longer in slumberland each morning. This practice does lead to certain oddities through. He goes for his 'morning' walk at 1 pm, heatwaves, and appalled onlookers notwithstanding. They once returned from a night out only to meet the neighbour's son who was off on an early morning jog!

Early risers clearly have the edge in life. By the time most of us wake up, they've been through their morning rituals, enjoyed their walk, had their tea and read the daily news. They're also likely to have made long-distance calls before dawn to those similarly inclined. Thus, by the time the sun warms up they're likely to have discussed all varieties of 'men, matters, and affairs' with a dozen people.

A2. Web : 

Complete the following web :

A3. Complete the following statement :

Early risers clearly have the edge in life, because -
(1)
(2)

A4. Vocabulary : 

Match the words in column 'A' with their meanings in Column 'B'.

Column 'A' Column 'B'
(1) justification (a) dismiss
(2) oddities (b) sleep
(3) slumber (c) strange things
(4) shrug off (d) clarification

A5. Personal Response:
State two things that you can do to join the early birds' club.

A6. Grammar:
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

(1) She felt terrible about this tendency but there was nothing she could do about it. (Rewrite the sentence using 'although'.)

(2) They have never seen a sunrise or met the milkman. (Rewrite using 'neither ... nor'.)


A Read the first activity, read the extract and then do all the activities :

A1. Complete :

Complete the following sentences :

(1) The two organizations that conducted the research to develop a smartphone-based optical bio-sensor are _______ and __________ .

(2) The _________ and _________ methods were used in the research instead of the differential method.

Urea is a major product of nitrogen metabolism in humans. It is eliminated from the body mainly by the kidneys through urine. Urea levels in body fluids, such as blood and saliva, rise drastically under certain kidney dysfunctions. Heart failure, hypovolemic shock, gastrointestinal bleeding, and severe infections can also lead to a rise. Thus urea in blood and saliva provides key information on renal function and helps diagnose various disorders.

Most methods for estimating urea in body fluids are based on colorimetry. These methods are time-consuming and involve painful blood extraction. Collecting saliva is non-evasive and research has correlated salivary and blood urea levels.

Recently scientists from the IIT-D and the AIIMS, New Delhi successfully developed a smartphone-based optical biosensor to detect urea in saliva. To fabricate the sensor, they directly immobilised the urease enzyme with a pH indicator on a filter paper-based strip. As a response to the urea on saliva, the paper strip changes colour. The red, green and blue levels help measure urea concentration.

The scientists used the slope method, sensor response change per unit time, instead of the differential method, the difference in sensor response between two-time intervals, to increase sensitivity and eliminate interference by variations in ambient light.

The team clinically validated spiked saliva samples and samples from healthy volunteers.

The smartphone application with paper strip can even be operated by non-professional with limited training. This saves time and cost spent on bulky spectroscopic procedures. The report can revolutionise the medical screening of large populations. And such mass screening of diseases would boost national health.

A2. Complete the following sentence using the correct alternatives from those given below :

Two objectives to conduct the research are ___________ .

(i) The colorimetry method used to estimate urea in body fluids consumes more time.

(ii) Information obtained from the presence of urea in blood and saliva is not helpful to diagnose various diseases.

(iii) Collecting samples of saliva is a non-invasive procedure.

(iv) Blood extraction is the easiest and less painful exercise.

A3. Write two benefits of the smartphone-based optical biosensor.

A4. Find out similar-meaning words from the extract for the following words :

(1) specimen (2) extremely (3) focus (4) remove

A5. Personal Response : 

'Research revolutionises the lifestyle of people in all spheres of life'-

Do you agree? Explain with an example in about 25 words.

A6. Grammar :
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

(1) These methods are time consuming and painful.
(Rewrite the sentence using 'as well as'.)

(2) The smartphone application with paper-strip can be operated.
(Begin the sentence with 'They  ___ .) 

(B) Summerise the above extract with the help of the points given and suggest a suitable title::
Research by the organisations - methods adopted - reasons for the research - advantages.


Read the extract and do the activities that follow :

When Rosalind heard about Orlando's wound and saw the handkerchief stained with his blood, she also fainted; and later she told Oliver that she was really Rosalind, and loved Orlando dearly. Oliver had already fallen in love with gentle Celia, and he persuaded the two girls to accompany him to Duke Senior's court. Rosalind, however, wanted to play one more trick as Ganymede, so she made Oliver promise not to tell anyone that the young shepherd boy and his sister Aliena were really Rosalind and Celia.

And so Aliena and Ganymede were introduced to the old Duke, and he did not recognize his daughter, although he remarked on Ganymede's likeness to Rosalind.

Then the "shepherd boy" told Orlando and the Duke that he could find Rosalind and would bring her to them, making the Duke promise that he would allow his daughter to marry Orlando. she and Celia ran quickly to the shepherd's cottage, changed into their own clothes and removed the brown stains from their faces. Then they returned to the Duke, where they were welcomed with great rejoicing.

'To you, I give myself, for I am yours,' Rosalind said to the Duke, her father. Then she turned to Orlando and said: 'To you, I give myself, for I am yours.'

Rosalind and Orlando were married at once in the forest and on the same day Oliver who was no longer selfish and wicked, married Celia. Just as they were going to be married, a messenger came to ask Duke Senior to go back to his dukedom. Celia's father, Duke Frederick, had mended his wicked ways and asked his brother to return.

A1. True/False :

Choose the true statements from those given below and write them down :

(i) Rosalind played the role of a shepherd boy Ganymede.
(ii) Senior Duke recognised his daughter, Celia.
(iii) Oliver married Rosalind.
(iv) Duke Frederick had mended his wicked ways.

A2. Convert into a dialogue :

Convert the above extract into a dialogue form.


Read the extract and do the activities that follow :

Two weeks later, I wrote: "Dear Mum, thanks for the socks. But I wish you had sent me a food parcel instead. How about some guava cheese? And some mango pickle. They don't give us pickle in school. Headmaster's wife says it heats the blood."

"About that skeleton. If a dead body was hidden in that cupboard after 1930- must have been, if the newspapers of that year were under the skeleton - it must have been someone who disappeared around that time or a little later. Must have been before Tirloki joined the hotel, or he'd remember. What about the registers- would they give us a clue?"

Received a parcel containing guava cheese, strawberry jam, and mango pickle. HEadmaster confiscated the pickle. Maybe he needed it to heat his blood.

A note enclosed with parcel read: "Old hotel registers missing. Must have been thrown out. Or perhaps Mr. Green took them away when he left. Tirloki says a German spy stayed in the hotel just before the War broke out. The spy used to visit the Gurkha Lines and the armaments factory. He was passing information on to a dentist who visited Germany every year. When war broke out, the dentist was kept in a prisoner-of-war camp. The spy disappeared-some say to Tibet. Could the spy have been silenced and put away in the cupboard? But I keep forgetting it was a woman's skeleton. Tirloki says the spy was a man. But a clever spy may have been a woman dressed as a man. But a clever spy may have been a woman dressed as a man. what do you think? "

It was the football season, and I wasn't doing much thinking. Chasing a football in the monsoon mist and slush called for single-minded endurance, especially when we were being beaten 5-0 by Simla Youngs, a team of junior clerks from the government offices. Not the ideal training for a boy-detective. The winter holidays were still four months distant, and the case of the unidentified skeleton appeared to be resolving itself with a little help from my mother and her friends.

B1. Complete :
Complete the following sentences :

(1) The narrator's football team was beaten 5-0 by ___________ .
(2) Headmaster's wife says that ___________ .
(3) Things that the narrator received in the parcel are __________ .
(4) The German spy was passing information ___________ .

B2. Write a gist :

Write a gist of the extract in about 50 words.


(A) Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
       One afternoon in 1977, as his parents and two brothers fished in the Gulf of Mexico, 12-year old Michael Dell sat on the beach. painstakingly putting together a trotline - a maze of ropes to ''which several fish hooks could be attached."You're wasting your time," the rest of the family called to Michael, as they pulled in fish. "Grab a pole and join in the fun."
        Michael kept working. It was dinner time when he finished, and everyone else was ready to call it a day. Still, the youngster
cast the trotline far into the water. anchoring it to a stick that he plunged deep in the sand.
        Over dinner, his family teased young Michael about coming away empty-handed. But afterward, Michael reeled in his trotline, and on the hooks were more fish than the others had caught all together!
       Michael Dell has always been fond of saying, "If you think you have a good idea, try it!" And today, at 29 he has discovered the power of another good idea that has helped him rise in just a few years from teen to a tycoon. He has become the fourth-largest manufacturer of personal computers in America and the youngest man ever to head a Fortune 500 corporation.
(1) What were Michael Dell’s achievements at his age of 29?
(2) What is the secret of Michael Dell’s Success?
(3) How did Michael surprise his family members?
(4) Do you think trying new ideas can make your life successful? How?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) He has discovered the power of another good idea.
(Rewrite the sentence beginning with 'The power of ...' )
(ii) Michael Dell sat on the beach.
(Rewrite it using past perfect continuous tense.)
(iii) The youngster cast the trotline.
(Frame a Wh-question to get the underlined part as
its answer.)
(6) 'Grab a pole and join in the fun'.
Pick out the contextual meaning of the underlined word from
the options are given below:
(i) smash
(ii) hold firmly
(iii) throw away


Read the following extract and answer the questions given
below:

So what is a city? It's a dense amalgamation of buildings and people. A city must provide equity and also be sustainable. As an architect who has been closely connected with Delhi and its planning, my wish list is more about the direction we need to take
so that future generations don't end up living in chaotic dysfunctional cities.

The first requirement for a city is a pragmatic plan. Many of our cities such as Delhi and Bhubaneshwar and even Port Blair in the Andamans have reasonably good master plans. Many also have City Development Plans which have been made an essential
requirement to draw funds from the government's Urban Renewal Programme (JNNURM). But they should be updated frequently based on the changing needs of its people.

And let's not forget its citizens-they need to be more proactively involved when evolving master plans. But often, there's a lack of planning and inadequate implementation systems. This applies to all essential components of city-streets, public transport system, traffic management, affordable housing, cars and parking, drainage, water supply, sewerage, and garbage. Any deficiency in these will lead to poor quality cities which won't be able to handle the pressure of increased population and changing needs.
The second requirement of a good city is good social infrastructure such as parks and places for leisure such as river and sea fronts. It needs to preserve and protect its heritage.

(1) What does a city require to emerge as a good city?

(2) What is the second requirement of a good city?

(3) What are the basic requirements to draw funds from the government's-Urban Renewal programme (JNNURM)?

(4) What suggestions will you give to make your city ideal?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

(i) It's a dense amalgamation of buildings and people.
(Rewrite it using 'as well as'.)
(ii) A city must provide equity and also be sustainable.
(Rewrite it using another modal auxiliary showing "advice".)
(iii) The first requirement for a city is a pragmatic plan.
(Frame a 'Wh' ·question to get the underlined part as an answer.)

(6) Match the words in column 'A' with their meaning in 'B':

Column A Column B
1 pragmatic 1 blend
2 amalgamation 2 fantastic
  3 realistic
  4 ancient

Read the passage given below :

Globalization

Globalization is the way to open businesses, improve technological growth, economy, etc, at the international level for all countries. It is the way in which manufacturers and producers of the products or goods sell their products globally without any restriction. It provides huge profits to the businessmen as they get 1ow cost labor in poor countries easily. It provides a big opportunity for companies to„ deal with the worldwide market. 

Globalization helps to consider the whole world 'as a single market. Traders are extending their areas of business by treating the world as a global village. Earlier till the 1990s, there was a restriction on importing certain products that were already manufactured in India like agricultural products, engineering goods, food items, and toiletries. However, during the 1990s there was pressure from. the rich countries on the poor and developing countries to allow them to spread their businesses by opening their markets. In India, the globalization and liberalization process was started in 1991. 

After many years, globalization brought about a major revolution in the Indian market when multinational brands came to India and started delivering a wide range of quality products at cheap prices. Prices of good quality products came down because of the cutthroat competition in the market. 

Globalization and liberalization of the businesses in India have flooded the market with quality foreign products but have affected the local Indian industries adversely to a great extent resulting in job loss to poor and uneducated workers. Globalization has been a bonanza for the consumers, however, a loss to the small-scale Indian producers. 

Globalization has had some very positive effects on the Indian consumer in all sectors of society. It has affected the Indian students and education sector to a great extent by making study books and a lot of information available over the internet. The collaboration of foreign universities with Indian universities has brought about a huge change in the field of education.

Globalization of trade in the agricultural sector has brought varieties of quality seeds that have disease resistati8e; property. However, it is not good for the poor Indian farmers because the seeds and agricultural technologies are costly.

It has brought about a huge revolution in the employment sector by the spread of businesses like cottage, handloom, carpet, artisan carving, ceramic, jewelry, and glassware, etc

(a) What is globalization?

(b) Write any two advantages of globalization.

(c) What was the pressure from the rich countries in the 1990s?

(d) What is the effect of multinational brands entering the Indian market?

(e) How are the prices of quality products affected due to globalization?

(f) How have foreign products affected the local industry adversely?

(g) What has been the impact of globalization on Indian students?

(h) Why has globalization had a negative effect on the poor Indian farmer?

(i) How has the cottage industry benefited from globalization?


Read of the following passage and answer the questions:

When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as common as mosquitoes, and were often tamed by the Arabs. We were going to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer our mail from Europe. At the Consulate-General we found that my friend's mail had arrived but that mine had not.

Questions :

(a) What was 'they'?

(b) Where could the author get 'one'?

(c) Find the exact word from the extract which means 'domesticated.'

(d) What did the author find at the Consulate-General?


Read the passage given below.
Then all the windows of the grey wooden house (Miss Hilton used to live here. She expired last week.), were thrown open, a thing I had never seen before.
At the end of the day a sign was nailed on the mango tree: FOR SALE.
Nobody in the street knew Miss Hilton. While she lived, her front gate was always locked and no one ever saw her leave or saw anybody go in. So even if you wanted to, you couldn't feel sorry and say that you missed Miss Hilton.
When I think of her house I see just two colours. Grey and green. The green of the mango tree, the grey of the house, and the grey of the high iron fence that prevented you from getting at the mangoes.
If your cricket ball fell in Miss Hilton's courtyard you never got it back. It wasn't the mango season when Miss Hilton died. But we got back about ten or twelve of our cricket balls.
The house was sold and we were prepared to dislike the new owners ever before they came. I think we were a little worried. Already we had one resident of the street who kept on complaining about us to our parents. He complained that we played cricket on the pavment; and if we were not playing cricket he complained that we were making too much noise anyway.
One afternoon, when I came back from school Pal, said, "Is a man and a woman. She pretty pretty, but he ugly like hell". I didn't see much. The front gate was open, but the windows were shut again. I heard a dog barking in an angry way.
One thing was settled pretty quickly. Whoever these people were they would never be the sort of people to complain that we were making noise and disturbing their sleep.
A lot of noise came from the house that night. The radio was going at full volume until midnight when the radio station closed down. The dog was barking and the man was shouting. I didn't hear the woman.

On the basis of your understanding the above passage complete the following statements :

(a) Nobody went into Miss Hilton's house because her front __________.

(b) Her house had only two colours, (i) __________ and (ii) __________.

(c) High iron fence did not let the boys get __________.

(d) They never got it back if their __________ fell into her courtyard.

(e) The boys were ready to dislike the __________.

(f) One resident of the street always __________.

(g) New owners of Miss Hilton's house were (i) __________ and (ii) __________.

(h) A man was shouting, a dog was barking, only __________.


A. Read the following passage and do the given activities:

A1. List the benefits of Yoga (02)

  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______
  4. ______

We give undue importance to our health and the treatment of diseases. A large number of medicines treat only the symptoms of the disease, and not the root cause. In fact, the cause of many chronic ailments is still being researched. It is here that Yoga therapy comes to our assistance. Yoga emphasizes the treatment of the root cause of an ailment. It works in a slow, subtle and miraculous manner. Modern medicine can claim to save a life at a critical stage, but, for complete recovery and regaining of normal health, one must believe in the efficiency of Yoga therapy.

The Yogic way of life includes a code of ethics, regulations, discipline, combined with prayer and meditation. Even a discussion of these subjects helps one relieve mental tensions and change attitudes. Simple Asana has helped to stretch and relax the whole body and release tensions. The sincere practice of Yoga postures is beneficial, for the mind and body.

The continued practice of Yoga has a profound effect on the inner dimensions of life. Yoga aims at developing mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional facilities. Other forms of physical exercises, like aerobics, assure only physical well-being. They have little to do with the development of the soul and mind.

A2. Complete the following statement according to the passage: (02)

  1. One must believe in the ________
  2. Aerobics assure only __________

A3. Fill up the word-formation chart: (02)

Noun Verb Adjective
development ______ ______
______ believe ______

A4. 

  1. Yoga emphasizes the treatment of the root cause of an ailment.
    (Frame ‘Wh-‘ Question to get the underlined part as an answer) (02)
  2. We give undue importance to our health.
    (Begin with Undue importance......) (02)

A5. Do you believe Yoga Asanas are better than physical exercises? Justify your answer.

B. Summary Writing (5)

Write a short summary of the passage given in above and suggest a suitable title.


Read the passage given below.

 

 

 

 

5

I saw ‘Jaws’, the popular shark movie, the summer it came out, in 1975 and became paranoid about sharks. Though I kept swimming after Jaws, it was always with the vague fear that a shark’s teeth could tug on my leg at any moment. Never mind that there’d been only two shark bites since 1900 on the Connecticut coast, where I lived.
10 So, when I got this assignment for the National Geographic magazine, I decided to accept and do what I’d never wanted to do: swim with the sharks. I had to go to a place in the Bahamas known as Tiger Beach and dive with tiger sharks, the species responsible for more recorded attacks on humans than any shark except the great white. It was to be my first dive after getting certified-which meant it would be my first dive anywhere other than a swimming pool or a quarry-and without a diver’s cage. Most people who got wind of this plan thought I was either very brave or very stupid.

15

 

 

 

 

But I just wanted to puncture an illusion. The people who know sharks intimately tend to be the least afraid of them, and no one gets closer to sharks than divers. The divers who run operations at Tiger Beach speak lovingly of the tiger sharks and the way people talk about their children or their pets. In their eyes, these sharks aren’t man-eaters any more than dogs are.

20

 

 

 

25

The business of puncturing illusions is never just black and white. My fellow divers had hundreds of dives under their belt and on the two-hour boat ride to the site on the morning of our first dive, they kept saying things like, “Seriously, I really can’t believe this is your first dive.” All this was okay with me until I reached the bottom and immediately had to fend off the first tiger shark, I had ever laid eyes on. However, when I watched the other divers feeding them fish and steering them gently, it became easy to see the sharks in a very benign light.
30 I think it would be unfair not to mention that tiger sharks are apex predators. They act as a crucial balancing force in ocean ecosystems, constraining the numbers of animals like sea turtles and limiting their behaviour by preventing them from overgrazing the seagrass beds. Furthermore, tiger sharks love warm water, they eat almost anything, have a huge litter and are the hardiest shark species. If the planet and its oceans continue to warm, some species will be winners and others will be losers, and tiger sharks are likely to be winners.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below.

  1. Cite a point in evidence, from the text, to suggest that the writer's post-Jaws fear was not justified.
  2. State any one trait of the writer that is evident from lines 5-10 and provide a reason for your choice.
  3. People thought the writer was ‘either brave or very stupid’. Why did some people think that he was ‘very stupid’?
  4. Why does the writer say that people who know sharks intimately tend to be least afraid of them?
  5. Rewrite the given sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with another one, from lines 10-20.
    Some academicians think that reward, as a form of discipline, is a simple right or wrong issue.
  6. What does the use of the phrase ‘benign light’ suggest in the context of the writer’s viewpoint about tiger sharks?
  7. Select a suitable phrase from lines 15-25 to complete the following sentence appropriately.
    I agree the team will find this experience tough, but competing will be easier next time after they get this tournament ______
  8. Apex predators serve to keep prey numbers in check. How can we say that tiger sharks are apex predators?
  9. Analyse why having a large litter is one of the features that empower tiger sharks to emerge, winners, if global warming persists.

Read the following passage and do the activities.

November 4, 1851.

Dear Brother John Honston,

When I came to Charleston day before yesterday, I learned that you were anxious to sell the land where you live, and move to Missouri. I have been thinking of this ever since, and cannot but say such an idea is quite foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here? Is the land any richer? Can you, there, any more than here, raise com and wheat without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are; if you do not intend to work, you cannot get along anywhere. Crawling about from place to place can do you no good. You have raised no crop this year. What you really want is to sell the land, get the money and spend it. Part with the land you have and my life upon it-never after will you own a spot big enough to bury you. Half of what you will get for the land, you will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other hall you will eat, drink, wear out and no foot of land will be brought. Now I feel it my duty to have no hand in such a piece of foolery.

Now do not misunderstand this letter. I do not write it in any unkindness. I write it in order, if possible, to get you to face the truth which truth is, you are poor and needy because you have idled away your time. Your thousand excuses for not getting along better are all nonsense. They deceive nobody but yourself. To go to work is the only cure for your case.

Affectionately,
Your brother,
Abraham Lincoln.

A1. Answer the following whether True or False:

  1. Writer came to Charleston
  2. Writer is Abraham Lincoln
  3. Letter is for sister Honston
  4. No crop was raised

A2. How, according to Lincoln, would his brother spend the money coming from selling the land?

A3.

  1. Find out two words with prefix from the passage.
  2. Write two different words on your own by using the same prefix.

A4. Do as directed:

  1. Rewrite the sentence using 'Not only .......... but also'.
    She forgot to wish me on my birthday and did not even apologize.
  2. Change the voice:
    The workers built the dome.

A5. Lincoln wishes to have no hand in selling the land Justify.


Read the following passage and do the activities.

A1. Complete the following sentences.

  1. Vegetarianism has not spread as desired because ______.
  2. Vegetarians are of various types ______.

Vegetarianism promotes a natural way of life. But despite its implicit message of universal love and nonviolence, it has not spread as it should have. This may be because it usually is an inward looking habit and is best cultivated in the mind.

Leading a vegetarian way of life helps the animal kingdom to coexist with man. The animals supply milk, manure and energy. This has been central to Indian culture for thousands of years. A vegetarian lifestyle is natural, multifaceted and helps preservation in a healthy way. Food and health are closely related.

Vegetarians are of various types. There are lacto-vegetarians who consume dairy products; Lacto-ovo-vegetarians include eggs in addition to dairy products. Vegans are pure vegetarians who do not consume any food derived from animals.

The Western science of food considers food as something to sustain only the human body, whereas Indian science considers food as something which sustains not only the body, but also maintains the purity of heart, mind and soul. Thus, an item of food which is injurious to the mind is not considered to be fit for consumption, even if it is otherwise beneficial to the body or satisfies the taste. Indian food science does not give so much importance to protein or even to a balanced diet but it gives importance to food that increases the strength of the body and its vitality.

Vegetarian foods provide an infinite variety of flavours whereas non-vegetarian foods have hardly any taste of their own. In fact, non-vegetarian foods have to be seasoned with ingredients from the vegetable kingdom to make them palatable.

A2. What is the importance of eating vegetarian food?

A3.

  1. Pick out two adjectives from the given passage.
  2. Find words in the passage which mean the following:
    1. Indirect
    2. Tasty

A4. Convert the following sentence to negative without changing the meaning.

Leading a vegetarian way of life helps the animal kingdom to coexist with man.

A5. Why do you think vegetarianism is being promoted on a global level? Justify with your response.


Read the following passage and do the activities.

A1. Choose the correct option.  (2)

  1. Thousands of birds were killed due to oil spills because ______.
    1. It suffocated them
    2. It was poisonous
    3. Birds couldn't enter the sea
    4. There was no fish to feed on
  2. The primary components of crude oil are ______.
    1. Methane and ethane
    2. Carbon and hydrogen
    3. Sulphur compounds
    4. Naphthalene
During the Gulf War, a few years back, tens of thousands of sea birds were killed due to oil spills. Do you know what makes crude oil on ocean water so deadly?
Crude oil is not used in the state it is produced at the off-shore wells. It is converted in refineries into a wide range of products such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oils, and petrochemical feed-stocks. Before it is refined, the oil also contains potentially fatal components.
Crude oil is made up of compounds of carbon and hydrogen called hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons may be paraffin, the oil that is used as fuel in heaters and lamps or cycloparaffins (naphthenes) or aromatic compounds in varying proportions. While crudes found in the US are mostly paraffinic, these found along the Gulf Coast are naphthenic which contain sulphur compounds in varying amounts, a small amount of nitrogen and very little oxygen. Every variety of crude oil has nickel and vanadium in high concentration. Iron may be found in organic form due to the corrosion of pipes. Paraffins like methane and ethane are asphyxiants, substances that cause suffocation. The effects of cycloparaffins are more or less similar to those of paraffins but unsaturated paraffins are more noxious, than saturated ones. The sulphur present in crude oil may be toxic. The mechanism of toxic action seems to involve its breakdown to hydrogen sulphide. They will act principally on the .nervous system with death resulting mainly from respiratory paralysis. Sulphur in the form of aromatic thiophenes, benzothiophenes can damage the livers and kidneys of sea animals. Sulphur compounds like mercaptens can be very dangerous too.

A2. Crude oil may be toxic and fatal. Justify.  (2)

A3. Rewrite the sentences using one word from the passage for the underlined phrase/word. (2)

  1. Over consumption of alcohol may lead to death.
  2. The flowers displayed at the exhibition differ in properties.

A4. Identify and change the voice of the following sentence.  (1)

Tens of thousands of sea birds were killed due to oil spills. 

A5. With reference from the passage what can you do to control air pollution?  (3)


Read the following excerpt from a Case Study. J.K. Rowling - A Journey.

The story of Joanne Kathleen Rowling's near magical rise to fame is almost as well known as the characters she creates.

Rowling was constantly writing and telling stories to her younger sister Dianne. "The first story I ever wrote down was about a rabbit called Rabbit." Rowling said in an interview. "He got measles and was visited by his friends including a giant bee called Miss Bee. And ever since Rabbit and Miss Bee, I have always wanted to be a writer, though I rarely told anyone so.

However, my parents, both of whom come from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage or secure a pension.

A writer from the age of six, with two unpublished novels in the drawer, she was stuck on a train when Harry walked into her mind fully formed. She spent the next five years constructing the plots of seven books, one for every year of his secondary school life.

Rowling says she started writing the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, in Portugal, where she was teaching English.

At first nobody wanted to publish Harry Potter. She was told that plot was too complex. Refusing to compromise, she found a publisher.

In 1997 Rowling received her first royalty cheque. By book three, she had sky rocketed to the top of the publishing world. A row of zeroes appeared on the author's bank balance and her life was turned upside down. Day and night she had journalists knocking on the unanswered door of her flat.

Rowling's quality control has become legendary, as her obsession with accuracy. She's thrilled with Stephen Fry's taped version of the books and outraged that an Italian dust jacket showed Harry minus his glasses. "Don't they understand that the glasses are the clue to his vulnerability."

Annual earnings of J.K. Rowlin from 2010 to 2019

On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer any five of the six questions given below.  (5)

  1. Explain J. K. Rowling's 'near magical rise to fame'.
  2. What reason did the publishers give for rejecting Rowling's book?
  3. What was the drawback of achieving fame?
  4. Why was Rowling outraged with the Italian dust jacket?
  5. Find a word in the last para that means the same as 'insecure/helpless'.
  6. According to the graph, how many years did it take Rowling to become very successful?

Read the passage given below:

(1) Ratan, a global brand in Dairy products, works on a business model popularly known as, 'The Ratan Model'. This model aims to provide value for money to the customers and protect the interests of farmers simultaneously.
(2) The Ratan model is a three-tiered structure that is implemented in its Dairy production: Firstly, Ratan acts as a direct link between milk producers and consumers that removes the middlemen. Secondly, farmers (milk producers) control procurement, processing and marketing. Thirdly, it is a professionally managed organization.
(3) One can understand the Ratan Model better by taking cognizance of 'Ratan's Target Audience', where it has targeted the mass market of India with no premium offerings and works on providing the best quality products at affordable prices.
(4) So Ratan formulates its pricing policy on the low cost price strategy which has attracted a lot of customers in the past and it continues to do so.
(5) Another stance used by Ratan's Target Audience is based on customer-wise targeting and industry wise targeting. This strategy divides the target audience on the following two bases :
(6)
Segment wise break down of Customer -
Based Target Audience
Customers Ratan products
Kids Chocolate, Ratan cool, Ratan milk.
Youth Ratan Pizza Cheese, Cheese spread,
Health Conscious Ratan Shakti, Ratan Lite, Butter.

The above table showcases how Ratan has a diversified customer base.

(7) Industry Based Target Audience: Ratan has segmented milk for various industries such as ice-cream manufacturers, restaurants, coffee shops, and many similar industries. Further, it has segmented butter, ghee and cheese for bakeries, snack retailers, confectioneries, and many more.
(8) The target audience study tells us that Ratan has a strong presence in both Business to Business and Businessto-Customers.
(9) Ratan's marketing campaigns and strategies are implemented in a very attractive way. For example, the story of the 'Ratan Girl' is a popular 'ad' icon. It is a hand drawn cartoon of a young girl.

Based on your understanding of the passage answer any Six out of the Seven questions given below:

  1. What does 'The Ratan Model' aim at?
  2. In dairy production how many tiers are there?
  3. Ratan acts as a direct link...? Explain.
  4. "Ratan Target audience is described as a diversified market. Explain with reference to the given table.
  5. Name the two basis on which Ratan divides the target audience.
  6. In which two spheres does Ratan have a strong presence?
  7. Which is the most loved ad icon of Ratan?

Read the following passage and do the given activities:

A1. Match the columns A with B correctly:  (2)

A B
(i) Rocket programming (a) IIT (Bombay)
(ii) Graduation (b) ISRO
(iii) Masters in Engineering (c) S. T. Hindu College
(iv) Ph.D (d) IISC

 

The humble son of a farmer from Sarakkalvilai village in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district, Dr. K. Sivan as Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman was leading the Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon. Sivan studied in a Tamil medium government school. After graduating from S.T. Hindu College in Nagercoil, Sivan completed a Master's in Engineering from IISC in 1982. In 2006, he received Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Bombay.

Sivan is the first graduate in his family. His brother and two sisters were unable to complete higher education due to their poverty.  "When I was in college, I used to help my father in the field. That was the reason he got me admitted to a college near our house." Sivan told TOI, "Only when I had completed my B.Sc. (Mathematics) with 100% marks his mind changed." Sivan said he had spent his childhood days without a shoe or sandal. I continued wearing a vesti (dhoti) till college. I wore pants for the first time when I entered MIT." He joined ISRO in 1982 and worked on almost all rocket programmes. Before taking charge as an ISRO chairman in January 2018, he was the director, of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) which develops rockets. He is known as ISRO's 'Rocket Man'.

A2. Answer the following questions in a few words. (One or two words)    (2)

  1. What is Dr. Sivan known as?
  2. In which subject Dr. Sivan scored 100% marks in B.Sc.?
  3. When did Dr. Sivan join ISRO?
  4. In which space centre Dr. Sivan was the director?

A3. Match the word connectors from the passage and use one of the connectors in your own sentence:  (2)

A B
(i) Tamil (a) School
(ii) Government (b) Medium
  (c) Centre

A4. Do as directed:   (2)

  1. Sivan is the first graduate in his family.    (Rewrite as a negative sentence)
  2. His brother and two sister were unable to complete higher education due to their poverty.
    (Rewrite the above sentence using 'neither ____nor')

A5. Personal Response:   (2)

What inspiration can we draw from Dr. Sivan's success?


Read the following passage and do the activities:

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who was born on 24th April 1973 in Mumbai is a former Indian International Cricketer and a former captain of the Indian National Team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time and is often referred as the ‘God of cricket’ by Indian Cricket followers. He made his debut on 15th November 1989 against Pakistan in ‘Karachi’ at the age of sixteen. He is the only player to have scored one hundred international centuries and only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket. He was trained under the able guidance of Ramakant Achrekar Sir. He received the Arjuna Award in 1994, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1997, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan Awards in 1999 and 2008 respectively, fourth and second highest civilian awards of India. He was also awarded the Bharat Ratna, highest civilian award of India in 2013. He is a devotee of the deity Ganesha.

A1. Complete the following sentences from the passage:    (2)

  1. Sachin was born on _____.
  2. Sachin is a devotee of the deity ______.
  3. He was trained under the able guidance of ______.
  4. He made debut on ______.

A2. Complete the web diagram:     (2)

A3. Match the 'Synonyms':   (2)

  'A'   'B'
i. debut a. previous
ii. received b. God
iii. former c. got
iv. deity d. first performance

A4. Do as directed:    (2)

  1. He made his debut. (Make 'Simple Future Tense').
  2. He received the Arjuna Award. (Choose the correct Q-tag):
    1. did he?
    2. didn't he?
    3. doesn't he?

A5. Do you like to play games? Why?    (2)


Read the following extract and complete the activities given below:

The government of India is encouraging medical tourism in the country by offering tax benefits and export incentives to the participating hospitals. Medical visas are being cleared quickly without any hassles. With a view to facilitating the growth of medical tourism industry, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the Ministry of Tourism has set up a task force to evaluate the opportunities in the industry. Efforts are being made to standardise procedures and to guide foreign patients to select the hospitals most suited to their needs. Meanwhile, several private hospitals are seeking to take advantage of the booming medical tourism industry and are investing hugely in acquiring equipments and skills.

However, medical tourism carries some risks that locally provided medical care does not. Some countries like India, Malaysia and Thailand have very different infectious diseases rarely found in Europe and North America. Exposure to disease without having built-up natural immunity can be a hazard for weak individuals specially with respect to gastrointestinal diseases like Hepatitis A, amoebic dysentery etc., which could slow down the recovery process. Also, medical tourists may be at risk from mosquito-transmitted diseases, influenza and tuberculosis. The quality of post-operative care can also vary dramatically depending on the hospital and the country. Finally, after returning home, a patient has limited contact with their surgeon. This may make it difficult to deal with any complications that may arise later, such as a delayed infection.

The concept of medical tourism raises some important questions regarding accessibility, affordability and ethics in medical care. It is unfortunate that a large section of the Indian population has little or no access to private health care. Public health care system is inadequate and lacks proper infrastructure and facilities. One wonders if it is sensible to make provisions for medical tourism in a democratic country like India, which has failed to provide nourishment, sanitation and health care to its masses.

A1. Complete the web:    (2)

A2. Complete the following statements with the help of information provided in the extract:      (2)

  1. Building up natural immunity is must for all because ______.
  2. The concept of medical tourism can not be much successful in India because _______.

A3. Complete the following table with reference to the statement ‘Medical Tourism is a mixed blessing’:        (2)

Positive aspects of Medical Tourism Hazard/Nagative aspects
of Medical Tourism
1.   1.  
2.   2.  

A4. ‘We need to promote the concept of Wildlife Tourism in India’. State whether you agree or disagree with the statement. Mention any two arguments.   (2)

A5. Language study:    (2)

(i) ‘Govt. of India is encouraging medical tourism in the country’.     ...(Choose the correct present perfect form of the given statement.)

  1. Govt. of India is encouraged medical tourism in the country.
  2. Govt. of India had encouraged medical tourism in the country.
  3. Govt. of India has been encouraged medical tourism in the country.
  4. Govt. of India has encouraged medical tourism in the country.

(ii) ‘This may make it difficult to deal with any complication’.     ...(Identify the replaced version of the statement using the auxiliary of certainty or definiteness.)

  1. This can make it difficult to deal with any complication.
  2. This might make it difficult to deal with any complication.
  3. This will make it difficult to deal with any complication.
  4. This have made it difficult to deal with any complication.

A6. Identify the words from the passage with the following meaning:    (2)

  1. growing immensely
  2. threat
  3. obtaining
  4. able to approach/possible to approach

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

  1. Mankind's fascination with gold is as old as civilization itself. The ancient Egyptians held gold in high esteem. Gold had religious significance for them, and King Tutankhamen was buried in a solid gold coffin 3300 years ago. The wandering Israelites worshipped a golden calf, and the legendary King Midas asked that whatever he touched be turned into gold. 
  2. Not only is gold beautiful, but it is virtually indestructible. It will not rust or corrode. Gold coins and products fabricated from the metal have survived undamaged for centuries. Gold is extremely easy to work with. One ounce, which is about the size of a cube of sugar, can be beaten into a sheet nearly 100 square feet in size, and becomes so thin that light can pass through it. An ounce of gold can also be stretched into a wire 50 miles long. Gold conducts electricity better than any other substance except copper and silver, and it is particularly important in modern electronic industry.
  3. People have always longed to possess gold. Unfortunately, this longing has also brought out the worst in human character. The Spanish conquerors robbed palaces, temples and graves and killed thousands of people in their ruthless search for gold. Even today, the economy of South Africa's gold mines depend largely on the employment of black labourers who are paid about 40 pounds a month, plus boarding and lodging. They work in conditions that can only be described as cruel. About 400 miners die in South Africa each year.
  4. Much of the gold's value lies in its scarcity. Only about 80,000 tons have been mined in the history of the world. All of it can be stored in a vault 60 feet square, or a super tanker. Great Britain was the first country to adopt the gold standard, when the Master of the Mint, Sir Issac Newton, established a fixed price for gold in 1717. The discovery of gold in the last half of the nineteenth century in California (1848) and later in Australia and South Africa changed everything. Before the discovery there wasn't enough gold around for all the trading nations to link their currencies to the precious metal.
  5. An out-of-work prospector named George Harrison launched South Africa into the gold age in 1886 when he discovered the metal on a farm near what is now Johannesburg. Harrison was given a 12 pounds as a reward by the farmer. He then disappeared and was eaten by a lion.
  6. One of the biggest gold mining areas in the Soviet Union is the Kolyma River region, once infamous for its prison camp. The camp has gone, but in a way nothing has changed. Many ex-prisoners have stayed on to work in the mines and are supervised by ex-guards.
  7. Despite the current rush to buy gold, 75 percent of the metal goes into making jewellery. Italy is the biggest consumer of gold for this purpose, and many Italian jewellers even tear up their wooden floors and bum them to recover the tiny flecks of gold. Historically, the desire to hoard gold at home has been primarily an occupation of the working and peasant classes, who have had no faith in paper money. George Bernard Shaw defended their instincts eloquently, "You have to choose between trusting the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the government," he said "and with due respect to these gentlemen, I advise to vote for gold."

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below:

  1. When was King Tutankhamen burled?      (1)
    1. 1717
    2. 1886
    3. 3300 years ago
    4. 1848
  2. Why did Egyptians hold gold in great esteem?      (1)
    1. because it is a good conductor of electricity.
    2. because of its religious significance.
    3. for lovely gold ornaments.
    4. because it is indestructible.
  3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?       (1)
    1. Gold is the best conductor of electricity.
    2. Apart from gold, copper and silver are good conductors of electricity.
    3. Gold can be easily beaten, hence it is easy to work with.
    4. Gold plays an important role in the modern electronics industry.
  4. Select the option that displays what the writer projects, with reference of the following:      (1)
    The wandering Israelites worshipped a golden calf ______.
    1. importance of religion
    2. importance of the metal
    3. good conductor
    4. can replace money
  5. How were the black labourers exploited?         (1)
  6. Complete the following with the phrase from paragraph 1:    (1)
    Opinion Reason
      King Tutankhamen was buried in
    a solid gold coffin 3300 years ago.
  7. Based on your reading of the text list 2 reasons why the writer says that,
    Not only is gold beautiful but it is virtually indestructible.      (1)
  8. Who launched South Africa into the gold age?      (1)
    1. Issac Newton
    2. George Harrison
    3. George Bernard Shaw
    4. A farmer
  9. Select the option that corresponds to the following:    (1)
    The ancient Egyptians and the modern electronic industry both hold gold in high esteem.
    1. The hardworking student came first because of his diligent practice.
    2. Honesty is underrated whereas strategy is appreciated.
    3. The vibrant colours made the interiors look luminous.
    4. The steaming food was both appetizing and tasty.
  10. Supply one point to justify the following:     (1)
    The desire to hoard gold at home has been primarily an occupation of the working and peasant classes.

Read the following text.

(1) Reduction in green areas has caused various environmental problems. People squeezed between concrete structures are looking for various ways to meet their longing for green. One of the ways to do so, is vertical gardens and green walls. Vertical gardening is a unique method of gardening where plants are grown in a vertical position or upward, rather than in the traditional method of planting them on the ground.
(2) The purpose of vertical gardens and green walls, which arises from the studies of different disciplines (landscape architects, architects, engineers, etc.), is to close the cold image of concrete and increase the visual value. In these systems, nature and structures are integrated, and thus, urban areas and the desired environment have become intertwined.
(3) Vertical garden case studies often show that, though functionality should be in the foreground when vertical gardens are planned, they are generally made as aesthetic elements in the city's underpasses and city squares and decorative elements in residences without seeking functionality.
(4) Experts support that the visual quality and evaluation of landscape architecture are determined based on the satisfaction of the users. Hence, a survey questionnaire was prepared for residents of varied age groups from of a metropolitan city. The given Table 1, displays these responses:
 
Table 1 - Total number of participants : 400
No. Survey statements Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree
Vertical gardens -
1 improve quality of life of people in urban areas 191 138 43 9 19
2 reduce noise pollution 128 164 77 25 6
3 increase air quality -indoors and outdoors 172 147 51 28 2
4 reduce energy and water consumption 58 47 125 68 2
5 positively impact global warming 114 144 106 30 6
6 have a relaxing and calming effect 161 177 44 7 11
7 cost too much 86 107 152 42 13
8 make plants look beautiful 195 139 44 6 16
9 add naturalness to the environs 135 173 55 25 12
10 are among the determining factor to visiting a place 59 133 141 54 13
11 are inconvenient indoors 9 84 123 126 48
12 can be applied in every place 71 132 97 77 23
13 have a functional feature 81 207 100 10 2
14 distract drivers 34 101 106 131 28
15 funds are best used for social issues 57 72 100 130 41
(5) The study acknowledged that vertical gardening has the potential to transform urban spaces into green, sustainable areas, and further research should explore the impact of vertical gardening on the environment and human well-being.

Answer the following questions, based on the passage above.

i. Complete the following analogy appropriately, based on your understanding of paragraphs 1 & 2.   (1)

We can say that the situation of people living in concrete structures is comparable with a fish living in a fishbowl, and the need for vertical gardens to the need for decorations in the fishbowl because ______.

ii. Fill the blanks with the appropriate option from those given in brackets, based on your understanding of paragraph 2.   (1)

The statement that urban spaces have become more closely connected with the desired natural surroundings through the incorporation of nature and structures in vertical gardens and green walls is a _______ (fact/ opinion) because it is a _______ (subjective judgement/ objective detail).

iii. Justify the following, in about 40 words.   (2)

While the survey results suggest that vertical gardens may be effective in improving the quality of life in urban areas, further research and evaluation may be necessary to fully understand their effectiveness and potential drawbacks.

iv. Based on the survey results, which two concerns should a city government, looking to install vertical gardens, address?   (1)

v. In Table 1, statement 3, "Vertical gardens increase air quality - indoors and outdoors," received the most neutral responses from participants, with 51 respondents indicating a neutral stance. State any one inference that can be drawn from this.   (1)

vi. Select the option that correctly displays what ‘intertwined’ signifies. (Reference-Paragraph 2)   (1)

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v)
  1. (i), (iv) and (v)
  2. Only (ii)
  3. Only (iii)
  4. (ii) and (v)

vii. Infer one benefit and one drawback of vertical gardening in comparison to other solutions, such as community gardens or parks. (Answer in about 40 words)      (2)

viii. Which of the following is the main takeaway from the study mentioned in the passage?     (1)

  1. Vertical gardening has minimal impact on the environment or human well-being.
  2. Vertical gardening is a sustainable practice that can transform urban spaces into green areas.
  3. The impact of vertical gardening on the environment and human well-being has already been thoroughly explored.
  4. The study needs to include experts from horticultural firms to offer any recommendations for further research.

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

(1) Hiking is a great source of pleasure to us besides being beneficial for health. Once we leave the crowded streets of a city and go out for a walking tour away from the mad world, we really feel free. The open air has a bracing effect on the mind. The congestion of the city, the uproar and tumult, the intolerable noise of traffic, the hectic daily routine, all these are forgotten and the mind is at ease. We then feel like running, leaping, singing and laughing. We travel merrily mile after mile in the company of friends and associates.
(2) Hiking takes us in the midst of nature. The sight of waterfalls, flowers, streams, trees and bushes is pleasing. A connect is established between us and nature. Various sounds of nature, like the murmur of a brook or the song of a bird, acquire a new meaning and significance of us.
(3) You enjoy the beauty of nature. Minute observations like a snake casting its slough, a mouse peeping out of its hole, a squirrel leaping about on the branches of a tree, a bird flying past as, all these are noticed and they arouse our interest. We have no business worries, no fear of the examination, no anxiety about the home. We have leisure to stand, to walk and talk. It is more thrilling and pleasurable to hike. in a mountainous region than in the plains. The excitement of climbing up to the top of a hill, the adventure of corning down a slope, the grandeur of sunset behind a mountain - All these sights. lend a rare charm and interest to our journey.
(4) We walk along a zigzag motor road or cut across a mountain path in search of adventure. We may have bright sunny weather or might get caught in a shower of rain. We may look below us into the yawning chasm or up at the mountain peak. The feeling of unlimited freedom makes our hearts leap with joy.
(5) Hiking is one of the healthiest sports. It ensure a complete escape from the urgent and busy activities of life and therefore gives solace to our brain. It regains its lost energy and is able to do twice as much work as before.
(6) The fresh air, beautiful mountains, majestic trees, chirping sound of birds make one's mind and soul at peace with nature.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions below:

  1. To go out for a walking tour is ______.     (1)
    1. to stroll.
    2. to ramble.
    3. to hike.
    4. to saunter.
  2. Why does the writer say that the mind is at ease when you hike?       (1)
    1. because hiking is an inexpensive activity.
    2. because it brings families together
    3. because of intolerable noise of traffic.
    4. because the depressing daily routine is forgotten.
  3. Complete the following with a phrase:      (1)
    The various sounds of nature acquire ______.
  4. Infer one reason for the following based on information in paragraph 2.     (1)
    A contact is established between us and nature.
  5. Complete the following analogy correctly with a word from paragraph 2.       (1)
    Aroma : cooking : fragrance : ______.
  6. Given one reason why it is a pleasure to hike in the mountains than in the plains.         (1)
    1. because observation is sharpened.
    2. because of the excitement of climbing up and adventure of coming down.
    3. because it is leisure to stand, to walk.
    4. because there are no worries.
  7. Hiking gives the brain, the rest it needs because ______.       (1)
    1. it is a short time activity.
    2. it is one of the heathiest sports.
    3. it makes up sleep peacefully.
    4. it is an escape from our busy schedule.
  8. List any two example of minute observations you make while on a hike.         (1)
  9. Supply one point to justify the following:        (1)
    Hiking gives us a feeling of unlimited joy.
  10. Substitute the word 'leap with joy' with one word similar in meaning in the following sentence from the passage.    (1)
    The feeling of unlimited freedom makes our hearts leap with joy.

Read the following text.

 

Arthur lay in his cabin, still trying to piece together the events of the last few hours. He had watched his home planet of Earth be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, been saved by his friend Ford, and then whisked away on a ship that was powered by an "infinite improbability drive." It was all too much for him.

5.

Just then, Ford stuck his head around the door.
"Hey, Earthman," he said, "come and have a look at this."
Arthur stumbled after him down a corridor and into the ship's control room. He gazed in amazement at the banks of controls and flashing lights. In the center of the room was a large console covered in buttons and switches, and in the middle of the console was a small, white mouse.

10

"What's that?" asked Arthur.
"That's the ship's computer," said Ford.
Arthur stared at the mouse. "That's a computer?" he said.
"Yup," said Ford. "Five-dimensional, biologically-based, super intelligent, and in the form of a white lab mouse. Pretty neat, huh?"

15

"I don't know," said Arthur. "I don't think I really understand anything anymore. Why is a mouse the ship's computer?"
"It's a long story," said Ford. "But the short version is that the mice built the Earth as a giant computer to figure out the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Then they ran out of money and had to destroy it to make way for a hyperspace bypass. So now they're using the Heart of Gold to finish the calculation."

20

Arthur was about to say something, but at that moment the ship's intercom crackled to life.
"Good evening, Heart of Gold," said a smooth, computerized voice. "This is Eddie, your shipboard computer. I'm feeling a bit depressed today. Would you like me to sing you a song?"
"Oh, not again," groaned Ford.

25

"Eddie, would you mind shutting up?" said Arthur.
Arthur sighed and leaned back against the console, trying to make sense of everything. But as he closed his eyes, he heard a voice inside his head.
"Hello?" it said.
Arthur jumped, startled. "Who's there?" he said.

30

"It's me," said the voice. "Marvin."
"Marvin?" said Arthur. "Who's Marvin?"
"The Paranoid Android," said the voice.
Arthur looked around, but he didn't see anyone. "Where are you?" he said.
"I'm down here," said the voice.

35

Arthur looked down and saw a small, metal figure shuffling across the floor. It was about three feet tall, with a round head and a body that looked like it had been cobbled together from spare parts. Its eyes were a dull red, and its voice was a monotone.
"I've been waiting for someone to talk to me for over two million years," said Marvin.

Answer the following questions, based on the passage above.

  1. Select the option that classifies Arthur's confusion about drastic events such as the destruction of his home planet and the introduction of new technologies, correctly.      (1)
    1. Routine and boredom
    2. Adventure and excitement
    3. Loss and change
    4. Calm and relaxation
  2. What is the significance of the white lab mouse in the control room of the Heart of Gold spaceship?     (1)
    1. It is the captain of the ship
    2. It serves as the ship's computer
    3. It is a pet of the crew
    4. It is used for scientific experiments
  3. Share evidence from the text, in about 40 words to support the view that the writer’s writing style is descriptive and humourous.     (2)
  4. Complete the sentence appropriately with a characteristic or its description.    (1)
    Based on the information given in the excerpt, one can infer that the mice who built the Earth are ______.
  5. Select the option that is similar in meaning to Ford’s expression, “Pretty neat, huh?".     (1)
    1. Easy, isn’t it?
    2. Could be worse, no?
    3. Impressive, yes?
    4. Too difficult for you?
  6. Explain, in about 40 words, why the name "The Paranoid Android" is considered ironic.       (2)
  7. In the line, “…a body that looked like it had been cobbled together from spare parts…”, what comparison does the word “cobbled” refer to?      (1)
  8. How does the following, impact the reader, even though they know Marvin is just an android?      (2)
    "I've been waiting for someone to talk to me for over two million years," said Marvin. Answer in about 40 words.
  9. Read the five headlines (a) -(e), given below:        (1)
    (a) HUMANITY'S JOURNEY WITNESSED BY A DEPRESSED ROBOT
    (b) HITCHHIKING THROUGH SPACE: A COMICAL TAKE ON THE END OF THE WORLD
    (c) NEW STUDY FINDS ALIENS LIVING AMONG US
    (d) GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY WILL SOON ENABLE TIME TRAVEL
    (e) INTERGALACTIC TRAVEL VIA NEW INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE
    Identify the option that displays the headline/s that DOES/ DO NOT correspond with occurrences in the passage.
    1. Only (a)
    2. (b) (c) and (d)
    3. Only (e)
    4. (a) and (e)

Read the passage given below.

Most cities, may not be prohibit hawking as a profession, but do place restrictions on the use of urban space. Therefore, a comprehensive study was conducted in 1998-99 on street vending, to provide concrete data for furthering the cause of the hawkers.

Eight cities were selected - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Imphal, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Bangalore.

Three points were important while selecting respondents –hawkers were from different parts of a city; sold a variety of goods and adequate numbers of women were covered. The questionnaire was included questions on personal details, details regarding the work and the hazards faced.

Table: Results of the survey

It is fair to say that hawkers cannot be removed, because apart from their own livelihood, their services benefit the common urban dweller.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the given questions.

  1. Fill in the blank by selecting the appropriate option.        1
    The study aims to ______ the practice of street vending in urban spaces.
    1. support
    2. discourage
    3. understand
    4. prove
  2. Jagan goes door to door with his basket of goods to sell bananas in the city. What action from his end would lead to a prohibition on hawking?       1
  3. State TRUE or FALSE.      1
    The following question could have been a part of the study survey.
    What are the challenges presented by the security guards?
  4. Complete the sentence appropriately.       1
    The most preferred form of source of capital, according to the survey table, exposes the hawkers to exploitation because ______.
  5. State a point in support for the given opinion:      1   
    Street vending must be legalised as a profession.

Read the passage given below:

(1) When we think of the game of cricket, we come to the conclusion that it is primarily a game that depends on outstanding physical activities, good hand-eye coordination, speed, skill and strength. It provides entertainment and generates strong feelings of excitement. A good match of cricket or of any other game neither adds to the existing stock of human knowledge nor reveals any secret of existence. It does not carry any deep meaning but most people, particularly the lover of sports attach deep emotions and numerous meanings to it. Games are thought of as a metaphor for life. They are supposed to teach many lessons. In fact, more is said and written about a cricket match than about scientific findings or great philosophy.
(2) This is because games, like a morality play, in which settings and rules are made by us, can easily make people test their fair and foul conduct, principles of reward and punishment, and emotions of joy and disappointment. They can make us experience the thrill of war without exposing us to its dangers. A man watching a cricket match on T.V. and munching popcorn is like a surrogate warrior. In fact, games provide us with a safe outlet for our aggressiveness.
If games become aggressive, they lose the very purpose of providing entertainment and purging us of our aggressiveness. They can calm our impatience without creating any conflict.
(3) Commentators, journalists, politicians and analysts can do a great favour to the competing teams by keeping the excitement within limits. The teams should play without being dominated by feelings of national honour and shame. Excellent performance of the players of both teams should be enjoyed and appreciated.
Winning or losing in a game should not be taken seriously. A game is fun if it is played with true spirit of sportsmanship.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below:

  1. Complete the sentence by choosing an appropriate option: (1)
    Most people conclude that cricket is primarily a game because ______.
    1. it is played as a match
    2. it requires two teams
    3. it includes physical activity
    4. it depends only on skill and strength.
  2. Comment on the writer's reference to 'that cricket does not reveal any secret of existence. (1)
  3. List two responses to which watching a game of cricket gives rise to. (1)
  4. Select the option that conveys the opposite of 'destroy' from words used in the passage. (1)
    1. reveals
    2. experience
    3. generate
    4. purging
  5. The writer would not agree with the given statements based on paragraph 2, EXCEPT (1)
    1. Rules of any game are made by people.
    2. Watching a cricket match makes the viewer believe that he is fighting a battle.
    3. It is necessary for a game to be aggressive in order to build excitement.
    4. A game can test people's sense of fair judgement.
  6. With reference to the passage, a spectator is compared to a 'surrogate warrior'. (1)
    Choose the option that best describes this phrase:
    1. a spectator who is paid to watch.
    2. a spectator who is in pain while watching the match.
    3. a spectator who enjoys the match as an armchair soldier.
    4. a spectator who makes judgments about reward and punishment.
  7. Why does the writer compare games to a morality play? (1)
  8. Complete the given sentence with an appropriate inference with respect to the following: (1)
    The writer says that games can calm our impatience without creating any conflict by ______.
  9. The writer advises the players that games should not become aggressive because ______. (1)
  10. Select the most suitable title for the above passage. (1)
    1. Excellent Performance by Cricketers
    2. The Benefits of Playing Cricket
    3. Cricket - The King of Games
    4. The True Spirit of Playing Games

Read the passage given below:

(1) Seagulls, as you know, never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them a disgrace and a dishonour. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve – slowing, slowing, and stalling once more –was no ordinary bird. Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.
(2) This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make oneself popular with other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent the whole day alone, making hundreds of low-level gliders, experimenting. "Why, Jon, why?" his mother asked. "Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can't you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? Why don't you eat? Son, you're bone and feathers!" "I don't mind being bone and feathers, Mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can't, that's all. I just want to know." "See here Jonathan," said his father, not unkindly. "Winter isn't far away. Boats will be few, and the surface fish will be swimming deep. If you must study, then study food, and how to get it. This flying business is all very well, but you can't eat a glide, you know. Don't you forget that the reason you fly is to eat?"
(3) Jonathan nodded obediently. For the next few days, he tried to behave like the other gulls; he really tried, screeching and fighting with the flock around the piers and fishing boats, diving on scraps of fish and bread. But he couldn't make it work. It wasn't long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning. The subject was speed and in a week's practice he learned more about speed than the fastest gull alive. Time after time it happened. Careful as he was, working at the very peak of his ability, he lost control at a high speed. The key, he thought at last, dripping wet, must be to hold the wings still at high speeds – to flap up to fifty and then hold the wings still.
(4) From two thousand feet he tried again, rolling into his dive, beak straight down, wings full out and stable from the moment he passed fifty miles per hour. It took tremendous strength, but it worked. In ten seconds he had blurred ninety miles per hour. Jonathan had set a world speed record for seagulls! But victory was short-lived. The instant he began his pullout, the instant he changed the angle of his wings, he snapped into the same uncontrollable disaster, and at ninety miles per hour, it hit him like dynamite. Jonathan Seagull exploded in midair and smashed down into a brick-hard sea. As he sank low in the water, a strange hollow voice sounded within him. There's no way around it. I am a seagull. I am limited by my nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I'd have charts for brains. If I were meant to fly at speed, I'd have a falcon's short wings. Short wings. A falcon's short wings! That's the answer! What a fool I've been! All I need is a tiny little wing, all I need is to fold most of my wings and just fly on the tips along. Short wings!

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below:

  1. Complete the sentence by choosing an appropriate option: (1)
    Majority of seagulls fly only short distances as ______.
    1. they are more interested in food than flight
    2. they don't have energy
    3. they are not meant to fly low
    4. food is not available at high speed
  2. Why were Jonathan Livingston's parents' dismayed? (1)
  3. Give two reasons for Jonathan's unconventional behaviour. (1)
    (Clue: think about Jonathan's point of view.)
  4. Select the option that conveys the opposite of 'glory' from the words used in paragraph 1. (1)
    1. disgrace
    2. dishonour
    3. learning
    4. unashamed
  5. The writer would not agree with the given statements based on paragraph 2, EXCEPT (1)
    1. Jonathan could not fly but only glide.
    2. Jonathan wanted to be popular with other birds.
    3. Jonathan realised that even the albatross flew at high altitudes.
    4. The reason seagulls flew was to find food.
  6. Jonathan was different, from other seagulls. Based on your understanding of paragraph 2, list what Jonathan wanted to know. (1)
  7. What was the mother's concern about Jonathan? (1)
  8. Complete the given sentence with an appropriate inference with respect to the following: (1)
    Father reminds Jonathan that he 'can't eat a glide' in order to ______.
  9. It, wasn't long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea. Which trait of Jonathan does this statement reveal? (1)
    1. practical bird
    2. persistent learner
    3. lonely and sad
    4. carefree and irresponsible
  10. Was it fair to fly like a falcon when he was just a seagull? Why does he say so? (1)

Read the extract and complete the activities given below:

This is what Camus meant when he said that "what gives value to travel is fear"-disruption, in other words, (or emancipation) from circumstance, and all the habits behind which we hide. And that is why many of us travel not in search of answers, but of better questions. I, like many people, tend to ask questions of the places I visit, and relish most the ones that ask the most searching questions back of me: "The ideal travel book," Christopher Isherwood once said, "should be perhaps a little like a crime story in which you're in search of something." And it's the best kind of something, I would add, if it's one that you can never quite find.

I remember, in fact, after my first trips to Southeast Asia, more than a decade ago, how I would come back to my apartment in New York, and lie in my bed, kept up by something more than jet lag, playing back, in my memory, over and over, all that I had experienced, and paging wistfully through my photographs and reading and re-reading my. diaries, as if to extract some mystery from them. Anyone witnessing this strange scene would have drawn the right conclusion: I was in love.

When we go abroad is that we are objects of scrutiny as much as the people we scrutinize, and we are being consumed by the cultures we consume, as much on the road as when we are at home. At the very least, we are objects of speculation (and even desire) who can seem as exotic to the people around us as they do to us.

All, in that sense, believed in "being moved" as one of the points of taking trips, and "being transported" by private as well as public means; all saw that "ecstasy" ("ex-stasis") tells us that our highest moments come when we're not stationary, and that epiphany can follow movement as much as it precipitates it.

A1. Read and rewrite the following sentences and state whether they are True or False:   (2)

    1. A traveller may sink in love with his travel-memoirs.
    2. One gets inspected as he inspects the world around him.
    3. Quest for something may end in more mystery.
    4. Staying in comfort at home gives one more happiness than travelling.

A2. Match the persons given in column 'A' with opinions/ characteristics given in column 'B':    (2)

Column 'A' Column 'B'
(1) Narrator
a) ideal travel should be like a crime story.
(2) Camus
b) in love with his memoirs.
(3) Isherwood
c) more happy when on move.
(4) Traveller d) fear gives value to travel.

A3. Give reasons:      (2)

"We are objects of scrutiny," because

  1. ______
  2. ______

A4. "Travelling is an interesting teacher." Write your views in 3-4 sentences.     (2)

A5. Do as directed:   (2)

  1. I like to ask questions of the places I visit. (Choose the correct tense form of the above sentence from the following options and rewrite.)
    1. Simple past tense
    2. Simple present tense
    3. Past perfect tense
    4. Present perfect tense
  2. I would come back to my apartment in New York. (Choose the correct option using 'used to' for the given sentence and rewrite.
    1. I use to come back to my apartment in New York.
    2. I have used to come back to my apartment in New York.
    3. I used to come back to my apartment in New York.
    4. I had used to come back to my apartment in New York.

A6. Find out the words from passage which mean:     (2)

  1. reminiscence
  2. exhilaration

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