Commerce (English Medium)
Science (English Medium)
Arts (English Medium)
Academic Year: 2016-2017
Date & Time: 8th March 2017, 12:30 pm
Duration: 3h
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Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. We sit in the last row, bumped about but free of stares. The bus rolls out of the dull crossroads of the city, and we are soon in open countryside, with fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, their heads all facing us. Where there is no water, the land reverts to desert. While still on level ground we see in the distance the tall range of the Mount Bogda, abrupt like a shining prism laid horizontally on the desert surface. It is over 5,000 metres high, and the peaks are under permanent snow, in powerful contrast to the flat desert all around. Heaven Lake lies part of the way up this range, about 2,000 metres above sea-level, at the foot of one of the higher snow-peaks.
2. As the bus climbs, the sky, brilliant before, grows overcast. I have brought nothing warm to wear: it is all down at the hotel in Urumqi. Rain begins to fall. The man behind me is eating overpoweringly smelly goat's cheese. The bus window leaks inhospitably but reveals a beautiful view. We have passed quickly from desert through arable land to pasture, and the ground is now green with grass, the slopes dark with pine. A few cattle drink at a clear stream flowing past moss-covered stones; it is a Constable landscape . The stream changes into a white torrent, and as we climb higher I wish more and more that I had brought with me something warmer than the pair of shorts that have served me so well in the desert .The stream (which, we are told rises in Heaven Lake) disappears, and we continue our slow ascent. About noon, we arrive at Heaven Lake, and look for a place to stay at the foot, which is the resort area. We get a room in a small cottage, and I am happy to note that there are thick quilts on the beds.
3. Standing outside the cottage we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine-shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountain walls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of the lake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista; it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in Mount Bogda itself.
5. "Swimming?" Mr. Cao says. "You aren't thinking of swimming, are you?"
6. "I thought I might," I confess. "What's the water like?"
7. He doesn't answer me immediately, turning instead to examine some receipts with exaggerated interest. Mr. Cao, with great off-handedness, addresses the air. "People are often drowned here," he says. After a pause, he continues. "When was the last one?" This question is directed at the cook, who is preparing a tray of mantou (squat white steamed bread rolls), and who now appears, wiping his doughy hand across his forehead. "Was it the Beijing athlete?" asks Mr. Cao.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements given below with the help of options that follow:
(a) One benefit of sitting in the last row of the bus was that:
(b) The narrator was travelling to:
(c) On reaching the destination the narrator felt relieved because:
(d) Mount Bogda is compared to:
Answer the following questions briefly:
(e) Which two things in the bus made the narrator feel uncomfortable?
(f) What made the scene look like a Constable landscape?
(g) What did he regret as the bus climbed higher?
(h) Why did the narrator like to buy food from outside?
(i) What is ironic about the pair of trousers lent by Mr. Cao?
(j) Why did Mr. Cao not like the narrator to swim in the lake?
(k) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. Thackeray reached Kittur along with a small British army force and a few of his officers. He thought that the very presence of the British on the outskirts of Kittur would terrorise the rulers and people of Kittur and that they would lay down their arms. He was quite confident that he would be able to crush the revolt in no time. He ordered that tents be erected on the eastern side for the fighting forces and a little away on the western slopes tents be put up for the family members of the officers who had accompanied them. During the afternoon and evening of 20thOctober, the British soldiers were busy making arrangements for these camps.
On the basis of your understanding of the above passage complete the statements given below with the help of options that follow:
(ii) army officer
(iii) adviser to Rani of Kittur
(iv) treasury officer
(ii) enjoy life in tents
(iii) stay in the palace
(iv) give company to officers
(c) Why did Thackeray come to Kittur?
(d) Why did the Kittur officials refuse to give the desired assurance to Thackeray?
(e) What happened to the Horse Artillery?
(f) How do we know that the Rani was a noble queen?
(g) How in your opinion would the British women have felt after meeting the Rani?
(h) Why did the Rani refuse to meet Thackeray?
(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following :
ii. aggressive/refusing to obey (para 2)
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
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.
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
After the rains cases of dengue, Chikungunya etc are on the rise in your city. As Principal, Sunshine Public School Manu Vihar, you have decided to allow your students to wear full sleeve shirts and trousers in the school for a period of one month. Write the notice in about 50 words.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
You are Health Secretary, Students Council Citizens Public School, Ram Bagh, Varanasi. The Council has decided to start from the second of October a week-long cleanliness drive around the school. Draft a notice in about 50 words asking the Class XI students to enrol for the drive.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
Last month you purchased a TV set from Ram Electronics, Pushp Vihar, Ambala. It is not working properly (imagine a few defects). Write a letter of complaint in 120-150 words to the Manager asking for repair or replacement. You are Amar/Amrita, M114 Model Town, Ambala.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
You are living in a village along a national highway. The state roadways bus does not stop near your village. Write a letter in 120-150 words to the General Manager, State Roadways requesting a bus stop for your village. Give all the reasons why you need a bus stop there. You are Omar/Amna, Gopalpur, Dist. Ramnagar.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
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Our performance in Rio Olympics has told us that we do not pay enough attention to athletics and outdoor games. It is time we revised our attitude. Sports should be an important part of the school's daily routine. Write an article in 150-200 words in the 'Importance of Outdoor Games'. You are Sreeja/Thomas.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
Cultural Society Sunshine Public School, Nellore organised an adult literacy camp in its neighbourhood. Write a report in 150-200 words on the camp for your school newsletter. You are P.V. Sunitha, Secretary. Use the following clues :
no. of volunteers – hours spent in teaching – location of the class – chairs, blackboards – no. of people attending the camp – benefit.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in Rio Olympics. Every Indian felt proud of her. You, Head girl of your school want to deliver a speech in order to express your feelings. Write the speech in 150-200 words. Apart from your own ideas use the following clues :
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
Wrestling mostly a male sport – Sakshi born in conservative surroundings – most unfavourable gender ratio for females – parental encouragement – one can't forget the look of determination on her face in the last three minutes of the bout.
Chapter: [0.05] Writing Skills
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Far far from gusty waves these children's faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.
(a) Who are these children?
(b) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines?
(c) Why is the tall girl's head weighed down?
(d) What does the word, 'pallor' mean?
Chapter: [0.022000000000000002] An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
(a) Why are the tigers called Aunt Jennifer's tigers?
(b) How are they described here?
(c) How are they different from Aunt Jennifer?
(d) What does the word, 'chivalric' mean?
Chapter: [0.026000000000000002] Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each :
(a) Why was Franz not scolded for reaching the school late that day?
(b) Sophie was dreaming of so many things in her life. What were they?
(c) Why are the youngsters described as springing? (My Mother at Sixty-six)
(d) In the hot season, how do man and beast get comfort? (A Thing of Beauty)
(e) How did the Maharaja deal with a high ranking British officer who wanted to shoot a tiger?
(f) Having got rid of his stink, what problem did Roger Skunk face?
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
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Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
Garbage to them is gold. How do ragpickers of Seemapuri survive?
Chapter: [0.012] Lost Spring
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
The peddler thinks that the whole world is a rattrap. This view of life is true only of himself and of no one else in the story. Comment.
Chapter: [0.013999999999999999] The Rattrap
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
Untouchability is not only a crime, it is inhuman too. Why and how did Bama decide to fight against it?
Chapter: [0.0208] Memories of Childhood
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
Good human values are far above any other value system. How did Dr. Sadao succeed as a doctor as well as a patriot?
Chapter: [0.0204] The Enemy
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
Describe Marvel as an opportunist.
Chapter: [0.032] The Invisible Man by Hg Wells
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
George Eliot has portrayed Godfrey as a morally weak character. Comment.
Chapter: [0.031] Silas Marner by George Eliot
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
How does Dr. Cuss's encounter with Griffin end in a disaster?
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
What kind of life did Silas lead at Lantern Yard?
Chapter: [0.06] Reading Skills
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