Q1. (A). Read the following passage and answer the following questions.
One often hears of the high prevalence of child labour in our country. Of the many reports I have read, perhaps the most disturbing was a report on the condition of children employed by Zari factories in Delhi, Mumbai and other parts of India. It grieves me to imagine children exposed to such inhumanity.
Robbing children of their childhood is a criminal act, and our society must weed this malaise out from the rood. But where does the root lie? Before you attempt an answer, let me give you an anecdote from the other end of the social spectrum.
A colleague in Wipro has a child studying in Standard IX in a reputed school in Bangalore. This child wakes up at 5 a.m. and studies for an hour before going to school. She returns from school at 4 p.m. and rushes for her IIT entrance exam coaching class. At 6 p.m. she has tuitions for two hours. After dinner, she spends an hour or more on homework. I asked her when she gets time to play. She replied that she did not play. She gets half an hour of free time each day, which she spends watching her favourite serial on television. She also added that board exams and entrance exams are very important, and that you only get one chance.
Is the condition of this child different from the child in the zari factory?
1. What is the most disturbing report read by the writer? (1)
2. What is the reason for the writer’s grief? (1)
3. What is the duty of the society, according to the writer? (1)
4. Where does the child in the writer’s anecdote go immediately after school? (2)
5. What does the child do in her free time? (2)
6. Do as directed. (3)
a. Robbing children of their childhood is a criminal act. (Use infinitive)
b. The condition of this child is not different from the child in the zari factory. (Make the rhetorical question)
c. After dinner,she spends an hour or more for homework. (Frame a wh – type question to get the underlined part of the sentence as answer.)
7. Give Adverb forms of the following adding suffixes. (1)
a. Criminal b. Social
(B) Grammar:
Do as directed: (4 marks)
1. This time, they bloomed. (Add a questing tag)
2. More ominously, the assessment team warnsthat the ability of Earth’s ecosystem to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted. (Rewrite using the Noun Form of the underlined word.)
3. What is the best way to do it? (Rewrite using the gerund form of the underlined infinitive.)
4. The Taj will be washed clean with salt – free water. (Rewrite using a modal auxiliary showing ‘obligation’.)
Q2. (A). Read the following passage and answer the following questions
Our day used to start with the family huddling around my mother’s Chulha, an earthen fireplace she would build at each place of posting, and where she would cook for the family. There was no gas, no electric stoves. The morning routine started with teas. As the brew was served, Father would ask us to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman’s ‘mofussil’ edition, delivered one day late. We did not understand much of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to know that the world was larger than Koraput district, and the English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught us a simple lesson. He used to say, “You should leave your newspaper and your toiled the way you expect to find it.
“That lesson was about showing consideration to others. Business begins and ends with that simple percept. We did not have a house of our own and would occasionally ask Father, when, like others, we would live in our own house. He would give a reply, “We do not need house of our own. I already own five houses. “His replies did not gladden our hearts at the time. Nonetheless, we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success and a sense of well being through material possessions.
1. What according to the writer was the simple precept? (1)
2. What did the writer learn from his father’s reply of not having a house of their own?(1)
3. What was the need of the ritual of reading “The Statesman”?(1)
4. What idea of the writer’s family do you get from the extract? (2)
5. Do you agree with the writer’s father’s lesson about showing consideration for others? (2)
6. Do as Directed. (3)
a. She would cook for the family. (Rewrite using ‘’used to’’)
b. The morning routine started with tea. (Frame a wh – type question)
c. Business begins and ends with that simple precept. (Use ‘’Not only ……… but also’’)
7. Give adjectives: (1)
a. Consideration b. Success c. Possession d. Routine
(B) You have conducted a survey of wage earners in your locality. Given below is a graphical representation of your findings. The ‘X’ axis represents the wages earned in Rs. And the ‘Y’ axis represents the number of wage earners. The blocks are shaded differently to show children, women and men. The legend for each is given below the graph. Write a paragraph explaining your findings:
Q3. (A) Read the following passage and answer the following questions.
There was a beautiful and fragrant violet who lived placidly amongst her friends, and swayed happily amidst The other flowers in a solitary garden. One morning, as Her crown was embellished with beads of dew, she lifted Her head and looked about; she saw a tall and handsome Rose standing proudly and reaching high into space, like a burning torch upon an emerald lamp.
The violet opened her blue lips and said, "What an unfortunate am I among these flowers, and how humble Is the position I occupy in their presence! Nature has fashioned me to be short and poor. I live very close to the earth and I cannot raise my head toward the blue Sky, or turn my face to the sun, as the roses do."
And the rose heard her neighbor's words; she laughed and commented, "How strange is your talk! You are fortunate, and yet you cannot understand your fortune. Nature has bestowed upon you fragrance and Beauty which she did not grant to any other. Cast aside your thoughts and be contented, and remember that He who humbles himself will be exalted, and he who Exalt himself will be crushed."
The violet answered, "You are consoling me because you have that which I crave. You seek to embitter me With the meaning that you are great. How painful is the preaching of the fortunate to the heart of the miserable! And how severe is the strong when he stands as Advisor among the weak!"
And Nature heard the conversation of the violet and the Rose; she approached and said, "What has happened to You, my daughter violet? You have been humble and Sweet in all your deeds and words. Has greed entered your heart and numbed your senses?"
In a pleading voice, the violet answered her, saying, "Oh great and merciful Mother, full of love and sympathy, I beg you, with all my Heart and soul, to grant my request and allow me to be a Rose for one day."
1. What was the violet’s regret? (1)
2. How did the Nature praise the violet? (1)
3. What was the violet’s request to Mother Nature? (1)
4. Why did the rose feel the violet’s talk “Strange”? (2)
5. Do you agree with the violet as she defends her “strange talk”? (2)
6. Do as directed: (3)
a. Nature has fashioned me to be short and poor. (Use “not only …… but also”)
b. He who exalts himself will be crushed. (Make the sentence less definite)
c. You are consoling me. (Use Present Perfect Continuous Tense and rewrite the sentence).
7. Give synonyms of the following words. (1)
a. Contented
b. Fragrance
(B) Write a brief summary of the above extract and suggest a suitable title. (4 marks)
8.
Q4. Read the following poem and answer the following questions.
BASKETFUL OF MOONLIGHT
From the city to my village
on the side of the path
I want to sow many
Small, small moons of light,
The whole village goes to the city
daily to work.
It becomes dark on its way back
As my village is quite far.
The route is tough and full of
snakes and scorpions.
Neither bus nor cart plies.
When my father returns home
I am asleep.
And he goes back early in the morning
While I am sleeping
O moon
Give me a basketful of moonlight
On loan.
I want to light the dark route
So that my father returns early.
I too want to hear fairy tales.
- How does the boy ask the moon to give him a basketful of moonlight? (1)
- Name one personal problems of the boy and one general problem of all the villagers, as indicated by the village boy in the poem? (2)
- Can you identify yourself with the problems of the boy in the poem? (2)
- What is the poetic device used by the poet to make the village – boy talk to the moon? (1)
5. Discuss the technique of the poet to handle some of the problems of the Indian village. (2)
Q5. Read the following poem and answer the following questions.
Now All’s Become History
Now apartments decorate the city
Closed doors of neighbour’s live – ins
Bonsai – cacti thrive in pots within
But neighbourliness has, sadly,
Now become history!
Now my house has also moved into a flat
And I too have become
Somewhat flat
The homeliness of the house
Tended in the niche of the heart
So deeply
Is not only history!
Sometimes as I turn
The pages of history
The drops of tears that well up
Suddenly
Will also in all probability
Someday become history!
1. How does the poet feel about eh homeliness of the house? (1)
2. How is the ‘neighbourliness’ in a city? (2)
3. Do you feel the poet is justified in dropping tears? (2)
4. Pick out an example of ‘Pun’ from the extract and explain it. (1)
5. Describe the poet’s life in a ‘flat’. (2)
Section – D
Q6. (A) Letter writing: (4)
1. Write a complaint letter regarding power failure in your locality / village.
(OR)
2. Letter to your friend explaining him about the importance of Joint family system.
(B) Your college has organized a drive against saving fuel in your area. Prepare an appeal in the form of handout to create awareness with the help of the following points. (4)
- Prepare an effective slogan.
- Use a logo / picture.
- Stress the evils of smoking and chewing tobacco.
- Use attractive language.
(OR)
Read the following headlines of news items. Choose ONE of them and write the date line, into and short containing paragraph.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS WON THE IPL 2011 TROPHY
(OR)
FOOD POISONING AFFECTS 50 SCHOOL CHILDREN
(C) Write a tourist leaflet of a place of your interest keeping in mind the following. (4)
a. Name of Place
b. Conveyance
c. Distance from Mumbai.
d. Climate
e. Things to do
(OR)
Write a speech to be delivered among your class mates, regarding eye donation.
Q7. Essay writing: (7)
Write an essay on any ONE of the following in about 250 words.
1. Mobile Phones a boon or curse?
2. A visit to a historical place.
3. Anna hazare as a social activists.
