Q1.A. Read the following passage and answer the
following questions. [9]
When the cousins appeared we excitedly told them
about Old Tom. Dad rolled some mince balls and off we set to the stump. The
cousins were from Mum’s side of the family and were all
city-born and bred. They would almost
faint at the sight of cows grazing, let alone a live snake. To them, snakes
belonged in jars in a museum.
When we got to the stump, we all peered in and the
city cousins were suitably horrified at
the sight of Old Tom. The snake certainly looked huge.
Dad rolled his sleeve right back of his shoulder with great gusto and
wriggled close to the stump to get a good position. We all leaned for a good
view.
Then as Dad reached into the stump with the mince
ball in his hand, the snake suddenly
coiled up, raised its neck and viciously struck Dad’s arm three or four times
in rapid succession. Dad recoiled in shock and
rolled several metres away from the stump. He was white as a ghost and completely dumbfounded as he looked at
the blood-stained puncture holes in his
arm.
I peered into the stump and saw two snake heads
entwined in a tight embrace. In a
frenzied delight, I yelled out: “Dad! Dad! Old Tom’s got a girl friend.”
Pondering the situation for a moment, I added: “Girl snakes musn’t like being
stroked.. Eh, Dad”
Questions :
1. How did Dad look after he was struck on his arm?
2. What did the narrator comment
on seeing the two snake heads?
3. What, do you think,
we can learn from this text?
4. (a) Dad recoiled in shock and rolled several metres away.
(Rewrite as a Simple
Sentence)
(b) The snake certainly looked huge.
(Rewrite as an Exclamatory
Sentence)
5. (i) Identify
a compound word from the passage.
(ii) Frame one sentence using
both, 'coil up' and 'recoiled'.
6. Why
does the narrator say that his city
cousins were suitably horrified?
Q1. B. Read the following passage and
answer the following questions. (9)
I was trying
to figure out a way to tell this fellow, without
being too blunt, that he just wasn’t what I had in mind at all. I asked him
about his background. He said he had a degree in agriculture from Oklahoma State
University and that he had been a ranch hand in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, for the past few years during the summers.
He announced that was all over now, he was ready to be a success in “biness,” and he would just “shore
appreciate a chance.”
We continued to talk. He was so focused on success and how he would “shore appreciate a chance” that I decided to give him a chance. I
told him that I
would spend
two days with him. In those two days I would
teach him everything I thought he needed to
know to sell one
type
of very small telephone system. At the end of those two days he would be on his
own.
He asked me how much money I thought he could make.
I
told him, “Looking
like you look and knowing
what you know, the best you can do is about $ 1,000 per month.” I went on to explain
that the
average commission on the small telephone systems he would be selling was approximately $ 250 per system. I told him if he would
see 100 prospects per month, that
he would sell four of those a telephone system.
Selling four telephone systems would give him
$1,000. I hired him on straight commission with no base salary.
He said that sounded great to him because the most he had
ever
made was $ 400 per month as a ranch hand
and he was ready to make some
money. The next morning, I sat him down to cram as
much
of the telephone “biness” I could into a 22-years-old cowboy
with no business experience, no telephone experience and no sales
experience. He looked like anything but a professional salesperson
in
the telecommunications business. In fact, he had none of the
qualities I was looking for in an
employee, except one: He had an incredible focus on being a success.
Questions :
1. Why was Cowboy
finally hired?
2. Which essentials did the cowboy lack?
3. What experiences would have made Cowboy a perfect hand for the company?
4. (a) He was ready to be a success
in biness.
(Change the underlined word to an adjective and rewrite)
(b) I hired him on straight
commission with no base salary.
(Rewrite as an Affirmative Sentence)
5. (i) Write from the passage expressions meaning
:
(a) to think about (b)
to be very frank
(ii) Write the synonyms of : (a) incredible (b) approximately
6. What impressed you the most about the cowboy from the passage?
Q1. C. Read the following Poem and
answer the following questions.
I have workout
clothes and sweat bands
Even
a ‘get-fit’ coffee
cup!
But
that scale hasn’t
budged an inch
So,
I’m on the verge of giving up!
I’ve
just about convinced myself That it’s true what some folks say….
You have heard it too…….Eat Right! Get Fit? Die
anyway!!
So
for those who are devoted
To
trying to make me over, PLEASE!
If God wanted me to touch my toes
He
would have put them on my knees!
I believe He loves us as we are
That
includes both big AND small
So when I reach the gates of Heaven It will be flab and all
Questions :
1.
Why
is the poet convinced that he was not meant to touch
his toes ?
2.
What
are the reasons
that have made the poet give up exercising
?
3.
Why
is the word ‘PLEASE’ in capital letters ?
4.
Give
one example of a figurative language.
5.
Give
two pairs of rhyming words .
Q1.
D, Read the following Poem and answer the following questions. (5 marks)
And a merchant said, “Speak to us of Buying and Selling.” And he answered and said :
To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know
how to fill your hands.
It is in the exchanging
the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied .
Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead
some to greed and others to hunger.
When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,
Invoke then the master spirit
of the earth, to come into your midst
and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value
against value.
And suffer
not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions who would sell their
words for your labour.
Questions :
1. Why should the master spirit
of the earth be invoked?
2. What does The Prophet
advise the merchants
about the exchange of goods?
3. What are the views of the poet about buying and selling ?
4. Pick the odd one out from each of the following sets :
(i) toilers, vineyards, weavers, potters.
(ii) buying, selling, exchanging, reckoning.
5. Bring out the antithetical idea contained in the eighth line of the
poem.
Q.2.
(A) Write any one of the following letters : 5
Write a letter to the Municipal Commissioner, requesting him for sanctions for
a fly-over near the highway close to your place.
OR
Write a letter to your pen friend in Mauritius
asking him to come and participate in your elder brother’s wedding, mentioning some interesting events that will be part of the wedding celebrations.
Q.2.
(B) Write any one of the following : 5
Prepare a tree diagram to represent the following information :
The word ‘Literature’ is really hard to define. Many interpretations are
made about the
word. But all are incomplete. Some opine that literature is the
mirror of life, some others say that it is the criticism of life. Whatever
may be the controversy about the word, we may say that literature is that which reflects
life. The branches of literature are poetry, drama, novel and short
stories. Poetry is
of two kinds, imaginative and realistic. Drama is
either a comedy or a tragedy. Novels are also of many kinds, historical, psychological, realistic, scientific and regional. Short story is that one
which stands very close to life inspite
of a little scope. OR
Prepare a fact file of a tourist place you have visited.
Q.3.
(A)
Write any one of the following
: 5
Write a speech for the school assembly
on “Tree Plantation”.
OR
Write a dialogue between you and your friend on a popular TV programme.
Q.3.
(B) Write any one of the following : 5
Write a report on Cleanliness Day organised by the BMC in the city.
OR
Frame 10 questions that you will
ask to interview
the Zoo manager when your class visits the zoo. You want information about the problems faced by
caged animals and the authorities.
Q.4.
Expand any one of the following
in about 100 words : 5
1. Manners are the ornaments
of a person
2. Service to man is service
to God
3. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush
Answers:
Q1. A.
1.
Dad was as white as a ghost
and completely dumbfounded.
2. The narrator
concluded that girl snakes
mustn’t like being stroked.
3. We can learn that animals are not very frightening and
they retaliate only when we harm them.
4. (a) Recoiling in shock, Dad rolled several metres away.
(b) How huge the snake looked!
5. (i) blood-stained, city-born.
(any one)
(ii) We recoiled at the sight of a snake which
coiled up its head.
6.
The narrator knew that his city cousins would almost faint at the sight of cows grazing, let alone a live snake. They had never seen snakes in
the
open, so he had expected that the moment they would see Tom they would get very terrified. This is exactly what happend. Thus he says they were suitably horrified.
Q1. B.
1. Cowboy was finally hired as the writer decided to give him a chance because of his focus on success.
2. The cowboy lacked essentials like business experience, telephone experience and sales experience.
3. Knowledge about telephone systems and experience in some kind of a sales or a marketing job in any other company would have
made Cowboy a perfect hand for the company.
4. (a) He was ready to be successful in biness.
(b) I hired him on straight commission without base salary.
5. (i) (a) to figure out (b) to be blunt
(ii) (a)
unbelievable (b) roughly
6. I am impressed about the cowboy’s incredible focus on being a success despite having none of the required qualification of a salesman. He was mentally prepared to be a success in business
and had left his past behind him. His determination
to move ahead with life is very inspiring.
Q1. C.
1. The
poet is convinced that he was not meant to touch his toes, or
else God would have put them on his knees.
2.
The poet tried jumping
jacks, sit ups, crunches, running, pedalling,
but did not reduce even an inch so he decided to give up exercises.
3.
The word “PLEASE’
is in capital letters because the poet wishes to express
his fervent request to those who try to make
him an exercise freak to stop bothering him about it.
4.
‘the scale hasn’t budged means he did not lose weight at all and ‘reach the gates of heaven’ means to die.
5.
cup - up; say - anyway;
please - knees; small - all. (any two)
Q1. D.
1.
The master
spirit of the earth should be invoked to sanctify the scales and bless the
proceedings of work so that trade is done with honesty.
2.
The Prophet advises the merchants to exchange
the gifts of the earth with love and kindness to avoid injustice.
3.
The poet
believes that buying and selling should be done ethically otherwise it will
lead to greed and hunger.
4.
(i) vineyards (ii) reckoning.
5.
‘Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly
justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger’. The antithetical
ideas of greed and hunger are mentioned.
