Sample Paper 2019

CBSE - BOARD
Class – 10th
Subject – English

Section 'A'
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 8 marks

Popcorn, also known as popping corn, is a special variety of corn. Each kernel
contains a tiny drop of water. When it is heated, the water expands causing the
kernel to explode and flip inside out. Most US popcorn is grown in Nebraska and
Indiana, and increasingly in Texas.

Native Americans first discovered popcorn thousands of years ago in Guatemala

and Mexico. It was popped in China during the Song Dynasty (960-279), as well as,
in Sumatra and India long before Columbus reached the Americans.

In 1519 when he invaded Mexico, Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortes first saw
popcorn when he met the Aztecs. Popcorn was important to the Aztecs as food, as
decoration for ceremonial headdresses and necklaces, and as ornaments on statues
of their gods. Around 1612, French explorers around the Great Lakes met Iroquois,
who used heated sand in a pottery vessel to make popcorn. There is an unproven
theory that an Indian named Quadequina brought a deerskin bag of popped corn
for the first Thanksgiving feast. In 1948 and 1950, anthropologist Herbert Dick and
botanist Earle Smith discovered ears of popcorn in the Bat Cave of west central New
Mexico. The ears measured from smaller than a penny to about 2 inches. They were
determined to be about 5,600 years old.

Colonial housewives served popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast. Some
colonists used a cylinder of thin sheet-iron that revolved on an axle in front of the
fireplace to make popped corn.
 In 1885, Charles Cretors of Chicago, Illinois, invented the first popcorn machine.
Street vendors were soon pushing steam or gas-powered poppers through fairs,
parks and public exhibitions.

Today much of the popcorn you buy at movies and fairs is popped in machine
manufactured by the Cretors family.

Americans eat more than 17 billion quarts of popcorns a year, an average of 60

quarts per person per year. As the result of an elementary school project, popcorn
became the official state snack food of Illinois. January 19 is National Popcorn Day,
and October is National Popcorn Month.

(a) Where are most popcorns grown?

(b) Who discovered popcorn?
(c) On which date is National Popcorn Day celebrated?
(d) What was the size of the ears discovered in the bat-cave?
(e) Which month is the National Popcorn Month?
(f) Who invented the first popcorn machine?
(g) With what did colonial housewives serve popcorn for breakfast?
(h) When did Hernando first see popcorn?
(i) Find the word from the passage which means 'of indigenous origin or growth.'

2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 12 marks

"Something is coming uphill", said Mother Wolf, twitching one ear. "Get ready."
The bushes rustled a little in the thicket and Father Wolf dropped on his haunches
under him, ready for his leap. Then, if you had been watching, you would have seen
the most wonderful thing in the world - the wolf checked in mid-spring. He made his
leap before he saw what he was jumping at, and then he tried to stop himself. The
result was that he had shot up straight into the air for four or five feet, landing
almost where he had left the ground. "Man!" he snapped. "A man's cub. Look!"

Directly in front of him, holding on a low branch, stood a naked brown baby who
could just walk - as soft and as dimpled a little atom as ever came to a wolf's cave at
night. He looked up into Father Wolf's face and laughed.

"Is that a man's cub?" said Mother Wolf. "I have never seen one. Bing it here. How
little! How naked! How Bold!" she said softly. The baby was pushing his way
between the cubs to get close to the warm hide. "Aha! He is taking his meal with the
others. And so this is a man's cub. Now, was there ever a wolf that could boast of a
man's cub among her children?"
 "I have heard now and again of such a thing, but never in our pack or in my time,"
said Father Wolf. "He is altogether without hair, and I could kill him with a touch
of my foot. But see, he looks up and is not afraid."

The moonlight was blocked out of the mouth of the cave, for Shere Khan's great
square head and shoulders were thrust into the entrance. Tabaqui, behind him, was
squeaking: "My lord, my lord, it went in here!"

"Shere Khan does us great honour," said Father Wolf, but his eyes were very angry.
"What does Shere Khan need?"

"My quarry. A man's cub went this way," said Shere Khan. "Its parents have run
off. Give it to me."

2.1 Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each: 8 marks
(a) What did a man's cub look like?
(b) What did Shere Khan tell Father Wolf?
(c) Why did Father Wolf drop on his haunches?
(d) What did it do to keep itself warm?
(e) Why did he stop in the middle of his jump?

2.2 Fill in any two of the blanks with appropriate words: 2 marks
(a) Shere Khan wanted .........
(b) The wolf family could boast of ..........
(c) Tabaqui went .......... Shere Khan to Father Wolf's cave.

2.3 Attempt any two of the following. Find out the words that means the same as under:
2 marks
(a) jump (para 1)
(b) bold (para 3)
(c) completely (para 4)

Section 'B' Writing and Grammar (30 Marks)

3. Our metropolitan cities witness a large number of accidents everyday. What do you
think is the reason? What can be done to bring down the rate of accidents? Write a
letter in 100-120 words to the editor of a national daily expressing your concerns and
offering solutions to this problem. You are Arun/Aruna, 112 Model Town, Delhi.
8 marks

4. Write a story in 200-250 words based on the input given below: 10marks
 The train gathered speed - all settled - a group of youngsters pushed in - looked
threatening - sudden silence....

OR

Write a story in about 200-250 words which describes how the elephant got its trunk
or how a giraffe got its long neck.

5. Read the paragraph given below. Fill in any four of the blanks by choosing the most
appropriate words/phrases from the given options. 4 marks

Infancy is not what it is meant to (a)........ . The child seems happy all the time to the
adult, because the adult knows that the child is untouched (b)........ the real problems
of life; if the adult (c)........ similarly untouched, he is sure that he would be happy.
But children, not knowing that they (d)........ an easy time, have a good many hard
times. Growing and learning and obeying the rules of their elders, or fighting
against them, (e)........ not easy things to do.

(a) (i) been (ii) being (iii) had been (iv) be

(b) (i) of (ii) at (iii) by (iv) from
(c) (i) is (ii) were (iii) had (iv) will be
(d) (i) will have (ii) are (iii) are having (iv) have
(e) (i) were (ii) will (iii) have (iv) are

6. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the
error and its correction as shown in the example: 4 marks

Error Correction

The entire household was in the e.g. in under

control for my mother-in-law. She (a)...... ......

was the majestic figure, very fair and (b)...... ......

very serious. She was rigid on (c)...... ......

her orthodoxy. No one dare to (d)...... ......

argue with him. (e)...... ......

7. Rearrange any four of the following words/phrases to form meaningful sentences:
4 marks

(a) reward/ its/ is/ honesty/ own.

(b) teaches us/ our dealings/ honest/ religion/ in/ to be.

(c) everywhere/ and/ is respected/ honest man/ an/ admired.

(d) leads/ he/ a/ and/ happy/ prospers/ life.

(e) life/ simplicity/ honesty/ cannot/ in/ achieved/ be/ without.

Section 'C' Literature Textbook and Extended Reading Text

(30 Marks)
8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: 4 marks

Mother carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day's work in the
fields hushed their singing lest they should curtail the restful sleep of the venerable
herd-robber.

(a) Who is referred to as the herd-robber?

(b) Why didn't they want to disturb him?
(c) What is meant by 'venerable'?
(d) Give the antonym of 'restful'.

OR

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

(a) Identify the poem from which these lines are taken.

(b) What does these lines describe?

(c) Identify the poetic device used in the last line of this extract.

(d) What is the rhyme scheme used in these lines?

9. Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words: 8 marks

(a) Why did Calpurnia not want Caesar to go to the Senate?

(b) Why was Ali leading a cheerless existence?
(c) How did the two boys impress the narrator and his companion?
(d) What idea did Patol Babu have while rehearsing? What was his director's reaction?
(e) What hellish thing had the Ancient Mariner done? How did the shipmates react?

10. Answer any one of the following questions in 100-120 words: 8 marks

As Patol Babu write a letter to your ideal Guru Gogan Pakrashi, telling him how his
advice changed you and your outlook on the role and the deep satisfaction you
derived from the role.

OR

Respect for all forms of life as an essential value. Unmindful destruction of nature
and its creatures deserves just punishment. Write in 80 to 100 words this essential
value as brought out in the poem, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.

11. Attempt any one of the following questions in about 200-250 words: 10 marks

The Story of My Life

What were the qualities that attracted everyone towards Helen before she fell victim
to her mysterious illness? Give your views.

OR

Helen found new surprises during Christmas with Ms. Sullivan. Describe the
character of Ms. Sullivan in the light of this statement.

OR

The Diary of a Young Girl

"The diary fulfilled a deeply felt need to write in Anne." Discuss.

OR

Draw a character sketch of Mr. Keesing, Anne's Maths teacher.

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