English Language & Literature| Class 10th

CBSE Board Paper

2018-19

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 CBSE Board Paper 2018-19
Set - 1
Time allowed: 3 Hours Max Marks: 80

General Instructions:
1. The question paper is divided into three sections:
Section A : Reading 20 Marks

Section B : Writing and Grammar 30 Marks

Section C : Literature 30 Marks
2. All questions are compulsory.
3. You may attempt any section at a time.
4. All questions of that particular section must be attempted in the
correct order.

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 Section A (Reading – 20 Marks)

1. Read the following passage carefully. 8

1. Few guessed that this quiet, parentless girl growing up
in New York City would one day would becomes the First
Lady of the United States. Even fewer thought she would
become an author and lecturer and a woman much
admired and loved by people throughout the world.
2. Born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1884 to wealthy, but
troubled parents who both died while she was young,
Roosevelt was cared for by her grandmother and sent to
school in England. In 1905, she married her distant cousin,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She and her husband had six
children. Although they were wealthy, her life was not
easy and she suffered several personal tragedies. Her
second son died when he was a baby. In 1921, her strong
athletic husband was stricken with polio, which left him
physically disabled for life.
3. Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman had great
intelligence and tremendous strength of character. She
never let things get her down. She nursed her husband
back to good health and encouraged him to remain in
politics. She then helped him to become Governor of New
York, and in 1933, President of the United States.
4. While her husband was President, she took a great
interest in all the affairs of the country. She becomes her
husband’s legs and eyes; she visited prisons and hospitals;
she went down into mines, up scaffoldings and hospitals;
she went down into mines, up scaffolding and into
factories. Roosevelt was tireless and daring.

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 During the depression she travelled all over the country
bringing goodwill, reassurance and help to people without
food and jobs. During World War II she visited American
Soldiers in camps all over the world. The United States had
never known a First Lady like her.
5. Roosevelt also kept in touch with the American people
through a daily newspaper column called ‘My Day’. She
broadcast on the radio and delivered lectures, all first for
a First Lady.

1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passing 1×8=8

answer the following question: (any eight)
(a) How was Eleanor Roosevelt’s personality in contract to
what she become?
(b) Apart from being the First Lady what else did she have
to her credit?
(c) What challenges did she face in her personal life but
remainder unfazed?
(d) Eleanor was a strong woman who helped her husband
become the President of America. How?
(e) What does the statement: ‘she become her husband’s
legs and eyes’ mean?
(f) What was her special contribution during the
depression?
(g) How did she motivate soldiers during World War II?
(h) What did she do for the first time for a First Lady?
(i) What side of her personality is reflected in this passage?

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2. Read the passage given below carefully and answer the 12
questions that follow.
1. Overpowering prey is a challenge for creatures that do
not have limbs. Some species like Russell’s viper inject
poison. Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical
method-rat snakes, for instance, catch and push their prey
against the ground, while pythons use their muscle power
to crush their prey to death. But snake can’t be neatly
divided into poisonous and non-poisonous categories.
2. Even species listed as non-poisonous aren’t completely
free of poison. The common Sand Boa, for instance,
produces secretion particularly poisonous to birds. So the
species doesn’t take any chance – it crushes its prey and
injects poison as an extra step.
3. Do vipers need poison powerful enough to kill hundreds
of rats with just one drop? After all, they eat only one or
two at a time.
4. While hunting animals try their worst to kill most
efficiently, their prey use any trick to avoid becoming a
meal, such as developing immunity to poison. For
instance, Californian ground squirrels are resistant to
poison. For instance, Californian grounds squirrels are
resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake poison.
5. Competition with prey is not the only thing driving
snakes to evolve more and more deadly poison. Snakes
also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.
6. Some snake killers have partial immunity to poison
Famously, mongooses are highly resistant to cobra poison,
and with their speed and agility, kill snakes fearlessly. It
would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t
evolve a more deadly poison to stop mongooses.

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 7. Poison has another important role. It’s an extreme meat
softener; specific enzymes break up the inside of the prey.
Normally, a reptile depends on the sun’s warm rays to aid
digestion.
8. But I wonder if we cannot use venom in our favour. In
remote parts of India, local hospitality often involves
leather- tough meat. I chew and chew until my jaws ache.
If I spit it out or refuse, our hots would be offended, I
swallow like a python stuffing a deer down its throat and
hope I don’t choke. If only I had poison.

2.1 Read the question given below and answer any four in 2×4=8
30-40 words each.
(a) Russell viper and rat snake have different methods to
attack prey. How?
(b) How does Sand Boa kill its prey?
(c) There is a constant tussle between the hunting animal
and its prey? Why?
(d) What makes mongoose a snake predator?
(e) What difficulty does the writer face when he is
entertained in the remote parts of India?

2.2 On the basis of your reading of the above passage fill in 1×2=2
any two of the following blanks.
i. Overpowering ………………… is a challenge for creatures
that do not have limbs.
a. a kiler b. humans
c. a python d. prey

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 ii. Poison ………………… meat.
a. enhances taste of b. hardens
c. softens d. breaks down

2.3 Attempt any two of the following. Find out the words that 1×2=2
mean the same as under:
(i) Affected (Para 1) (ii) Difference (Para 2)
(iii) Give in to (Para 3)

Section B (Writing and Grammar – 30 Marks)

3. You are Tanvi/Shirish of Safdarjung Development Area,

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New Delhi. You are extremely disturbed about the attacks
on old people living alone. Write a letter in 100-120 words
to the Editor, ‘The New Indian News’ making people
sensitive to the authorities to ensure that such attacks do
not take place.
OR

You are Ravi/Raveena, Sports Secretary of your school.

Write an article in 100-120 words on the topic,
‘Importance of Outdoor Games in the life of a teenager.’

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4. Write a story in 150-200 words with the help of the 10
following outline. Give it a suitable title also.
Bunya was a foolish boy, who was as attention seeker. He
was a woodcutter and would go deep into the jungle to cut
trees. One day he wanted to do an act of mischief. He
shouted at the top of his voice, “There’s a tiger, there’s a
tiger … ….”

OR

On Sunday I was watching TV. Suddenly I heard people

shouting outside….

5. Fill in any four of the following blanks choosing the most 1×4=4
appropriate option from the ones given below. Write the
answers in your answer – sheet against the correct black
numbers.
Delhi (a) _____ the capital of India. People from all parts
(b) _____ the capital and world come to visit Delhi. There
(c) _____ many historical building here. Last year I, (d)
_____ Delhi. I also watched (e) _____ Commonwealth
Games 2010.
(a) (i) was (ii) is (iii) are (iv) being
(b) (i) of (ii) from (iii) for (iv) at
(c) (i) being (ii) are (iii) been (iv) were
(d) (i) visit (ii) visiting (iii) visited (v) some
(e) (i) a (ii) an (iii) the (iv) some

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6. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is an 1×4=4
error in each line. Write the error along with its correction
in the space provided. Do any four.

7. Rearrange any four of the following words / phrases to

1×4=4
make meaning sentences.
1. that life began / centuries ago / scientists think / twenty
2. endless process / the plants and animals / of evolution/
are the products / of an
3. are / their / animals / products of / all the / environment
4. lose / habitat / human / due to/ their / the animals /
encroachment
5. the / habitat / regrowth / rate of / is / very slow / of

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 Section C (Literature – 30 Marks)

8. Read the extract given below and answer the question 1×4=4
that follow:
When I casually mentioned this to a friend, the 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?

OR

(There is a languid, emerald sea,

Where the sole inhabitant is me-
A mermaid drifting blissfully.)
Questions:
(a) Who does ‘me’ stand for?
(b) How does ‘me’ feel?
(c) Who is ‘me’ compared to?
(d) Which word in the extract means opposite of
‘’Sorrowfully’?

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9. Answer any four of the following question in 30-40 words 2×4=8
each:
i. How did Kisa Gotami realise that life and death is a
normal process?
ii. Why did Maddie write a note to Peggy and tore it?
iii. How can you say that Horace Danby was good and
responsible but not completely honest?
iv. What difficulty do the crew of the space probe face on
the Earth?
V. What was the most fascinating thing that Valli saw on
the street?

10. Attempt the following questions in 100-120 words: 8

Bholi is a child different from other. This difference makes
her an object of neglect and laughter. Elaborate.

OR

The poet in the poem, “For Anne Gregory’ convey that

we should give importance to the inner beauty and not to
the physical appearance. Elaborate with reference to the
poem.

11. Answer the following question in 200-250 words: 10

How did Kitty help Anne overcome her loneliness?
OR

What is the main theme of ‘The Diary of a Yong Girl’?

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 OR

“The best and most beautiful things in the world can’t be

seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”
Justify the famous quote of Helen Keller

OR

Helen had a great love for animal and birds. Write about
this aspect of her character.

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 Solutions (Set-1)

Section A (Solutions)

1. (a) Eleanor Roosevelt grew up to become The First Lady of the

United States. Along with it she was much admired and loved
as an author and lecturer by people throughout the world. She
was a quiet and parentless girl, a personality completely
contrasting with what she became and no one had expected
so much out of her.
(b) Apart from being the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt should
be credited for her success as an author and lecturer who was
admired and loved by people throughout the world.
(c) Eleanor Roosevelt was born to wealthy parents but both
were troubled and they died while she was quite young. She
was cared by her grandmother who sent her to school but her
sufferings didn’t end there. She was married to her distant
cousin and they had six children. Her second son died when he
was a baby and her husband was stricken by polio which made
him physically disabled for life. Despite all the hardships she
had a strong character and she never lost hope.
(d) Eleanor was a strong woman, despite all hardships she did
not give up and nursed her husband back to his good health
and also motivated him to continue politics. Her intelligence
helped her in making her husband the Governor of New York
and in 1933 he finally became the President of America.

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 (e) The given statement, ‘she become her husband’s legs and
eyes’ implies that she worked on behalf of her husband, she
visited prisons, hospitals and went down to mines, factories
and scaffoldings. Even during the time of depression she went
to people who were suffering with food and jobs. During World
War II she went to soldiers’ camps and also delivered
motivational speeches.
(f) During the time of depression, Lady Eleanor travelled across
the country to visit suffering people and took with her
goodwill, hope and reassurance to help people without food
and jobs.
(g) During World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the camps
of American soldiers all over the world to motivate them and
give them hope.
(h) As the First Lady for the first time she started a personal
newspaper column in the daily named ‘My Day’ to keep in
touch with the American people. Also she broadcasted over
radio and delivered lectures. With all this she never lost touch
with her people as a First Lady.
(i) This passage reflects Eleanor Roosevelt as a strong,
independent and powerful woman who rose up as the First
Lady but never lost her kindness. She also paved the way for
her husband and helped him become the Governor of New
York and then the President of the United States. She never
gave up despite all hardships and had a positive attitude for
life.

2. 2.1
(a) Russell viper and rat snake have different methods to attack
prey. The former preys by injecting poison whereas the latter
uses a non-chemical method i.e. catches and pushes their prey
against the ground.

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 (b) The Sand Boa produces secretions particularly poisonous to
birds. It attacks by first crushing its prey and then as an extra
step it also injects its poison into its prey. Though they are
classified as non-poisonous but it is completely not true
because it uses poison on its prey.
(c) There is a constant tussle between the hunting animal and
its prey because while hunting animals try all their techniques
to kill their prey efficiently and on the other hand their prey
use tricks to avoid being caught they develop immunity to
poison like the mongooses. Snakes become more and more
poisonous for two major reasons i.e. to avoid becoming prey
themselves and to compete with their prey.
(d) Mongooses are highly resistant to cobra poison. Also, with
their speed and agility, they kill snakes fearlessly.
(e) The writer faces difficulty when he is entertained in the
remote parts of India and expresses the need to use venom if
possible as it would make meat softer. While travelling in
remote parts, local hospitality often involves leather-tough
meat. The writer struggles to chew it until his jaw starts aching.
He was left with no choice but to chew because if he spits it
out or refused to swallow the hosts would feel offended and
while swallowing he felt like a python swallowing a deer down
its throat.

2.2 (i) Overpowering (d) prey is a challenge for creatures that

do not have limbs.
Among the creatures that do not have limbs, the only choices
to overpower their prey include injecting poison, or catching
its prey. While some species like python uses their muscle
power to crush its prey.
(ii)Poison (c) softens meat.

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 Poison acts as an extreme meat softener. It breaks down
enzymes inside the preys body and makes it easier for the
snake to swallow it down.

2.3 a. ‘Alternative’ means an option which is same as

another.
b. Secretions
‘Secretions’ refer to gland secretions which are in liquid form.
c. specific
‘Specific’ refers to something in particular.

Section B (Solutions)

3. Safdarjung Development Area

New Delhi
12th June 2019
The Editor
The New Indian News
New Delhi
Sir/Madam

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 Subject: Attacks on old people living alone
As a responsible citizen of the place I live in I would like to draw
your attention towards the increasing attacks on old people
living alone. It is extremely disturbing to see the struggle of
these elderly people living in our society.
We often witness them struggle day to day. Today it is some
other elders in our society tomorrow it could be our own
parents or grandparents. In the fast moving world that we live
almost all of us our busy with ourselves or our jobs, hardly do
we spend time with our elders and it might so happen that
someday they fall prey to these attacks. The rate of crime in
our society has been constantly increasing and the laws
introduced are just piling up with to control on crimes. Almost
all crimes against elders are because thieves think that they
are weak and will easily fall prey to them. As a result they
target such houses where the elders are left alone and families
that own a good amount of money and jewellery. They break
into such houses usually with a knife or gun and force them to
give away all their belongings. Even after looting them they are
usually killed and by the time people realise about any such
happening, the thieves are far from being caught.
Such crimes are taking place in daylight and yet the authorities
are unable to keep a check on them. As a measure not only
police authorities but even we should be alert. The security
guards in buildings shouldn’t allow anyone inside without
proper entries. Police vans should keep patrolling streets every
now and then so that these thieves have a fear of being caught.
Most importantly, we have to take charge of keeping our
elders comfortable and close to us. I hope this will raise
awareness among the widespread reader’s of your newspaper
and also alarm the authorities.
Yours sincerely,
Shirish
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 OR

Importance of Outdoor Games in the life of a teenager

We often neglect the importance of outdoor games in our lives
as a teenager. They are a very crucial part of life. It not only
builds physical strength but also stimulates the mind to grow.
It’s not only limited to teenagers but children usually indulge
in these games when young. The main importance of outdoor
games in the life of a teenager is elaborated below.
Playing outdoor games makes one exercise while getting
sunlight and fresh air which energises the body and creates a
healthy balance between the mind and body. It boosts team
spirit among children since these games usually involve a
group of people. Apart from these, it is a source of joy. Children
nowadays have become lethargic and prefer staying back at
home often engaged with their phones. Parents need to
understand the importance of playing outdoors and motivate
their children to play with others. Outdoor games have the
strength of improving memory and intelligence. In the long
run, it helps one to live a longer and healthier life. Few of the
commonly played outdoor games include cricket, basketball,
football, hide and seek etc.
As the famous saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy”. This is something all parents need to understand and
also counsel their children regarding the same.
Contributed by,
Raveena
(Sports Secretary)

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4. How Bunya became the hero?
Bunya was a foolish boy, who was as attention seeker. He was
a woodcutter and would go deep into the jungle to cut trees.
One day he wanted to do an act of mischief. He shouted at the
top of his voice, “There’s a tiger, there’s a tiger….” The nearby
villagers got frightened and rushed towards their homes. After
a few minutes a man who was working in the fields near Bunya
shouted and told everyone that there was no tiger around. On
hearing this, Bunya started laughing and all the people of the
village got angry on this mischief of his. People started talking
about him in groups and called him a stupid boy who shouldn’t
be trusted.
On the next day while Bunya was following his regular routine
of cutting trees he heard 3 men passing through the jungle.
They were talking about stealing gold and other valuable
things from the houses that keep their windows open at night.
Bunya waited for them to pass by and rushed back to inform
the villagers about their plans. But knowing how mischievous
he was no one was ready to believe him. He tried to convince
them and confessed that he was a playing a mischief the other
day but now he was serious. He even informed this to his
mother who didn’t pay much attention to it. Finally he decided
to catch the thieves red handed. At night he was alarmed and
noticed the houses whose windows were open. He heard
footsteps approaching and peeped out through his window.
He saw the three men moving into three different houses. He
woke his mother and pleaded her to believe him. He took her
to one of those houses and started knocking heavily at the
door. When the people woke up they were shocked to see the
thieves. All three of them were caught and tied with the rope
while waiting for the police to come.
The villagers thanked Bunya for saving them from being looted
and also said sorry for not believing him. They also advised him
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 not to play such mischief’s that can be misleading. From that
day Bunya became the hero of the village.

OR

A tragic Sunday
On Sunday I was watching TV. Suddenly I heard people
shouting outside and rushed towards my window to check
what had happened. There was a foot-bridge collapse at the
main road crossing and some people were badly injured. The
people around were shouting to call more people for help so
that they could be rushed to the hospital.
When our family shifted here there was no footbridge and
after a year the new local Government passed a project of
constructing one for the convenience of passer-by’s. As far as
I know, such constructions take about 6-8 months but this one
was labelled to be an ‘urgent project’ and the construction was
completely within 3 months. No one interfered in their matter
because engineers had come in to check the viability and
everything was fine. But this sudden collapse was a result of
hurried construction, the cost of which could be lives of many.
Thankfully, it was a Sunday and not many people were using
the bridge or else this road is fully congested and this would
have resulted in a major accident. I couldn’t go out because I
was alone at home. According to next day’s newspaper
reports, 3 people were injured and recovering whereas no one
else was harmed.
I hope constructions are done with more care and precaution.
Ignorance of one can cost lives of many. The authorities need
to be more careful.

5. A. ‘Be’ is the correct form of helping verb to be used in the

sentence. Other verbs are incorrect contextually.

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 B. ‘Greatest’ is the correct form of an adjective to be used in
the sentence. This is because one is being compared with all.
So, the superlative degree should be used.
C. ‘Have’ is the correct form of the verb to be used in the
sentence. This is because the second person always takes the
plural verb with it.
D. ‘For’ is the correct form of the preposition to be used in the
sentence.
E. Since the subject is plural, so a plural verb is needed in the
sentence. ‘Give’ is the correct form of the plural verb to be
used in the sentence.

6.

(a) The word before ‘play’ is ‘has’ which indicates past tense.
Therefore, the next word should also be in past tense.
(b) The sentence says that he has played for more than 20
years so while referring to the country the use of ‘in’ is more
appropriate than ‘on’.
(c) The error here lies in ‘games’. Since the word before is ‘the’
so it should be ‘game’ and not ‘games’.
(d) The correct form of the word ‘know’ that should be used
here is ‘known’ because he is already well-known and we are
referring to it.
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 (e) We want to say that he has skills both in batting ‘and’
fielding and not talking about any one of them.

7. 1. Scientists think that life began twenty centuries ago.

We start with the segment which contains the main basis of
the sentence i.e. ‘scientists think’ followed by ‘that life began’
which further describes their thinking. Then we use ‘twenty’
followed by ‘centuries ago’ that forms a complete and
meaningful sentence.
2. The plants and animals are the products of an endless
process of evolution.
The sentence starts with ‘the plants and animals’ which are the
main subjects of the sentence. This is followed by ‘are the
products’ which elaborates on the subject. Then we use ‘of an’
followed by ‘endless process’ and finally ‘of evolution’. The
segments follow this order because after ‘an’ the word must
be starting with a vowel and evolution is a process so it makes
it a meaningful sentence.
3. All the animals are products of their environment.
The first segment is ‘all the’ followed by the subject ‘animals’.
Since the last word is plural we use ‘are’ followed by ‘products
of’. Then we use ‘their’ because it justifies which ‘environment’
they belong to. This makes it a complete and meaningful
sentence.
4. The animals lose their habitat due to human encroachment.
This sentence starts with ‘the animals’ which makes it clear
that we are referring to animals which is followed by ‘lose’. To
clarify what they have lost, we use ‘their’ followed by ‘habitat’.
The reason behind this loss is given by ‘due to’ and then ‘to
human encroachment’. It makes it a complete sentence by
giving the reason for loss.

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 5. The rate of re-growth of habitat is very slow.
This sentence talks about ‘the rate of’ followed by ‘re-growth’.
Then it states what rate of re-growth is it talking of i.e. ‘of
habitat’. It also specifies that it has a very slow rate thereby
making it a complete sentence.

Section C (Solutions)

8. (a) Here ‘they’ refers to Camusfearna. The author was looking

for a suitable spot to carry out his experiment. He found
Camusfearna to be the best spot because it was circled by
water at a short distance from the door.
(b) The author could get one in the Tigris marshes. The one
they are talking about is an otter which were easily found in
the Tigris Marshes as they were very common there just as
common as mosquitoes.
(c) The exact word from the extract which means
‘domesticated’ is ‘tamed’. It means same as ‘controlling’.
(d) The author found that his mail had not arrived whereas his
friend’s mail had arrived at the Consulate-General. The author
went all the way to Basra to receive and answer his mails from

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 Europe at the Consulate-General. Since he didn’t receive his
mail, he sent a message to England which was unanswered
therefore he placed a call to England. After some discrepancy
his mail finally arrived after 5 days.

OR

(a) Here, ‘me’ stands for Amanda. Amanda is about 9-10 year
old school going girl. She is constantly instructed about the
do’s and don’ts specially by her mother. This makes her a
dreamer of a life completely different where she would be free
to do anything.
(b) Amanda feels very joyous at the thought of being a
mermaid. The mermaid would be the sole inhabitant of the
emerald sea and would drift happily in the languid sea. This
thought is a representation of the longing of a world where she
can live her life in her way.
(c) Here ‘me’ i.e. Amanda is compared to a mermaid. She is
inattentive towards the instructions that she constantly keeps
receiving and longs for a world where she would do anything
she wants to. This makes her imagine herself as a mermaid in
the sea.
(d) The word in the extract which means opposite to
‘sorrowfully’ is ‘blissfully’. The word blissfully means extremely
joyful and happy which is an opposite of sorrowfully meaning
sad.

9. i. Kisa Gotami realised that life and death is a normal process

and also that all she was doing was out of grief and selfishness.
At first she was being selfish by thinking about her son’s loss
and constantly asking for medicine that would cure him. This
realisation came in the second time when she discovered that

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 every family had lost a beloved one and she was not the only
one to suffer this loss. On the first time, to bring in this
realisation of life and death Buddha advised Kisa Gotami to
bring mustard seeds from a household where no beloved one
had died. She went for a second round to check all houses
again to know if any beloved one hadn’t died but this taught
her that death was natural and inevitable and that no human
had control over it. Therefore it was Buddha who made her
accept this truth of life and death.
ii. Maddie was fed up of Peggy teasing and making fun of
Wanda. Wanda was not the same as the others, she was a
different child. She would travel to and from school all alone.
She was always dressed in a faded blue dress that wouldn’t
even fit her properly. She didn’t even prefer to talk to
everyone. Maddie felt embarrassed by Peggy’s questions to
Wanda and she decided to write a note to inform Peggy about
her disappointment and ask her not to bully Wanda. Maddie
had realised that it was every child’s fantasy to own a hundred
dresses but situations didn’t favour Wanda to own them which
made her wear a dress which was given to her by someone
else. But she was struck by the thought that Peggy would start
mocking and teasing her instead of Wanda and so she tore the
note.
iii. Horace Danby was good and responsible but not completely
honest. Though he was a kind man once he was imprisoned. It
was fifteen years ago that he was imprisoned on charges of
stealing. He wasn’t a thief but he was habituated to stealing
once every year to fulfil his desires of owning rare books. He
would not steal regularly but sufficiently to suffice for 12
months not as typical thieves do. He would steal only when he
desired to own a rare and expensive book and wouldn’t keep
repeating it. He would buy these books through an agent. But

25
 keeping aside all his kindness and responsibility, he was
dishonest on this ground.
iv. The crew of the space probe weren’t acquainted with usual
things on Earth. They landed in a public library which was a
strange place for them as they did not know what books were
meant for. They first guessed that they were sandwiches and
told their Captain that they had landed on some canteen. They
also guessed that sandwiches were the main diet food for the
people on Earth. To confirm that it was a sandwich they tried
to eat one. Upon eating they realised that it was not so tasty
and was very dry like Martian dust. Then they guessed that
they were meant for communication and tried to listen to
them. When this failed they concluded that it was meant for
eye communication.
V. It was Valli’s favourite pastime to watch outside her window
and observe all that was happening on the streets. Valli was
most fascinated by the bus that ran between the nearest town
and her village. What gave her joy was the new faces she saw
every hour when the bus came to pickup new passengers. She
always desired to travel on that bus. To fulfil this desire she
found out all the details of the bus by listening to the people
who travelled regularly. Valli had planned her bus trip with all
the information that the town was six miles away and it was a
45 minutes journey. Also that the one way fare was 30 paisa
and if she wanted to return back she would have to pay
another 30 paisa.

10. Sulekha is the name of the child who is called ‘Bholi’ because
of her simplicity in appearance and also to symbolise her as a
backward child. Bholi was fourth among seven children of
Numerdar Ramlal. Bholi is a child different from other. Bholi
suffered with an injury in her head when she was only 10

26
 months old. This injury had become the cause of her being
backward. In her appearance, she was fair by birth but was
attacked by small-pox when she was just 2 years old which left
black marks on her skin. She started speaking when she
reached the age of 5 but she used to stammer while made her
a subject of mockery. She was laughed at and mimicked by the
other children. This made her a child who wouldn’t speak
much. All her brothers and sisters were stronger than her. She
was frightened at the thought of going to school. She was only
convinced when she got to wear new clothes and believed that
it would be a place better than home. She had no idea of the
concept of schools but when she saw other girls she hoped of
making new friends. In class she was asked her name but she
stammered which made other girls laugh at her. This episode
left her in tears. This difference makes her an object of neglect
and laughter.

OR

The poem “For Anne Gregory” conveys that we should give

importance to the inner beauty and not to the physical
appearance. Anne is described as a lady with yellow hairs who
thinks of dyeing them to carrot colour or black or brown. She
states that by doing so men will love her and not particularly
her hair. She does this to enhance her outer appearance and
look beautiful. It is after a long time that she realises that only
God can love his creations unconditionally and that she should
not bother much about her lover. She learns that inner beauty
is what should matter and not the outer beauty. A person who
loves one truly shall not want her to change her appearance to
impress someone.

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11. Anne began to write her diary named Kitty at the age of
thirteen. As we read through this diary we see her develop
maturity as those were her crucial teenage years. At that age,
she liked writing about boys, going to school and spending
time with friends. As we start to read the diary entries we
observe that firstly she would write about more surface level
things like about her experiences with friends and who
thought what about her. But as one progresses, a remarkable
change in Anne’s mindset can be observed. Once she goes into
hiding she starts to think more about life. It is very obvious that
she took to writing her everyday experiences in a diary
because she felt lonely or couldn’t find a company who would
understand her at that stage. Her diary was her friend and she
would immediately take note of things that had happened and
expressed her true self. This diary later turns out to be one of
the most authentic and well-known records of the Jews in
Germany that time. When their family moved into the annex
she had a positive attitude and was hopeful that soon
situations would turn out in their favour but as time passed she
had realised that everyone was not going to be smooth and
well. This shaped her as a deep thinker who would isolate
herself from others and only express herself to her best friend
Kitty. By the time she attained the age of fifteen she had
become quite mature and was no more that girl who would
start arguing with anyone. She questions the situation of Jews
through her diary.

OR

The main theme of ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ is the horrific

and dreadful condition of the Jews in Germany. It is a
description of the plight and sufferings of those people. The
diary is a record of the original entries made by a young teen
whose name was Anne Frank. It expresses the time of World

28
 War II which led many families to suffer to death. Suddenly
their lives started to change for the worst. Anne writes about
two families in particular because they were living together in
the hiding i.e. the Franks and the Van Daans. They had
arranged a hiding in the annex of the office building of Mr.
Frank and had started to secretly move things there. Jews were
captured and sent to gas chambers or concentration camps.
Arranging for food, shelter, clothing and other necessities had
also become impossible. People were left with no option but
to buy either from black marketers or buy stale food to survive
on. Anne has mentioned about all major political changes that
were taking place and also how the fear of getting caught kept
on intensifying. These two families went into hiding with a
hope of surviving the war but were unfortunate like the others
and eventually died. It was Anne’s father who somehow
survived and found Anne’s diary and got it published under the
title ‘The Diary of a Yong Girl’.
OR

“The best and most beautiful things in the world can’t be seen
or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” This is a
famous quote given by Helen Keller. The most beautiful things
in world are feelings of love, care and affection. These are all
intangible that is it cannot be touched but only felt. Feelings
and emotions touch our hearts and that’s when we realise how
beautiful their presence is. Helen Keller could not see or speak
but all of us know that still she has been an achiever. Her
physical disabilities did not become a hurdle in her path to live
her dreams. She believed in herself and this belief was built up
by her mentor and care taker Ms. Sullivan. She was very
capable intellectually with a great aesthetic sense. Despite her
disabilities she managed to complete schooling and also got
into a college with the constant support and guidance of Ms.

29
 Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan would educate her by making her touch
and feel objects and helping her create a connection with
them. Her continued attempts to overcome all adversities
made her realise the beauty of things felt with the heart.

OR

Helen had a great love for animals and birds. She had always
been a nature lover and found a companion in nature that
brought her peace of mind. As it is said that nature is the best
teacher it was the same for Helen too. Her love for the nature
helped Miss Sullivan to educate her with reference to nature.
She used to teach Helen geography with the medium of nature
while she took her for walks. Helen’s childhood memories
were also mostly related to nature and her realisation of how
water or snow felt when touched. Few of Helen’s most
favourite books were the ones which consisted of animals as
characters like “The Jungle Book” or “Wild Animals I have
Known”. This describes her love for animals. Also she had a
sense of differentiating actual animals vs. human caricatures
acting as animals and generally preferred the real ones.
Another aspect of her character was that she connected well
with nature and animals because she felt a bond with the
silence of these as she was also unable to speak.

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