GVN THE GLOBAL SCHOOL

CLASS X SET B
SUBJECT ENGLISH
TIME 3 Hrs.

Instructions:

Read all the questions carefully.

Attempt all the sections.

Q1 Read the passage carefully and answer the the question that follows:

(1) We have been brought up to fear insects. We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do
more harm than good. Man continually wages war on them, because tntaminate his food, carry
diseases or devour his crops. They sting or bite it without provocation; they fly uninvited into our
rooms on summer nights or beat against our lighted windows. We live in dread not only of
unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps but of quite harmless ones like moths. Reading about
them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears. Knowing that the industrious ant
lives in a highly organised society does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion
when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.
(2) No matter how much we like honey or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of
direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung. Most of our fears are
unreasonable but they are difficult to erase. At the same time, however, insects are strangely
fascinating, we enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying Mantis,
they lead perfectly horrible lives. We enjoy staring at them and entranced as they go about their
business, unaware of our presence. Who has not stored in awe at the site of a spider pouncing on
a fly I saw a column of ants triumphantly bearing home and enormous dead beetle?
(3) Last summer, I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of
my price of peach tree. The tree has grown against a warm well on sheltered side of the house. I
am especially proud of it, not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it
occasionally produces Luscious features. During the summer I noticed that the leaves of the
trees were beginning to wither. Clusters of tiny insects called aphis were to be found on the
underside of the leaves. They were visited by a large Colony of ants which obtained a sort of
honey from them. I immediately embarked on an experiment which, even though it failed to get
rid off the ants, kept me fascinated for 24 hours. I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape,
making it impossible for the Ants to reach the aphis.The tape was so sticky that they did not dare
to cross it. For a long time, I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in
bewilderment. I even went out at midnight with the torch and noted with satisfaction and surprise
that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do so anything
about it. I got up early next morning hoping to find that the Ants had given up in despair.
Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route. They were climbing up the wall of the house
and then onto the leaves of the tree. I then realised sadly that I had been completely defeated by
their ingenuity. The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific
methods!
1) Answer the following questions by choosing the correct option: (4)
(a) Insects are regarded unnecessary creatures because
(1) We are afraid of them
(2) They devour the crops
(3) They contaminate food
(4) They do more harm than good
(b) Human beings get a feeling of_____ when they watch insects
(1) Fear
(2) Fascination
(3) revulsion
(4) all of these
(c ) The attitude of man towards insects as described in the passage is
1. Scientific
2. Based on facts
3. Unreasonable
4. One of fear and revulsion
(d) Knowing about the insects helps man
(1) to change his attitude towards insects
(2) to increase his understanding
(3) to dispel his fears
(4) to dispel his revulsion
2)Answer the following questions briefly: (2*4=8)
(i) Why are insects disliked by men?
(ii) When do we find insects fascinating?
(iii) What did the writer do to stop the insects from climbing the tree?
(iv) How did the insects defeat the writer.

Q2. Read the passage carefully and the answer the questions that follows: (8)

• Perhaps the environmental crisis at hand has not yet touched your life, but the time is
shortly to come. Recent NASA reports of a 60 percent loss of ozone over the Arctic
provide an explanation for increased severity in the world’s weather patterns which has
only begun to affect us, whether directly or indirectly. The social, political and economic
implications are difficult to imagine as our ozone layer continues to thin, forests
disappear and desertification is occurring at an alarming rate.
• Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week. This alarming rate of
deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and
manufacturing practices. A 70 feet tree cut for its limber takes 65 years to replace. A 70
feet bamboo cut for the market can be replaced in less than 3 months, and bamboo is
officially recognized as the world’s fastest growing plant. Some species can grow 3 feet
per day.
• Driven by the constantly growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly
products, bamboo is gaining momentum as a reliable source of high quality and durable
 green building material over traditional non-sustainable products. Bamboo is known to
produce 30 percent more oxygen than hardwood forest of comparable size, while
preventing erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins
from contaminated soil. Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of
building material. Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention and to reverse
the effects of global warming. Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after
harvesting.
• Traditional hardwood lumber trees, such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to
regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide
consumed and more soil run off in the spot where those trees were harvested-all
producing negative environmental effects. Our planet is suffering from resource
depletion, habitat loss, species extinction and ecosystem pollution. The choice of bamboo
as building material will greatly help reverse those negative trends.

• Why is use of bamboo gaining momentum?

• The greatest advantage of bamboo is that it_______________
• Why is deforestation alarming?
• What does more soil run off in the spot mean?
• ____________________produces 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of
comparable size.
• _______take 40-50 years to regrow___________
• What problems are troubling the earth?
• What is the author promoting?

SECTION B WRITING AND GRAMMAR

Q3. Modern life has paved the way to a mechanical life which is dependent on gadgets.
These devices play a significant role in the day to day life of every human being and occupy
a major part in their lives. Write a letter to the Editor of a national daily on the useful aspects
of gadgets and their service to mankind in about 100-120 words. You are Sangita/Shankar.
(8)
OR
Meditation comes as a heavenly refuge to lives that are immersed in immense stress of the
modern world. You are Somya, a student of class X. Write an article in not more than 150
words discussing the health benefits of meditation.

Q4. Using the beginning given below, develop a story in about 200 words with a suitable title
and also assign a moral to it. (10)
Normally, senior students are not allowed on the balcony towards the Pre-Primary wing, but I
had to stay back on that afternoon and heard someone shouting. As I approached the
balcony……………….

Q5. Fill in the blanks choosing the most appropriate option from the ones given below:
(4)

i. Mr. Arjun Bhatia’s house ____________ at 3:00 PM.

 ii. The family was_________________ afternoon siesta.
iii. When masked men ______________ through roof top.
iv. The robbers_______________ keys and escaped with the valuables.
v. (a) was burgled (b) broken into (c ) is forced open (d) ransacked
vi. (a) sleep (b) enjoying (c ) having gone (d) entertain
vii. (a) came (b) entered (c ) for ran (d) rested
viii. (a) asked (b) shouted (c ) demanded (d) called

Q6. In the following passage one word has been omitted in each kine. Write the missing
word along with the word that comes before and after the word. (4)
Before Word After
a. A man getting very impatient ______________________-_______
b. Again and again he would peep the ______________________________
c. Doctor’s room to see many patients ______________________________
d. Were left. After a long time, his turn _________________________________

Q7. Rearrange the following words/phrases to form meaningful sentences: (4)

a. you/have/kept/where/the/books?
b. has a/rich/cultural/India/its diversity/heritage/with
c. not/in/run/the/do/corridors/and/make/noise
d. you tell/are/the reason/can/me/looking upset/why you

SECTION C LITERATURE
Q8. Read the extracts and answer the questions that follows: (4)
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage
On pads of velvet quiet
In his quiet rage
a. Who is ‘he’ in the first line?
b. Where is he in these lines?
c. Why can he walk only a few steps?
d. What does the phrase “quiet rage” suggest?
OR
____________-Now
He senses first responsibility
In the world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy
And no one buys a ball back. Money is External.
a. Name the poet of the poem.
b. What does the boy understand when he grows up?
c. What does the ‘ball’ signify?
d. Find antonym of ‘internal’.

Q9. Answer the following questions briefly: Any 5 (10)

1. Why was Horace sure that his robbery attempt at Shotover Grange would be a success?
2. Describe the young seagull’s expression when he saw his mother with food.
3. What is ‘apartheid’? How did it affect the people of South Africa?
4. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?
5. Why did Max’s face turn black with anger? What did he want Ausable to do?
6. What is so weird about the Hyena and the crocodile?

Q10. Answer any one of the following in 120-150 words: (8)

How did the narrator get out of the storm in the night to land safely?
OR
Why did Anne think that she could confide more in her diary than in the people?

Q11. Answer any one of the following in 120-150 words: (8)

Money can’t make a man as much as education can. Elucidate the statement.
OR
Horace was a successful thief because he carefully planned his robberies. Should we call him a
successful thief and still appreciate his work? Why or Why not?

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