BAL BHARATI PUBLIC SCHOOL

SECTOR – 21 NOIDA
Assignment-(Jan-Feb 2011)
ENGLISH
Class – XI

Prepared By– Rumpa B.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:-
(i) Paper has A, B, C and D sections.
(ii) All sections are compulsory.
(iii) Adhere to word limits always.

SECTION ‘A’ READING SKILLS (20)

AI: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (12)

1. Ever since he got a new boss at the beginning of the year, whom he did not respect, Sameer
Purohit actively began seeking a change. Under the previous manager, he was promoted four
times in just over a year. Sameer strongly believed his career was on the fast track and was
pleased to note the sense of pride and joy this gave to his wife and parents.
2. The head of a new line of business the company was launching offered Sameer a project role:
to help plan and commence the operations. He was excited by the prospect but refused after he
found that the position was a level lower than this current level of deputy chief manager. Eight
months later, the project manager, who was hired after he refused, assumed charge as general
manager-operations, while Sameer got progressively depressed about his work. Not having
found any decent opportunity outside for almost a year in the “India Shining” economy began
to dent his self-esteem.
3. What went wrong with Sameer’s “dream run”? While it is almost universally true that a career
spanning four decades or more will have a fair share or ups and downs, there are steps we can
take to reduce stagnation or defer hitting the Peter Principle “level of incompetence.”
4. Usually, assessment of personal growth in our career is derived from “epaulets”, or badges,
like title or even the organization we work for. That most of our social network also assesses
us, thus acts as reinforcement. That the title used in our organization may have a completely
different connotation in another organization, industry or country is overlooked.
5. What are we without our business card? We underestimate the intrinsic value of skills and
capabilities we develop, networks and relationships we nurture, the diversity of cultures and
experiences. We got obsessive, chasing the next promotion, oblivious to whether this entails
change in role and essential nature of responsibilities.
6. And if it does, is that something we would enjoy or excel at? Many competent professionals
relish the technical challenges and complexities in their chosen area of work but dislike the
burden of supervision of management.
7. Traditional organizational policies and peer pressure push them to accept managerical duties
in the rat race up the corporate ladder. Often “visible” perquisites like car or club membership

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 are linked to managerial level. In a status-conscious society, many of us get understandably
seduced. Sometimes, we accept positions merely because they pay better, not because that’s
what we really want to do or are good at.
8. On the journey to professional excellence, we get distracted by “hooks” to hand our self-
esteem: pay, titles, perks. If we are not continually adding to our expertise and skills, these
hooks may soon transform into a golden cage we can’t exit.
9. We are creatures of habit and do find it difficult to get out of our comfort zone. In 9our
careers, this manifests itself in our insistence on seeking role, locations or organizations we
are similar with. A customer service person from the IT industry looks for similar roles in the
same industry, arguing that she can better “leverage” her expertise.
10. In a world where the pace of change itself is rapidly changing, only our ability to constantly
learn and acquire new skills and capabilities will ensure we continue to be relevant, and
thereby employable. For that, we need to risk breaking out of our cocooned comfort.
11. As the Red Queen in “Alice in Wonderland” told Alice, “Now, here, you see, it takes all the
running you can do. To keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must
run at least twice as fast as that.”

Q. 1.1 Answer the following questions briefly. (9)

a) How did Sameer get progressively depressed about his work? How did it affect his
self-esteem? (1)
b) How do people assess one’s personal growth? What is usually underestimated? (2)
c) What do competent professionals relish? What forces them to accept managerial
duties? (2)
d) What distractions hinder professional excellence? What is essential to avoid being
confined in golden cage? (2)
e) How do our ‘habits’ and adherence to ‘comfort zone’ influence our life? What can
help us out of this ‘cocooned comfort’? (2)

Q. 1.2 Find words in the above passage which convey similar meaning as the following: (3)
a) conversing a period of time (para 3)
b) review (para 4)
c) same age group (para 7)

AII: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (8)

1. It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement,
teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling
spiritual comfort. Thought it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms
of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people
perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save
our lives, yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely his
service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that
goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.
2. Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as
human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have
nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice
their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry
for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the

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 consequences. He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but he is free from
the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it
possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open, he
gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg, or steal
occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he
will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak with contempt for tramps and put them in the
same class as beggars, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little
envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?

Q. 1.3 On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using heading and
sub-heading s. use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary – minimum four). (5)

Q.1.4 Find words from the passage, which mean the same as the ones given below: (3)
a) commodities (Para 1)
b) sympathy (Para 2)
c) resultof (Para 2)

SECTION ‘B’ –WRITING SKILLS (35)

BI: You are a publicity in-charge or Spic Macay programme to be hosted by your school
wherein Pandit Ravi Shankar will be playing the Sitar. Draft a POSTER publicizing the
programme and giving relevant details. (50 Words) (5)
OR
Write a NOTICE for the school notice board inviting students to participate in a Science
Symposium in the Science week to be held in your school in April 2010. You are the head
boy of your school.

BII: “Cinema Fire claims 156 lives” – with reference to this heading write a report in 125
words for Hindustan Times. You are Akshita, a witness to this unforeseen tragedy. (10)
OR
Write a report on the “Suraj Kund Fair” held at Faridabad during 27 Jan to 15 Feb’10.
Mention all details in 125 words.

BIII: Responding to the given advertisement write a Job Application with Bio-data. You are
Mukta Tripathy. Apply for the post ofaChartred Accountant with reference to the indent
given below:
Wanted experienced Chartered Accountant for Alto and Bros. Pvt. Ltd. 35 to 40 years,
with 10 yrs. experience, pass out of Saheed Sukhdev College Delhi. If interested submit
Bio-data within 10 days to Mr. R. P. Sharma, Vice president 25 alpha street, Bangalore
Please follow the layout strictly. (10)
OR
You are Shyam Ahiya, Administrative officer of Bishops Cotton School, 16, Adolf Road
Mumbai 6. Write a letter to Supreme Furniture, 23 Gandhi Marg, Sector 9 Mumbai,
placing an order for school furniture for seven new classrooms that have been constructed
in your school. Mention all details.

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BIV: You have worked for Pulse Polio Campaign of Delhi. Being an active member you have
realized that government had launched several programmes in this field. Write an Article
in 150 to 200 words for a leading daily, discussing the need of Health care in India. (10)
OR
In the recent days a new trend has developed where both parents are working. Children of
such families are being left alone. Write an article on the topic “Joint Families – A Boon
of the growing child”. Sign yourself as Shanti (word limit 150 to 200)

SECTION ‘D’ – LITERATURE (45)

DI: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions: - (4)

“Father and son, we both must live,

On the same global and the same land,
He speaks, I cannot understand,
Myself, why anger grows from grief
We each put out an empty hand,
Longing for something to forgive.”

(a) What reality dawns on the speaker? (1)

(b) How do the two- father and son behave how does the father feel? (1)
(c) Do you think reconciliation is possible and how? (1)
(d) Name the poet and the poem. (1)

D II: Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words. (2 x 3 = 6)

(a) What does rain do to Mother Earth?(Voice of the rain)

(b) Where has the childhood of the poet gone? Give reference from the poem childhood
(c) What does the father want from his son?(Father to son)

DIII: Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words. (2 x 5 = 10)

(a) What is the holistic and ecological view of the earth? (Ref. Ailing Planet)
(b) Who was Taplow? (Browning Version)
(c) Describe the Tibetan Mastiff? Silk Road)
(d) Why was Howard Carter’s investigation resented? (Discovering Tut)
(e) What is the Daoist view of the universe? (Landscape of the soul)

DIII: Answer the following question in 125 words: - (10)

What difficulties did the author encounter while crossing the mountain passes that lead to
the Silk Road? (Silk Road)

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DIV: Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words. (4 x 2 = 8)

(a) What reasons did the accused give to save themselves from being hanged by the
king? (Tale of the Melon City)
(b) How did Cyril and Doris behave after they came back from their work-place?
(Mother’s Day)
(c) Give example from text to prove Shahid was a popular teacher?
(d) Describe Norbu?

DV: Answer the following in 125 words: - (7)

Briefly draw a comparative study between Mrs. Pearson and Mrs. Fitzgerald’s Character.

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