Lahore Grammar School

GULBERG NETWORK

Winter Holidays Homework – 2020/2021

Name: Class /Section: 8/

Dear Students,

1. Please attempt all homework in your notebook on Teams.

2. Please read the instructions carefully and then attempt, making sure that
you do not miss out on any part of the homework.
3. The last date for submission of all homework is 10th January, 2021.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

 Holidays Homework
English Grade 8
Summary Writing
In order to write a good summary, you should be able to write in your own words. This means that
instead of copying from the text, you should be able to write in original compound or complex
sentences, that have been created by you and not by the writer of the original text. Original compound
and complex sentences are formed by using:

1. Conjunctions (‘because’,’ when’,’ after’, ’before’,’ since’ etc)

2. Relative pronouns (‘who’, ‘whose’, ‘whom’, ‘which’, ‘that’)

3. Present participial phrases e.g

(i) The water dripping from the table will damage the floor if it is not cleaned up.

(ii) The girl playing badminton is also a star basketball player.

Also note that a good summary must have Linking words used appropriately (however,
moreover, nevertheless, furthermore etc

Exercise 1.

Make compound or complex sentences by using conjunctions.

i. Lucky was very tired. She had been studying sentence structure all day.

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ii. Lucky got home. Her mother was there to greet her.

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iii. Lucky ate her lunch. She went straight to her room to study.

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Exercise 2.

Make complex sentences by combining the following sentences using relative pronouns.

i. Tulen was an English teacher. He worked in a high school in Turkey.

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ii. Tulen taught English in a high school. The school had almost four hundred students.

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iii. Tulen met one of his former students. He had taught this student for three years of high
school.

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iv. Tulen lived next door to Nathan. He had taught Nathan’s son for two years of high school.

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Exercise 3.

Make complex sentences by combining the following sentences using present participles.

i. Suzy walked to school. She met an old friend from high school.

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ii. They chatted together. They walked along the street.

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iii. Suzy heard that her friend was a teacher. She told her friend that she was a teacher too.

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iv. Her friend smiled. She told Suzy that she had heard from many colleagues that Suzy was a

wonderful teacher.

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Exercise 4.

Read the following passage carefully and summarize, in a single paragraph, the problems which the
writer experienced that day. Your summary must be between 80-100 words.

A Bad Start
The day started off badly and got steadily worse and worse. My sister spent ages in the bathroom, even
longer than usual, and so I was late with my shower. When I was halfway to the bus stop, I realized I had
left my bus pass on the kitchen table and had to go back for it, after which I raced back to the bus stop,
sweating, disheveled and breathless. My sister, of course, was already there, looking relaxed, demure
and very well showered. She smiled a knowing smile at me as if to say ‘Aren’t brothers awful?’ to her
equally well groomed friends. To make matters worse, one of my sister’s friends, Diana, was standing
there with her; because I found Diana fascinating and pretty, and had been trying to pluck up the
courage to speak to her for months, I felt awkward and embarrassed. Clearly, this was not the day for
doing it; I quietly cursed myself for appearing so silly before her.

I dashed off the bus, glad to get away from my sister and Diana. As soon as I reached the class—it was
Science, first period of that day—I remembered that we had been given homework the last day. How
could I have forgotten? Groaning inwardly, I waited for the teacher to ask for the homework notebooks.
I took a deep breath and put my hand to confess.

‘What do you mean, no homework?’ hissed the teacher. ‘It’s lunchtime detention for you, and a letter
home to your parents. I’m surprised at a boy like you forgetting your homework.’

My heart sank. My father would be furious with me.

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Text A

In spring 2008, the polar bear was placed on the endangered species list. According to the
USA's Endangered Species Act, an endangered species is an animal, plant or any other kind of
wildlife that is likely to face extinction in its natural habitat. Polar bears had already been
categorized as a "threatened" species which the ESA defines as one that is likely to become
"endangered" in the foreseeable future.

The polar bear is the first animal that has been classified as endangered due primarily to global
warming. Global warming is a form of climate change caused by increased levels of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases that become trapped in the atmosphere. Oil and gas
heaters, engines using oil or petrol (or gasoline) and coal-powered electricity plants all require
fossil fuels that lead to global warming. Renewable energy sources or renewables that don't
cause global warming include solar, wind and hydro-electricity power. These alternative forms
of power, as well as the science of climate change, have been strongly attacked by many of the
world's biggest companies in order to protect the huge profits they make from fossil fuels. They
do this even though they're fully aware of how much fossil fuels are damaging our planet and
endangering many of the species we share it with.

The polar bear's habitat is more vulnerable to global warming than many other species. Polar
bears live mainly on the sea ice in the Arctic. This is where they hunt for fish and build up fat
reserves. When the ice melts many polar bears move to land and live off their stored fat. In the
Arctic, global warming is causing the ice to melt slightly earlier and form slightly later. This
results in a shorter feeding season for the polar bear. Some risk their lives to find ice. If they
have to swim too far they will drown from exhaustion and hunger. The World Wildlife Fund
estimates that over 25% of Arctic sea ice has disappeared in the past 30 years.

It is not only the polar bear that is at risk in the Arctic. Every species of plant, animal, and insect
there is threatened by global warming. Nevertheless, groups of concerned scientists and
environmentalists such as the World Wildlife Fund often study large carnivores in order to
assess the health of an ecosystem. The Arctic food chain relies on the polar bear. In addition,
donations are more commonly offered for the protection of large animals such as bears or
elephants. People in general are less interested in conservation efforts that protect small
wildlife, such as plants or insects. However, by using donor money to protect the habitats of
larger animals through reforestation and similar programs, entire ecosystems with many
threatened or endangered species can be saved.
Read Text A in the Insert then answer questions 1- 3.

Q1. What is the main purpose of the text?

Ans. _________________________________________________________________________________

Q2. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:-

1. Conservation ___________________________________________________________________

2. Foreseeable ____________________________________________________________________

3. Reforestation ___________________________________________________________________

Q3. What is the main reason for the polar bears to become extinct?

Ans. _________________________________________________________________________________
Text B
The obvious choices when starting out with tree frogs are the large and placid White’s tree
frog or maybe the iconic red-eyed tree frog for more experienced keepers. However, if
you’re looking for something more unusual and yet relatively hardy and straightforward to
look after, the American green tree frog is well worth considering. Captive –bred specimens
of this species can often be obtained through exotic pet retailers or specialist breeders, and
make charming and delightful terrarium subjects.

Originating from the sub-tropical climates of the south-eastern United States extending from
North Carolina through to Florida and Louisiana, this is a bold and gregarious little frog that is
typically found in areas of pond lakes, or in the flood-plain meadows and swamp lands.
Slighter and smaller than its European cousin, the American green tree frog is medium-sized,
averaging around 3.75cm in length when fully grown.

It is also a particularly attractive species, usually being a vibrant apple green speckled with
tiny white or yellow dots across the back and flanks. The undersides are pale, and a white or
cream – coloured lateral band runs from the top jaw along its sides. The colouration of these
tree frogs is somewhat changeable, though, and will vary from shades of olive green to deep
brown, according to their surroundings and the influence of environmental factors such as
heat and humidity.

American tree frogs are mainly nocturnal in nature, meaning they tend to spend most of the
day snoozing in their preferred resting spot, hidden amongst the leaves, They then become
most active in the evenings and early night-time when they are likely to be heard calling in
g their distinctive, high-pitched and surprisingly loud voices inflating their throat pouches as
they do so.

GLOSSARY
Now answer these questions in the spaces provided.
Terrarium A small container for keeping and observing plants or small animals.
Q6. a) Which tree frog does the writer suggest for an experienced keeper?

Ans.
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b) What is the difference between an American green tree frog and its European cousin?

Ans.
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c) What will make the colour of the American green tree frog change?

Ans.
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Q7. Give the meaning of each of these words as it is used in the passage. In each case give one
word or short phrase.

a) Placid _________________________________________________________________

b) Considering ____________________________________________________________

c) Distinctive _____________________________________________________________

d) Inflating _______________________________________________________________

Q8. What is the main purpose of this text? Tick one box.

To inform
To entertain
To persuade
To advertise

Q9. Which word or phrase from the passage tells that American tree frogs do not appear in the
day?

Ans.
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Q10. Why is it surprising that American tree frogs have “loud voices”? (line 21)

Ans.
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Q11. Write a summary of up to 70 words about the facts stated in the passage about the
American tree frog.

Ans.
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Writing an autobiography

Much of what we learn is from experience from everyday life. Our family life, friends and the things that
happen to us and the things we observe tell us a lot about the world. These experiences and observations
are sometimes recounted in people’s autobiographies. Autobiographical recounts can be as touching and
moving as novels and poetry as they often contain descriptions and experiences that are genuine and
heartfelt.

Write a short autobiography about your early school days. You can focus on one particular day or on
general memories of your first weeks.

Make a list of everything you can remember. Then see if there are a few specific things you could focus
on in your account.

Write about how you felt, and what kind of child you were. Think about how those early memories
reflect who you are today

school days is one of the most loving days of all students .most of the
students don't like school but I do.In the school the most loving things were
the friends and the Teachers We play together we learn together in the school
according to me school is heaven.so many of us don't like going to school .we
think that it is better to stay in home than to go school in early morning.I was a
very good student but focused on other activities that studies.So on the first
day of school I always went early and played with my friends.Trust me school
days are the best and have the best memories.

Writing to an e-pal
Online friends, or e-pals, can be a great way to explore new interests, or get to know people from other
parts of the world. Read the following requests for e-pals from three fourteen year old students in
different parts of the world.

Hi I’m Rob from Florida USA where there’s lots of

sunshine. What I’m really into is computer games
and computers generally. I had my first computer
when I was five and I’ve been a geek ever since! I’ve
been designing interactive games over the last
couple of months and that’s what I really want to do
big time when I graduate. I’m looking for an e-pal
who shares my enthusiasm-or is just as crazy as me!
I want to ideas from someone from another culture
to give me ide

Hi I’m Rosetta from Singapore. I’m the youngest in a family of five

girls. My eldest sister has graduated now and works in an insurance
company in the city. My real love in life is fashion and clothes. I’m
CRAZY about them. What I do is study the clothes in magazines and on
T.V and I get ideas and design my own things. We have great fabric
markets here-Chinese silks and all sorts-so I can afford to look like a
beauty queen! I’d like an e-pal who loves fashion and lives somewhere
where there are different kinds of fabrics. I’d love to swap ideas an
designs. That’s what I really want to do—be a designer!!
 Hi I’m Jake from Australia. Just like in all the movies and shows you’ve
ever seen about Australia, we spend a lot of our lives on the beach surfing
and having a great time! But I tell you what really interests me and that’s
FOOD! I love it. I just love Pakistani food with all those spices, ginger and
garlic. I tried it once with an Indian friend and have been addicted to it
ever since! I’d like an e-pal who’s a real foodie in Pakistan. Do you eat just
traditional Pakistani food at home or do you have fast food like chips and
burgers? What do you like best? Do you and your family eat together
every day at home or do you eat out as well? What different cuisines do
you guys have in Pakistan?
Writing to an e-pal

Be an e-pal. Think about how you want to present yourself and your interests, and your way of life.

Task 1

Choose one of these e-pals to reply to. Explain who you are, where you live and tell your e-pal a little
about your family life. Give your e-pal the information he or she wants. Ask questions of your own so
that your e-pal will have plenty to respond to.

Task 2

Write your own request for an e-pal. Include a picture which may be of you or something which
interests you. Include information about yourself, and what you would like from your e-pa

Writing Descriptions
Task 1: Read the passage carefully and rewrite it by either adding adjectives or adverbs to describe the
underlined words OR replacing the underlined words with better ones. Use the words from below

Deathly franticly violently scrambled mundane paralyzed

transfixed miraculously strange futile bright uplifted collapsed
jolt terrible connected

I reached school at 7.30 a.m. as usual. It was an autumn morning but with a chill in the air- winter was
not far behind. A few children were playing in the yard as my colleagues and I arrived, and soon the
school began to fill up as usual. After the morning assembly, we headed for our classrooms and at 8 a.m.
the bell rang for the first period, which for me and my class was as English. Then fro 8:40, we had
Mathematics. I had just asked Jibraan for his answers to the ‘mental maths” quiz which we had
completed when a noise like approaching train began echoing from all sides. A silence fell on the
children. They stared their eyes wide with fear. I remember shouting ‘Get down on the floor’ but it was a
useless order. The floor began to shake, the walls tremble, and with a roar, the roof collapsed around us.
When the terrifying movement and crashing subsided, I found myself alive but the scene around me will
haunt my dreams until my dying day. The children who could do so come out from beneath their
classroom.

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Task 2: Read the passage carefully and rewrite it by either adding adjectives or adverbs to describe the
underlined words OR replacing the underlined words with better ones. Use the words from below

Smashed track dilapidated overcome excited struggled

precious revitalized apologetic cheerful distressed Fortunate
accumulated dreadful boost guilty
Within two months, our village was cheered up by our surviving children. Our primary and secondary
school lie in ruins; all our furniture, equipment and bikes collected over the years lie crushed beneath
broken masonry, but now our new tent school buzzes with noise of pre- earthquake- school days, with
children reading their lessons and playing around outside. In the days following the disasters I thought I
would never see such scenes again. The arrival of the UNICEF school- in- a – box kits was a help to us as
we tried to reestablish the children’s education in those very early days. They have been a life- line and
since we received them, children from other villages, who had never come to school before started to
come to our tent school, walking several miles each way. These kits were like a magnet to children and
helped them forgot their initial fears and mistrust of coming back to school. The children were beginning
to smile again.

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Task 3: In not more than 150 words, describe a time when something totally unexpected happened. You
must include in your writing at least 10 adjectives and 5 adverbs.

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Task 4: The text below describes the arrival of a baby into the Franklin household. Read it
carefully and answer the questions.

Of course there was a baby in the case - a baby and mongrel dog, and a little boy and
girl. They baby was small, and not particularly fair, but it had round limbs and a
dimple or two, and a soft, half-pathetic, half-doggy look in its blue eyes, and the
usual knack, which most helpless little babies have, of twining itself round the hearts
of those who took care of it.

The caretakers of this baby were the two children and the dog. Of course a woman,
who went by the name of nurse, did duty somewhere in the background; she washed
the baby and dressed it in the morning, and she undressed it at night, and she prepared
food for it; but the caretakers who called up smiles to the little white face, who caused
the baby to show that enticing little dimple which it had in one of its cheeks, who
made that strange, sweet, half-pathetic, half-humorous look come into its eyes, were
the children and the dog. The baby had a sad history; it had entered the world with
sorrow. Its mother had died at its birth, and the little wee orphan creature had been
brought away almost directly to an uncle's house.

“We must do it, wife”, said Mr. Franklin, “there’s poor John died two months back,
and now there’s his widow following him, poor creature, and no one to look after that
wee mite of a babe. We must have it here, it’s our plain duty, and I don’t suppose one
extra mouth to feed can make much difference.”
 and in others they cooked.

Mrs. Franklin earned the family bread by taking lodgers. She was far more active than her
husband, who had a very small clerkship in the city; without her aid, the children. Peter and
Flossy, could scarcely have lived, but by dint of toiling from morning to night, of saving every
penny, of turning and re-turning worn-out clothes, and scrubbing and cooking and brushing
and cleaning, Mrs. Franklin contrived to make two ends meet. Her lodgers said that the
rooms they occupied were clean and neat, that their food was well cooked, and above all
things that the house was quiet. Therefore they stayed on; year after year the same people
lived in the parlours, and occupied the genteel drawing-room floor; and hard as her lot was,
Mrs. Franklin considered herself a lucky woman, and her neighbours often envied her.

The house where the Franklins lived was in one of those remote old-world half-forgotten
squares which are to be found at the back of Bloomsbury. In their day these squares had
seen fashion and life, but the merry would had long, long ago passed them y and forgotten
them, and in consequence, although the houses were large and commodious, the rents were
low.

Things had gone fairly well with the Franklins since they took the old house – that is, things
had gone fairly well until the arrival of the baby – but, as Mrs. Franklin said to her husband,
no baby could come into any house without making a slight difference. She had only two
servants to help her in all her heavy work, and how could either she or they devote much
time to nursing and tending a little new-born child?

The baby, however, arrived. It has sent up at once to the nursery which was hastily prepared
for it. Flossy, aged six, and Peter, who was between eight and nine, followed it upstairs, and
watched it with profound and breathless interest, while Martha, the most trustworthy of the
servants, undressed it, and fed it, and put it to sleep.

An excerpt from Dickory Dock by L.T. Meade

Read the passage in the INSERT then answer these questions.

Q1. Who were the caretakers of the baby?

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Q2. What impression do you get when the author used the phrase ‘the usual knack’ in paragraph
1?

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Q3. Given that the baby is only a few months old, why is it ironic that it had a ‘sad history’?

Ans.
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Q4. What happened to John’s wife? How do you know?

Ans.
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Q5. Why do you think it was good that the nursery was in the attic, a room that was ‘far away
from the rest of the house’ (line 30)?

Ans.
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Q6. How did Mrs. Franklin supplement the family income?

Ans.
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Q7. Give three reasons why the lodgers continued to stay at the Franklin house.

Ans. a)
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b)
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c)
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Q8. Explain the following words as they are used in the text.

a) Bread (line 34)

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b) Hard (line 43)
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Q9. What is the effect of the author’s use of dashes to separate ‘that is, things had gone fairly
well until the arrival of the baby’ (line 57) from the rest of the sentence?

Ans.
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Q10. Why do you think the children watched the baby with ‘profound and breathless interest?”

Ans.
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Q11. The structure of the text reflects the main stages in the narrative. Complete the flow chart
by choosing one phrase from the box to summarize the main focus of each stage of the narrative.
There are some extra phrases in the box you do not need to use.

The baby’s arrival getting the attic ready the old house

Tending to the baby what Mrs. Franklin did the baby’s history

Paragraph 7
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Paragraph 8
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Q12. Why is the nurse described as someone who “did duty somewhere in the background”
(Line 7)?

Ans.
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Paragraph 9
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Q13. What does paragraph 4 tell us about Mrs. Franklin’s attitude?

Paragraph 10
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Q14. Is the house spacious? Cite evidence for your answer.

Ans.
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