FINAL EXAMS 2020-21

ENGLISH
CLASS XI
Time 3 Hrs 80 mks

Q1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 8
mks

1. Aesthetically arranged flowers in simple decorative containers indicate your taste in interiors
and help create the right ambience in a room. Flowers to match or contrast the colour scheme of your
décor lend a specific character to your premises.

2. Flowers can be placed in a living room, dining table, study or bathrooms. Different flowers
for each room create homeliness. They make the room beautiful and serene. Flowers can make a
student to concentrate, embellish a dining table with an aura of happiness and relax the diners. Fresh
flowers, though, especially flowers, are not available throughout the year. Roses and Gladioli go pale
in the summers and shrink quickly. If you want to create the effect of flowers in your environs,
without having to worry about their maintenance, go for artificial flowers.

3. With the availability of artificial flowers, one does not have to rush out to purchase fresh
flowers at early hours too. The only trick is to know the art of arranging them. Once you have the
arrangement right, to lift up your spirits and enhance the colour and brightness in your living space.
Exotic European flowers like Tulips, Daffodils, Irises, Daisies, Delhpinium, Orchids and Ivy can all
be yours, for a price. Imported artificial flowers have to be arranged with the help of fillers.

4. Artificial flowers that look real from a distance can be made of silk, crepe, velvet or synthetic
paper. Some of the imported flowers have a natural sheen and unless you touch them it is difficult to
make out if they are real. This is particularly true for artificial greens-shrubs, money plants, creepers,
plants and trees-these look good in hotel lobbies and restaurants. For instance, it is difficult to decide
whether the 20 feet tall trees at the Hyatt Regency lobby are real or artificial.

5. But if you purchase artificial flowers in the hope that they will last a lifetime, you are sadly
mistaken. “They may not wilt as quickly as natural flowers but will require your attention in their
maintenance,” says Roop Sagar, owner of flower shops at the Maurya Sheraton and Radisson Hotels.

6. Owing to the dust in our environment and the dust storms in summers, artificial flowers
attract dirt and have to be cleaned delicately. In the monsoon months, on the other hand, dampness
robs them of the sheen and they appear lifeless. Vacuum cleaning and soft handling restores them to
their original shape and charm. “After cleaning they require fresh arrangement with fillers like dried
leaves” adds Roop.
7. Unlike real red roses, whose sales shoot up during the Valentine’s season, artificial red roses
are classics that sell throughout the year.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-
headings. Use recognizable abbreviations. Also supply a suitable title to it. Write the summary in
about 50 words.

Q2. The government has banned the use of loud speakers, but this nuisance continues and disturbs
you in your studies. Write a letter to the Police Inspector of your area regarding this issue. Word
limit: 120-150 words. 5 marks

Q3. Your school, Adarsh Vidyalaya, is organising a lecture by the famous writer Vikram Seth, on
the occasion of ‘Literacy week’ being celebrated in your school. Write a notice informing the
students about the lecture. Invent necessary details in about 50 words. 3 marks

Q4. On Teachers’ Day, your Principal has asked you to deliver a speech in the morning assembly on
the topic ‘Role of Teachers in a society’. Write a speech. You are Navtej/Navita. (150-200)
5 marks
OR

‘The policy of reservation of seats for admission to professional courses is good for the deprived
sections of the society.’ Write a debate for or against the motion in 150-200 words.
5 marks

Q5. You are an animal lover and want to educate the people on the need to be kind to animals. Make
an appeal to the people through a poster to be displayed in a public place. (50 words)
3 marks
Q6. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in 30-40 words:
2x4=8mks
A. When did my childhood go?

Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,

Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!
(i) What different possibilities according to the poet are instrumental in the ceasing of
childhood?
(ii) What specific point of time according to the poet shows the end of childhood?

B. And who art thou? Said I to the soft falling shower,

Which strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated

(i) What question does the poet ask the rain? Does he expect an answer?
(ii) What does the expression “soft falling shower” mean?

Q7. Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words: 2x6=12 mks

(i) What is Taplow’s view about the Greek tragedy ‘Agamemnon’?

(ii) Why did the author undertake the sea journey?
(iii) What did Mr. Koch think about Albert?
(iv) What made Aram think he was dreaming?
(v) What kind of reception did the narrator get at No. 46, Marconi street?
(vi) How does the changed Mrs. Pearson behave with her daughter, Doris?

Q8. Answer the following questions in about 40-50 words: 3x7=21mks

(i) Mention the ways in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s
grandmother died?
(ii) Explain the concept of Shanshui?
(iii) Why has the article been titled ‘Silk Road’?
(iv) The three stanzas in the poem ‘A Photograph’ depict three different phases. What are they?
(v) What do you notice at the beginning and the ending of the poem The Laburnum Top”?
(vi) Describe uncle Khosrove in your own words?
(vii) What do you understand of Einstein’s nature from his conversation with his history teacher,
maths teacher and the Head teacher?

Q9. Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words: 5x3=15mks

(i) Doris and Cyril are just like today’s young generation – selfish, rude and ungrateful.
Comment.
(ii) “Are we to leave our successors a planet of advancing deserts, impoverished landscapes and
an ailing environment”. Elucidate.
(iii) There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising
physician. Elaborate.