MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR SR. SEC.

SCHOOL, CHETPET, CHENNAI – 31

QUARTERLY EXAMINATION 2020

ENGLISH
STD: XI MARKS: 40
DATE: 17/9/2020 TIME: 90 Mins.
General Instructions
1. The paper is divided into two sections A and B
2. Both the sections are compulsory
3. Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read these
instructions carefully.

SECTION A – (READING)

I. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow (8 Marks)
Many years ago, I witnessed a spectacle many of my readers would not even have heard about, let alone
seen. It was a day of grand celebration. There were more than 100,000 people assembled to watch the
procession and pay homage to the presiding deity of the temple. Strangely enough, the majestic festival
was in honour of a man I had always believed to have few admirers, if any. The deity at the Malanada
Temple in Poruvazhy village, Kerala, is none other than the most reviled villain of Indian mythology –
Duryodhana. If the devotees are to be believed, the tradition of this procession goes back centuries to
the time of the Mahabharata itself.
There is a fascinating story attached to the temple: Duryodhana came to the village in search of the
Pandavas in exile. Thirsty, he asked an old woman for water. Impulsively, she gave him the toddy she
was carrying. The parched Prince drank it with relish. It was only then that the woman noticed he was a
Kshatriya warrior and he could lose his caste by drinking toddy served by an Untouchable Kurathi
woman like herself. Horrified by what she had done, she was certain the Kshatriya Prince would punish
her with death if she told him the truth. However, not wishing to cheat someone who had trusted her,
she confessed her ‘crime’, risking her life. She waited for certain punishment, but was astonished by
Duryodhana’s reaction. “Mother,” he said, “there is no caste for hunger and thirst. Blessed are you for
putting the interests of a thirsty man before your own safety.” The Hastinapura Prince announced he
was gifting the surrounding villages to a temple that would be built but have no idol. To this day, family
members of that old woman’s family are the hereditary Priests of the temple, which has no idol. Instead,
the presiding deity is Duryodhana. This deity is the protector of the weak and downtrodden.
My first reaction to the story was one of incredulity. It made me rush home to revisit the Mahabharata,
an epic that has inspired countless writers over the centuries. Once I started viewing the Kaurava Prince
through the eyes of the villagers of Poruvazhy, a different picture of Duryodhana began to emerge – far
removed from the scheming, roaring, arrogant villain of popular television serials and traditional
retellings. Instead, here was a brutally honest Prince, brave and self-willed, willing to fight for what he
believed in. Duryodhana never believed his Pandava cousins to be of divine origin; and to modern
minds, their outlandish claim now sounds chillingly similar to present-day political propaganda used to
fool a gullible public.
Duryodhana’s personality comes alive when he makes Karna, the King of Anga at a crucial moment in his
life, when he is being humiliated because of his caste. The Kaurava Prince challenges orthodoxy by
making a Suta a King, and he does so without selfish motives. His treatment of Ekalavya; his refusal to
fight for Subhadra; his courage in taking on the Pandavas; and his unwavering faith in his friends; all
make him hero material rather than a despicable villain. He never attempts to justify his treatment of
Draupadi. His flaws make him human and believable, unlike the protagonists, who wrap themselves in a
cloak of dharma , miracles, and divinity, to justify their actions. Tomes have been written in praise of the
actions of the Pandavas and Krishna. However, except for Orubhanga , a play in classical Sanskrit by
Bhasa, dealing with Duryodhana’s last moments, and Gadayudha , by the medieval Kannada poet Ranna,
no authors have been sympathetic to the Crown Prince of Hastinapura.
Ajaya is an attempt to view the Mahabharata from the side that lost the war. One of the meanings of
Duryodhana is ‘one who is difficult to conquer’, in other words, Ajaya (Unconquerable). Though named
Suyodhana, the Pandavas used the derogatory ‘Dur’ to slander him as ‘one who does not know how to
wield power or arms’.

1.1 Answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option: 3 x 1 = 3 marks
a. The temple is located in……….
i. Hastinapura
ii. Poruvazhy
iii. Kedarnath
iv. Madurai
b. An important work in classical Sanskrit that deals with Duryodhana’s last moments is……..
i. Gadhayudha
ii. Mahabharatha
iii. Ajaya
iv. Orubhanga
c. ‘Ajaya’ means………..
i. Untouchable
ii. Vanquished
iii. The slayer
iv. Unconquerable

1.2. Answer any 4 of the following questions briefly: 4 x 1 = 4 marks

a. What was so fascinating about the temple?
b. Why was the Kurathi woman horrified?
c. What makes Duryodhana different from the protagonists who wrap themselves in ‘Dharma’?
d. How does Duryodhana challenge orthodoxy?
e. Who gave the name ‘Duryodhana’? What was their intention?

1.3. Find words from the passage which means the same as: ½ x 2 = 1 Marks
a. Deserving hatred or contempt. (Para 4)
b. Disrespectful ( Para 5)

SECTION A – (LITERATURE)

II. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow 3 x 1 =3 marks
“Then sleek as a lizard, and alert and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and of tremor of wings, and trillings -
The whole tree trembles and thrills”
a. Who is the ‘She’ in the second line? Where does she enter?
b. What is her movement, compared to? Explain the basis of the comparison.
c. What does ‘machine’ refer to in the extract?
(OR)
“The sea holiday
was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss.”
a. Why ‘her laughter’ is the poet’s past?
b. Explain the phrase ‘laboured ease of loss’.
c. Identify the poetic device in the last line.

III. Read the prose extract given below and answer the questions that follow (4 Marks)
“I had remembered it. But I had waited a long time to go there. Initially after the Liberation I was
absolutely not interested in all that stored stuff, and naturally I was also rather afraid of it.”
a. What had the narrator remembered?
b. Which Liberation is referred to here?
c. What does the author mean by the ‘stored stuff’?
d. Why was she afraid of it?
(OR)
“These two stories illustrate what each form of art is trying to achieve: a perfect, illusionistic likeness
in Europe, the essence of inner life and spirit in Asia.”
a. Which stories are referred to here?
b. Explain the phrase “illusionistic likeness”.
c. What does Asian classical painting try to portray?
d. What is the major difference between both the forms of art?

SECTION B – (WRITING)

IV. You are Rohit / Ritu, Secretary, Welfare Association of ABC colony, Madurai. Write a notice in
not more than 50 words informing the residents that there would be no water supply for two
days in your colony due to major pipe-line repair work. (3 Marks)
(OR)
‘Junior master- chef India’ is organizing an inter school cooking competition for the students of
classes XI and XII. Draft a notice in not more than 50 words inviting interested students to
participate in the competition. Invent the necessary details. You are Radha / Ravi, SPL, Global
Public School. (3 Marks)

V. Rohit is interested in doing a short term course in computer programming. He decided to write a
letter enquiring about the duration of the course, fee and other details. Draft a letter to VNL
Computers, Adyar, Chennai – 20. (in 120-150 words) (5 Marks)
(OR)
You are Anjan/ Anita Sen staying at 11, Subash Park, Adyar. Last month you got an inverter
installed at your home through ‘Leo inverters’ of LMN Nagar, Adyar. Now you find the inverter is
not working and the local electrician who examined it at your request has told you that it is
 having some technical defect. Write a letter to the dealer asking him to replace it immediately
under the terms and conditions of the deal.
(in 120-150 words) (5 Marks)

SECTION B – (LITERATURE)

VI. Answer any six of the following questions in not more than 40 words. (6 x 2 = 12 Marks)
a. What were the results of the CT scan of Tut’s mummy?
b. Why did the narrator resolve to forget the address?
c. How does the narrator, Aram , describe his tribe?
d. What was the justification given by Carter for his action?
e. What is meant by ‘Outsider art’? Give an example for it.
f. Why did the narrator say that ‘our respite was short lived’?
g. What does Aram come to know about the horse from John Byro’s conversation with uncle
Khosrove?
h. How does the poet convey the theme ‘transience of mortal life’ through the poem A Photograph?

VII. Answer any one of the following in 120 – 150 words. (5 Marks)
a. How does the children’s presence and behaviour during the crisis affect the narrator?
b. The grandmother played a significant role in the author’s life till her end. Give details from the
lesson to support the statement.

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