Blessed Sacrament High School, Puri

Assessment - 2 (2021-2022)
STD - IX English - I F.M. 80

Question 1
Write a composition (300 – 350 words) on any one of the following: 20

1. Describe a major achievement in your life.

2. Your brother has got a chance to play in the cricket team of India. You have gone to
watch him play. Describe the atmosphere and your experience in detail.
3. The present generation has become too much dependent on computers.” Express your
view either for or against this statement.
4. Write an original short story beginning with “My sister and I continued walking slowly,
the night wore on and it became difficult………”

Question 2
Select one of the following: 10

1. You have been chosen for a student exchange programme and are visiting the country
in which your pen friend stays. Write a letter to your pen friend telling him/her about
your feeling regarding this occurrence.
2. Write a letter to the Local Councillor requesting him or her to make provisions for a
park for children in your locality.

Question 3
1. You are the head of ‘The Saviour Club’ of your school. Draft a notice for the notice
board of senior school informing the students about a blood donation camp (by Rotary
Club) being organized in your school, requesting the students/ parents to donate
blood. 5
2. Write an email to the secretary of your housing society informing about the Blood
Donation Camp. 5
Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

My father was the Imam of the Rameswaram mosque. He was a deeply devoted man with
complete and utter faith in the Koran. He inculcated all the habits of a good Muslim in his
children and indeed in his entire family. For the people of the town, he was philosopher and
guide – someone they could turn to with their problems, whether spiritual or otherwise.

One of his closest friends was the priest of the Ramanathaswamy Temple. Pakshi Lakshmana
Sastry. He was not only the priest but also a very learned man, well – versed in Vedic
knowledge. I still remember his visage perfectly. He was always dressed in the tradition attire
of a temple priest in his ‘dhoti’ and ‘angavastram’. On his head he sported the mandatory tuft
of the Brahmins, the “kudumi’. He was one of the kindest, most gentlemen I knew.

There was a third person who was an important in the spiritual life of our little community and
that was father Bodal, the priest of the lone church in the town capital. He was as involved in
the welfare of the churchgoers of Rameswaram, as my father and Sastrygal, and as concerned
about the need for harmony and peace in Rameswaram.

The memory of these three learned men is still etched in my mind. I can still see them – one in
his turban and Imam’s cloak, another in dhoti and third in his cloak. They met every Friday
evening at around 4.30 and discussed matters of religion and the happenings of the town.
Sometimes people came to visit them at that time with specific issues to be resolved or the
three men kept each other apprised of anything that could potentially threaten the peace
among the people and together they tried to work out ways of clearing miscommunication of
scotching rumours before they assumed dangerous proportions.

The fundamental requirement for peace – effective communication among sections of the
people – was always kept alive by these three patriarchs. Their discussion ranged over a
number of topics – the freedom movement that was taking the country in an entirely new
direction, the attitude of the British government to the calls of the nationalists and how all this
affected us, concerned them deeply. They quietly soothed the society around them, making it
a harmonious whole where everyone could have an opportunity to speak freely.

When I was about 8 years old and studying in the third standard, my best friends were
Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindam and Sivaprakasan. All three of them were Brahmins and
Ramanadhan, in fact, was Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry’s son. We led the usual life of school boys,
spending most of the day together in the classroom and outside. Like all good friends, our day
was incomplete if, at any time, one of us was absent and we could not share with each other
the minute details of the day that is important for boys of that age. In the classroom, we sat
near one another and Ramanadhan and I shared the same bench.
I would like to sketch a portrait of my school, which holds such beautiful memories of days of
innocence, mischief and learning for me. It was called the Rameswarem Panchayat Primary
school and I attended it from 1936 to 1944. It was situated near the seashore and was the best
sturdy building certainly! Parts of it were built with bricks but the roof was thatched.

It was the only school in Rameswaram in those days and all the children of the town studied
there. We were 400 boys and girls in total. Yes, this school had an unimpressive building and
scanty amenities but it was an interesting place nonetheless. The teachers particularly those
who taught history, geography and science were loved by the students. Why? Because they
loved teaching and ensured that each of us excelled in our studies. To give equal attention to
the 55 children in each class could not have been an easy task. They did not want us to only
earn good marks in our exams but also wanted us to develop a love for the subjects they taught
us. We saw the light of purity shining in our teachers.

(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: One-word answers or
short phrases will be accepted. 3

i. Devout
ii. Well – versed
iii. Soothed

(b) Answer the following questions in your own words:

1. Why did the people of the town respect the narrator’s father? (2)
2. How did Pakshi Lakshman Sastry always dress himself? (2)
3. Who was Father Bodal? What was he involved in? (1)
4. What did the three learned men do around 4.30 every Friday evening? (2)
5. What were the different things they discussed? How do you know that the narrator,
Ramandhan, Aravindam and Sivaprakasan were very good friends? (2)

(c) In not more than 50 words state how the narrator describes his school and his teachers. (8)

Question 5
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets.
Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or the phrase
appropriate to the blank space. 4

Example: (0) went

I (0) …………… (go) into the Administrative Block and (1) ………. (be) then (2) …………….
(lead) into the office of the Superintendent. He was sitting there, reading the
newspaper. The large desk in front of him was (3) …………... (pile) high with a great
assortment of papers, most of which looked official and scientific, a heap of them
partially (4) …………… (cover) the telephone. As the Superintendent (5) ……………. (stand)
 up, I saw that he was an immensely tall man. He (6) ……………… (come) towards me and
(7) …………. (stare) at me, (8) …………. (breathe) heavily through his nose.

(b) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. 4

1. He may turn …………. when we least expect him.

2. The jewel was sold ……………… thrice its cost price.
3. They took ………… the company with all its liabilities.
4. The new Manager gets ……………. well with his colleagues.
5. Please contact me …………. 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
6. Priya was knocked …………… by a speeding car.
7. Pursued by his enemies, he swam ………………. the river to safety.
8. They drove him …………. the city in their new car.

(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or
so. 4

1. He found the book at last. It was in the library.

2. She received the message. Immediately she went to meet her brother.
3. Tom may run fast. He cannot catch the train.
4. I saw men at work on a new building. It was to be a factory.

(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make
other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each
sentence. 8

1. Had I not helped her, she would not have succeeded.

(Begin: But…………)
2. His unexpected victory surprised everybody in the school.
(Begin: His unexpected victory took…………...)
3. Do this and you will be punished.
(Begin: If…………………...)
4. No body in our city can run as fast as Usha.
(Begin: Usha………...)
5. Joe requested his friend to wait there till he returned.
(End: ……………… till I return.”)
6. Pets are prohibited into the museum.
(Begin: It’s……………)
7. He was arrogant and hence lost the debate.
(Begin: His arrogance………………...)
8. The teacher said, “Raghu complete your assignment immediately”.
(Begin: Raghu was………………...)