CLASS- X ENGLISH

PERIODIC ASSESSMENT (II TERM)

Time: 45 Min M.M:20

Instructions:
1. The question paper contains three sections- READING, WRITING & GRAMMAR
and LITERATURE.
2. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

SECTION-A READING (5 Marks)

1.Read the passage given below.

Spices bring to mind images of tempting cuisine, fascinating voyages and the bitter
struggle for independence. Expressions like ‘variety is the spice of life’ and ‘sugar and
spice and all that is nice’, explain how spices play upon the literary abilities of men of
letters.

To orientals, spices are indeed the soul of their food. In the western world, it evokes
dreams of exotic tropical islands, exciting expeditions, and the rise and fall of empires.
Columbus went westwards in 1492, from Europe, to find a sea route to the land of
spices, but found the New World. Eight years later, Vasco da Gama went round Africa
and touched Kozhikode on the south west coast of India. Long before that, Arabs
started trading with the Orients through land routes. During the 13th century, Marco
Polo began the travelling and experienced attraction of spices. The European
conquests and trade arrangement in India and the East Indies also have a lot to do with
spices.

Thousands of years ago, great masters of Ayurveda notably Susruta and Charaka
discussed in detail the uses of spices for culinary and medicinal purposes. Enterprising
soldiers of fortune carried the knowledge of spices to Egypt. There they used spices
and aromatic herbs in food, medicine, cosmetics and for embalming. The conquest of
Egypt and Asia by Alexander the Great, made spices an article of commercial value in
the Mediterranean countries and central and northern Europe. There are reports of
pepper being used in the preservation of meat, and to mask the unpleasant odour of
stale meat available after the long winter storage.

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, and Theophrastus, a Greek scholar and
botanist, wrote treatises on medicinal plants, including spices.
Answer the following questions briefly:
(i) Why do spices fascinate people? (1)
(ii) What does “Variety is the spice of life” mean? (1)
(iii) Where did Columbus want to reach? (1)
(iv What did Susruta and Charaka discuss in detail ? (1)
(v) What made spices an article of commercial value in Mediterranean countries? (1)

SECTION- B WRITING & GRAMMAR (6 Marks)

2. You are Nitin/Rashmi. You are the Manager of New Age Computer Limited at
Ganesh Nagar, Delhi. Write a letter to the Incharge of Enfotech, Preet Vihar, Delhi,
placing an order for a few laptops and iPads like Apple, Samsung, Lenovo etc. for your
shop. (3)

3. Read the dialogue given below and then complete the passage that follows.(1+1+1)

Mother: Why are you looking so worried?

Daughter: My exams are approaching.
Mother: When will they start?
Daughter: Next month, Mother.

Mother asked her daughter (a) …………………… The daughter replied that (b)
…………………… Mother further asked (c) …………………… The daughter told her
mother that they would start in the following month.

SECTION-C LITERATURE (9 Marks)

4.Read the following stanza given below carefully and answer the questions that
follow. (1+1+1)

I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and
negligently drop them?
(a) What does the poet wonder?
(b) Why does the poet say that he negligently dropped them?
(c) Which word in the stanza means “carelessness”?

5.How did ‘The Travels of Monarch X’ prove a turning point in Ebright’s life? (1)

6. What message does the poem “Animals’ wish to convey? (1)

7. Mention any two of Ebright’s contributions to the world of Science. (1)

8. Age is not a barrier when it comes to doing something different and great. Which
characteristics of Valli help her achieve the wonder of visiting the town at such a tender
age?     (2+1)