Exemplar for Summative Assessment-SA1

Class: 8th

Subject: English

Time: 3Hours MM: 35

General Instructions:
1. All questions are compulsory.
2. The question paper is divided into 4 sections.
3. Attempt all parts of a question and section together. Marks for each question are given
against the question.

Section-A

1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
(4*1=4)

Students tend to lose their pencils, break them without thinking, and find all sorts of non-writing
uses for them. The pencil in your hand is one of the most remarkable and useful tools in the
world. A man named Friedrich Staedtler invented the modern “lead” pencil in about 1622 in
Germany. He was the first person to mass produce them. Staedtler did not use lead, and there is
no lead in your pencil. However, some pencils did use lead until the early twentieth century.
Lead will make a mark, but it is toxic and not safe to use either in the hands or around the face
and mouth where many pencils sometimes stray. Staedtler used black graphite, a soft form of
carbon. Graphite is still used today. It is mixed with clay and wax and heated to high
temperatures. The modern pencil is a superb piece of technology. The pencil is less messy than
ink and can be easily erased. It can produce a continuous line of twenty-two miles.

i) Lead is rarely used to make pencils. Why?

a) It is dangerous for health
b) It is costly
c) Children like to eat it
ii) What material are pencils made of?
iii) Who invented the modern lead pencil?
iv) Why do students tend to lose pencils?
2. Read the stanza and answer the questions that follow: (3*1=3)

A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing

Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain when he found that, at home,
His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.
Not a crumb to be found
On the snow covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree.
“Oh! What will become,” says the cricket, “of me?”

i) Name the poem and the poet?

ii) Why do you think that cupboard of the cricket was empty?
iii) If there was no flower on the ground, which season could it be?

3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
(3*1=3)

Every Monday from his way back from work, Bepin Choudhury would drop in at Kalicharan’s in
New Market to buy books. Crime stories, ghost stories and thrillers. He had to buy at least five
books at a time to last him through the week. He lived alone, was not a good mixer, had few
friends and didn’t like spending time in idle chat. Today at Kalicharan’s, Bipin Babu had the
feeling that someone was observing him from close quarters. He turned round and found himself
looking at a round faced, meek looking man who now broke into a smile.

i) What hobby did Bipin Choudhury have?

ii) What kind of books did Bipin Choudhury buy in general
a) Crime stories
b) Ghost stories
c) Thrillers
d) All of the above
iii) What made Bipin Choudhury think that someone was observing him?
a) He felt someone was following
b) He was a clever person
c) He saw someone looking at him.
 Section-B

4. Write a paragraph on “Importance of Trees” (4)

or

“What you would like to be”

5. Write a letter to you brother explaining about places you visited during holidays in Shimla (3)

or

Write a letter to your younger brother, who has got admission in a hostel, highlighting the
importance of healthy and nutritious food.

Section-C

6. Match the opposites- (6*1/2=3)

i) Morning Everywhere
ii) Hazy Sad
iii) Happy Everything
iv) Incoming Clear
v) Nothing Evening
vi) Somewhere Outgoing

7. Do as directed (2*1=2)

i) Raman has a son and two daughters. (Rewrite the sentence changing gender)

ii) Sohan failed in examination. He did not work hard. (Join the sentences with
appropriate word)
8. Fill in the blanks with the correct words: (3*1=3)

i) They have stolen ………motorcycle and he ……....reported the matter to the

police. (his/has)
ii) ……….was a freak accident and Roshan escaped luckily. He is now recovering in
………hospital. (the/this)
iii) She went……… the market and purchased ……..apple. (to/an)
 Section-D

9. i) What made Bepin Babu worry about what Parimal Ghose has said? (2)

ii) The camel was looking at his own reflection in the pool. What does it suggest to you
about the camel? (2)
iii) What do you think H.P.S Ahluwalia felt when he climbed the Everest? (2)

iv) Why do you think Tilly’s family had come to Thailand? (2)

v) Why had Velu run away from his home? (2)