XPERT CLASSES

Std.: 10 (English) English Marks: 80 Date: 04-JAN-2021 ​1st SEMESTER

Time: 3 hrs Chapter: UNIT-1 & 2 (Except 2.6)

SECTION I : LANGUAGE STUDY

Q.1 (A1) Do as directed. (Any four) (4)

1. Write two compound words of your own.

2. Make a meaningful sentence by using the given phrase.

to save their skins

3. Spot the error and correct the sentence.

To slip out of the blanket, I crept up to the bed.

4. Find out 2 hidden words of minimum 4 letters from -

absentmindedly : .................

5. Arrange the following words in alphabetical order.

committee, assembly, convention, inscribed

(A2) Do as directed. (Any two) (4)

1. Direct and Indirect narration.

a) ​‘‘I do not know you, and I’ve nothing to forgive you for,” said the king.

b) ​“Before my condition was diagnosed, I had been very bored with life,” he said.

2. Change the voice.

a) ​His answer made me angry.

b) ​Anil was watching a wrestling match.

3. Make two sentences of your own to show difference of Homograph/Homonyms:

Fall

(B) Do as directed. (Any One) (2)

1. Use the given word as a noun and as a verb in two meaningful sentences.
cook
 2. Convert the given sentences into Simple / compound / complex sentences.
Then she went up the steps that led to the wings.(Rewrite as simple sentence)

SECTION II : TEXTUAL PASSAGES

(Reading Skill, Vocabulary and Grammar)
Q.2 (A) Read the following passage and do the activities.
1 ​A1) ​Put the following sentences in order as they appear in the story. (​2)

i. I can cook.

ii. But I can’t pay you.

iii. I want to work for you.

iv. What’s your name

I was still a thief when I met Anil. And though only 15, I was an experienced and fairly
successful hand.
Anil was watching a wrestling match when I approached him. He was about 25 - a tall,
lean fellow - and he looked easy-going, kind and simple enough for my purpose. I hadn’t had
much luck of late and thought I might be able to get into the young man’s confidence. “You
look a bit of a wrestler yourself,” I said. A little flattery helps in making friends.
“So do you,” he replied, which put me off for a moment because at that time I was
rather thin.
“Well,” I said modestly, “I do wrestle a bit.”
“What’s your name?”
“Hari Singh,” I lied. I took a new name every month. That kept me ahead of the police
and my former employers.
After this introduction, Anil talked about the well-oiled wrestlers who were grunting,
lifting and throwing each other about. I didn’t have much to say. Anil walked away. I followed
casually. “Hello again,” he said.
I gave him my most appealing smile. “I want to work for you,” I said.
“But I can’t pay you.”
I thought that over for a minute. Perhaps I had misjudged my man.
I asked, “Can you feed me?”
“Can you cook?”
“I can cook,” I lied again.
“If you can cook, then maybe I can feed you.”

A2) ​i) Fill in the blanks. (​1)

1) I gave him my most ............... smile.
2) I was still a ............... when I met Anil.

ii) Complete the sentence. (​1)

Anil was watching ...............

 A3) ​Make sentences with the given words. (2)

Write a homophone for the word ‘off’ and make two sentences to show the difference.

A4) ​Grammar based questions : (​2)

1) I took a new name every month.(Change into a negative sentence)

2) I asked, “Can you feed me?” (Rewrite in indirect speech)

A5) ​Personal response. (​2)

The writer had a strong determination. Comment

(B) Read the following passage and do the activities.

1 ​A1) ​i) Write whether the statements are true or false. (1)

1) Spider webs are delicate and frail.

2) The wind makes the tree dance

ii) Name the following : (​1)

1) ​What things in nature teach us the following ?

Many hands make work light

2) ​What things in nature teach us the following ?

Nothing is impossible to achieve
We saw small bits of grass peeping through the small cracks in a concrete pavement.
It left us thinking : however impossible things may look, there is always
an opening...
We saw a tree bare of all leaves in the cold winter months. We thought its chapter was
over. But three months passed, spring set in and the tree was back to
its green majesty once again, full of leaves, flowers, birds and life. What if we too had the
conviction that, however difficult things are right now, it will not remain so for ever. Remember,
this too shall pass.
We saw an army of ants lugging a fly which was at least ten times the ant’s size. The
ants organized themselves around the fly, lifted it on frail feelers and carried it to quite a
distance. Their teamwork and perseverance were impressive. What if we too are consistent,
organized, focused...Spider webs are delicate, yet very strong. A rainbow colours the entire
sky. Oysters take in a grain of sand they open up with a
pearl. Innumerable stars shine across the infinite sky. Clouds take new shapes with every
passing moment. The wind makes trees dance with unhindered passion.
Water, without a hint of ego, changes its form according to the dictates of the sun and the
wind. When we see a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, a flower turn into a fruit, we experience
the alchemy of nature... we touch it and become gold ourselves.

A2) ​Fill in the blanks. (​2)

1) ​With the phrases from text.
We saw a tree ...............

2) ​With the phrases from the text.

A rainbow ...............
 3) ​With the phrases from the text.
We saw an army of ants ...............

4) ​With the phrases from the text.

Clouds take new shapes with ...............
A3) ​Vocabulary Based Questions. (​2)
1) ​Pick out the words from the extract that mean the following
Consistent

2) ​Write proper adjectives to suit the nouns

i. ............... Cracks
ii. ............... Months
A4) ​Grammar based questions : (​2)
1) We saw a tree bare of all leaves in the cold winter months. We thought its chapter was over
(Combine into a simple sentence)

2) However impossible things may look, there is always an opening (Rewrite using ‘even if’)

​A5) ​Personal response. (​2)

What do the ants teach us ?

SECTION III : POETRY

Q.3 (A) Read the following poem and do the activities.
1 ​A1) ​Answer in one sentence : (​2)

1) How does the school boy walk to school?

2) What is the world compared to ?

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth.
 A2) ​Answer in one sentence : (​2)
1) What is the soldier ready to do? How is he described?

2) What does ‘bubble reputation’ mean?

A3) ​Poetic device. (​1)
‘And then the lover sighing like furnace ...............” Identify and explain the figure of speech.

(B) Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in
(5)
paragraph format.

Animals

I think I could ​turn ​and live with animals, they are

so ​placid ​and ​self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not ​make me sick ​discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is ​demented w
​ ith
the ​mania ​of owning things.
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is ​respectable ​or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they ​evince
​them plainly in their possession
I​ wonder where they get those ​tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

- Walt Whitman
You can use the following points while appreciating the given poem.

• Title
• Name of the Poet
• Rhyme Scheme
• Figures of speech
• Theme/Central Idea
SECTION IV : NON-TEXTUAL PASSAGES
(Reading Skill, Vocabulary, Grammar and Summary)
Q.4 (A) Read the given passage and do the given activities.
​A1) ​Complete the web. ( ​2)
Write how did the stout man examine the donkey?
 On the final day of the circus,a stout man with a navy blue suit stretched tightly upon
him came confidently through the entrance. He paused in front of the donkey and subjected
the animal to a detailed survey. He pursed his lips and shook his head, then moved back so
that he could look at him from the rear. He moved round to the other side of the donkey and
examined him from there. He completed the encircling of the donkey by a long look at his
head. Now there was nothing more he wished to know about this donkey. In the same
movement he made to turn away, he let his hand fall heavily on the animal’s back. It was the
eight thousandth pat of the day. The donkey had seemed asleep but the sudden weight of the
man’s hand upon him affected him as if it were some signal for which he had been long
waiting. He lifted his heavy head with a jerk, turned, and snapped at the man’s arm with teeth
that went off like a rabbit trap. They closed on the sleeve of the man’s coat and ripped from the
material a ragged patch of blue cloth that remained projecting from the donkey’s mouth as the
animal turned his head away to continue his dreams. The man was astounded. He staggered
back amongst the people with started eyes and open mouth. He clutched his arm with his
hand and looked at the people for confirmation of the amazing thing that had happened to him.
‘He bit me !’ he exclaimed in horrified tones, then added, as he looked unbelievingly at the
donkey, ‘What a vicious brute !’.

A2) ​Answer the following : (​2)

1) What did the donkey do when the man landed his hand over the donkey?

2) What did the man comment on the donkey for his action?
A3) ​i) Write a word from the passage with similar meaning (​1)
1) Violent - ...............

2) Shocked - ...............

ii) Vocabulary Based Questions. (​1)

Verb forms:
i. Projecting - ...............
ii. Entrance - ...............
A4) ​Grammar based questions : (​2)
1) The animal turned his head away (Pick out the common noun and an adverb)

2) The donkey had seemed asleep. (Change into Simple Present Tense)
A5) ​Personal response. (​2)
Have you been bitten by any animal any time? Describe in a few lines.

(B) Read the comprehension passage given in Q.4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable
(5)
title :
 SECTION V : WRITING SKILLS
Q.5 Letter Writing : Attempt any one of the following activities. (5)
India is said to be the fastest developing country today only after China. But one of the striking underlying
facts is the condition of the roads. Since roads indirectly contribute to the economic growth of the country
it is extremely essential that the roads are well laid out and strong. India is home to several bad roads - be
it the metropolitans, the cities or the villages. Bad road conditions are nothing new to India.

You are Kailash/ Kiran, living at 22, Kailash Nagar, Kolkata. Write a letter to your friend, Frenny, who has
fractured her leg when she fell down on a broken pavement though it was a newly constructed pavement.
OR
You are Kailash/ Kiran, living at 22, Kailash Nagar, Kolkata. Write a letter to the Municipal Commissioner
describing the poor condition of the newly constructed pavements which were constructed at a high cost.

Q.6 (A) Information Transfer : Attempt any one of the following activities. (5) (A1) Non-Verbal to Verbal :

OR
(A2) Verbal to Non-verbal :
There are many healthy herbal teas you’ll want to try. Chamomile tea is most commonly known for its
calming effects and is frequently used as a sleep aid. Peppermint tea is one of the most commonly used
herbal teas in the world. While it’s most popularly used to support digestive tract health, it also has
antioxidant, anticancer, antibacterial and antiviral properties. Ginger tea is best known as a remedy for
nausea, and studies have repeatedly found it to be effective for this use. However, several studies have
also found that ginger can help relieve period pain, and it may offer benefits for people with diabetes.
Hibiscus tea may help lower high blood pressure and fight oxidative stress. Sage tea appears to be a
healthy choice, offering benefits for cognitive health and potentially heart and colon health. Lemon balm
tea may improve antioxidant levels, heart and skin health and even aid in relieving anxiety.

(B) View/Counterviews (or) Drafting a speech : Attempt any one of the activities. (5)

(B1) View/Counterviews :
Only perseverance can help you achieve your dreams.

OR
(B2) Drafting a speech :
On the occasion of International Women's Day.you have been asked to express your views. Draft the
speech that you would make to the class.
 SECTION VI: CREATIVE WRITING
Q 7 Expansion or News Report : Attempt any one of the following activities.
(A)
(A1) Expansion of theme (5)
Little drops of water make an ocean.

OR
(A2) News Report based on the given headline:
111 year old casts his vote in Delhi.

(B) Story or Narrating an experience : Attempt any one of the following activities.

(B1) Writing a story : (5)

Develop a story in about 80 - 100 words with the help of the following ending/ beginning. Suggest a
suitable title for it.
Begin with:
It was the day to give our final presentations. I had to speak on the topic …

OR
(B2) Narrating an experience :
It had been a glorious day with an ecstatic ending. She was feeling exuberant and thrilled.