INDIRA NATIONAL SCHOOL

Wakad, Pune
Annual Exam Revision Workheet (2022-23)
Std:VIII ENGLISH

Q.1 Read the following passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Sivasagar is a town of historical importance situated in the upper region of Assam in northeastern
India. The town was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom from 1699 to 1788 and was then known by the
name Rangpur. The Ahoms came to Assam from Yunnan province, China, in the thirteenth century.
Their rule lasted from 1228 to 1826 when the kingdom was annexed by the British. Today, Sivasagar is
famous for its temples or dols (as they are called in Assamese), artificial lakes and monuments built by
the Ahom rulers.
2. The three temples- Sivadol, Vishnudol and Devidol -were built in 1734 by Queen Madambika, the wife
of King Siva Singha. Sivadol is the tallest Shiva temple in India, with a height of 32 metres. Located
alongside the Sivasagar lake, it is flanked by the two smaller temples of Vishnudol and Devidol.
Sivadol has two cells- a garbhagriha, which houses the principal deity, and a mandapa or pillared hall.
A majestic shikhara with fluted vertical lines rises above the garbhagriha. All the temples rest on an
octagonal plinth.
3. About 3 kilometres from Sivadol is the Rang Ghar, an octagonal, two-storey structure which was
constructed during the reign of King Pramatta Singh in 1746. It served as an amphitheatre* for the
Ahom kings and their families who enjoyed sporting events such as bullfights, elephant fights and
wrestling which were organised on festivals and other special occasions. Commoners, according to the
custom, were seated on several eathern mounds that once surrounded the structure. The roof of the
Rang Ghar is shaped like an inverted longboat, with a decorative pair of carved stone crocodiles at the
ends, while its base has a series of arched entrances. One of the oldest surviving amphitheatres in Asia,
Rang Ghar exemplifies the best of Ahom architecture. It was built with the most intriguing materials.
Apart from bricks and large stones, the materials included jaggery, black gram, elephant grass,
limestone, snail slime, lime powder, fish bones ,mustard oil and incense.
4. A few kilometres further south is the Joysagar lake, created by the Ahom King Swargadeo Rudra
Singha in honour of his mother Joymoti. Spread over 318 acres of land, it is the largest human-made
lake in India. An earthen water pipeline runs from the lake to the Rangpur Palace. The pipeline was
built to supply water to the palace.
5. The Rangapur Palace, another wonderful specimen of Ahom architecture, was commissioned by King
Swargadeo Rudra Singha in 1698. It has seven storeys, four above the ground, which are together
called the Kareng Ghar, and three below the ground, called Talatal Ghar. The Talatal Ghar was meant
to function as an army base. It houses two secret tunnels which were used as escape routes during
enemy attacks. The underground chambers and tunnels have now been sealed, and tourists can view
only the structure which is above the ground.

• amphitheatre- a large open area surrounded by rows of seats sloping upwards.

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 1. Rangpur was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom for the most part of the ________century.
a. sixteenth b. seventeenth c. eighteenth d. nineteenth

2. Which of these is TRUE about the three temples in Sivasagar?

a. The temples are on the bank of the Joysagar lake.
b. Vishnudol and Sivadol are on the either side of Devidol.
c. Sivadol and Devidol are on the either side of Vishnudol.
d. Devidol and Vishnudol are on the either side of Sivadol.

3. All the three temples rest on a base that is ________.

a. seven-sided b. eight-sided c. six-sided d. five-sided

4. Which of these is NOT TRUE about the Rang Ghar?

i. It is a two-storeyed structure.
ii. The royals were seated on several earthen mounds that once surrounded the structure.
iii. The structure was constructed during the reign of King Siva Singha.
iv.It is about three kilometres from the tallest Shiva temple in India.

a. ii and iii b. i ad ii c. i,iii and iv d. ii, iii and iv

5. Which of these does NOT mean the same as ‘intriguing’?

a. interesting b. fascinating c. strange d. enduring

6. ‘One of the oldest surviving amphitheatres in Asia, Rang Ghar exemplifies the best of Ahom
architecture.’ Explain the above statement.
7. The Talatal Ghar has four storeys above the ground. State True or False

Q 2. Read the following passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Once, when the dengue fever was raging in Calcuttta, some portion of our extensive family had to take shelter
in Chhatu Babu’s riverside villa. We were among them.
This was my first outing. The bank of the Ganges welcomed me into its lap like a friend from a former birth.
There was a grove of guava trees: and sitting in the verandah under the shade of these, gazing at the flowing
current through the gaps between their trunks, my days would pass. Every morning, as I awoke, I somehow
felt the day coming to me like a new gilt-edged letter, with some unheard-of news awaiting me on the opening
of the envelope. And, lest I should lose any fragment of it, I would hurry through my routine to my chair
outside. Every day there was the ebb and flow of the tide on the Ganges; the various gait of so many different
boats; the shifting of the shadows of the trees from east to west; and, over the fringe of shade-patches of the
woods on the opposite bank, the gush of golden life-blood through the pierced breast of the evening sky.
I felt that out of the bowels of wall, beam and rafters, I had a new birth into the outside. In making a fresh
acquaintance with things, the dingy covering of petty habits seemed to drop off the world. Behind the house
was a walled-in enclosure with a tank and a flight of steps leading into the water from a bathing platform. On
one side of the platform was an immense jambolan* tree, and all around were various fruit trees, growing in
thick clusters, in the shade of which the tank nestled in its privacy. The veiled beauty of this retired little inner
garden had a wonderful charm for me, so different from the broad expanse of the river-bank in front. It was
like the bride of the house, in the seclusion of her midday siesta, resting on a many-colored quilt of her own
embroidery, murmuring low the secrets of her heart. Many a midday hour did I spend alone under that
jambolan tree dreaming of the fearsome kingdom of the Yakshas within the depths of the tank.

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I had a great curiosity to see a Bengal village. Its clusters of cottages, its thatched pavilions, its lanes and
bathing places, its games and gatherings, its fields and markets, its life as a whole as I saw it in imagination,
greatly attracted me. Just such a village was right on the other side of our garden wall, but it was forbidden to
us. We had been in a cage, and were now on a perch, but the chain was still there.

1. The narrator compares the river to a friend from a former birth because________.
a. the river reminded him of his previous birth
b. he felt an instant bonding with it
c. he felt he had been there before
d. he spent most of his time gazing it

2. The narrator waited for each day ________.

a. expectantly b. fretfully c. restlessly d. crossly

3. The phrase ‘ many-colored quilt of her own embroidery’ is a reference to the __________.
a. quilt that a bride embroiders herself
b. colourful rays of the sun illuminating the bathing tank
c. colourful dress that a bride wears
d. rich and colourful landscape surrounding the bathing tank

4. At the end of the passage, the narrator feels______.

a. completely free b. completely restricted
c.free only to a limited extent d. restricted but hopeful of freedom

5. The word that means the opposite of ‘dingy’ is _______.

a. drab b. dismal c. bright d. dreary
6. How was the view of the surroundings around the river different from the view of the bathing tank?
Give one point of difference.
7. Why do you think the narrator could not see the Bengal village?

Q 3. Writing skills

3.1 With the help of the given outline write a story in about 150 -200 words and also supply a suitable
title for the same.

Two men – one cheerful-no worries-believed all would be well - the other full of worries - worried about old
age not able to work- not able to work-no money – may have to beg- might go blind wants to know what
blindness would be like -walks with eyes shut -does not see purse full of gold-companion spots it-picks up-
thanks God .

3.2 Imagine you encounter an alien on your way back from school and interview the alien about things
you are curious about.

3.3 Write a letter to the Secretary ,Welfare Association of your area to pass some rules for residents
regarding maintenance of surroundings. (in 120 to 150 words)

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Q.4 Do as directed :

a. _______ (Each/Every) side of the square is equal. (Fill in the blank with a suitable
determiner.)
b. I doubt if there are ______ good storybooks in the library. (Fill in the blank with a suitable
determiner.)
c. The doctor ____(do) not visit the hospital on Saturdays. (Fill in the blank with the correct
form of the auxiliary verb in the bracket)
d. _____ (Be) you prepared for your paper? (Fill in the blank with the correct form of the
verb.
e. You ________ (ought not to / must not) talk to each other while walking along the corridor.
(Rewrite the sentence with a suitable modal.)
f. You _______ (might/ should) take care of your old parents. (Rewrite the sentence with a
suitable modal.)
g. ______ (Can/May) you do me a favor? (Rewrite the sentence with a suitable modal.)
h. The earthquake in Turkey has affected the lives of many people. (Write the sentence in the
Passive voice.)
i. Blankets are being distributed by the organisation to the needy. (Write the sentence in the
Active voice.)
j. The project was done. (Identify the voice of the sentence)
k. Keep revising these lessons ______ you have mastered them. (Fill in the blank using a suitable
conjunction.)
l. Do you mind _____ I change the channel. (Fill in the
blank using a suitable conjunction.)
m. Gaurav who holds an MBA degree is working as a director in this company. (Write the
relative clause in the sentence and state if it is Defining or Non-defining.)
n. I was invited to a meeting ________ purpose I did not understand. (Fill in the blank with a
suitable relative pronoun.)
o. I know the man who _________(Complete the sentence with a suitable clause.)
p. Naren said to the car dealer, “Can you show me a second-hand car in good condition? (Rewrite
the sentence in Reported speech)
q. Rajat exclaimed that he had lost his identity card. (Rewrite the sentence in Direct speech)
r. Everyone ______(was/were) relieved when the flight landed safely. (Fill in the blank with
a suitable verb.)
s. Each orange I peeled ____ (be) rotten inside. (Fill in the blank with
a suitable verb.)
t. You cannot ask for a refund unless your flight was cancelled by the airline. (Identify the
sentence as Simple, Compound, Complex or Compound-Complex)
u. He climbed up the stairs carefully and knocked at the door. (Change the Compound sentence
to a Simple sentence.)
v. You must improve your voice control to win the competition. (Change the Simple sentence to
a Complex sentence.)

Q. 5 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
5.1 ‘Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.’

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 i) ‘Where words come out from the depth of truth’- What does the poet mean by this
sentence- explain in your words.
ii) Identify the poetic device/s used in the given line and explain in your words why-
‘Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection.’
a. Personification b. Aliteration c. Metaphor d. both a and b
iii) In this poem, the mood of the poet is ________.
1. sad 2. hopeful 3. inspirational 4. Happy
a. 1 and 2 b. 1 and 3 c. 2 and 3 d. 2 and 4
iv) What does the term ‘dead habit’ mean?
v) The synonym of the word ‘dull’ mentioned in the above extract is _______.

Q.6 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

6.1 ‘These by-paths admit the wayfarer into the very heart of rural life. Their antiquity probably
exceeds that of the Roman ways; the footsteps of the aboriginal Britons first wore away the grass,
and the natural flow of intercourse from village to village has kept the track bare ever since.’

i) The word which is NOT a synonym of ‘antiquity’ is _________.

a. yesteryear b. bygone times c. relic d. modernity

ii) ‘These by-paths admit the wayfarer into the very heart of rural life’ -Explain what the author
means by this sentence.
iii) Who has kept the tracks bare ever since and why?
iv) Why does the author like to go there?
v) Complete the analogy by selecting the suitable word from the extract.
deny: admit :: artificial : ________

Q.7 Answer the following questions in about 40-50 words.

i) Was the boy Schatz’s illness serious? What did the doctor advise?
ii) Write any one proverb that the younger brother said in the lesson ‘The Two Brothers’. What does it
indicate about his character?
iii) Do you think the characteristic of Ralph Spencer was different from Jimmy Valentine? Explain in
your words.

Q.8 Answer the following question in about 100-120 words.

i) ‘Romance at short notice was her speciality’. What aspect of Vera’s character is the author
referring to? Do you think Vera did the right thing to Framton Nuttel? Why/Why not?

** Students will read the Text book, Grammar Gear thoroughly and go through the questions and
answers given in the English CW.

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 Annual Examination Paper Pattern
Section A- Reading
1. Reading Comprehension
2. Reading Comprehension

Section B - Writing Skill and Grammar

3. Writing skill
4. Writing skill
5. Grammar

Section C - Literature
6. Extract
7. Extract
8. Answer the following questions in 40-50 words.
9. Answer the following question in 100-120 words.

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