CLASS XI ENGLISH CORE TERM 1 SAMPLE PAPER

TIME: 1 ½ hrs. M.M.: 40

SECTION A READING
I Read the passage given below.
1.The choices we make on a daily basis—wearing a seatbelt, lifting heavy
objects correctly or purposely staying out of any dangerous situation—can
either ensure our safety or bring about potentially harmful circumstances. You
and I need to make a decision that we are going to get our lives in order.
2.Exercising self-control, self-discipline and establishing boundaries and
borders in our lives are some of the most important things we can do. A life
without discipline is one that’s filled with carelessness.
3.We can think it’s kind of exciting to live life on the edge. We like the image
of “Yeah! That’s me! Living on the edge! Woo-hoo!” It’s become a popular
way to look at life. But if you see, even highways have lines, which provide
margins for our safety while we’re driving. If we go over one side, we’ll go into
the ditch. If we cross over the line in the middle, we could get killed. And we
like those lines because they help to keep us safe. Sometimes we don’t even
realize how lines help to keep us safe.
4. I’m not proud of this, but for the first 20 years of my life at work, I ignored
my limits. I felt horrible, physically, most of the time. I used to tell myself “I
know I have limits and that I’ve reached them, but I’m going to ignore them and
see if or how long I can get by with it.” I ran to doctors, trying to make myself
feel better through pills, vitamins, natural stuff and anything I could get my
hands on. Some of the doctors would tell me, “It’s just stress.” That just made
me mad. I thought stress meant you don’t like what you do or can’t handle life,
and I love what I do. But I kept pushing myself, travelling, doing speaking
engagements and so on— simply exhausting myself
5.Finally, I understood I was living an unsustainable life and needed to make
some changes in my outlook and lifestyle. You and I don’t have to be like
everyone else or keep up with anyone else. Each of us needs to be exactly the
way we are, and we don’t have to apologize for it. We’re not all alike and we
need to find a comfort zone in which we can enjoy our lives instead of making
ourselves sick with an overload of stress and pressure.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the questions
that follow.
1. The reason why living on the edge has become popular, is because of the
a. constant need for something different.
b. population being much younger.
c. exhausting effort to make changes.
d. strong tendency to stay within our limits.
2. Choose the option that best captures the central idea of the passage from
the given quotes.

a. Option (1)

b. Option (2)

c. Option (3)

d. Option (4)

3. Which of the characteristics are apt about the writer in the following
context: “I know I have limits and that I’ve reached them, but I’m going to
ignore them and see if or how long I can get by with it.”?
1. negligent
2. indecisive
3. spontaneous
4. reckless
5. purposeless
6. patient

a. 2 and 5
b. 3 and 6
c. 1 and 4
d. 2 and 3

4. Select the option that makes the correct use of “unsustainable”, as used
in the passage, to fill in the blank space.
a) In the long run, the _----------------___ officials followed emergency
procedures.
b) Emergency procedures were -------------____ by the officials.
c) Officials reported a set of ------------_____ events during the emergency.
d) Officials admit that the emergency system is _------------____in the longer
run.

5. The author attempts to _------------------ the readers through this write-

up.
a. rebuke b. question c. offer aid to d. offer advice to

6. What does the author mean when he says, “to get our lives in order”?
a. To resume our lives. b. To organize our lives.
c. To rebuild our lives. d. To control our lives.
7. The author explains the importance of discipline and boundaries in our
lives using the example of
a. road accidents. b. traffic rules.
c. lines on the highway. d. safe driving.
II Read the passage given below.

1. Have you ever failed at something so miserably that the thought of attempting
to do it again was the last thing on your mind?

2. If your answer is yes, then you should understand that you are not a robot.
Unlike robots, we human beings have feelings, emotions, and dreams. We are
all meant to grow despite our circumstances and limitations. Flourishing and
trying to make our dreams come true feels great when life goes our way. But
what happens when it does not? What happens when you fail despite all your
hard work? Do you stay down and accept defeat or do you get up again? If you
tend to persevere and keep going, you have what experts call ‘grit’.

3. Falling down or failing is one of the most agonising, embarrassing, and scary
human experiences. But it is also one of the most educational, empowering, and
essential parts of living a successful and fulfilling life. Did you know that
perseverance (grit) is one of the seven qualities that has been described as the
key to personal success and betterment in society? The other six are curiosity,
gratitude, optimism, self-control, social intelligence, and zest. Thomas Edison is
an example of grit for trying more than 1,000 times to invent the light bulb. If
you are reading this with the lights on in your room, you will realise the
importance of his success. When asked why he kept going despite hundreds of
failures, he merely stated that they had not been failures, they were hundreds of
attempts towards creating the light bulb. This statement not only revealed his
grit but also his optimism for looking at the bright side.
4. Grit can be learnt to help you become more successful. One of the techniques
that help is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a practice that makes an individual stay
at the moment by bringing awareness of his or her experience without
judgement. This practice has been used to quieten the noise of fears and doubts.
Through this simple practice of mindfulness, individuals have the ability to stop
the self-sabotaging downward spiral of hopelessness, despair, and frustration.

5. What did you do to overcome the negative and self-sabotaging feelings of

failure? Reflect on what you did, and try to use those same powerful resources
to help you today.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the questions

that follow:

8. The reason why you are not a robot is that:

(a) You fail miserably at tasks (b) Failure and success can affect your emotions
(c) You work hard (d) You have limitations

9. What is the tone of the following context: “Falling down or failing is one
of the most… educational, empowering, and essential parts of living a
successful and fulfilling life.”?
(a) Humorous (b) Optimistic (c) Horrifying (d) Solemn

10. Which of the following sentences makes the correct use of “grit”, as
used in the passage?
(a) Get rid of that grit in your shoes. (b) She had a bit of grit in her eye.
(c) The road had been covered with grit. (d) Her grit never made her give up.

11. How does mindfulness help?

(a) It creates awareness (b) It quietens the noise of fears and doubts
(c) It helps one become successful (d) It helps develop focus

12. What do you understand from this line, “Falling down or failing is one
of the most agonising, embarrassing, and scary human experiences.”?
(a) Falling down makes us angry.
(b) Failure can deeply affect our emotions
(c) Stay positive and be optimistic
(d) Self-control is empowering
13. Choose the option that correctly states the meaning of ‘social
intelligence’ as implied in the passage:
(a) Knowing others (b) Knowing oneself and others
(c) Knowing oneself (d) Knowing one’s surroundings

14. The importance of perseverance and optimism for a successful and

fulfilling life is explained using the example of?
(a) Thomas Edison (b) Flourishing
(c) Grit (d) Limitations

SECTION B GRAMMAR AND WRITING

GRAMMAR
15. Which option displays the correct change of the following to reported
speech?
Sunitha asked Venkat, “How much is the rent for your flat?”
A. Sunitha asked Venkat how much was his rent for flat.
B. Sunitha asked Venkat how much the rent for his flat was.
C. Sunita enquires from Venkat that how much rent he pays.
D. Sunita told Venkat how much the rent for his flat was.
16. Rearrange the following to form meaningful sentence. Choose the correct
option :
P : generally the Q : is closed R : by nine in the evening S : hospital
(a) PSRQ (b) PSQR (c)RSPQ (d)RPSQ
17. She ----------- deposit the cheque on time to get it cleared.
A. dare to B. must C. might D. could

18. It seems that they would need ________ workers for the
construction.
A. little B. either C. more D. some

19. Workers __________ day and night.

A had been working B have been working
C has been working D are working

20. There is an error in this line. Which one of the given sentences is correct
from the options given?
Stick with regular meal timings. 
(a)Stick on the regular meal timings. (b)Stick of the regular meal timings.
(c)Stick off the regular meal timings. (d)Stick to the regular meal timings.
WRITING
Raman is the Secretary of the English Literary Association of Tagore Memorial
School, Patna. He has to write a notice for notice-board, inviting names of those
who would like to participate in the proposed inter-house debate, oratorio! and
elocution contest.
Q. 21 Select the option with relevant aspects that Raman should select, for this
notice.
(1) The newspaper’s name
(2) Date ,place ,venue
(3) Timings, place , address
(4) Formal tone
(5) Criteria for judgement
A. (1) and (5) B. (2), (3) and (4) C. (3) and (5) D. (2), (4) and (5)

Q. 22 Notice is generally issued for _________?

A- Specific student  B- Specific teacher 
C- Parents  D- A specific group  
Q. 23 Where is the salutation written in a Notice?
(a) just below the date (b) just above the date
(c) along with the date (d) not required

V. Answer any TWO out of the THREE questions given, with reference to
the context below.
You are Prantik, the Secretary of the Historical Society of Nalanda Senior
Secondary School, Bombay. You want to take a group of forty students of your
school on a trip from Bombay to Delhi by a deluxe bus. You have to write a
letter to Global Travels, Bombay, enquiring about their terms and conditions for
package tours.
Q. 24 Which option should Prantik select, to make an enquiry about the tour ?

Q 25. which of the following options complete the last line of the letter.
I request you for an early (i) ---------------------so that we may finalise our (ii)
------------------------.
(a) (i) reply (ii) duration (b) (i) response (ii) duration
(c) (i) response (ii) programme (d) (i) payment (ii) programme
Q. 26 Select the appropriate subject for this letter.
a. Enquiry regarding package tour to Delhi
b. Enquiry regarding package tour to Bombay
c. Enquiry regarding the payment of the package
d. Enquiry regarding the payment of the deluxe bus
 SECTION C LITERATURE

At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with

only a small storm jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose
to the top of each wave, we could see endless enormous seas rolling
towards us and the screaming of the wind and sprays was painful to the
ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy
mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed
everything, went through our life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned
oilskins and life jackets---and waited.

27. Antonym of minuscule in the given extract is

a. Jib
b. Raft
c. Drill
d. Gigantic
28. What does ‘eight knots’ refer to?

a. Unit of Speed
b. Unit of Weight
c. Unit of Distance
d. None of these
29. Why did they slow down their storm jib?

a. To slow down their speed

b. To slow down the waves
c. To slow down the speed of boat
d. All of these

She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up

Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings—
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask
30. Who is referred to as she?
 a. Lizard
b. Goldfinch
c. Autumn wind
d. Squirrel

• 31. Which poetic device is used in ‘her barred face identity mask’?

a. Hyperbole
b. Onomatopoeia
c. Transferred Epithet
d. Enjambment

• Find a word from the extract which is the synonym of ‘quiver’.

a. Thrill
b. Stokes
c. Engine
d. Tremor
• to 35. What is the name of your horse? My Heart, my cousin Mourad
said in Armenian. A lovely name, John Byro said, for a lovely horse. I
could swear it is the horse that was stolen from me many weeks ago.
May I look into his mouth? The farmer looked into the mouth of the
horse. Tooth for tooth, he said. I would swear it is my horse if I did n’t
know your parents.

33. Why could Byro not doubt Mourad and Aram for stealing the horse?

a. They were rich and prosperous

b. They had large number of horses
c. They belonged to Garoghlanian family
d. None of the above

34. Antonym of ‘repudiate’ in the extract is

a. Swear
b. Stolen
c. Lovely
d. Look

35. The horse was named as

 a. Mourad
b. My Heart
c. John
d. Armenian

36. Who discovered Tut's tomb and when?

a. Adam Cooper in 1901

b. Howard Carter in 1922
c. Howard Carter in 1930
d. Sam Shaw in 1890
37. Why didn't the painter want to draw an eye of a dragon?

a. he feared that the painting would not look good

b. he feared that the dragon would fly out of the painting
c. he feared that dragon will seem real
d. because he didn't want to work
38. What do the books of Confucius and Zhuangzi teach?

a. to guide the disciple in the right direction

b. to not fear the superiors
c. to not to suppress your thoughts
d. None of the above
39. Who is the poet of the poem 'A Photograph'?

a. Shirley Toulson
b. Shirlie Toulson
c. Shirley Towlson
d. Shirlie Towlson

(B)

40. How does the author describe Mrs. Dorling when she saw her the first
time during the war?

a. A woman with a broad back

 b. A woman with a round back
c. A woman with a straight back
d. None of the above

41. “I was in a room I knew and did not know.” What does author mean
by this?

a. She saw familiar things but in unfamiliar surroundings

b. She did not recognize the things she saw
c. She saw unfamiliar things but in familiar surroundings
d. She did not want to remember anything

42. What does the narrator mention as a ‘priceless commodity’ in the

chapter-‘Ranga’s Marriage’?

a. To his native language

b. To mangoes of his village
c. To flowers of his village
d. To English language
43. According to Ranga, what type of girl should one marry?

a. Pretty and docile

b. Mature and pretty
c. Admirable and docile
d. Mature and admirable
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