Roll No.

PERIODIC ASSESSMENT-I (2023-24)

GRADE IX –PRACTICE PAPER
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (184)

NAME:________________________________________

Max. Marks: 30 Duration: 1 Hour

General Instructions:
• This Question paper consists of 4 pages.
• All questions are compulsory.
• Answer in accordance with the prescribed word limit.

SECTION A: READING (10 MARKS)

I. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 10x1=10 Marks

Technology is making advancements at a rapid rate but at the cost of a valued

tradition—the crafts industry. The traditional crafts industry is losing a lot of its
trained and skilled craftsmen. With that, the art of embellishing brass and copper
utensils with fine engravings is also disappearing. The government has identified
around 35 crafts as languishing crafts.

The specialty of handcrafted items is their design, an association with long traditions
belonging to a specific region. The word ‘handcrafted’ does not imply the
involvement of dexterous human fingers or an agile mind with a moving spirit
anymore. Lessening drudgery, increasing production, and promoting efficiency have
taken precedence. The labour-saving devices are taking the place of handcrafted
tools and this has jeopardized the skills of these artisans.

Mechanization has made its way into everything - cutting, polishing, edging,
designing etc. Ideally, the use of machinery should be negligible and the handicrafts
should be made purely by hand with a distinguishable artistic appeal. However, with
the exception of small-scale industries, the export units are mostly operated by
machines. The heavily computerized designs contribute to faster production at lower
costs.

Although the mechanization of crafts poses a challenge to safeguarding traditional

crafts, the artisans are lured with incentives in order to impart handicraft training.
Some makers do see machines as a time-saving blessing since they are now able to
accomplish difficult and demanding tasks with relative ease. These machines might
give a better finesse to these products but they don’t stand out as handcrafted. The
quantity has overtaken quality in this industry.

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 A need to highlight the importance of the handmade aspect is required by both the
government and private sectors, in order to amplify awareness and also support the
culture of making handicrafts. A few artisans are still trying their best to rejuvenate
and revive their culture and heritage but it’s an uphill task competing with the
machine-made goods. A multitude of artisans have changed their professions and are
encouraging their progeny to follow suit. There are others who have stayed their
ground but are clearly inclined towards buying machines.
Nearly two decades ago, there were around 65 lakh artisans in the country. Three
years ago, when the government started the process of granting a unique number to
the artisans based on the Aadhaar card, 25 lakhs were identified. Loss of traditional
crafts is clearly a worrying issue, but it stands to reason that forcing any artisan to
follow old ways when concerns of livelihood overrule other considerations, is unfair.
(424 words)
Based on the passage answer the questions that follow:

1. What does the writer mean by calling handicrafts a ‘valued tradition’?

2. State any two reasons why artisans are choosing to work via machines rather than
handcrafted tools.

3. How does the writer justify an artist’s act of abandoning her/his traditional craft for
a more lucrative option?

4. Why do the artisans need to be ‘lured with incentives’ to impart handicraft training?

5. List one likely impact of the support of government and private sectors towards the
culture of making handicrafts.

6. Rewrite the following sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with a word, from
Para 1, having similar meaning.
If it continues, the workcation (work + vacation) trend will be a powerful boost to
domestic tourism operators who are failing to make progress in the economic slump
caused due to the pandemic.

7. Find an antonym from Para 2 for ‘stupid and unskilled’.

8. Which option best summarizes Para 3.
(a) Our age of mechanization leads along a road ending with man himself as a
machine.
(b) The heavily computerized designs contribute to faster production at lower
costs.
(c) Authentic handloom weaves our identity.
(d) The creativity and hard work of Indian weavers are worth supporting.
9. The inference for ‘handcrafted’ has changed over time.
Choose the most appropriate option that lists the current inference.
(a) involvement of skilled manuals or an astute mind
(b) decreasing toil, manufacturing more, and endorsing efficacy
(c) labour saving machinery
(d) association with history and long traditions.
10. What is the main purpose of this passage? Choose the most appropriate answer.
(a) To collaboratively work and secure the handloom industry with better
prospects for the skilled hand.

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 (b) To prioritize mechanization in every field leading to faster production and
achieving the demand goals.
(c) The attitude of the government and private sectors towards the handloom
industry.
(d) People are being played at the hands of technology.
SECTION B: WRITING & GRAMMAR (10 MARKS)

II. Many a time you accompany your mother to the nearby grocery shop. This helps you (5x1=5 Marks)
not only in unwinding from a hectic day at school but also in learning how to buy
consumables needed on a day to day basis. Describe the shopkeeper at the grocery
shop. (120-150 words)
III. Answer the following : (5x1=5 Marks)
1. Choose the most appropriate option.
From the software engineering perspective, the systematic development of software
should follow ____________ phases. (much/several/enough/little)
2. Use a verb in the correct Tense that justifies the purpose.
I'm taking a book with me so that I____________ something to read on the train.
3. Use the correct form of the Tense to show the present situation as an outcome of
something that started in the past and continued until sometime back.
The pavement was wet as it _______________________ until this morning. (rain)
4. Rewrite the incorrect sentence by replacing the incorrect Connector with the
correct one.
Let us not be complacent with ourselves, yet we may lose the game.
5. Complete the sentence.
Unfortunately,____________ Felix ____________ John won the match . (expression -
none)

SECTION C: LITERATURE (10 MARKS)

IV. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow: (3x1=3 Marks)
‘And both that morning equally lay,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.’

(a) Cite one poetic device from the given reference with the examples.
(b) How is the view shared by the poet in this stanza different from the first
glimpse?
(c) What does the poet mean by ‘how way leads on to way’?
V. Answer the following questions in not more than 40-50 words. (1x2=2 Marks)
In the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ define how the use of the extended Metaphor
of the road emphasizes the poet’s message.

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VI. Answer the following questions in not more than 120-150 words. (1x5=5 Marks)
Compare the two types of Education systems highlighted by Asimov in his prose
piece ‘The Fun they Had’.