SET- I

NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SAMITI , LUCKNOW REGION

HALF-YEARLY EXAMINATION 2023-24
CLASS- XI
SUBJECT- ENGLISH CORE (301)

TIME DURATION: 3 HRS MAX. MARKS- 80

General Instructions:
1. 15 minutes must be alloted to read the questions.
1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections-READING, GRAMMAR & CREATIVE
WRITING SKILLS and LITERATURE.
2. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.
SECTION A READING 18 Marks
I Read the following passage carefully. 10x1=10
Hundreds of thousands of our qualified youngsters take off from different
international airports every year for higher studies or highly lucrative jobs in the
US, the UK, Germany, France and Australia. And most of these Indians prefer
to settle down abroad, attracted by the facilities and the higher quality of life
provided by these countries. We have been crying hoarse about the brain drain
from India over the last five decades or more, without going in for a well-set
blueprint to check the counter-productive phenomenon. Some of the public
schools in our metros and our IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs
(Indian Institutes of Management) are providing world class education. One
might wonder that having spent a lot on infrastructure, training and other
facilities and the best teaching staff, can the Government and the people of India
look away as the talent, assiduously nurtured in India, is utilised by other
countries for their development and excellence in different fields.
2. During the decade’s long debate on the brain drain, it was said that our
youngsters leave India just because excellence is neither recognized nor
rewarded in India. This could have been partly true at the beginning of this
debate. But today, things have changed beyond recognition and talented people
can reach the highest position possible if only they are prepared to work hard.
3. Youngsters from India, whatever be the field they are working in, are today
suitably recognised and rewarded. A report released by a high-tech lobbying
group in the Silicon Valley in 2005 revealed that the highly skilled Indian born
talent that once looked to the US was returning home, ―turning America’s
brain drain into India’s brain gain. Titled ―Losing the Competitive Edge: The
Challenge for Science and Technology in the US, the report said that countries
like India and China, through the structuring of their economies, were
dramatically increasing the skill sets of their workforce, thereby posing a
challenge ―to the US leadership in the technology domain. ―Public private
partnerships (in India) have invested in technical universities and
communications infrastructure to create cutting edge technology parks in places

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 SET- I
like Bangalore in Karnataka. This will make India more competitive and
alluring to investors and multinational companies. The report further said: ―
“They are dramatically increasing the skill sets of their workforce, investing in
research and development, and adopting advanced technologies, all to create
wealth and spur economic growth.”
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given
below.
1. Our qualified and talented youngsters go abroad for
a. holidaying.
b. higher study and better jobs.
c. propagating India’s greatness.
d. helping Indian students in Australia.

2. A report from Silicon Valley in 2005 states that skilled and talented
Indians are
a. coming back.
b. not interested in coming home.
c. demanding more wages.
d. turning to politics in India.

3. The prime reason of brain drain in India is-

a. extreme weather conditions.
b. rampant corruption at all levels.
c. excellence is neither recognized nor rewarded.
d. social taboo to live abroad.

4. The ironical situation faced by Indian government earlier with regards

to India born talent was
a. talents nurtured by the government are not allowed to work.
b. talents nurtured in India are utilised by other countries.
c. talents nurtured through government resources don’t want to work.
d. talents nurtured in India are not allowed in other countries.

5. Pick the suitable option to fill in the blank.

India can become an attractive destination for investors and MNCs by _
1. creating cutting edge technology parks.
2. investing in tourism sector.
6. Which countries are the preferred by qualified youngsters from India for
higher studies or attractive jobs?
7. State any one strategy adopted by India to improve its economic growth.
8. Which two countries are posing a challenge to the US economy?
9. Find the word which mean the same as ‘profitable’ (para 1)
10. Find the phrase which means- ‘highly advanced’ (para 3)

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II Read the passage given below: 8

Swimming pools were once considered a luxury limited only to the rich. Today,
thanks to plastics and plenty, they number in the millions. Few, of course are of
Olympic size where a swimmer can quickly do his laps and stay in shape. Most
are above-ground, round mini-pools, line for a cool-off and a' frolic. But health
experts have come to realize that exercises created
specially for such swimming pools can tone the muscles, strengthen the heart
and pacify the spirit of people of all ages and conditions. And these exercises
aren't restricted to small pools alone. Any type of pool, including a crowded
municipal one, will do.
Designer of the principal popular exercises is C. Carson Conrad, executive
director of the California Bureau of Health. Physicians approve of Conrad's
exercises for three reasons. First, since water pressure, even on a non-moving
body, stimulates the heart to pump blood throughout the body, exercise in the
water promotes thorough circulation still more effectively.
Second, water exercise is rhythmic. And continuous, rhythmic exercises,
authorities agree, are one of the best defences against circulatory ailments which
might cause atherosclerosis, often the precursor of coronary attacks and strokes.
Third, water exercise can be enjoyed with benefit by both young and old,
healthy and infirm, swimmers, and in shallow water, non-swimmers. Dr. Ira H.
Wilson and Fred W. Kasch, a physician-and-physiologist team, assert that even
persons with paraplegia, rheumatic heart, asthma, emphysema, victims of polio
or strokes, or amputation can exercise in water and enjoy
weightless movement. Arthritis patients move easily under-water. Some
physicians use hydro-calisthenics for their cardiac patients.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on
it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations 5
(wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format you consider suitable.
Also supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 50 words. 3

SECTION B GRAMMAR & CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS 23 Marks

III GRAMMAR 7 Marks

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i. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of tense 4X1=4

Once there was a king. He (a) .............. (know) for his benevolence. Every day,
he (b)………. (feed) the hungry and (c)… ............. (clothe) the poor before he
(d)............. (take) his food.
ii. Re-order (Rearrange) ANY THREE to form meaningful sentences. 3X1=3
(a) report/tomorrow/shall/he/for/duty.
(b) lay down/my life/ I will/my motherland/ for/ of/the sake.
(c) will/please/you/the window/open?
(d) work hard/to pass/the examination/should/we
IV CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS 16 Marks
i. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. 3
A Don Bosco School, Pune requires yoga coach on contractual basis. Draft a
suitable advertisement in not more than 50 words for the “Situation Vacant”
column stating your requirements regarding age, qualifications, experience etc.
You are the Principal of the school.
OR
B You are Suman/Suma of 33/244, M.M. Road, Mysore. You want to sell off your
old two-wheeler as you have purchased a new one. Draft an advertisement to be
published in The Times of India under classified columns giving its details such
as make, model, colour, accessories & the expected price.
ii. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. 3
A Your school is organising a Fete on Children’s Day to support the fund-raising
campaign of “Muskan” an orphanage in Delhi. Prepare a poster for the
occasion in not more than 50 words.
(Fete- an outdoor event with competitions, entertainment and things to buy,
often organized to make money for a particular purpose)
OR
B There is a strong need to make people realise the importance of following Road
Safety rules. Prepare a poster in not more than 50 words, for creating that
awareness on behalf of Traffic Control Management, Jaipur.
iii. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. 5
A You are Rajeev Rana, the Principal, Navrachana High School Jaipur. You are
supposed to address students on the closing ceremony of Craft Week
Celebration. You decide to focus on the topic ‘Importance of having a hobby
in one’s life’. Write the speech in 120-150 words. Refer to image for ideas.

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OR
B Youth gets easily affected by what they see in the t.v. commercials and
advertisements which sometimes lead to unnecessary purchases, or may
develop an urge to perform dangerous stunts, or in developing of unhealthy
lifestyles, or lead to degradation of moral values, etc. You want that the youth
must be aware of this trap of big businesses and must protect them from the
negative impact of advertisement. Keeping this in mind, you decided to deliver
a speech in the morning assembly of your school on the topic “The Persuasive
Impact of Advertisement”. You are Veena Sen of class XI.
iv. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. 5
A You are Amandeep Kaur of MBD, Public School, Jabalpur. Write a debate
either for or against the topic- Time-Saving Technology Is Making Us Lazy
and Incompetent in about 120-150 words.
Hints
For Against
Automation gives us more free time increase our living standard
it doesn't tell us how to use it support multitasking
reduce labour innovative products
time-saving alternatives come at the better time management
expense of learning
degradation in manual abilities improve efficiency
OR

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B You are Sanjeev Kumar of class XI. You have decided to participate in Inter
House Debate Competition on the topic “Technology Harms Our Future”.
Prepare the draft of the debate in favour of the topic in about 120-150 words.
You may use the following hints-

 psychological and physical issues

 difficulty focusing on important tasks
 leads to serious health conditions
 makes us lazy and incompetent
SECTION C LITERATURE 23 Marks
V Reference to the Context
i. Attempt ANY ONE from the extracts given below. 3x1=3
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings—
The whole tree trembles and thrills.

a. Who is “she” in the second line?

b. “She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up”
The word machine here metaphorically refers to
c. Pick out the sound word from the given extract.
i. tremor ii. trembles
iii. thrills iv. trillings

OR
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,

a. Who are the two persons in conversation?

b. The phrase ‘strange to tell’ here means
c. What poetic device is used in the last line is
i. Alliteration ii. Simile
iii. Personification iv. Irony

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ii. Attempt ANY ONE from the extracts given below. 4x1=4
Tooth for tooth, he said. I would swear it is my horse if I didn’t know
your parents. The fame of your family for honesty is well known to me.
Yet the horse is the twin of my horse. A suspicious man would believe his
eyes instead of hisheart. Good day, my young friends.

a. Who is I in the above lines?

i. Aram ii. Mourad
iii. John Byro iv. Uncle Khosrove

b. Whose family is renowned for its honesty?

i. Aram ii. Mourad
iii. John Byro iv. Both (i) and (ii)

c. The “young friends” of the speaker steal the horse to

d. Find the word from the given extract which is opposite to
‘trustworthy’.

OR

‘Won’t you sit down?’ asked the girl. She held open the door of the living-
room and I went inside past her. I stopped, horrified. I was in a room I
knew and did not know. I found myself in the midst of things I did want to
see again but whichoppressed me in the strange atmosphere.

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a. Who is the girl in the given extract?

i. Mrs S’s daughter ii. Mrs W’s daughter
iii. Mrs Minco’s daughter iv. Mrs Dorling’s daughter

b. What has the narrator come for at the address?

i. to meet her mother’s friend.
ii. to see her mother’s belongings.
iii. to meet her childhood friend.
iv. to see her mother’s house.

c. Oppressed by strange atmosphere, the narrator finally resolved to .

d. Find the word from the extract which means same as ‘shocked’.
VI Answer ANY TWO (one each from prose and poetry) of the following 3x2=6
questions in about 40-50 words:
a. Who was Howard Carter? Why was his investigation resented?
OR
b. Why was the author thankful to Larry and Herbie? (We’re not afraid to
die…)
c. The description of Shirley Toulson’s mother in the poem “A Photograph”
shows three different phases of life. Discuss.
OR
d. How does the rain beautify the earth?
VII Answer ANY ONE of the following questions in 120-150 words: 5X1=5
a. Khushwant Singh’s grandmother was although like everybody’s
grandmother, yet she turns out to be an exceptional lady. Discuss with
reference to your understanding of the chapter.

b. “Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful

things can be achieved.” – Mattie Stepanek
How was the family of the Captain along with the crew members able to
unitedly brave through the onslaught of the sea storm?
VIII Answer ANY ONE of the following questions in 120-150 words: 5X1=5
a. Doris and Cyril’s behaviour towards their mother was extremely rude and
unheard of. How far do you agree that Mrs Pearson is somewhere
responsible for their ruin?

b. “The Address” is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.

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