No.

of pages - 14 (M)
MARKING SCHEME
MID-TERM EXAMINATION (2023-24)
CLASS : XI
SUBJECT : ENGLISH (301)
Time Allowed : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 80

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Evaluation is to be done as per instructions provided in the marking scheme.

2. Marking scheme should be strictly adhered to.

3. Marks have been indicated against each answer

*****

SECTION-A (READING)

I. Ten questions of one mark each: 1x10=10

1. Creative thinking is intentionally gaining new insights and different ideas through

existing information. Often, creative thought involves tapping into different styles

of thinking and examining information from different viewpoints to see new

patterns

2. Creative thinking differs from conventional thinking by involving questioning

assumptions, exploring new perspectives, and thinking outside the box.

3. Thomas Edison’s quote emphasized that creative thinking requires hard work and

dedication, as it is not solely dependent on inspiration.

4. A culture that embraces experimentation, empower individuals to take creative

risks without fear.

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 5. Curiosity is important in creative thinking because it encourages individuals to

experiment explore new ideas, and be open to learning from various sources.

6. Mindfulness can aid creative thinking by helping individuals clear their minds and

facilitating the emergence of new insights and ideas.

7. c) By encouraging collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas

8. b) engaging in mind mapping and brainstorming sessions

9. c) Fearing failure and avoiding risks

10. conducive

II. Case Based Factual Passage:

Eight questions of one mark each 1x8=8

1. 30% percent of Indian internet users admitted to sharing fake news unknowingly?

2. c) 2020

OR

c) Serious implications of misinformation for public health in India.

3. c) By fueling political polarization and social divisions

4. c) Financial and banking topics

5. c) Impediment to the country’s development and growth

6. b) Robust fact-checking mechanisms and media literacy campaigns

7. b) By educating individuals to identify and verify reliable sources

8. To foster a more informed and discerning society.

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III. Note making 5+3=8

Title - 01

Numbering & Indenting - 01

Key to abbreviations - 01

Notes - 02

Any title, main points, sub-points may be accepted if they are indicative of the

candidate’s understanding of the given passage. Recognizable abbreviations to be used

by the candidate. Complete sentences are not to be accepted as notes.

(Following notes are indicative in nature only)

“The Need for Holidays: Rejuvenating the Mind, Body, and Soul”

1. Importance of Holidays:

 Essential breaks from routine

 Opportunity to recharge, relax, and rejuvenate

 Addressing the demands of work and daily responsibilities

2. Stress Relief:

 Long hours of work and daily pressures lead to burnout

 Holidays offer a chance to step away from stressors

 Unwind and engage in activities that bring joy and relaxation

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3. Enhanced Productivity:

 Taking regular breaks improves overall performance

 Returning with renewed focus and fresh perspective

 Boosts productivity in the long run

4. Improved Physical Health

 Continuous work without rest leads to fatigue and health issues

 Holidays provide an opportunity to catch up on sleep

 Engage in physical activities and embrace a healthier lifestyle

5. Strengthening Relationships:

 Holidays foster and deepen personal connections

 Spending quality time with family and friends

 Creates lasting memories and strengthens bonds

6. Celebrating Life:

 Holidays are moments to celebrate milestones and accomplishments

 Special occasions, achievements, and life itself

 Expressing gratitude and joy

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 Summary (3)

Summary should include all important points given in the notes. It should be one third of

the passage and written in third person.

Content-02

Expression-01

SECTION-B : GRAMMAR AND CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS

Grammar (any seven) (7 marks)

IV. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb.

A) The kids _____ ARE PLAYING _____ in the pool right now. (play)

B) By this time next week. I _____ WOULD HAVE COMPLETED _____ all my

assignments.(complete)

C) She_____ HAD WORKED _____ at that company for ten years before she retired.

(work)

D) He _____ LEFT_____ his job last year. (leave)

V. Rearrange the jumbled words to form meaningful sentences.

A) After the concert, they went out to eat.

B) While I was reading, the phone rang.

C) She is visiting her friends next weekend.

D) They have just finished the movie.

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 Writing Skills (3)

VI. Advertisement - 3 marks

Format-01 mark

Content-01 mark

Expression-01 mark

- Wanted Property

Mention locality, size, specifications, price

OR

- Required Receptionist

Mention qualification, experience, work profile, pay, incentives

VII. Poster (3)

(a) Format-1 mark (issuing Authority)

 Visually attractive/Eye Catching

 Title-suggestive/catchy

 Use slogan, jingle or short verse

 Sketch or simple drawings

 Letters of different size and shape

 Proportionate spacing, etc

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 (b) Content-1 mark

 The theme or subject of the poster

 Description or details associated with the theme

 Essential details like time, date, venue (for an event)

 Name(s) of issuing authority/organisation, etc

(c) Expression-1 mark

 Phrases, slogans, persuasive language

 Creativity in terms of content and design

 Overall organisation and sequencing of the matter

 Observe word limit (usually 50)

VIII. Speech Writing (5)

Format: 01 mark

Content: 02 marks

Expression: 02 marks

Note: No title is required. if a candidate writes a title, no marks will be awarded for that.

Format: Opening address and conclusion with thanks giving

Content: Body of the speech

Expression Grammatical accuracy-01 mark

Coherence and relevance of ideas-01 mark

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IX. Debate Writing (5 Marks)

Format: 01 mark

Content 02 marks

Expression: 02 marks

Note: No title is required. If a candidate writes a title, no marks will be awarded for that.

Format: Opening address and conclusion with thanks giving

Content: Body of the speech

SECTON-C (LITERATURE)

X. Reference to context: 1x3=3

A. One mark for each correct answer:

(i) The significance of the sea holiday is that the mother was also a girl once

and it refers to a happy moment in her life on the sea beach.

(ii) a) Mother and daughter

(iii) Laboured ease-oxymoron

OR

(i) (b) Sleek and alert.

(ii) The word ‘engine’ in the extract denotes the sudden noise put up by the

young ones of the goldfinch in the nest.

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 (iii) The first one is alliteration in ‘tree trembles’/And the second one is

personification in ‘The whole tree trembles and thrills’ (any one).

XI. Reference to content 1x3=3

(i) (a) He finds it hard to believe

(ii) The narrator’s grandfather, as portrayed in his portrait, wears big turban and loose-

fitting clothes. He has a long, white beard that covers a significant portion of his

chest. making him appear very old, perhaps even a hundred years old.

(iii) old and wrinkled

OR

(i) Amenhotep III was Tutankhamun’s grandfather, and he ruled for almost four

decades.

(ii) d) He initiated a radical shift in religious beliefs and practices

(iii) Akhenaten shocked the country by attacking Amun, smashing his images, and

closing his temples Ray Johnson, the director of the University of Chicago’s

research center, described this period as “a horrific time” due to the significant

changes and disruptions in the long standing traditions of the ruling family and

religious practices.

XII. Reference to content 1x4=4

(i) (a) They were seeing each other for the first time.

(ii) (b) brown coat

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 (ii) (b) because the woman was facing difficulty in lifting the suitcase

(iv) (d) all of the above

OR

(i) (a) Positive vs Assertive

(ii) (c) To adopt a from policy when faced with opposition disobedience

(iii) (c) About Mrs. Pearson’s family

(iv) (a) She wants to confront Mrs. Pearson’s family

XII. (Any 2)

Description of marks : Content – 2, Expression – 1

(A) The relationship in between the Laburnum tree and the Goldfinch bird is like the

relation of the body and the soul. The laburnum appears dormant until the

goldfinch arrives to feed her offspring nesting in the tree. The tree reawakens with

and is fueled by the bird’s song and movements. The goldfinch and the laburnum

share a symbiotic relationship in hat the goldfinch provides vitality to the

laburnum and the faburnum provides protective shelter to the bird’s babies.

(B) The photograph reminds, the poet of her mother. She feels sad seeing the

photograph of her dead mother while her mother had derived a sense of happiness

and laughter when she used to see it. This feeling of loss has silenced the poet.

(C) She was not at all sentimental at his leaving the house. She kissed him on the

foreread and bid him good bye, consistently praying and telling the beads of her

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 rosary, but did not act the way the narrator had thought she would. This shows that

she was strong in her approach.

(D) The author called Ile Amsterdam’s island “the most beautiful island in the world. It

was because, after all of their ordeals at sea, the island represented a ray of hope

for them. It was a modest volcanic rock outcropping with sparse flora.

XIV. (Any one)

Description of marks : Content – 2, Expression – 1

(A) Mrs. Dorling was surprised as she thought no one had come back. She was afraid

that the narrator had come back to claim her belongings which rightfully belonged

to the narrator’s mother.

(B) Mourad brought the white horse near Aram’s house because he knew that Aram

also longed to ride on horses but could not because of their extreme poverty. He

wanted Aram to ride that horse.

XV. Distribution of Marks: Content-3, Expression-3

Life is not a bed of roses. Dangers and difficulties are parts of human life. In spite of that,

heroic people live with courage and determination Hope nourishes and sustains life.

There are people who like to live life as it comes But there are others who prefer a life

full of obstructions and encounters. Such people are not shaken by the hazards of life

Ordeals and obstacles are rewarding because they help one gather experiences. The

saying goes that there is no gain without pain. In the lesson ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die...’,

we find the narrator a thirty-seven-year-old businessman, his wife, Mary, their six-year-

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old son, Jonathan, seven- year-old daughter Suzanne, and the two hired crewmen,

American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb Siegler formed the team of the voyagers who faced

the fury of the ocean with fortitude. They were frightened by the fury of the gales and the

waves. But they went on fighting. They did not surrender. They went on doing whatever

was possible for them for their survival. They knew that their death was approaching. Yet

they went on fighting and finally arrived at the tiny volcanic island, Ile Amsterdam. Their

fortitude and valour proved that God helps those who help themselves.

OR

When I archaeologist Howard Carter held up a candle to peer inside on November 26,

1922, the light glinted on golden objects. This tomb, belonging to the Pharaoh

Tutankhamun, would soon become the most famous ancient Egyptian discovery of all

time. Three nested coffin was found by me, in the first, I found the garlands made of

leaves and flowers, bet on reaching the mummy, I got into trouble: I found that the ritual

resins had become quite stiff. These had fixed the body of Tut to the bottom of his solid

gold coffin Even the sun’s heat could not melt it.

So I decided to remove the solid resins using a chisel and hammer in order to free the

King’s remains from the coffin. My men had to remove Tut’s mummy part by part.

Having taken out the gold coffin, they removed the mummy’s head and cut off every

joint in order to remove the gold ornaments. Then they reassembled the body parts on a

layer made of sand in a wooden box and filled it with a soft material to hide the damage

they had caused. However, along with the mummy, I found a lot of interesting things in

the tomb that reflected on the beliefs of people of the time. The ancient Egyptians

believed they needed to fill it with all the stuff that a ruler might need in the afterlife.
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 And since they believed the afterlife would be a lot like normal life, that meant packing

everyday items like clothing, food, beds, chariots, headrests, and games. The pharaoh

would also need all his ceremonial stuff like thrones, statues, and jewellery.

The tomb is a very significant find in the field of archaelogy.

XVI. Distribution of Marks: Content-3, Expression-3

Yes, with reference to the lesson we can say that the act of stealing is stealing even if it’s

for a good purpose.

In the lesson Mourad found a horse without any owner, he knew that its owner must be

searching for it but for his own enjoyment he didn’t think about the owner of horse and

took it. Then both Aram and Mourad enjoyed the horse riding. However, they didn’t have

any bad intentions but it was wrong, since they didn’t think about the feelings of its

owner who would be sad and upset. Also it threatened to destroy their family’s reputation

of centuries as an honest family by doing this act of dishonesty.

OR

This play brings out the miserable condition of mothers in most homes. A mother works

from morning till night to satisfy the needs of her husband and children. The play raises

many serious issues. The first and foremost is proper appreciation of a housewife’s role

and responsibilities. Those who work eight hours a day and forty hours a week treat the

housewife as an unpaid domestic servant, who must carry out their orders. They neither

request her nor thank her for her services. The second issue is the reciprocity of love and

gratitude towards the mother or wife. The husband, son and daughter leave the lady of

the house alone every night and go out to enjoy themselves in their several ways. They
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do not take any notice of her and have become thoughtless and selfish. The mother’s

excessive love, care and promptness to serve them also spoil them.

The problems the play raises are serious. The treatment is of course, comic. The

playwright adopts an unusual method to resolve the issues. He takes the help of magic of

the East Incantation of a magical spell helps in the interchange of the personalities. Now

Mrs Pearson, with the strong and sinister personality of Mrs Fitzgerald, gives rough

treatment to the daughter, son and husband respectively. Her stern looks and

commanding tone suggests to them that she can be really tough. The spoilt members are

brought round by the heavy dose of exposure of reality to them. They agree to stay and

help in preparing the supper while Mrs. Pearson talk with her husband.

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