SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER (2019-20)
ENGLISH- Language and Literature (code 184)
CLASS-X
Time allowed: 3 Hrs Maximum Marks: 80
General Instructions:
1.This Paper is divided into three sections. All questions are compulosry.
2. Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read these instructions very carefully and follow them.
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.
Section: A 20 Marks
Read the passage carefully. (12)
Antarctica
For all its remoteness, Antarctica has become increasingly accessible in recent years. Weather permitting, flights land regularly at the South Pole, bringing construction crews and materials there. Dozens of research stations have been planted all around the coastline. Now, fleets of cruise ships are bringing over 12,000 people a year and Antarctica is also becoming an increasingly popular venue for extreme sports.
Antarctica is owned by no one, and 43 nations are joined in an agreement which allows it to be used only for science and tourism. Yet these activities are already so intensive that they may soon pose a threat to the environment It is also feared that the agreements may not withstand pressures to exploit the continent’s mineral resources including gold, platinum and oil. Of equal concern is the possibility 10 of shipping accidents due to the influx of ships into the Southern Ocean. which could lead to devastating oil spills. With this in mind, the U.K. is leading an effort to introduce a new ‘Antarctic Code’ for shipping.
Even though Antarctica is the world’s most remote and desolate continent, entirely covered by a vast sheet of ice and having winds raging with unimaginable ferocity, the damaging effects of human activity have reached this distant and pristine place.
Perhaps the most worrying threat to Antarctic wildlife comprising penguins, petrels, seals and albatross. cry comes from the atmosphere. Air pollution has triggered the appearance of a vast hole in the atmosphere’s protective layer of ozone. This layer is useful as it blocks out the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Without this protection, wildlife may be directly exposed to the harmful radiation from the sun. The plankton in the sea, on which many fish depend, may also be killed off.
Global warming could have an even more devastating effect. Average temperatures in Antarctica have risen to 2.5°C in the last 50 years, and the Ice sheet is melting more rapidly than scientists anticipated. Large chunks of ice are now actually breaking off or ‘calving’ to create icebergs like those in the Arctic. disrupting penguins’ breeding grounds in the process. The huge Larsen B Ice Shelf-a 200 metre thick sheet of floating ice as big as Jamaica, recently broke up. shocking scientists, who had not thought it would happen so soon.
Scientists fear that if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melts, it could raise sea levels by several metres with devastating results for the world’s coastlines.
1 On the basis of your reading of the above passage, complete the following sentences: (2*4=8)
(a) The agreement between 43 nations regarding Antarctica states
(b) It is feared that the agreement may not be adequate to
(c) The possibility of ship accidents has increased due to
(d) Antarctica is the world’s most desolate continent as
2. Pick out words from the passage. which mean the same as:
(i) that can be easily reached, within reach (para I)
(ii) a lot of things arriving somewhere (para 2)
(iii) lonely, empty and without people (para 3)
(iv) expected (para 5)
Read the passage carefully. (8)
The Story of Aunt
Two small girls and a small boy Cyril were in a railway carriage. It was uncomfortably warm and all the young occupants were restless. Their aunt, who was also travelling along was unable to keep the kids occupied. The aunt started telling them a story about a girl. This girl was chased by a mad bull. But the bull was driven away by the people. The aunt went on to tell the three kids that the people saved the girl from the bull because she was a very good girl. It was her inherent goodness that made people save her. This story did not seem to interest the three of them. They wanted to know if she wouldn’t have been saved had she not been good. The aunt’s answer did not convince the kids.
A young bachelor. who was also travelling in the same carriage, was quietly observing all this. He told the aunt that she was not a good storyteller. The aunt challenged the bachelor to narrate a story that would thrill the kids and also be understood by them. The bachelor started a story about an exceptionally good girl, Bertha. who was eaten up by a wolf in the park of a prince? She was the only girl in that town to have won three medals — all for her obedience, punctuality, and good behaviour. She used to wear all these three large medals, which always clinked against each other as she walked.
In the park, one day Bertha is chased by a wolf, and she hides behind the thick myrtle bushes. The wolf follows the trembling Bertha to the bushes. However, the smell of myrtle is so strong that the wolf
cannot smell the hiding Bertha. Just when the wolf is about to retreat, her medals clink against each other. The wolf then pounces upon the girl and eats her up to the last bone.
The three children liked the story but the aunt considered the story improper. But the young man who was preparing to leave the carriage was happy to have kept the impatient children quiet for some time and thought that for the next few months the children would trouble their aunt with demands for an ‘improper story’.
On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the following questions briefly (1*8=8)
(a) Why were the young occupants restless?
(b) Why did the people save the girl from the bull?
(c) For what did Bertha win the three medals?
(d) Why can’t the wolf smell the hiding Bertha?
(e) How does the wolf come to know that Bertha is hiding behind the thick myrtle bushes?
(f) While the young man was preparing to leave, what did he think about the children?
(g) Why did aunt start telling the story?
(h) Why was the young man who was leaving the carriage happy?
Section : B 30 Marks
Q.3 Mohit Gupta is a resident of Subzi Mandi, Delhi. After reading the following newspaper articles, he writes a letter to the Editor of a local newspaper giving his strong views on the decision of the government and making a frequent appeal to it to reconsider its decision. (8)
ADVERTISEMENT
New Delhi —5th February, 200…
The government has postponed shifting at present, the jhugi dwellers squatting on the railway lines in the metropolitan cities. The decision has raised the eyebrows of the people in general and the environmentalists in particular.
OR
Taking help from the information given below, write an article on ‘Make in India’s Digital Economy’.
Hints: • Leaders of world’s largest technology • companies visited India • Softbank to invest $10 billion into digital India • a delegation of Indian digital entrepreneurs visited China • India should take China’s cue • Chinese digital economy • a major driver of China’s growth story • Chinese digital boom by limiting access of global majors to the Chinese market • India, conversely an open door for global companies • Google and Facebook’s dominance in India • capturing 75% of India’s digital advertising pie • Even Flipkart is 80% foreign owned • India’s digital revolution just begun.
Q.4 Ravi was one of the most intelligent students in the class. But he was a victim of insecurity that he may score poorly in the Board Examinations. Mr Shekhar, an English teacher ……… (10)
Q.5. Complete the paragraph given below by filling in the blanks choosing the correct option from those that follow. (4)
A cleanliness drive was launched in our school:
- The health minister visited our school.
- Students took the brooms and started cleaning the whole place.
- They resolved to keep their surroundings clean.
- The teacher spoke about the importance of cleanliness.
The dignitary who visited our school was (a)……….. The (b) ………… cleaned the whole area. Keeping the (c)………… was the resolve taken by the students. The importance of cleanliness was stressed by the (d) ……….
Q.6 The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each of the lines. Write the incorrect word and the correction in the space provided. Remember to underline the word that you have supplied as shown.
Incorrect Word Correct Word
Some people in France has made it (a) _________ _________
a carrier. You can hire a jovialist (b) _________ _________
who crack jokes and laughs and (c) _________ _________
promised to make you dissolve (d) _________ _________
on helpless laughter.
Q.7 Rearrange the given words/phrases to make meaningful sentences.
(a) for work/started/earlier than/Jaro/even/morning before
(b) pitcher/with him/he owned/largest/the/he carried
(c) first/he intended/the waterfall/of all/to/to go
(d) he found/on/all his/reaching there/neighbours
Section: C 30 Marks
Q.8 Read the extract given below and answers the questions that follow. (1*4=4)
In the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body, and when he returned he exclaimed, “These aren’t raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives.”
(a) Why did Lencho go out in the rain?
(b) Why were the raindrops like `new coins’ for Lencho?
(c) How did these new coins ultimately bring disaster to his cornfield?
(d) Explain the description: ‘The air was fresh and sweet’.
OR
When I opened the door, Tricky trotted out and was immediately engulfed by Joe, the greyhound, and his friends. After rolling him over and thoroughly inspecting him, the dogs moved off down the garden. Tricky followed them, rolling slightly with his surplus fat.
(a) What happened when the door was opened?
(b) What did they do?
(c) Who is ‘I’ in these lines?
(d) Where did the dogs go after inspecting Tricky?
Q.9 Answer any five of the following questions in 30 to 40 words each. (2*5=10)
1. What made the story of the balcony so convincing?
2. Why did Hari Singh decide to come back to Anil?
3. Though Horace planned everything meticulously, why did he fail?
4. How did Griffin escape from the London store?
5. Why did Ebright lose interest in tagging butterflies?
6. What special diet did Mrs Pumphrey give to build Tricki up?
Q 10. Matilda proved a roaring success due to Mme Forester lending her the necklace. How would you attain the stature of being generous?
OR
Why do you think the lawyer was happy to take summons to New Mullion? How did the lawyer develop a perception about Lukens? If you would have been in the lawyer’s place, what would have been your reaction towards Bill’s statements?
11. Poets have great power of imagination. Robert Frost also explains his imagination very well and proves that sometimes the bad symbols change into a boon. Discuss. (8)
OR
There are many ideas about how this world will come to an ‘end’. What are they? Do you agree with the poet and his understanding of the poet and his understanding of the issue in this regard?
