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 passages given below and answer the questions that follow them: (8 Marks)
1.The newspapers have taken the place of the Bhagavad Gila, the Bible and the Quran with the people. For them, the printed sheet is gospel truth. The fact throws a great responsibility on the editors and the news writers.
2. Newspapers are a powerful influence. It is the duty of the editors to see that no false report or report likely to excite the public is published in their newspapers. The editors and their assistants have to be extra careful about the news they give and the manner in which they dress it. In a state of independence, it is practically impossible for Governments to control the Press. It is the duty of the public to keep a strict watch on the newspapers and keep them on the right path. An enlightened public would refuse to patronize inflammatory or indecent newspapers.
3. Newspapers which indulge in untruth or exaggeration harm the cause they profess to espouse. I admit that there is enough untruth in enough newspapers to warrant action. But my experience is that no amount of public criticism will affect the policy of newspapers which make their livelihood by such policy… But I write this in no way to condone untruths in newspapers. I am quite clear that if newspapers weighed every word that is printed therein, we should have a speedier removal of abuses whether in the states or elsewhere.
4. The superficiality, the one-sidedness, the inaccuracy and often even dishonesty that have crept into modern journalism, continuously mislead honest men who want to see nothing but justice done.
5. The sole aim of journalism should be service. The newspaper press is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole countrysides and devastates crops, even so, an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy. If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of control. It can be profitable only when exercised from within. If this line of reasoning is correct, how many of the journals in the world would stand the test? But who would stop those that are useless? And who should be the judge? The useful and the useless must, like good and evil, go on together, and man must make his choice.
Attempt any eight of the following questions on the basis of the passage you have read. 1*8=8
1.What is the gospel truth for the people?
2. What is the duty of the editors?
3. What is the duty of the public?
4. How do newspapers harm the cause they profess to espouse?
5. What are the ills that have crept into modern journalism?
6. What destruction can an uncontrolled pen cause?
7. How can the control prove profitable?
8. Who should judge the journals?
Q.2 Read the Passage Carefully- (12 Marks)
The Plight of Remand Homes
The recent case of 11-year old Rohit, an inmate of a remand home in the capital, who was brutally killed by an older boy at the behest of the caretakers, makes Charles Dickens’ portrayal of Oliver Twist’s orphanage look mild. The boy was tied by his feet, hung upside down from a hook and thrashed to death for helping another child escape. This gruesome incident brings to light the terrible way juvenile homes are run in this country. As a matter of fact, many children try to flee from these homes.
Again, there is this case of 12-year-old Arif (not his real name) from Bihar who worked at an auto repair shop in Mehrauli, and who was picked up from the railway station by the police when he had gone to see off his friend returning to his village. Arif was so desperate for freedom and so eager to get back to work, that he jumped down a 14 ft. high barbed wall. But the caretakers got wind of the escape and Arif was allegedly stoned and stopped. Thereafter, he was roughed up and his legs put in plaster.
In fact, escapes have become the main worry of the state government’s social welfare department. Only last December, 72 children fled from a remand home at Majnu-ka-Tila. Earlier some inmates also escaped from another home in the capital. It is learnt that the caretakers are now under pressure to prevent more such incidents. But escapes continue to be frequent.
The question that needs to be asked is: Why do children, many of whom are destitute and abandoned, run away from homes that supposedly aim to protect them?
A recent visit to a home revealed the reasons and filled one with anguish as much as despair. Sad little faces had one common refrain on their tiny lips: “Help me get out.” A newly admitted child bitterly wept: “Who will now care for my baby brother? We’ve no one except each other,” he sobbed. These children were barely six or seven and one or two even younger, who sat on the floor of dark and dull ‘classrooms’ staring vacantly at blackboards filled with big numbers that were written in English. But the children spoke mostly Hindi or other regional languages.
In the kitchen some children sat kneading the dough, rolling chappatis and helping the lone cook for a home of some 180 children. Those who help here may get an extra share. In another dark room, some other children fiddled with rags. This was a tailoring class. The sick-room and the dormitory with a heap of dingy bed-clothes and no bedsteads reeked with the stench.
Many children are unhappy here because they have nothing worthwhile to do or learn. For most of them in the 10-16 year age-group, it is a precious period when they picked up a trade, as poverty forces them to work. Many juveniles picked up by the police for ‘loitering’ in railway stations and bus terminals are working children caught travelling ticketless. Some are runaways from their homes and schools for failures and corporal punishments. Some are deviants All of them are housed together.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 1857. the remand homes have been set up for destitute and abandoned children who are likely to be abused and exploited. The JJ act says the homes must provide services to the physical, mental, moral and spiritual welfare of children and facilities for self-improvement. But such programmes do not exist. Instead, sources allege that pilferage from the rations of the children may not be uncommon and culture of ‘bullying’ is widespread. The children are neither given any education nor any work training to help them face life once they are freed after attaining the age of sixteen.
Visits to the homes are controlled by the government. This restriction must end. Merely suspending erring officials (as in Rohit’s case) does not help. The children must be given their basic rights, love and care; and the system will only then truly be an arm of justice from which few would want to escape.
1.Answer the following questions on the basis of your reading- 2*4=8
(a) Why has Charles Dickens’ portrayal of Oliver Twist’s orphanage been described as mild?
(b) What happens when children try to escape from remand homes?
(c) Give two reasons why children try to flee from remand homes?
(d) Why should the restriction on visits to remand homes be ended?
2. Find phrases in the passage which mean the same as the following : 1*4=4
(a) attacked in a threatening was (Para 2)
(b) remarks repeated by many (Para 5)
(c) physical injury for doing wrong (Para 7)
(d) only (Para 9 )
Section : B 30 Marks
Q.3. With the help of the inputs given below, write a letter to the Editor of a newspaper on the colossal wastage of food in the lavish Indian weddings. (8)
♦ Indians spend life’s saving on weddings.
♦ Wedding market in India is approximately I, 50.000 crores per year.
♦ India also hosts one of the biggest armies of starving people in the world.
♦ No wastage is more condemnable than wastage of food.
♦ The responsibility of the guests to limit the size of the servings according to their appetite.
♦ Take the spoonful of each to taste and decide, instead of filling the plate with every dish.
OR
The youth of different states should be given a chance to meet one another through national meets and other programmes. Taking ideas from the MCB unit. National Integration and sour own ideas write an article in 100-120 words on the topic, Youth and National Integration. You are Ram/ Rama.
Q.4. Read the given line and complete the story in 150-200 words. Give a suitable title to your story. (10)
Last Sunday, I was watching TV. Suddenly I heard people shouting outside………….
Solution
Q.5. Complete the following passage by choosing the most appropriate options from the ones given below 1*4=4
When the first grey light (a) _____ the day came, I got up. Very slowly, I (b) _____ downstairs. Sometimes, a stair (c) _____ under me. “Stop thief!” It seemed to say. At other times, it seemed to say, “Wake up, Mrs. Joe!” I reached the (d) _____. This held more food than it usually did. This was because it was Christmas Day and Uncle Pumblechook was coming for dinner.
(a) (i) off (ii) of (iii) with (iv) by
(b) (i) crept (ii) creep (iii) was creeping (iv) go
(c) (i) shrieked (ii) shouted (iii) squealed (iv) creaked
(d) (i) dormitory (ii) latch (iii) pantry (iv) attic
Q.6. The following passage has not been edited. There is an error in each line against which a blank is given. Write the incorrect word and the correction in the space provided. Remember to underline the word that you have supplied. 1*4=4
Incorrect Correct
Weaken by his wounds and the long summer e.g., Weaken Weakened
day from fasting and watching on the roof, (a) _______ _________
he feel sick at the sight of the body of his (b) _______ _________
enemy. He was fill with regret and remorse. War,
(c) _______ _________
he thought, was unhumane. (d) _______ _________
Q.7. Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences. The first one has been done for you as an example. 1*4=4
(a)very / now / proficient / have become / in them / I (Delhi 2016)
(b)in / disturbs / the / cycle / rise / temperature / rain / the
(c)vegetation / adversely / it / agriculture / and / affects
(d)have / frequent / face / and / floods / we / droughts / to
Section : C 30 Marks
Q.8. This time he decided to try the stock of a theatrical company in the hope of finding not only clothes but also something that would hide the empty space above his shoulders. Shivering with cold he hurried to Drury Lane, the centre of the theatre world. 1*4=4
(a) Who is ‘lie’ in the above extract?
(b) What was his decision?
(c) What was his main purpose?
(d) What was the centre of the theatre world in London?
OR
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors,
(a) What does the expression —stalking the length of his cage’ imply?
(b) Was he interested in the visitors
(c) Which expression tells you this?
(d) What kind of enclosure the tiger was kept in?
Q.9. Answer any five of the following question in 30 to 40 words each. 2*5=10
a.’Richard was the focus of his mother’s attention”. Compose a thesis on this.
b. How was Mr Lisle able to arrange 36,000 francs?
c. Was Bishamber a suitable bridegroom for Bholi? Give your opinion.
d. What is the theme of the poem — ‘How to Tell Wild Animals’?
e. How did Peggy make fun of Wanda Petronski?
f. 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?
Q10. Lisle wished to keep his wife in good humour. Which values of Matilda impress him? (8)
OR
Give a brief sketch of Anne’s life. [H.B.S.E. March 2017 (Set-A)]
11. Carolyn Wells takes liberties with language and employs humour to describe the wild animals. Give some examples of humorous descriptions in the poem. (8)
OR
Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?
