Time:
90 Mins English Practice Materials Full Marks: 50
Class:
X Set: A Pass
Mark: 20
Candidates
are required to answer the questions in their own words as far as practicable. Statements
for true/false, multiple-choice, matching, sentence completion, cloze test,
reordering, and grammar items must be copied before answering the questions.
The figures in the margin indicate full marks.
1. Read the following poem and do the activities that follow. [5]
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance,
The waves beside them danced: but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in the glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -and gazed- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude:
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
-William Wordsworth
A.
From the
poem, write the words that are similar in meaning to the following. [3]
a.
zephyr
b.
outperformed
c.
seclusion
B. Answer the following questions in short. [2]
a.
What does the
speaker compare himself?
b.
What does the speaker mean by “the bliss of
solitude”?
2. Read the
following text and do the activities that follow. [10]
“Yogmaya had
a two-pronged agenda, not just one,” explained Manamaya. “Her first target was
the cultural and religious oppression of the time. Her second object was our
ruler, the Prime Minister, who along with his generals allowed corruption and
inequality to prevail. Our master, Shakti Yogmaya, showed us how these two
evils are intertwined, and she feared neither.”
Yogamaya launched a brilliant and daring
political campaign from her base in the hills of East Nepal. It took place
during the 1930s, and ended in 1940 with her death, along with sixty-eight of
her followers who one by one followed her into the thundering current of the
Arun River. After leading a campaign for reform and justice, Yogmaya finally
confronted the ruler with an ultimatum: “If you do not grant us justice, we
will die,” she declared. Juddha Shamsher responded by sending his army to round
up the protesters.
The tragedy that resulted remains a stain on
the government. The Nepalese authorities covered up the episode and banned all
mention of her. Her campaign was thoroughly expunged from the nation’s
historical record and almost lost to its political consciousness. But the
powerful verses composed by Yogmaya, the hazurbani, survived. And there lies
the story.
I am the
child in your lap.
You are the
babe in mine;
There is
nothing between us, nothing at all.
Your eyes
have tears, just like my own.
On the
surface, these lines may appear to be politically innocent, they are not. They
embody the very principle of equality. They call for parity and mutual respect.
They are tender reminders of the sensitivity of all of our common needs, joys, and sufferings.
- Rewrite the following sentences choosing
the correct alternative. [5]
a.
Yogmaya ………….
a traditional subservient role.
i.
accepted ii. declined iii. reproduced
b.
The agenda
she raised are still………………years after her demise.
i.
pertinent iii. irrelevant iii. interesting
c.
Her
campaign………………. wide media coverage.
i.
received ii. failed to receive iii. refused
d.
Yogmaya was
the first female ……….
i.
reactionary ii.
revolutionary iii. ruler
e.
The national
politics was ……………… of her contribution for a long time.
i.
mindful ii. oblivious iii. envious
B.
Answer the following questions in short. [5]
a.
What are the
‘two evils’ mentioned in the first paragraph?
b.
How did the
Rana regime respond to her demand?
c.
Why do you
think Yogmaya, together with her followers, killed herself?
d.
How did
Yogmaya seek to reform her society?
e.
What message
do the verses of Yogmaya convey?
3. Develop the given outlines into a beautiful story. give it a
suitable title and a moral too. [5]
A storm fall upon a forest … a
dead tree struck by lightning … the forest on fire … a little parrot fly toward
the river … a desperate idea come to him … dip himself into the water … fly
back to the forest … release the drops of water into the heart of the blaze …
continue this task … an eagle appear … suggest him to save his life and stop
that useless task … the parrot want help, not advice … the eagle realise and
join the parrot … all the other birds join too …. they cease the forest fire …
all creatures praise them … moral
4. Design and draft an advertisement for the post of a Primary
Level Maths Teacher including all the details. [5]
5. Write a
short speech in about 150 words on- Human Trafficking. [6]
6. Write a review of a book you have read or a movie you have
watched recently in no less than 250 words. [8]
7. Rewrite the following sentences as indicated in the brackets. [6]
ii. You couldn’t have made a mistake. (Affirmative)
iii. I watched Titanic in 1997. (How long question)
iv. The number of books you bought …………… sufficient. (Correct form of ‘be’)
v. They alleged that he kicked a policeman. (Passive voice)
8. Complete the given story choosing the correct options from the
brackets. [5]
Long ago, there was ……1…. (the/ a /an) cunning fox in a
forest. There also lived an honest and friendly crane. They……2 ……. (were/was/are) good friends.
Oftentimes they visited each other and enquired about their health and
well-being.
One day, the fox invited the crane…….3……(on/in/at) dinner. He….4…… (has put/had put/puts) the soup in
a flat dish. To his utter dismay, the crane couldn’t have any of the soup as it
had a long beak. The fox finished licking his soup and asked the crane ….5…. (how was the food/how the food
was/how is the food). The crane said, “It …….6………” (is very good/was very good/had been good). It was indeed
very embarrassing for the crane…….7……
(wasn’t it/was it/didn’t it)? The crane was deeply hurt. Out and out
disappointed and disgraced by the fox’s behaviour, the crane thought of
teaching a hard lesson to the fox.
Not many days after that incident, the
crane also ……….8……. (was
invited/invited/will invite) the fox to dinner. There the crane served boiled
oats settling almost at the bottom in a jug…….9……. (because/so that/in order that) the fox couldn’t reach the
food however hard he tried. The fox could only smell the pleasant aroma of his
best dish and look at the crane eat it with great relish. The fox was but
shocked and speechless with deep feelings of regret: if he had respectfully
treated the fox then, now the crane ….10….
(wouldn’t be so indifferent/won’t be so indifferent/wouldn’t have been so
indifferent).
Disclaimer: This material is solely meant for individual practice, and it is not entirely based on the SLC Standard Specification Matrix, which is set for 75 bands.
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