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AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY EXAMINATION BOARD

HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE

CLASS XI EXAMINATION 2009

English Compulsory Paper I

Time allowed: 50 minutes Marks 40

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read each question carefully.

2. Answer the questions on the separate answer sheet provided. Do NOT write your answers on
the question paper.

3. There are 100 answer numbers on the answer sheet. Use answer numbers 1 to 40 only.

4. In each question there are four choices A, B, C, D. Choose ONE. On the answer grid black out
the box for your choice with a pencil as shown below.

Correct Way Incorrect Way

1 A B C D 1 A B C D

2 A B C D

3 A B C D

4 A B C D

5. If you want to change your answer, ERASE the first answer completely with a rubber, before
blacking out a new box.

6. Do NOT write anything in the answer grid. The computer only records what is in the boxes.

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Listening Comprehension Section

In this section you will hear two recordings. Each one will be played twice.

Listen carefully to the first recording then read the 10 questions. You will have two minutes’ reading
time.

The recording will then be replayed. You can make notes on your question paper.

When the recording has finished, enter your answers on your separate answer sheet. You will have
three and a half minutes to pencil in your answers.

Follow the instruction on the front page of paper 1 to show which of the options; A, B, C, or D you
have selected for each question.

Passage One

The passage is about light pollution. The narrator is trying to find reasons why most city skies have
become virtually empty of stars, and proposes some solutions.
Adopted from Our Vanishing Night by Verlyn Klinkenborg available at
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/light-pollution/klinkenborg-text.html

Now listen to the recording.

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Make your responses to these questions on your multiple choice answer sheet.

1. Nocturnal species are those animals 6. Longer feeding changes

who
A. breeding.
A. can see at night. B. migration timings.
B. live near the sea. C. nesting conditions.
C. remain active during the day. D. sleeping time.
D. live on land.
7. When the speaker shifts the attention
2. The speaker proves that human being from birds and animals to men, he
are diurnal by stating that humans
A. lists the reasons of light
A. are active during the day. pollution.
B. can see in the sunlight. B. compares men with other
C. do not live in an unoccupied animals.
country. C. disagrees with the light
D. have powerful biological force. pollution concept.
D. describes human life.
3. According to the narrator, light
resembles 8. Light pollution is a hurdle for man to

A. a searchlight. A. enjoy the beauty of the galaxy.

B. a magnet. B. trace the Milky Way.
C. a marine oil platform. C. compare itself with the wide
D. gas flares. universe.
D. measure the darkness.
4. ‘Artificial light is a biological force’.
The evidence is that 9. The narrator sums up the topic by

A. artificial light causes some birds A. providing statistics.

to behave unnaturally. B. giving suggestions.
B. the presence of sunlight awakes C. sharing his own experiences.
animals during daytime. D. criticizing humans.
C. artificial light serves as a
physical power. 10. What is the purpose of the text?
D. a longer day allows for longer
feeding. A. To entertain
B. To narrate
5. Early breeding is caused by: C. To convince
D. To argue
A. A wide range of birds living
together
B. A change in the singing time
C. The arrival of migratory birds
D. An artificial span of day and
night

PLEASE DO NOT TURN OVER THE PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD
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Now, we will play the second recording. It will also be played twice.

Listen carefully to the first playing, then read Questions 11 to 20. You will have two minutes’
reading time. The recording will then be replayed.

When the recording has finished, enter your answers on your separate answer sheet. You will have
three and a half minutes to pencil in your answers.

Passage Two

In this passage the narrator shares the memories of an unusual journey he made.

Now listen to the recording.

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Make your responses to these questions on your multiple choice answer sheet.

11. When the accident occurred, the train 16. ‘Cursory examination’ means that
Marambot was
A. was at Gisors station.
B. took up the speed. A. making little use of equipment
C. was moving slowly. during examination.
D. was near Marambot’s house. B. doing the examinations
superficially.
12. The speaker knew about the accident from C. treating the patients as chickens.
D. examining the patients thoroughly.
A. the porter’s shouts.
B. the severe jerks. 17. After discovering the identity of the
C. hissing and puffing. speaker, Marambot
D. the monster’s sound.
A. cleaned his hands.
13. The speaker compares the state of the B. was worried about the speaker.
engine with a horse that is C. expressed his surprise.
D. warmly welcomed the speaker.
A. galloping.
B. resting. 18. What was Marambot having for lunch?
C. wounded.
D. dead. A. Chicken
B. Horse
14. When the speaker asked for the address, he C. Sauces
was D. Trout

A. accompanied by a porter. 19. Marambot’s philosophy of life appears to

B. near Marambot’s house. be:
C. looking for lunch.
D. hurt in the train accident. A. Live to eat
B. Love thy neighbour
15. The speaker was told by the servant that C. A friend in need is a friend indeed
Marambot D. God helps those who help others

A. was not available. 20. The speaker appears to

B. was taking rest after lunch.
C. was examining his patients. A. be envious of his friend’s lifestyle.
D. had gone for lunch. B. have a different philosophy of life.
C. admire the friend’s lifestyle.
D. regret his own lifestyle.

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Reading Comprehension Section

This section has two reading passages; each followed by 10 multiple choice questions. You have 25
minutes’ time for this section. You are advised to spend approximately 12 minutes on each of the given
passages.
Read the passages carefully and then answer the multiple choice questions which follow.
Passage One
Heroes: Close Call in a Hotel Fire
For a week, Robin Tim, Anthony Greg, and 23 other students from Westfield State College were
enjoying their field trip to a coastal city. On their last night, Tim and Greg, who'd been buddies for
years, worked on a science project report till 4 a.m. Then they figured it was time to turn in.

When Greg's head hit the pillow, he heard glass shattering and bolted upright. From the balcony of
5 their fourth-floor room, Tim and Greg saw black smoke pouring from the hotel's adjoining tower.
"We watched one window blow out, and then another, and heard people shouting," says Greg.
Students were throwing ropes made from twisted bed sheets off their balconies, and a couple of them
were trying to climb down.

"There was so much smoke, they couldn't see five feet in front of them," says Sam.

10 Tim, ran out into the corridor and began pounding on doors and shouting, "Westfield!" and "Fire!"

"Some people thought we were joking," says Greg, a volunteer fire fighter in his hometown. "But
after they saw the smoke, they didn't think it was funny anymore."

Almost all the hotel's 502 rooms were filled with college students from across the country. "People
were yelling and trying to get out," says Ben. "It was pure chaos." Because of the hour, the students
15 were on their own; only a minimal staff was on duty. The smoke was attributed to a fire in the
laundry, say authorities. While a spokesperson for the hotel asserts that the fire alarm system had
passed inspection just two weeks earlier, several students have insisted it was not working that night.
"I pulled an alarm and nothing happened," says Sam.

As the smoke thickened, Tim raced upstairs to where other Westfield students were rooming.
20 Meanwhile, Greg was downstairs helping people get through the smoke-filled lobby. There he joined
forces with Sam, who comes from four generations of fire fighters.

Sam and Greg wet their shirts in the lobby bathroom and wrapped them around their mouths and
noses so they could breathe. Then they went up the stairs.

Protected by their makeshift masks, the two fought their way to the top, then turned around and
25 began their descent. “By then,” says Greg, "there wasn't any air. My throat and lungs just burned."

In the end, while a few students were treated for smoke inhalation, no one was seriously hurt.

The trio have become local heroes. But Greg didn't crow to his friends. "I told a couple of them.
Then I started getting calls from other people, asking, 'Why didn't you tell me?'" he says. "But I
didn't think it was that big a deal."

30 Westfield principal Evan Dobelle disagrees. "I have a great deal of pride in these young men and
how they were able to react in such an emergency," he says.
Adopted from Heroes: Close Call in a Hotel Fire By Joseph Tirella in Readers Digest July 2008

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Make your responses to these questions on your multiple choice answer sheet.

21. The best meaning in context of the phrase 26. How many rooms in the hotel were
‘time to turn in’ in (line 3) is time to occupied by the students of Westfield
State College?
A. go to bed.
B. switch on the light. A. All the rooms
C. close the door. B. One room
D. tuck the blankets in. C. Almost all 502 rooms
D. Some amongst 502 rooms
22. The number of students from Westfield
State College was 27. What was the name of the student who
came from four generations of fire
A. 23. fighters?
B. 24.
C. 25. A. Greg
D. 26. B. Tim
C. Sam
23. The fire broke out D. Robin

A. at midnight. 28. Where was the fire first felt in the hotel?
B. before dawn.
C. at dusk. A. The chimney
D. at midday. B. The lobby
C. The laundry
24. What caused Greg to leave the bed? D. The adjoining tower

A. He heard glass shattering. 29. Why was Westfield’s principal Evan

B. He heard someone yelling. Dobelle proud of the three students?
C. Somebody knocked hard at his
door. A. They treated the injured.
D. He felt the heat of the fire. B. They hid their identity.
C. They didn’t boast about their
25. What was the first reaction of people when achievement.
Tim knocked at their door and shouted D. They rescued people in an
“Westfield” and “Fire”? emergency.

A. They took it lightly. 30. The passage is about

B. They ran out of their rooms.
C. The jumped off their balconies. A. how fire breaks out.
D. They started helping fight the fire. B. what to do to overcome fire.
C. how students react to fire.
D. how to help others in a fire.

PLEASE TURN OVER THE PAGE

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Now read the following passage carefully.

Passage Two

Adventure at Dawn

This rock, which we have come upon, will suit our purpose admirably. It is about four feet
high by perhaps six feet long. Both of us can crouch behind it and await the coming of a bear.

We chance our luck and wait in silence for a few minutes hearing only our own breathing.
Then the faint thud of a stone, somewhere at the base of the hillock, raises our hopes. Only an
05 animal, generally clumsy in its habits or in search of the grubs that hide under such stones,
would have betrayed its presence by making such a noise. Decidedly not a deer for it would be
afraid; and certainly no tiger or panther would advertise its passing. The other possibility
might be an elephant. This we will know in a few moments.

Now we can hear the sound of laboured breathing, as if some old man is climbing the hillock
10 with great difficulty. This removes any doubt that a sloth bear is indeed approaching sniffing
at holes under the rocks and at the roots of bushes in search of grubs and other succulent
morsels.

The eastern sky is beginning to brighten with the approach of the real dawn, but it is still dark
behind the rock where we crouch, when the bear reaches us. You are to my right, and the bear
15 is to the right of you, maybe ten feet away. I press your arm tightly and you understand my
unspoken signal to remain motionless. It might not see us, for it is notoriously short-sighted. It
is also very deaf. It might attack should we betray our presence.

The snorting and the grumbling, the huffing and puffing pass. All we can glimpse is a black
blur against the bushes; then the bear has disappeared as it ascends the hill and the sounds of
20 its progress grow fainter.

Crack-a-a-ack! We hear the sound but once, rather faint but quite unmistakable. Something
heavy is coming up the hill, perhaps another sloth bear, but I think not. Bears are continuously
noisy, while this animal, except for that initial accidental sound, is otherwise, silent.

We crouch quietly behind the rock with just the tops of our heads and eyes showing. To
25 remain absolutely still is the first secret of successful concealment in the jungle. The second
factor, of course, is the direction in which the wind is blowing. The sense of smell rather than
of sight is far more developed in most wild creatures, particularly members of the deer family.
Provided the wind is not blowing directly from you to the quarry, and provided you remain
absolutely still, you have a good chance of ambushing any animal.

30 The bushes before us part with a faint rustle to reveal the head and shoulders of an enormous
sambar stag. His giant antlers are spread in perfect symmetry at the base, and he is near
enough for us to see their gnarled thickness, equal to your forearm.

The stag is closer to us than the sloth bear was a moment earlier, and directly in front, yet he
does not see us. He hesitates cautiously before advancing into the clear space on the other side
35 of the rock behind which we are hiding. Then he steps forth and we see his massive body in all
its grandeur.
Taken from Tales from the Indian Jungles by Kenneth Anderson. Rupa and Co

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Make your responses to these questions on your multiple choice answer sheet.

31. The purpose of the author in going to the 36. The best word that describes the bear in
forest was to the text is,

A. climb a hill. A. ‘lazy’.

B. hunt wild animals. B. ‘clumsy’.
C. fight with an enemy. C. ‘deaf’.
D. observe wild animals. D. ‘silent’.

32. When the author is saying it is four feet 37. According to the text, in order to hide
high, he is referring to the oneself in the jungle one must stay

A. bear. A. silent.
B. rock. B. hidden.
C. hillock. C. motionless.
D. old man. D. secluded.

33. What removed the author’s doubt that a 38. Line 22 gives the impression that the
bear was approaching (line 10)? author is

He could hear A. worried.

B. puzzled.
A. rolling stones.
C. terrified.
B. sniffing holes.
D. convinced.
C. heavy breathing.
D. continuous grumbling. 39. In the jungle, the author
34. The phrase ‘succulent morsels’
A. is alone.
(lines 11, 12) means
B. has a large group of people with
A. small bites. him.
B. juicy nibbles. C. has a companion with him.
C. savoury mouthfuls. D. is having the company of two
D. delicious meals. friends.

35. The author is in the jungle 40. The text type of the passage is

A. at midnight. A. descriptive.
B. in the evening. B. narrative.
C. in the middle of a day. C. informative.
D. early in the morning. D. expository.

END OF PAPER
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