ENGLISH

CLASS IX
Maximum Marks : 50

SECTION – A
READING

NEWSPAPRER

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (1 x 6= 6)
1. Today when we pick up a daily newspaper, we invariably find an increasing incidence of
vandalism, fraud, theft, robbery, rape, child spouse, battered spouses, murders, hate crimes,
genocide (now termed as "ethnic cleansing") along with a multitude of other senseless
violent acts that have become disturbingly common. These are not the actions of people who
like themselves.
2. The solution to a great many problems, whether personal, national or global, lies in
improving our feelings about ourselves both as individuals and members of society. When
the significance of good self-esteem is well understood and it achieves the prominence it
deserves, a transformation will begin, for as the people will learn they are deserving of self-
respect, their respect for others will automatically increase.
3. Most of our behaviour has been shaped by our parents caregivers and authority figures
who played an important part in our early springing and were responsible for crystallizing
our ideas about ourselves and the world. While everyone has self-esteem, only a small
percentage of us have high self-esteem. High self-esteem denotes that we accept ourselves
unconditionally exactly as we are, we appreciate our value as a human being. When, on the
other hand, we have low self-esteem, we believe that we have little intrinsic worth.
4. We believe our personal value is in direct proportion to the value of our accomplishments.
If we cannot accomplish certain results, we tend to feel low about ourselves. Some of us try
too hard and become workaholics and over-achievers, With a few genuine feelings of self-
worth, we try to create some and prove that we are somebody by our successes and
achievements. Because our desire for perfection is so great, we tend to set unrealistic goals
and place unreasonable demands on ourselves. Failing, rather than encouraging us to have
realistic aspirations, only leads to a mere punishing round of self-blame and a resolve to
drive ourselves harder next time. If we do finally achieve our goals we are disappointed;
despite everything we have done, we still feel empty inside.
5. Vulnerable to the opinions of others, we desperately try to gain their recognition and
approval sometimes through risky and dangerous behaviour. Thus, we are at the mercy of
our emotions, instead of controlling them, we permit them to control us. Since we allow
circumstances to influence our feelings, we are inclined to be moody. The insecurity we feel
as a result of devaluing ourselves makes us react with jealousy, envy and possessiveness.
Fear makes us greedy and acquisitive, and feelings of self-hate alternate with those of
futility, unhappiness and depression.
6. Sound self-esteem is the basis for ALL self-improvement. As human beings, our potential
is limitless, our abilities inexhaustible, and the possibilities for creative and constructive
changes are endless. But, we won "t experience satisfactory progress towards our goals or
make any lasting improvements unless we believe we deserve the good we want. Conditions
in our lives will improve permanently only when we believe we are entitled to something
better. So improving our self-esteem inwardly is the vital ingredient for improving our lives.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer each of the questions given
below with the help of options that follow:
(a) These days newspapers are full of-----------
(i) news about the development of the country
(ii) news about politics
(iii) news about acts of crime and violence
(iv) news about educational matters and employment

(b) Such acts are done by people -----------

(i) to preserve their honour
(ii) because they lack tolerance
(iii) who have high self-esteem
(iv) who do not like themselves

(c) good self-esteem is stressed upon because------------

(i) it is essential in solving many problems
(ii) it builds up self-confidence
(iii) it increases one's reputation
(iv) it helps one to respect others
(d) high self-esteem is a remarkable asset because ----------
(i) it makes us worthless in our own eyes
(ii) it helps us to believe in our own worth
(iii) it forces us to be achievers
(iv) it causes depression and disappointment

(e) Find words from the passage which mean the same as killing/massacre (para 1)
(i) multitude
(ii) vandalism
(iii) genocide

(f) Find the word from the passage which is synonym of desire ( para 4 )
(i) accomplishments
(ii) encouraging
(iii) aspirations
(iv) genuine

SECTION – B
WRITING SKILLS

A . Weave a story with the given outline in about 150 – 200 words . ( 1 x 5 = 5)
A fisherman once caught a small fish ...........the fish begged to be spared.......... to catch
her when she would become fat and fleshy.......... but the fisherman could not be
persuaded .........he caught it and cue it up saying: _Something is better than nothing.
 SECTION – C
GRAMMAR
Q .1  Fill in the blanks with most appropriate tense . (8x1 = 8)

A. Amit………… to school daily at 7:00 a.m.

1.  go
2.  goes
3.  gone

     B.  The maths teacher………….. a lecture on Number system.

1. delivering
2.  is delivering
3.  are deliver
4.  and delivered
    
     C. My father …………….from Ranchi yet.
1.  has not arrived
2.  have not arrived
3.  not arrived
4.  arrived

     D. She………….  working in this office since 2015.

1.  has
2.  has been
3.  have been
4.  was

      E.  I……………. a lot of money yesterday to buy an expensive gift.

1.  spend
2.  was spend
3.   Spending
4.   spent

     F. At noon tomorrow ,  I………….  on a beach somewhere.

1.  relax
2.  will be relax
3.  will being relax
4.  will be relaxing

     G. …………….. the employees……………. before the strike?

1.  Was /  working
2.  Were /  been working
3.  Had /  been working
4.  Had /  was working
     H. Ananya………….  to Class yesterday because she was at the hospital. 
1.  Do not come
2.  did not come
3.  not come
4.  not came

SECTION – C
LITRATURE

A. Read the following extracts and choose the correct options: (2 x 3 = 6)

1. And both that morning equally lay
  In leaves, no step had trodden back.
  Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
  I doubted if I should ever come back
(a) The poet doubted if:
1. he could ever finish his journey
2.  he could meet his family again
3.  he could join his friend
4.  he could ever come back to travel the first road
  
(b)  both in the line refers to :
1. leaves
2.  roads
3.  steps
4.  the poet and his friends

(C) The rhyme scheme of the stanza is:

1. ABBAB
2. ABAAB
3. ABCDA
4. ABABA

2. As for music, she explains, “It pours in through every part of my body. It tingles
in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair.” When sire plays the xylophone, she can
sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she
can feel the resonances flowing into her body.
 (a) ‘It’ in the above lines has been used for …………..

1. Xylophone

2. Music

3. Sound

4. Body

(b) Evelyn can feel the sound passing up the stick into her finger tips, when she

1. Lean against the drums

2. Plays xylophone

3. Sings a song

(c) … ………….. in the above lines means the quality in a sound of being deep and
reverberating.

1. Pour
2. Resonances

3. Sire

4. Tingles

B. Answer the following questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each   (4x 2=8)

Q.1 Where was Margie’s School?  Did she have any classmates? 

Q.2 Who invented Shehnai?
Q.3 What does the Wind do to weak fires?
Q.4 What should we do about our body and heart ? ( poem wind )
 
C. Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words. (4x3=12)

Q.1How did Evelyn open her mind and body to musical sounds and vibrations?
Q.2Bismillah Khan loved India and Benaras the most. Justify it by giving two instances
from the text.
Q.3Briefly discuss the central idea of the poem wind.
Q.4 What was the poet's dilemma in the poem “The Road not taken”?
 
D. Answer the following question in 100 to 150 words (1x5=5)
Q.1 Do you agree with Margie that schools today are more fun than schools in the story?
Give reasons for your answer.