NIRMALA CONVENT HIGH SCHOOL, NASHIK

II SEMESTER EXAMINATION 2020 – 2021

STD IX SUBJECT: ENGLISH MARKS: 80

ACTIVITY SHEET
SECTION I
Q1. (A) Language Study (10)
A) Do as Directed (any four) (4)
1. Make a meaningful sentence of your own using the following phrase:
to draw attention to

2. “Come, and look out of the window.”

(State the type of sentence)

3. Special attention are given to the choice of various colour.

(Spot the errors in the sentence and rewrite the sentence correctly)

4. Write four smaller words from the given word:

‘EXTRAORDINARY’
Each word should not be of less than four letters.

5. Yes I have had some hard times since I last saw you and all because of you.
(Punctuate the sentence)

B) Do as Directed (any two). (4)

1. After the success at Velas we started implementing the project in other places too.
(Identify and state the type of clauses)

2. Make two sentences of your own to bring out the meaning of the Homograph ‘Tie’.

3. “Come here”, said Taffy, “Do you know where my Mummy lives?” And the stranger
man nodded his head.
(Change into Reported speech)
C) Do as Directed (any one) (2)
1. Use the word ‘attack’ as a Noun and as a Verb in two different sentences.

2. She was prettier than all other women, elegant gracious and full of joy.
(Change the degree of comparison to positive degree)

SECTION II
Q2. (A) Read the extract below and do the activities based on the extract (10)
A1) Complete the following sentences (2)
a) The writer felt that when he transacted business in a bank he became ………
b) The writer approached the Accountant to ……….
c) The writer wanted to deposit an amount of ……….
d) The writer wanted to deposit his money in a bank as ……….

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 WHEN I go into a bank I get rattled. The clerks rattle me; the wickets rattle me; the sight of the
money rattles me; everything rattles me.
The moment I cross the threshold of a bank I am a hesitating jay. If I attempt to transact business
there I become an irresponsible idiot.
I knew this beforehand, but my salary had been raised to fifty dollars a month, and I felt that the
bank was the only place for it.
So I shambled in and looked timidly around at the clerks. I had an idea that a person about to
open an account must needs consult the manager.
I went up to a wicket marked 'Accountant’. The accountant was a tall, cool devil. The very sight
of him rattled me. My voice was sepulchral.
“Can I see the manager?” I said, and added solemnly, “alone.” I don't know why I said 'alone.’
“Certainly,” said the accountant, and fetched him.
The manager was a grave, calm man. I held my fifty-six dollars clutched in a crumpled ball in
my pocket.
“Are you the manager?” I said. God knows I didn't doubt it.
“Yes,” he said.
“Can I see you?” I asked, “Alone?” I didn't want to say 'alone’ again, but without it the thing
seemed self-evident.
The manager looked at me in some alarm. He felt that I had an awful secret to reveal.

A2) Write out the various ‘expressions’ used, to point out the shortcomings of the writer as he
attempted to carry out a banking transaction.
a. When the writer crosses the threshold of the bank - ………………
b. His voice when he talks to the Accountant - ………………
c. When the writer looked around at the Clerks - ………………
d. When the writer attempts to transact business at the bank - ………………

A3) Vocabulary (2)

Fill in the blanks with phrases and idioms from the given bracket based on the extract.
(Shambled into, get rattled, to transact, raised to, to cross the threshold, the sight of)
1. All financial institutions ____________ business and contribute to the nation's economy.
2. He was dizzy from the hot sun and hence he ____________ the room unsteadily.
3. When I saw a ghost I ____________.
4. The new bride was greeted with a shower of petals as she ____________ of her new home.

A4) Grammar: Do as Directed (2)

1. Can I see the manager?
(Pick out the modal auxilliary and state it's kind)

2. The manager was a grave, calm man.

(Use not only….. but also)

A5) Is there any place where you feel rattled and unsure like the writer. Write a short account of
the place and why you feel so. (2)

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Q2. B Read the extract below and do the activities based on the extract (10)
B1) Say True or False (2)
a) The narrator accidentally happened to come across the Turtle egg shells on the beach.
b) The beach had been sealed for public as locals were stealing the Turtle eggs.
c) The Turtle eggs are spotted by locals who comb the beach everyday.
d) The Turtle leaves a trail after laying the eggs.
We were surveying the white bellied sea-eagles in the summer that year. As we roamed the coasts, one
of the volunteers in our team saw some shallow pits with white egg shells nearby. Enquiries with the
villagers revealed that they were turtle eggs. This came as a surprise. We had never come across turtle
eggs in our walks along the beaches of Konkan in all these years. We decided to study this unusual
occurrence further. We learnt that the beach where we had found the egg shells had been sealed to the
public for nearly one month, after people smuggling silver bricks were caught in that area. But what we
learnt further shocked us to the core.
Turtles nest along the entire coastline of our State. There are a few people in every village who keep
combing the beach in the early hours of the morning, throughout the year. When the female turtle comes
on the shore to nest and to lay eggs, she leaves behind a trail just like a track of wheels on the sand. The
egg hunters follow this trail right up to the nest which is about half a meter deep. They dig up the nest,
and steal all the 100-150 eggs that are laid inside. These eggs are then either eaten or are sold in the
market.

B2) Write two points each in the column below (2)

The process in which the Turtle lays her eggs What the egg hunters do

a) a)
b) b)

B3) Vocabulary (2)

a) Give the synonym of the following from the passage:
i) secure x ____________ ii) examining x ___________

b) Give antonyms of the following from the passage:

i) Private x _____________ ii) Lead x ____________

B4) Grammar (2)

Do as Directed
1. When the female turtle comes on the shore to nest and to lay eggs she leaves behind a trail.
(Pick out the infinitives from the above sentences)
2. They dig up the nest and steal all the eggs laid inside.
(Change into Past Perfect Continuous Tense)

B5) Name any other two animals that are ruthlessly hunted for their skin or eggs or any other use
and what is being done for their conservation.

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 SECTION III
Q3.A) Read the extract of the poem below and do the activities based on the extract (5)
A1) Pick out four Archaic words and their equivalent meanings in English (2)
Old English word Modern Equivalent in English
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.

Tansen, the singer, in great Akbar’s Court

Won great renown; through the Badshahi Fort
His voice rang like the sound of silver bells
And Akbar ravished heard. The story tells
How the King praised him, gave him many a gem,
Called him chief jewel in his diadem.
One day the singer sang the Song of Fire,
The Deepak Rag, and burning like a pyre
His body burst into consuming flame.
To cure his burning heart a maiden came
And sang Malhar, the song of water cold,
Till health returned, and comfort as of old.
--- Mighty thy Teacher must be and divine, ---
Great Akbar said; --- magic indeed is thine,
Learnt at his feet, --- Then happy Tansen bowed
And said, --- Beyond the world’s ignoble crowd,
Scorning its wealth, remote and far-away
He dwells within a cave of Himalay. ---
--- Could I but see him once, --- desired the King,
--- Sit at his feet awhile, and listening
Hear his celestial song, I would deny
My state and walk in robes of poverty. ---

A2) Arrange in chronological order (2)

a) Akbar dressed as a slave and followed Tansen.
b) Tansen sang the Malhar Raga.
c) They knelt at the teacher’s feet.
d) Tansen sang the Deepak Raga.
e) They asked the Master to bless them with a song.
f) Akbar desired to meet Tansen’s teacher.
g) Akbar rewarded Tansen with many gems.
h) Akbar gave him the title of a chief jewel.
Poetic Devices:
A3) 1. The poem is written in _______ style. (1)
a) Quintain b) couplet c) colloquial d) sonnet

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 2.The figure of speech in the below line is ______.
‘Scorning its wealth, remote and far away’
a) Metaphor b) Personification c) Tautology d) Transferred Epithet
Q3.B) Read the poem below and write an Appreciation of the poem based on (5)
the following points:
a) Name of the poem and poet (1)
b) Rhyme Scheme (1)
c) Figures of Speech (1)
d) Central Idea (2)
THE autumn comes, a maiden fair,
In slenderness and grace,
With nodding rice – stems in her hair
And lilies in her face.
In flowers of grasses she is clad;
And as she moves along,
Birds greet her with their cooing glad
Like a bracelet’s tinkling song.

A diadem adorns the night !

Of multitudinous stars;
Her silken robe is white moonlight,
Set free from cloudy bars;
And on her face (the radiant moon)
Bewitching smiles are shown :
She seems a slender maid, who soon
Will be a woman grown.

SECTION IV
Q4.(A) Read the extract below and do the activities based on the extract (10)
A1) Choose the correct alternative from the following and rewrite the whole sentence (2)
1. The writer is grateful to the teachers who treated her like a __________.
a) Parent
b) Well – wisher
c) Friend

2. The students used to call Ms. Sudha _________.

a) A ray of hope
b) Rambo
c) A doctor

3. _________ were not able to diagnose the writer’s injury.

a) Doctors
b) Teachers
c) Parents

4. The writer’s teachers helped her develop her _________.

a) Health
b) Character
c) Studies

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 The teachers I’m most grateful to, though, are not those who have taught me the most, but
those who have simply been friends to me, believed me and believed in me. Prominent among
them is Sudha Ramasubramanium – Rambo, as we used to call her. I didn’t know her too
well. She taught me in college, and apart from being incredible in class unless one missed
class, she also believed that I actually had a problem when I developed an injury (which
several doctors found difficult to diagnose). Despite my missing an exam – the HSC, of all
exams – she was the only person who told me to concentrate on my health and assured me
that I could take the exam off the top of my head any time I wanted to.
I’m not even certain she remembers it, but at the time, it felt like one of the only rays of hope
in an extremely dark tunnel. Perhaps few teachers realize how far their influence extends or
how much of a difference their actions and words can make. A number of my teachers have
unfortunately taught me kindness and tolerance and patience by being precisely the opposite,
and quite obviously, they aren’t the people I like to think about. But many of my teachers
have been extraordinary people, who have not taught me in class but helped mould me and
my character in every other way. I only hope that I live up to what their endeavors were
undoubtedly mean to create.

A2) Complete the following: (2)

1. By being ___________
2. By believing _________
The Author’s teachers 3. By assuring __________
4. By teaching __________
helped her……. and _________ but being
___________

A3) Vocabulary (2)

Choose from the alternatives the meaning of the following lines:
1. The only ray of hope in an extremely dark tunnel
a) A light at the end of a dark tunnel
b) The only person to support in a difficult situation
c) The reason for one’s existence

2. I could take the exam off the top of my head

a) I could appear for the exam without really studying hard
b) Could write the exam at any other time by studying hard
c) I could decide the date to appear for the exam

3. Prominent among them is –

a) Popular among them is
b) The most powerful among them is
c) The most important among them is

4. I live upto what their endeavors were undoubtedly meant to create

a) I prove them right after all their creation
b) I live long enough to show them what they created
c) I fulfill their expectations after all their hard work on me

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A4) Grammar
Fill in the blanks in the given box
Noun Adjective Verb Adverb
------------- x concentrate x
patience ------------- x x
x dark ------------- x
x x create -------------

Personal Response: (2)

A5) Write in brief about that one teacher whom you hope to live upto and why.
Q4.(B) Write a summary of the above extract and give a suitable title. (5)

SECTION V
Writing Skills
Q5.(A) Letter Writing (5)
A1 or A2 Attempt any one

MELODIOUS SUPERSTAR SINGER

Golden Opportunity for budding singers from 12 – 18 years

Venue: Kalidas Kala Mandir Date: 15th March to 17th March

For More Details write to: Mr. Rocky Junjunwala

Singers Association

Note: Bring your pre – recorded song in a Pen – drive for audition

Imagine you are Ravi / Ravina Tandon, Flat No. 404, Aishwarya Society, Guru Nagar,
Nashik – 6.

A1) Write a letter to your cousin brother / sister who is very fond of singing and is aiming to take
part in various shows. Use points given in the above advertisement, to inform him about the
above audition and encourage him to take part.

A2) Write a letter to your School Principal informing him / her of this event and requesting to let
you and other students participate. Use the points given in the above advertisement. You
may add your own points.

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Q6(A) Information Transfer (5)
A1 or A2 Attempt any one

A1) Verbal to Non-Verbal

Read the extract set below and prepare a Web diagram showing the advantages of
'Television’. Give a suitable title to your web diagram.

Some people claim that television is the root of all evils, while others think of television as a
best friend. Some blame the television for society’s violence, consumerism, and
misinformation, while others see it as a rich resource for education and global understanding.
According to me watching television benefits in a number of ways. It helps in increasing
bond with the family when we watch it together. It keeps us updated with news. The
Television shows us music, video-songs, live matches, etc. We can learn to make a dish or
two by watching cooking episodes. Tele shopping helps in getting deals at lower prices. We
can follow latest trend by watching number of things on TV. We gain so much knowledge
from channels like Discovery, National Geographic, science channels, etc.
Children can learn moral lessons in a fun way by watching special episodes meant for
children. It also helps to keep us fit and healthy. We can build our character by watching
spiritual shows. We become aware of the present socio-economic condition of our country
and of our world. Television also helps us develop our languages especially English language
by watching news items and any other English programmes. So it is not good to say it is an
idiot box whereas it is a box full of knowledge, entertainment and information. So we should
watch it whenever we get time but we should not be addicted to it.

OR

A2) Non-Verbal to Verbal

Study the Flow chart below on how Paper is made and transfer the information in Verbal
form in a paragraph. Give a suitable title to your paragraph.

Raw materials:
wood, grass, bamboo, rags.

Cut into pieces and immersed

in water and made into pulp.

Mixed with lime for

whitening and pulp is boiled
and passed through wire
meshes

Wet paper

Passed over heated roller and

thin sheets of paper is made.

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Q6.(B) Speech and View / Counterview (5)
B1 or B2 Attempt any one of the following
B1) Prepare a speech to be delivered on the topic ‘The Online World’ and its importance in the
present times to your class.
OR
B2) Present a Counterview on: Should English be made an optional subject in schools. Use the
‘View’ points below to present your Counterview.
View:
 English is a funny language
 Its not a vernacular language of Indians
 In rural Areas there’s no exposure to the language
 English is spoken in different accents in India
 Many children fail in the subject

SECTION VI
Creative Writing
Q7.(A) Expansion of Idea / Report Writing (5)
A1 or A2 Attempt any one
A1)Expand the following idea in not more than 100 words:
‘Sharing is Caring’
OR
A2) Prepare a newspaper report for a local daily based on the given headline:
‘Encrypted Question Papers to be printed by Schools…'

Q7.(B) Story Writing / Narrating an experience (5)

B1 or B2 Attempt any one

B1) Develop a story in about 100 words with the following beginning. Give a suitable title to your
story.
The garden was huge and the castle looked lovely in the backdrop…
OR
B2) Narrate an experience in about 100 words that leads to the following ending:
…….. Well all I could say over and over again is “All is well….. All is well.”

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