BRILLIANCE CLASSES

Std.: 10 (English) English Marks: 80

Date: 10-Dec-2023 English prelim paper Time: 3 hrs
Chapter:
SECTION I : LANGUAGE STUDY

Q.1 (A1) Do as directed. (Any four) (4)

1. Write two compound words of your own.

2. Make a meaningful sentence by using the given phrase.

much to say

Ans. If you say that someone doesn’t have much to say for himself, you mean they are not speaking much during a
conversation.

3. Spot the error and correct the sentence.

You and Polly will leave to see the day when there will not be a single English soldier on the soil of France.

Ans. You and Polly will live to see the day when there will not be a single English soldier on the soil of France.

4. Find out 2 hidden words of minimum 4 letters from -

blockhead : ...................

Ans. blockhead - block, black, blocked, locked, lacked, bleak. (Any 4)

5. Arrange the following words in alphabetical order.

espoused, ethos, graduation, reverberated

Ans. espoused, ethos, graduation, reverberated

(A2) Do as directed. (Any two) (4)

1. Direct and Indirect narration.

1) He asked me: “What is my fault?”

Ans. He asked me what his fault was.

2) “I am so sorry, Dr Einstein”, she said.

Ans. She told Dr.Einstein that she was sorry. / She apologised to Dr. Einstein.

2. Change the voice.

1) The hermit was digging the beds.

Ans. The beds were being dug by the hermit.

2) His answer made me angry.

Ans. I was angered by his answer.

3. Make two sentences of your own to show difference of Homograph/Homonyms:

Fall

Ans. 1. September had come and the leaves were starting to fall.
 2. The area is beautiful in the fall.

(B) Do as directed. (Any One) (2)

1. Use the given word as a noun and as a verb in two meaningful sentences.

approach

Ans. The young man had a very positive approach to life.(noun)

The student waited for a free period so that he can approach the teacher to clear her doubts.(verb)

2. Convert the given sentences into Simple / compound / complex sentences.

The short information book became an account of cosmology. (Rewrite as complex sentence)

Ans. The short book which was full of information, was an account of cosmology.

SECTION II : TEXTUAL PASSAGES

(Reading Skill, Vocabulary and Grammar)

Q.2 (A) Read the following passage and do the activities.

1 A1) Arrange in Chronological order. 2

1. The hermit explained that was the purpose of the king’s life.
2. The king pitied the hermit and stayed on to help him.
3. The wounded person was taken good care of by the king.
4. The king wanted an answer to his question.

Ans. 1. The king wanted an answer to his question.

2. The king pitied the hermit and stayed on to help him.
3. The wounded person was taken good care of by the king.
4. The hermit explained that was the purpose of the king’s life.

The king was very glad to have made peace with an enemy so easily and to have gained him for a
friend. He not only forgave him but said he would send his men and his own physician to attend to him. The
king then took leave of him and went out of the hut to look for the hermit. Before going away he wished
once more to beg for an answer to the questions he had asked. The hermit was outside, on his knees,
sowing seeds in the beds that had been dug the day before. The king approached him and said, “For the
last time, I pray you to answer my questions, wise man.” “You have already been answered !” said the hermit
still crouching on his thin legs and looking up at the king who stood before him.
“What do you mean?” asked the king.
“Do you not see ?” replied the hermit. “If you’d not pitied my weakness yesterday and stayed to dig
these beds for me, you would have gone back and been killed by that man. So the most important time was
when you were digging the beds, and I was the most important man and to do me good was your most
important business. Afterwards, the most important time was when you were attending to that man, for if
you’d not bound his wounds, he would have died without having made peace with you. So he was the most
important man and what you did for him was your most important business. Remember then, there is only
one time that is important-now ! It is the most important time because it’s the only time when we have any
power. The most necessary person is the one with whom you are, for you do not know whether you will ever
have dealings with anyone else; and the most important thing is to do this person good, because for that
purpose alone were you sent into this life !”

A2) Fill in the blanks. 2

1) The hermit was ............... on his thin legs

Ans. The hermit was crouching on his thin legs

2) The king ............... the weakness of the hermit and stayed on to help.
 Ans. The king pitied the weakness of the hermit and stayed on to help.

3) The king attended to the wounded man and ............... his wounds.

Ans. The king attended to the wounded man and bound his wounds.

4) Doing good to the wounded man was the ............... of the king’s life that day.

Ans. Doing good to the wounded man was the purpose of the king’s life that day.

A3) i) Vocabulary Based Questions. 1

Pick out the correct answers form the brackets

The man came out of his ambush (secret place, hiding place, working place)

Ans. The man came out of his ambush - hiding place

ii) Suffix 1

1) peace -

Ans. peace - peaceful

2) life -

Ans. life - lifeless

A4) Grammar based questions : 2

1) He forgave him and promised to send his physician to attend to him. (Rewrite using. Not only …but
also)

Ans. He not only forgave him but also promised to send his physician to attend to him.

2) Before going away, he wished to ask for the answers of his three questions. (Rewrite with‘ after‘ in the
sentence)

Ans. He wished to go after asking for the answers of his three questions.

A5) Personal response. 2

Did the king behave as an ordinary person, rather than a ruler .at the hermit’s hut? What shows it? Did he
also act as a good , kind person? When did he do so? textual

Ans. The king came dressed in simple clothes . He helped the hermit to dig the ground for a long
time. When the wounded man came to the hut he washed the wounds and bandaged the wound several
times for the man. He even brought fresh water for the man to drink.. Later he helped the hermit to carry
the wounded man inside the hut.
The king was a good kind person. He forgave the wounded man even though he had intentions of
killing the king . He also promised to send his men and his physician to attend to him.

(B) Read the following passage and do the activities.

1 A1) Complete the table. 2

Statement Who To whom

(1)Even the Dauphin might believe it.

(2) Be seated

Ans.
Statement Who To whom
(1)Even the Dauphin might believe it. Robert Poulengey
(2) Be seated Poulengey Joan

Poulengey : (Gravely) Be seated, Joan.

 Robert: What is your name?
Joan:They always called me Jenny in Lorraine. Here in France, I am Joan. The soldiers
call me the Maid.
Robert : How old are you?
Joan : Seventeen, so they tell me. It might be nineteen. I don’t remember.
Robert : I suppose you think raising a siege is as easy as chasing a cow out of a meadow.
You think soldiering is anybody’s job?
Joan : I don’t think it can be very difficult if God is on your side.
Robert :(Grimly) Have you ever seen English soldiers fighting? Have you ever seen them
plundering, burning, turning the countryside into a desert? Have you heard no
tales of their prince who is he devil himself, or of the English king’s father?
Joan : You do not understand, squire. Our soldiers are always beaten because they are
fighting only to save their skins and the shortest way to save your skin is to run
away. But I will teach them all to fight for France. Then, they will drive the
soldiers before them like sheep. You and Polly will live to see the day when
there will not be a single English soldier on the soil of France.
Robert : (To Poulengey) This may all be nonsense, Polly. But the troops might just be
inspired by it though nothing that we say seems to put any fire into them. Even
the Dauphin might believe it. And if she can put some fight into him, she can put
it into anybody.
Robert :(Turning to Joan) Now you, listen to me and don’t cut in before I have time
to think. Your orders are that you are to go to Chinon under the escort of this
gentleman and three of his friends.
Joan : (Radiant, clasping her hands) Oh, thank you, squire!.

A2) Answer the following : 2

1) Say Why?
French soldiers were always beaten in the war.

Ans. The French soldiers were always beaten in the war because they were not inspired or encouraged
well enough to fight for their country. They were fighting to save their lives and so they ran away from the
battlefield like cowards.

2) From the extract find out what the following is compared to and why:
‘as easy as’

Ans. Here Captain the Baudricourt asks Joan if she feels ‘raising a siege’ is as easy as chasing a cow
out of a meadow’. Inspite of being a simple country girl, Joan has accepted the challenge of fighting the
British and raising the siege laid out by them. Captain makes the above comparison sarcastically in a
futile attempt of dissuading the brave girl from doing so.

A3) Identify the phrase from the given passage 2

1) Pick out the difference between the following pair of phrases and make sentences of your own
(a) Cut in

Ans. cut in: interrupt

Sentence: His father sternly told him not to cut in while he is speaking.

2) Pick out the difference between the following pair of phrases and make sentences of your own
(b) Cut out

Ans. cut out: remove or exclude

Sentence: You must cut out fatty foods from your diet.

A4) Grammar based questions : 2

1) I can do no more. (Rewrite it into an Affirmative sentence.)

 Ans. I can do only so much.

2) Have you heard no tales of their prince who is the devil himself? (Pick out the Subordinate Clause and
state its kind.)

Ans. Main clause:- Have you heard no tales of their prince.

Subordinate Noun clause:- who is the devil himself?

A5) Personal response. 2

What might have convinced Robert to send Joan to Chinon in your opinion?

Ans. The mystical aura of Joan, her confidence, her optimistic logical reasoning and the trust of the
brave soldiers like Poulengey earned by Joan might have convinced Robert to send Joan to Chinon. Joan
was so persistent to be in front of the captain that despite of his reluctance to meet her, he eventually
agreed. She had unflagging will power and immense faith on bravery and strength of her country men.
She was very eloquent and fearless. Perhaps she was the only optimistic, positive and thin lining of hope
which sparkled brightly amidst the dark clouds of defeat surrounding France. I believe that this invisible
but naturally perceptible noble and pure persona of Joan might have convinced Robert to agree with her
idea of sending her to Chinon.

SECTION III : POETRY

Q.3 (A) Read the following poem and do the activities.

1 A1) Match the column : 2

Match the expression with their meanings.

Column ‘A’ Column ‘B’

(1)The head is held high (a)Broadening the look and attitude

(2)Narrow domestic walls (b)Education is given to all

(3)Knowledge is free (c)Narrow mindedness

(4)Ever-widening thought and

(d) A fearless person
action with self respect

Ans.

Column ‘A’ Column ‘B’

(1)The head is held high A fearless person

(2)Narrow domestic walls Narrow mindedness

(3)Knowledge is free Education is given to all

(4)Ever-widening thought and

Broadening the look and attitude
action with self respect

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
 Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

– Rabindranath Tagore

A2) Answer the following : 2

1) Find out the lines from the poem as a proof of the following.
The poem is a prayer.

Ans. (i) Where the mind is led forward by thee.

(ii) Into that heaven of freedom, my father let my country awake.

2) Tagore wishes for a nation where people are truthful.

Ans. Where words come out from the depth of truth.

A3) Write the rhyme scheme 1

Comment on the rhyme scheme of the poem.

Ans. The poem is written in free verse without any rhyme scheme or metre followed throughout the
poem.

(B) Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in paragraph format. (5)

All the World’s a Stage

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

- William Shakespeare

You can use the following points while appreciating the given poem.
 • Title
• Poet
• Rhyme Scheme
• Figure of speech
• Theme/Central Idea

Ans. “All the world’s a stage” is taken from William Shakespeare’s play “As You Like it”. The poem is written in a
narrative style without any rhyme scheme. It is in the ‘free verse’ form.
The poem is more like symbolism using simile and metaphor to depict the seven stages. “All the world’s a
stage” is a metaphor.
The theme of the poem is cycle of life. This is expressed by the infant who progresses to an invalid old
man through the seven phases.

SECTION IV : NON-TEXTUAL PASSAGES

(Reading Skill, Vocabulary, Grammar and Summary)

Q.4 (A) Read the given passage and do the given activities.

1 A1) i) Complete the Web 1

Ans.

ii) Write whether the statements are true or false. 1

1) Durgabai was born in Jamnagar.

Ans. Durgabai was born in Jamnagar. - False

2) Durgabai met Gandhiji, when she was 12.

Ans. Durgabai met Gandhiji, when she was 12. - True

At a time when a vast majority of women in India were confined to the domestic sphere, the
nationalist struggle propelled a few exceptional gems who shone bright with their talent, courage and drive
for the rigours of nation-building. Durgabai, a Gandhian, a freedom fighter and later a criminal lawyer in the
Madras High Court, did not come from a family of particular privilege.
Born on July 15, 1909 at Rajahmundry in the coastal east Godavari district of present-day Andra
Pradesh to social worker B.V.N. Rama Rao and his wife Krishnavenamma, Durgabai spent her formative
years in Kakinada. From an early age, she was sensitive to the ubiquity of social inequity and suffering.
She observed the cruel customs and poor treatment of women and recognized the urgent need for social
reform.
As a mere 12 year-old in 1921, who as deeply taken by Gandhi’s ideas of reforming social customs,
Durgabai learnt that Gandhi was to visit Kakinada to address a town hall gathering. She wanted the
mahatma to separately address a gathering of Devadasis and Muslim women. The local hosts would allow
it on the condition that she collected five thousand rupees for a purse to be presented to the Mahatma.
Durgabai was able to arrange this with the help of her Devadasi friends; she also found a venue with great
difficulty as Gandhi’s meeting often meant that the owners were courting arrest. After the visit, Durgabai,
her mother and brother decided to wear only handspun Khadi. She quit her school because English was
being taught there.

A2) Answer the following : 2

What prompted Durgabai to recognise the need for social reform ?

Ans. Durgabai was very sensitive of social inequity and suffering present almost everywhere. She
observed the cruel customs and poor treatement of women and recorgnised the urgent need for social
 reform.

A3) Vocabulary Based Questions. 2

1) Find the words from the passage, whose meanings are given
restricted in area

Ans. restricted in area - confined

2) Find the words from the passage, whose meanings are given
push something forward

Ans. push something forward - propel

3) Find the words from the passage, whose meanings are given
severe circumstance

Ans. severe circumstance - rigour

4) Find the words from the passage, whose meanings are given
state or capacity of being everywhere

Ans. state or capacity of being everywhere - ubiquity

A4) Grammar based questions : 2

1) She quit her school (Add a question tag)

Ans. She quit her school, didn’t she ?

2) She quit her shool because English was being taught there (Identify the clauses)

Ans. She quit her shool – Main clause

Because English was being taught there – Subordinate adverb clause of reason.

A5) Personal response. 2

As a student how can you contribute towards your country ?

Ans. Nobody is too young or too old to work for the country. For me, to work for the country is to work
for its people. I will take initiative to save the resources like water and electricity. I would spread
awareness about the same in my area and my school. I would not throw garbage and try to keep my
surroundings clean. I would respect my elders and my teachers.

(B) Read the comprehension passage given in Q.4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable title : (5)

SECTION V : WRITING SKILLS

Q.5 Letter Writing : Attempt any one of the following activities. (5)

Attempt any one of the following activities. Read the following snippet and write a letter based on it.

Ans. .

Q.6 (A) Information Transfer : Attempt any one of the following activities. (5)
(A1) Non-Verbal to Verbal :

Pros and cons of solar energy

Advantages Disadvantages
Renewable source of energy High cost of development
Reduces electricity bills Weather dependent
Low maintenance cost Takes up lots of space
Technology development Solar energy storage is expensive

Ans. .

OR

(A2) Verbal to Non-verbal :

The tulsi plant is a close relative of culinary basil but it is differentiated by its medicinal properties and some
physical characteristics. There are three main types of tulsi plants:

Rama Tulsi (also known as Green Leaf Tulsi) - A green tulsi with light purple flowers and an aromatic,
clove-like scent (thanks to its chemical component of eugenol, which is the main aroma in cloves) and
mellower flavor.
Krishna Tulsi (also known as Shyama Tulsi or Purple Leaf Tulsi) - A purple plant with a clove-like aroma
and peppery flavor.
Vana Tulsi (or Wild Leaf Tulsi) - A bright, light green tulsi plant that grows wild and is indigenous to many
areas of Asian and North/East Africa; it has a more lemony aroma and flavor.

Ans. .

(B) View/Counterviews (or) Drafting a speech : Attempt any one of the activities. (5)

(B1) View/Counterviews :

It is no longer important to have a good handwriting.

Ans. .

OR

(B2) Drafting a speech :

Jai jawan !
[soldiers make our country safe – fight while we enjoy the luxuries of life – away from family – face many
dangers – always ready for battle – ready to face death for his country – role model]

Ans. .

SECTION VI: CREATIVE WRITING

Q7 Expansion or News Report : Attempt any one of the following activities.

(A)

(A1) Expansion of theme (5)

Perseverance is the key of Success.

Ans. ..

OR

(A2) News Report based on the given headline:

Attention SSC Students

 Seminar on Time Management and
Preparation for the SSC Examination on 10th August
Guest Speaker: Mr Benjamin Contractor

Your school organized a seminar on 'How to manage time effectively and prepare for the SSC Examination'.
Prepare a report of the same taking into account the following.

The date and venue

The resource person(s),
The content
The reaction of the students, etc…

Ans. .

(B) Story or Narrating an experience : Attempt any one of the following activities.

(B1) Writing a story : (5)

Develop a story in about 80 - 100 words with the help of the following ending. Suggest a suitable title for it. :
End with:
I will never forget this wonderful and joyous day.

Ans. .

OR

(B2) Narrating an experience :

Narrate an experience in about 80 - 100 words with the help of the following ending. Suggest a suitable title for
it.
Karan picked up his bat and raised it to the air. He had just scored his first century.

Ans. .