TREE HOUSE HIGH SCHOOL, KARVENAGAR, PUNE

UNIT TEST II 2021-22

ENGLISH - II

Name: ________ Roll No: _______

Grade: IX Date: 4.01.2022
Max Marks:40 Max Time: 1Hour
You must attempt four questions in all.
At least one question from each of the Sections A, B and C must be chosen.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].

SECTION A : DRAMA- THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [10]

Portia: In terms of choice I am not solely led

By nice direction of a maiden’s eyes;

Besides, the lottery of my destiny

Bars me the right of voluntary choosing;

But if my father had not scanted me,

And hedged me by his wit, to yield myself

His wife who wins me by that means I told you,

Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair

As any comer I have look’d on yet

For my affection.

(i) What ‘choice’ is Portia talking about? [2]

(ii) Why did Portia say that her father had bound her by his will? [2]
(iii) Earlier, the Moroccan Prince had boasted about himself to present his claim that he was an
eligible suitor. What had he said? [2]
(iv) Does Portia really mean the last three lines of the extract in which she says that the
renowned prince had a fair chance? [2]
(v) How did the Moroccan Prince say that he did not have a fair chance at the lottery? What
does Portia reply? [2]

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

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Jessica : I am sorry thou wilt leave my father so:

Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil,

Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness.

But fare thee well; there is a duct for three:

(i) Who has robbed Jessica’s house of tediousness? [2]

(ii) For what purpose had Jessica given a ducat to the listener? [2]
(iii) What impression do you form about the listener from the extract? [2]
(iv) Why did the listener decide to leave the house of Jessica? [2]
(v) How can you say that Jessica was not happy living in her father’s house? [2]

SECTION B: POETRY- A COLLECTION OF POEMS

1. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow: [10]

In Almost every house we’ve been,

We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)

a. What has the poet witnessed at every house? [2]

b. Which body part is affected most by Television? [2]
c. What other activities can be given to the children other than TV watching so that they are kept
occupied? [2]
d. What does the poet want to illustrate by the last lines ‘Last week……… floor’? [2]
e. What is the role of a TV set to make children inactive? [2]

2. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:

IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!

IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!

IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND

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 HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND

A FANTASY , A FAIRYLAND!

HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!

HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!

HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES!

a. How does Television kill child’s imagination? [2]

b. What is the significance of writing these lines in capital letters? [2]
c. Explain this line “IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND”. [2]
d. ‘HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES’, What does this line suggest to us? [2]
e. What message does the poet convey through these lines? [2]

SECTION C: PROSE– A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [10]

The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with
a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly and then clasped her fingers with his
left hand. It’s Miss Fairchild he said, with a smile. I will ask you to excuse the other hand,
it’s otherwise engaged just at present.
He is slightly raised his right hand down at the rest by the shining bracelet to the left one of
his companion. The glad look in the girls eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The
glow faded from her cheeks. Her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress. Easton, with a
little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him.

a. Why does Mr Easton feel embarrassed? [2]

b. Why does he tell Miss Fairchild “I will ask you to excuse the other hand”? [2]
c. Why does the glad look in young woman’s eyes change to a bewildered horror? [2]
d. How does the other man save Mr Easton from embarrassment? What does he tell the girl?

[2]
e. What effect does his remark have on the young woman?
[2]

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 2. Answer the following questions with reference to Ruskin Bond's short story, 'A face in
the Dark’. [10]

A) The story did not end for Mr Oliver when he saw the boy’s face? What was the hidden trouble?
Can you guess what would have happened after Mr Oliver saw the faceless watchman?

[5]

B) ‘A Face in the Dark’ is a supernatural story. What are the techniques used by Ruskin Bond to
create an atmosphere of strangeness, mystery and super naturalism in the story?

[5]

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