A.

Read the passage and answer the following questions:

1. William reached home breathless, but on the whole,satisfied with his

afternoon. He carried his finds upto his bedroom, and amused himself by taking
them out one by one and speaking to an imaginary audience. He heard is father
come in with a visitor and stopped to go and see who it was. Oh no! It was the
little old man with the white board. He returned very slowly to his bedroom,
where he tried to express to an imaginary accuser the fact that his catapult
might have gone off by mistake when he wasn’t looking. They did sometimes.
He was very sorry if he had hit anyone.

2. William practised in his looking-glass for a few minutes, a face with a blank
look, which he fondly imagined to express concern and apology. He went
downstairs, his features still carefully composed. On his entrance into the room
his features had, unknown to himself, taken on an expression of fury. The
ferocious glare which he turned on the innocent old man would have reduced
any of William’s own followers to instant submission. The old man, however,
met it without any expression. “Is that your little boy?” the old man asked.
“Come nearer, my little fellow,” he said. “I’m afraid I can hardly see you over
there. I’m so near-sighted that I can hardly see across a room.” William’s
expression softened. He liked old men who were so near-sighted that they
could hardly see across a room. It meant that they were so near-sighted that
they could hardly see across a field at the end of which a small boy might stand
with a catapult which had a habit of going off by mistake.

3. William shook hands with the benign old man, who then immediately went on
with his conversation with William’s father. “Yes, we’ve got some most
interesting exhibits- most interesting. Your valley has proved indeed a most
fruitful field. The discoveries cannot be moved till next week. I shall send off the
bulk of them on Friday, but the half dozen or so more valuable ones I shall take
up myself on Saturday. The priest has asked me to be present at the Village
 Social on Saturday evening and give the people a little talk with an exhibition of
the chief discoveries before I take them away. It will be highly educative for
them. A good many boys came on Wednesday afternoon to watch the
excavations. It would have been an experience, a cultural experience that they
would have remembered all their lives- but they soon tired of it and went over
to another part of the valley to join in some childish game, I suppose. The
modern child lacks perseverance. I fear that it was one of those children who
projected some missile across the field the evening before, which precipitated
me into the trench and obliged me to swallow a large amount of moist earth.”
William’s father threw a quick glance of suspicion at William, who had hastily
composed his features into their expression of blankness.
Glossary-
amused: pleasurably entertained
trench: a long cut in the ground
catapult: a Y shaped stick with a piece of elastic tied to each side that is generally used for shooting
stones

1. In which option is “gone off’ used with the same meaning as in paragraph 2 in the passage?

A Her friend had gone off to the café on her own B He has gone off chocolates and ice-creams
without telling anyone. to lose weight quickly.
C He didn’t realise that the gun had gone off at the D Their singing was awful as it had gone off
start of the race. key in many places.
2. How can we say that the old man had found some things of general interest?
(1)
A He had been invited to tell the villagers about his B Many boys had wanted to see what the old
findings. man was doing.
C The “findings’ were being sent away the next D He wanted the boys of the village to keep far
week, on Friday. away from him.

3. What can we infer about William’s character from the passage?

(1)
A He did not like to meet strange new people. B He was naughty and was known for his
pranks.
C He would lose his temper with people easily. D He always liked to blame his friends when in
trouble.

4. …which precipitated me into the trench……..

Here, the word ‘precipitated’ means ______________ (1)
What does the word "precipitated" means here?
5. What was William doing in the room when the father entered the house with the old man?
(1)
6. William shook his hands with the benign old man, who then immediately went on with his conversation with
William’s father. What feeling would the old man’s action have filled William with? (1)
7. What according to you, should be the suitable title of the passage? (1)

8. What did William think was the purpose of the old man’s visit to his house? (1)

9. A good many boys ______________ perseverance. Which word describes the old man’s opinion about
boys of William’s generation? (1)
A admiration B fearfulness

C disapproval D confidence

10. In paragraph 3, ‘benign’ means the same as ___________. (1)

A harmless B clueless
 C careless D heartless

B. Read the poem and answer the questions that follow:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

11. What is the central theme of "The Road Not Taken"?

A) the importance of making quick decisions

B) the regret of missed opportunities

C) the joy of traveling alone

D) the beauty of nature

12. Which word best describes the tone of the poem?

A) regretful

B) joyful

C) indifferent

D) triumphant

13. What does the speaker mean by "yellow wood" in the first line?

A) a forest with yellow leaves

B) a forest with golden sunlight

C) a forest with yellow flowers

D) a forest with yellow dirt

14. Why does the speaker choose the road he takes?

A) It is less travelled by

B) It is shorter

C) It is paved

D) It is well-lit

15. In line 14, what does "that has made all the difference" refer to?

A) taking the road less travelled

B) taking the road more travelled
C) taking both roads
D) not taking any road

16. What does the speaker mean by "And sorry I could not travel both"?

17. And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

State the poetic device in the above mentioned lines.

18. What does the phrase "wanted wear" in suggest about the road?

19. What does the speaker mean by "I doubted if I should ever come back"?

20. Suggest a suitable title for this poem