SHAHEEN PUBLIC HR. SEC.

SCHOOL,FARIDABAD(DODA)

Subject:English Core
Maximum Marks 80

Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Name and Roll number of the student.........................................

 (SERIES A)
 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
 The question paper contains 11 questions divided into 3 sections
 Section A Carries 20 marks.
 Section B carries 30 marks.
 Section C carries 30 marks.
 All questions are compulsory. Make sure to mark the questions appropriately
according to question numbers.

SECTION A: READING COMPREHENSION(20 Marks)

Q1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow

Although stupidity is commonly defined as ‘a lack of normal intelligence’, stupid behaviour is

not the behaviour of a person lacking in intelligence but the behaviour of a person not using
good judgement or sense. In fact, stupidity comes from the Latin word that means ‘senseless’.
Therefore, stupidity can be defined as the behaviour of a person of normal intelligence who
acts in a particular situation as if he or she isn’t very bright. Stupidity exists at three levels of
seriousness.

First is the simple, relatively harmless level. Behaviour at this level is often amusing. It is
humorous when someone places the food from a fast-food restaurant on the roof of the car
while unlocking the door and then drives away with the food still on the roof. We call this
absent-minded. The person’s good sense or intelligence was temporarily absent. At this level,
other than passing inconvenience or embarrassment, no one is injured by stupid behaviour.

The next type-serious stupidity-is are more dangerous. Practical jokes such as putting sugar in
the salt shakers are at this level. The intention is humorous, but there is a chance of harm.
Irresponsible advice given to others is also serious stupidity. An example is a person who plays
psychiatrist on the basis of an introductory psychology course or doing a TV program on
psychiatry. The intention may be to help, but if the victim really needs psychiatric help an
amateur will only worsen the situation.

Even worse is the third kind of stupidity. Kind people, who would never injure another living
being, stupidly throw away a box of six-week-old kittens along a country road. Lacking the
heart to kill the poor things, they sentence them to almost certain death from wild animals,
infections exposure or the wheels of a passing vehicle. Yet they are able to tell themselves
that ‘they will find nice homes’ or ‘animals can get along in the wild’. Another example of this
kind of stupidity is the successful local businessman who tries to have as many office affairs as
he can get away with. He risks the loss of his business and his home. He fails to see that what
he is doing is wrong. His is the true moral stupidity of a person not willing to think about the
results of his actions or take responsibility for them. The common defence of a person guilty
of stupidity is-‘But I didn’t think… ‘. This, however, is not a proper excuse, especially when
serious or harmful stupidity is involved.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and
sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessarynecessary. (5 Marks)

(b) Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made and also
suggest a suitable title.(5 Marks)

Q2. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow

SPACE TOURISM

If NSYNC singer Lance Bass can’t afford the $20 million price tag for a ride into space now, he should
try again in, say, a decade.

But within a decade or so, even some of Bass’s fans could afford a quick and safe trip to the suborbital
edge of space — roughly 50-60 miles above earth, says Frank Seitzen, 5 president of the Space
Transport Association.

“I think you’re maybe 10 or 12 years away from having companies that are reliable and that can go
through that process for $5,000 or $10,000,” Seitzen said.

There’s a hungry demand from would-be space tourists and a $10 million prize is inspiring designers.
The X Prize, created in 1994 to spur the development of new space travel 10 technologies, has
attracted at least 21 space vehicle designs from people in five countries. The non-profit X Prize
Foundation, founded by a group of donors inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize that Charles Lindbergh
won in 1927, will give the prize.

Each design team is hoping to develop the first reusable rocket capable of blasting a pilot and two to
five passengers to a height of 62 miles. NASA awards astronaut status for 15 flights above 50 miles.
Some design contestants boast that such trips will be available by 2005, although the first few
travellers will face $100,000 bills until the market matures.

Despite steep prices and lagging technology, Seitzen and others are convinced that a lucrative travel
business awaits. Space Adventures, a travel agency that helped coordinate the first 20 tourist trip to
the International Space Station last year by US businessman Dennis Tito, claims it has collected $2
million in deposits from more than 120 would-be suborbital tourists. For client Wally Funk, who has
paid her deposit, suborbital travel is a disappointing, yet feasible, alternative to decades of trying to
reach space. Funk, a retired aviation safety investigator says, “I would do (a space station trip) in a
heartbeat, but I can’t because I’m 25 not a millionaire.”

Compared to Tito’s groundbreaking effort last year, future suborbital flights look easy. Tito was
subjected to rigid medical requirements and a gruelling six-month training course in Russia.

But suborbital travellers will need only a few days of training and, pending FAA approval, 30 would
have to pass a much lower bar for medical standards.

“We always say that if you can safely ride a rollercoaster, then you are fit for a suborbital flight,” says
Space Adventures spokeswoman Tereza Predescu.

Four commercial spaceports, which launch rockets into space like airports launch planes, are already
licensed to operate by the FAA in Virginia, California, Alaska and Florida, and 35 they are eager to
welcome extra business from space tourists, negating the need to catch a ride to Russia.

For those reasons, suborbital travel may represent a $1 billion a year market, according to Space
Adventures President and CEO Eric Anderson. Translated, that’s 10,000 travellers paying $100,000
each during the first few years of adventure space travel.

Questions:

A. Choose the most appropriate option: (1 x 4 = 4 marks)

(a) Space adventure claims that………………….

(1) it is a lucrative business

(2) it is a business of less profit

(3) people don’t want to go to space

(4) none of the above

(b) Some design contestants feel convinced that………………….

(1) space trips will never be made available

(2) space trips are not feasible

(3) space trips are disappointing

(4) space trips will soon be made available

(c) Tito………………….

(1) underwent rigid medical checkups

(2) attended a six month training course

(3) both (i) and (ii)

(4) none of the above

(d) Suborbital travellers will need

(1) two years training course

(2) a few days of training

(3) a lot of money

(4) none of these

B. Answer the following questions briefly: 1 x 6 = 6

(a) Name the first tourist to the International Space Station. What difficulties did he face?

(b) Why is Lance Bass unable to have a ride into space now? What is likely to happen in a decade?

(c) Which two factors are inspiring the designers of new space vehicle—the reusable rocket?

(d) How do you think suborbital tourism is a poor alternative to space travel?

(e) What are the prospects of suborbital travel? Give two examples in support of your answer.

(f) What are the prerequisites for space travelling?

SECTION B: WRITING SKILLS AND GRAMMAR(30 Marks)

Q3 You are Harish/Harshita of 12, Seva Nagar, Pune. You want to sell your flat as you are
shifting to another city for work. Draft a suitable advertisement in not more than 50 words to
be published in The Pune Times under the classified columns.(4 Marks)
 Or

Draft a formal reply accepting an invitation to be present on the occasion of the wedding of
Ankush S/o Mr & Mrs Shankar of 24, Green Park Road, Kanpur. You are Vikram Gaur of Raja
Ki Mandi, Agra.

Q4. You are the Manager of M/s Home Sajja. You have a showroom selling household
appliances and furnishings. Lately, you have received complaints from customers that the
curtain material purchased from your showroom is of inferior quality. Write a letter to the
Director, Kapadia Mills, Surat, cancelling further orders.(6 Marks)

Or

You are Arun/Anita Basu living at 1765, Sector 20, Chandigarh. You come across the following
advertisement:

Postal Classes—Diploma in Waste Water Management—duration one year—practicals

arranged—minimum qualification SSCE, first division—prospectus free—Contact- Director,
Eco-centre, P.B. 1037, Bengaluru-560019

Write a letter to the Director asking for detailed information on the course, fee structure,
assignments, personal contact programmes and job opportunities. Request for a prospectus
and enclose a self-addressed envelope.

Q5. Draft an application for the post of an accountant in Pioneers (Pvt.) Ltd. Co. Hyderabad in
response to their advertisement that appeared in The Times of India dated 1st August, 20XX.
Prepare a biodata to be enclosed. You are Nipun/Aparna.

(6 Marks)

Or

You are Anand/Arti of 14, Model Town, Delhi. You have seen an advertisement in The Hindu
for the post of Chief Chef in a 5-Star Hotel. Apply for the job with complete biodata. Write in
125-150 words.

Q6. Some people feel that electronic media (TV news) will bring about the end of print media
(newspapers). What are your views on the issue? Write a debate in 150-200 words either for
or against this view.(6 Marks)

 use of visuals on TV
 authentic and fast
 not enough news for 24-hour telecast
  may fabricate news
 become repetitive and dull
 even scandals become news
 print media —time tested
 analysed, verified news
 editorial comments
 cater to all interests

Or

In many parts of our country girls are still discouraged from going to school. Consequently, a
sizable section of the population is deprived of education. Schemes like Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan, CBSE scholarship to the single girl child and the Government’s policy of giving free
education to girls have come as a boon to our society. Write an article in 150-200 words on
the education of the girl child in the country.

Q7. Solve the following passage by highlighting the incorrect phrase and mentioning the
correct phrase in the next column.(8 Marks)

Incorrect Correct

1.Electricity is express by the amount of charge _________ _________

2.flowing through the particular area in unit time. Electricity _________ _________

3.is a necessity to modern civilization. It have invaded our _________ _________

4.lives or has become vital to many aspects of our society. _________ _________

5.It is a medium for the transmission to signals in computers, _________ _________

6.cell phones etc. In industries, manufacturing rely on electricity_________ _________

7.for drive virtually all moving parts. _________ _________

SECTION C: Literature (30 Marks)

Q8.Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow

(A) Driving from my parents home to Cochin

last Friday morningmorning

I saw my mother, beside me,

doze, open mouthed,

her face ashen like that of a corpse

and realised with pain

that she was as old as she looked

but soon put that thought away, and

looked out at Young

Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes,

(a)Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?(1)

(b)vWhat did the poet notice about her mother?(1)

(c) Find words from the passage which mean :(1)

(i) sleep lightly (ii) dead body (iii) felt.(1)

(d) What did she notice in the world outside?(1)

(B) Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow:

“how sad and monotonous life can appear to such a vagabond, But one day this man had
fallen into a line of thought, that seemed to him entertaining. He had naturally been thinking
of his rattraps when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole world with its lands
and seas, its cities and villages — was nothing but a big rattrap.”

(a) What are some synonyms for monotonous life? (1)

(b) Who is a vagabond?(1)

(c) What was entertaining for the peddler?(1)

(d) Why was he struck by the idea?(1)

Q9. Answer any five questions from the following(5×2=10)

(a) What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?

(b) What does the third level refer to?

(c) Who was Dr. Sadao? Where was his house?(Enemy)

(d) What do you think is the colour of ‘sour cream’? Why do you think the poet has used this
expression to describe the classroom walls?

(e) What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was
thrown into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface?(Deep Waters)

(f) Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant? (Indigo)

(g) Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry? (The Lost Spring)

Q10 Explain the appropriateness of the title ‘Poets and Pancakes’?(6 Marks)

Or

Give a character sketch of Umberto Eco on the basis of the chapter ‘The Interview’.

Q11. The astrologers predicted about the king, “The child will grow up to become the warrior
of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions.” Do you think this prediction was right?
(6 Marks)

Or

How the programme, ‘Students on Ice’ was an attempt to equip future generation with
knowledge to save Earth?