ST.

XAVIER’S SCHOOL, NEVTA

TERM II EXAMINATION (2021 – 2022)
CLASS X – SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Date: 28/01/2022 Time: 2:00 Hrs M.M.40

General Instructions:
1. This paper is divided into three sections:
Section A – Reading 10 marks
Section B – Writing & Grammar 10 marks
Section C – Literature 20 marks
2. Separate instructions are given with each question, wherever necessary. Read the
instructions carefully and follow them.
3. All questions of a particular section should be attempted in the correct order.
4. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

Q.NO SECTION A – READING Marks

I Read the following passage carefully.

1. Philosophy of Education is a label applied to the study of the purpose, process,

nature and ideals of education. It can be considered a branch of both philosophy
and education. Education can be defined as the teaching and learning of specific
skills, and the imparting of knowledge, judgment and wisdom, and is something
broader than the societal institution of education we often speak of. Many
educationalists consider it a weak and woolly field, too far removed from the
practical applications of the real world to be useful. But philosophers dating back
to Plato and the Ancient Greeks have given the area much thought and emphasis,
and there is little doubt that their work has helped shape the practice of education
over the millennia.

2. Plato is the earliest important educational thinker, and education is an essential

element in "The Republic" (his most important work on philosophy and political
theory, written around 360 B.C.). In it, he advocates some rather extreme
methods: removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards
of the state, and differentiating children suitable to the various castes, the highest
receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and
care for the less able. He believed that education should be holistic, including
facts, skills, physical discipline, music and art. Plato believed that talent and
intelligence is not distributed genetically and thus is be found in children born
to all classes, although his proposed system of selective public education for an
educated minority of the population does not really follow a democratic model.

3. Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important

forces to be cultivated in education, the ultimate aim of which should be to
produce good and virtuous citizens. He proposed that teachers lead their students
systematically, and that repetition be used as a key tool to develop good habits,
unlike Socrates' emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own
ideas. He emphasized the balancing of the theoretical and practical aspects of
subjects taught, among which he explicitly mentions reading, writing,
mathematics, music, physical education, literature, history, and a wide range of
sciences, as well as play, which he also considered important.

4. During the Medieval period, the idea of Perennialism was first formulated by
St. Thomas Aquinas in his work "De Magistro". Perennialism holds that one
should teach those things deemed to be of everlasting importance to all people
everywhere, namely principles and reasoning, not just facts (which are apt to
change over time), and that one should teach first about people, not machines or
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 techniques. It was originally religious in nature, and it was only much later that
a theory of secular perennialism developed.

5. During the Renaissance, the French skeptic Michel de Montaigne (1533 -

1592) was one of the first to critically look at education. Unusually for his time,
Montaigne was willing to question the conventional wisdom of the period,
calling into question the whole edifice of the educational system, and the implicit
assumption that university-educated philosophers were necessarily wiser than
uneducated farm workers, for example.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer ANY FIVE of the 1x5
following questions in 20-30 words each.

1. What is the difference between the approaches of Socrates and Aristotle?

1
2. Why do educationists consider philosophy a ‘weak and woolly’ field? 1
3. What do you understand by the term ‘Perennialism’, in the context of the given 1
comprehension passage?
4. Why did Aquinas propose a model of education which did not lay much 1
emphasis on facts?

5. Pick a word from paragraph (4 &5) of the passage that rightly replaces the 1
underlined word in the given sentence.
It looks as if the whole political structure of the country is about to collapse.

6. Why was Montaigne regarded as a skeptic? 1

II Read the following passage carefully.
1. Although genetic mutations in bacteria and viruses can lead to epidemics,
some epidemics are caused by bacteria and viruses that have undergone no
significant genetic change. In analysing the latter, scientists have discovered the
importance of social and ecological factors to epidemics. Poliomyelitis, for
example, emerged as an epidemic in the United States in the twentieth century;
by then, modern sanitation was able to delay exposure to polio until adolescence
or adulthood, at which time polio infection produced paralysis. Previously,
infection had occurred during infancy, when it typically provided lifelong
immunity without paralysis. Thus, the hygiene that helped prevent typhoid
epidemics indirectly fostered a paralytic polio epidemic.

2. Similarly, an outbreak of dengue haemorrhagic fever became an epidemic in

Asia in the 1950’s because of ecological changes that caused Aedes aegypti, the
mosquito that transmits the dengue virus, to proliferate. The incidence of dengue
has grown dramatically around the world in recent decades. A vast majority of
cases are asymptomatic or mild and self-managed, and hence the actual numbers
of dengue cases are under-reported. Another study on the prevalence of dengue
estimates that 3.9 billion people are at risk of infection with dengue viruses.
Despite a risk of infection existing in 129 countries, 70% of the actual burden is
in Asia. The year 2016 was also characterized by large dengue outbreaks with
the region of the Americas reporting more than 2.38 million cases. During that
year, Brazil alone contributed approximately 1.5 million cases, approximately
three times higher than in 2014; 1032 dengue deaths were also reported in the
region. The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent
decades. About half of the world's population is now at risk. There are an
estimated 100-400 million infections each year.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer ANY FIVE of 1x5
the following questions in 20-30 words each.
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1. What was the reason for the outbreak of dengue haemorrhagic fever in the 1
1950’s?
2. Why is it difficult to get the real picture of actual number of dengue cases? 1
3. Choose a word from the passage which means ‘to promote the growth or 1
development of’ from paragraph 1.

4. What condition had indirectly fostered the paralytic polio epidemic? 1

5. What do you understand by the term epidemic from the above passage? 1
6. Polio infection during adolescence proves to be more fatal. Why? 1
SECTION B – WRITING & GRAMMAR

III Attempt any one of the following. 5

You are Sakshi/Saksham, Hostel Warden, Radha Krishna Public School,

Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Write a letter to the Sales Manager, Bharat Electronics
and Domestic Appliances Ltd., New Delhi, placing an order for fans
microwaves, ovens and geysers that you wish to purchase for the hostel. Also
ask for discount permissible on the purchase.

OR

Following is the data for waste disposal from two years 1960 and 2011. Read
and interpret the graphical data of the pie charts and write an analytical paragraph
in about 100-120 words. Compare, contrast and explain the given information in
your own words.

1x3
IV The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line.
Identify the error and write its correction against the correct blank number. One
has been done for you. Remember to underline the correction.

Error Correction
To be successful at life at in
one would be hard-working (a) ……. …………..
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 and has sound value system. (b) ……. …………..
If one turns rich, he
should remained balanced, (c)………. …………..
and should not lose his head.

V Read the following dialogues and complete the report appropriately. 1x2

Preeti: Where did you spend your holidays?

Naman: I went to many hill stations.
Preeti: Which one did you like the most?
Naman: Honestly speaking. I liked all as I am very fond of hills.

Preeti asked Naman (a)__________ his holidays. Naman replied, (b) ________
to many hill stations. Preeti then asked him which one he liked the most. Naman
said that honestly speaking he liked all as he was very fond of hills.

SECTION B – LITERATURE
VI Answer ANY SIX questions in 30-40 words each. 2x6

1. What are the two theories that are popular about the origin of Coorgi people?

2. Valli has sharp reflexes and ready wit. Cite any two examples from the story
‘Madam rides the bus’.

3. “What a weight off my shoulders”, who says the above statement in the play
‘The Proposal’ and why?
4. ‘Animals’ by Walt Whitman is a criticism of the hollowness of human
civilisation. Explain briefly.
5. Over the years, many changes came about in Bholi’s village. What were they?

6. The Hack Driver had an amazing art of narration. Give reasons to support your
answer.

7. How does Amanda escape into a world of fantasy?

8. Why, according to Richard Ebright, Viceroy butterflies try to look like

Monarch butterflies?

VII Answer ANY TWO the following in about 120 words each. 4x2

1. The story ‘The Necklace’ teaches us that we should cut our coat according to the
cloth that we have. Do you agree? Give reasons in support of your answer.

2.

Explain the above with reference to the experience of Kisa Gotami. What lesson
of life did she learn from Buddha?

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3. Appearances are often deceptive. Do you think this statement holds true for
Custard the dragon? Explain.

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