UNIT – I: READING AN UNSEEN PASSAGE AND A POEM
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
When summer came, the sun hit Madras with a ferocity that made people flee the city. Rich people went away to the hill stations like Kodaikanal and Ootacamund. For me the retreat would be where my parents lived. My father was the headmaster of a government high school at Channapatna in Mysore State which could be reached by a night’s journey on one train to Bangalore, and then on by another one, a slow puffing train which passed through a rocky landscape. My grandmother generally escorted me to Channapatna when my school closed for summer, but she wasted nearly three weeks of my vacation in preparation for the trip. Her particular preoccupation at this time was the making of various sun-dried edibles out of rice and pulses, which would be fried and used as a side dish all through the year. She would also soak certain green legumes in salt water and sun-dry them for use out of season all through the year. All this was an elaborate ceremony, planned weeks ahead from February, when the air was a little damp. “In about ten days after the Shiva Rathri festival, there will be no mist and it must get things ready”, she would say cataloguing several items of preparation; first shopping for the spices and pulses. Fortunately, we had a cooperative consumer store occupying a whole wing of our home, which we could reach by a side door beyond the bathroom. Actually our house was one big unit which my grandmother had partitioned and rented out to different offices and stores and families, keeping only a kitchen, living room and my uncle’s upstairs room, for our own use. I did not realize at that time how much she depended on the rents for our survival. (Para 1)
My grandmother would select a quiet afternoon for visiting the store with her indent. When In returned home from school the floor would be strewn with gunny sacks and paper parcels. Somehow the sight of it filled me with delight. But when my uncle came home from college and noticed this activity, he frowned and made unpleasant comments, which upset my grandmother. She would retort hotly, and my uncle would say something more pointed in reply. I never made out what they said or argued about, although I watched and studied their faces keenly by turns, and tried to read the meaning. I only understood when she mentioned ‘Gnana’, which was my mother’s name. My grandmother would say, “Can’t go barehanded, I have to give Gnana something. She can’t prepare anything herself; she is so sick and weak.” My uncle was a devoted brother to my mother and would not carry his objections further but, murmuring something vaguely, would disappear up the staircase. (Para 2)
My grandmother would soon have a battalion of helpers around the house, pounding and sifting and grinding and mixing and kneading on a large scale-her helpers were her friends, admirers, tenants, and paid servants. The house resounded with a variety of orchestration-the iron clad pounder crushing, the swish of winnows, the ceaseless roar of the grinding stone, and the chatter of people over it all. Grandmother would have pulled out great rolls of Palmyra mats and spread them out on the terrace. Differently shaped edibles would issue from little brass hand-presses, and be set on the mats, and left there to dry in the blazing sun; she allotted the task by turns to the younger members of her following to watch with stick in hand for crows and to drive them off. When my turn came, I sat in a strip of shade all afternoon and scared away the crows by screaming at them, and was rewarded with an Anna at the end of the day. Apart from the money, I rewarded myself, in the course of my watch, by peeling the half-dry stuff of the mat and eating it raw till I felt ill. My uncle ignored the turmoil in the house, averted his head, and preferred to make no comment whenever he passed the terrace; but my grandmother fried some of her product for him at the end of the day, and he relished it when I carried a plate to his room. (Para 3)
Eventually jars and containers would be filled and stored away for distribution at the appropriate time to various members of the family living far and near. My mother’s share would be particularly heavy. “Poor thing, so many child-births, so sickly, can’t do a thing for herself”, my grandmother would keep saying to her friends. “She needs more help than anyone else. She’s helpless if I don’t help.” (Para 4)
My grandmother’s preoccupations were several and concerned a great many others. She was a key figure in the lives of many. She was versatile and helpful. She was also a match-maker; she pored over horoscopes and gave advice and used her influence to get marriages settled. I always picture her with a little spade or pruning shears in hand, for all her spare moments were spent in the garden. She would carry on discussions on vital matters with her friends while her hands were busy trimming off unwanted branches. Some days, mostly in the evening, someone would be brought in howling with pain from a scorpion bite. Granny would first tell the person to remain quiet; then she would go to the backyard and pluck the leaves of a weed growing on an untended wall, crush it between her fingers, squeeze its juice on the spot where the scorpion had stung, and then make the sufferer also chew the bitter leaves. If the victim made a wry face, she would remark, “This leaf is Sanjeevini, mentioned in the Ramayana. It can save you even from the venom of the darkest cobra. Don’t make that face. Go on, swallow it.” (Para 5)
a) State True or False: (1/2×4=2)
i) The writer belongs to a rich family.
-> False.
ii) The grandmother used Sanjeevini to make edibles.
-> False.
iii) The writer’s uncle was jealous of the writer’s mother.
-> True.
iv) The grandmother depended on the rents she received from her tenants for her survival.
-> True
b) What were the mats on which the edibles were spread out to dry made of? (1mark)
-> Palmyra mats.
c) Where was the grocery shop from which the grandmother bought her provisions located? (1mark)
-> The store occupied a whole of their own house.
d) With what did the grandmother make the edibles she prepared at home? (1mark)
-> Rice and pulses.
e) Where did the writer’s father stay? (1mark)
-> The writer’s father stayed at channapatna.
f) Why was the grandmother partial towards the writer’s mother? (2marks)
-> The grandmother was partial towards her daughter because she was sick and weak and could not work herself.
g) List any four preoccupations of the writer’s grandmother. (2marks)
-> Four preoccupations: She was a key figure in the locality, she was a matchmaker , she carried on discussions on vital matters, and she gave herbal medicines.
2. Read the poem given below and on the basis of your reading, answer the questions that follow:
The Shepherd
How sweet is the Shepherd’s sweet lot!
From the morn to the evening he strays;
He shall follow his sheep all the day,
And his tongue shall be filled with praise.
For he hears the lamb’s innocent call,
And he hears the ewe’s tender reply;
He is watchful while they are in peace,
For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.
a) Why does the poet consider the Shepherd’s lot sweet? (2marks)
-> The poet considers the shepherd’s lot sweet because he could tell the whole day till the evening he would follow his sheep.
b) Mention some of the sounds that the Shepherd hears. (1mark)
-> The innocent lamb’s call, the eve’s tender reply.
c) What makes the sheep feel at peace? (1mark)
-> The sheep feels at peace because the shepherd is watchful.
d) What does the Shepherd’s tongue speak of? (1mark)
-> The shepherd’s tongue speaks of praise.
UNIT – II: Poetry and Prose
3. Answer either (a) or (b):
a) For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
i) Who is the ‘I’ referred to in the above lines? (1mark)
-> I here refer to the poet Wordsworth.
ii. Who are the ‘they’ referred to in the above lines? (1mark)
-> They are the daffodils.
Or
What does ‘inward eye’ mean? (1mark)
-> The inward eye means the spiritual eye (insight)
iii. Why is the poet in a ‘vacant’ and ‘pensive’ mode? (3marks)
-> The poet sitting on a couch is feeling bored like a teenager with no great thoughts and sight. He feels that his mind is empty at that moment, no happiness and no zeal. He is in such a vacant and pensive mood.
Or
Describe the scene that flashes through the poet’s inward eye. (3marks)
-> In his vacant mood the sight of the daffodils flashes through his inward eye. The very memory of such a beautiful sight makes him extremely happy; equally happen as he was when he had seen the real daffodils which had erased his loneliness from his heart. His heart is set to rhythm by the memory of the dancing flowers.
b) For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:-
“Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,” he said.
i) Who is the ‘he’ mentioned in the above lines? (1mark)
-> He is the traveler.
ii) Why did he smote on the door ‘even louder’? (1mark)
-> He smote on the down even louder because initial knocks gave him no answer.
Or
Who is the ‘them’ referred to in the above lines? (1mark)
-> They refer to those people whom the traveler had promised to come back.
iii. Why do you think the ‘I’ had visited the place? Was he able to achieve his purpose? (3marks)
-> The ‘I’ in the traveler who has come to knock on a moonlit door in an eerie, unknown place to keep an unnamed promise. He knocks at the door several times but gets no response at all. Believing that some phantom listeners might be inside he tells them that he kept his promise. He leaves without hearing his purpose achieved.
Or
Describe in your own words the place where ‘I’ goes to meet ‘them’. (3marks)
-> The traveler comes to a deserted house in the midst of a forest. The house was mysterious. He knocks several times but gets no answer. The strangeness and weird look of the house makes him realize that there might be some unnatural residents inside the house. Even his words kept echoing in the darkness of the house.
4. Answer any one of the following questions in about 80 words: (5marks)
a) Describe in your own words the autumn season as described by Faiz Ahmed Faiz in When Autumn Came.
-> When autumn came the trees became lifeless. Autumn comes like a monster and uncovers the trees and makes them naked. Their yellow leaves fall off the trees and those are scattered over the ground. Trees are exploited in such a way but they could not raise their voice against such exploitation. Even birds that are known as the proclaimed of colorful days are sent away so no such voice can be raised. The poet prays to the God of May to have mercy and begs blessings to the exploited so that they can be brought back to life again. Only the power of God can save the exploited from the exploitation and they can come back to life.
The poet wants to see trees with life which are full of green leaves so that birds can sing again. The poet wants to see a colorful day among those victims of exploitations.
b) State the differences Gabriel Okara brings out between the way people used to greet each other in the past and now.
-> Once upon a time is a beautiful poem showing the contrasting behaviors we see and find in people of modern day.
The poet Gabriel Okara says that nowadays people are cold and hostile but earlier the same people were so genuine, warm and sincere to one another. He feels a great sense of guilt and self hatred to see and experience peoples cold greetings in modern lives. He says now a day’s people greet one another only for sake of greeting not for love or affection. The people are similar from their hearts but today people laugh only through their teeth, not genuinely.
5. Answer any three of the following within 25 words each: (2×3=6)
a) Describe in your own words the sight that Wordsworth sees when he is wandering around ‘lonely as a cloud’.
-> Wordsworth in the poem the Daffodils says that he was wandering lonely and then he notices the daffodils. He describes the daffodils as excessively beautiful and heart touching. The golden daffodils were dancing with the moving wind.
b) For what does the poet pray to the God of May?
-> The poet prays to the God of May to give back life to the lifeless trees so that the trees get back their leaves and again the birds can perch on the tree, branches and sing merrily.
c) Write in your own words a description of the Listeners.
-> The listeners compressed the bird who greeted the traveler and possibly a group of ghosts who lived in the empty house in which the traveler came to fulfill his promise. The listeners were obviously some phantom creatures who could not reply to the traveler.
d) What is the difference between how people laughed once upon a time and now?
-> Once upon a time people laughed with their hearts but nowadays people laugh only with their teeth. In the past people had affection for one another which cannot be found nowadays.
6. Answer any two of the following in about 30 words each: (3×2=6)
a) How are the birds affected when autumn comes?
-> During autumn the trees become naked. Autumn is the season of dry and dust. The leaves of the trees turn yellow and fall from the trees and scatter over the ground. The trees are stripped down to the back. No birds can be seen on the trees.
b) What are some of those ‘muting things’ which Gabriel Okara says he wants to unlearn in Once Upon a Time?
-> These lines have been quoted from Gabriel Okara’s poem “once upon a time”
Here the person deals with the artificial and mechanical behavior of modern man.
Here the poet tells his son about the artificial world of modern man. He has lost his previous identity. He changes the expressions of his face and becomes Hippocratic. He has learnt to smile mechanically. His face has got numerous expressions according to place and person. Here the poet has a drawn smile. While comparing facial expression with that of the changing dresses.
c) How does Wordsworth personify the daffodils?
-> Wordsworth personifies the daffodils vividly. He says that the yellow daffodils were dancing and moving in ecstasy. He says that the daffodils were even tossing their heads while dancing. He expresses his own happiness to see the wonderful flowers.
7. Answer any three of the following in 1 sentence each: (1×3=3)
a) With what does Wordsworth compare the daffodils?
-> Wordsworth compares the daffodils with the stars.
b) What does Faiz Ahmed Faiz mean by the ‘gift of green’?
-> The gift of green means the trees, the greenery of nature.
c) Who accompanies the poet on his visit to meet the Listeners?
-> The birds, moon
d) List any two of the different kinds of face that the poet has learnt to wear.
-> Work face, Office face.
8. Answer either (a) or (b):
a) Some of us might be familiar with the simile about the ship that is losing one nut at a time … each step does not seem to be a significant loss in itself, but lose enough of them and the ship is surely going to sink.
i. What is being compared to a ship? (1mark)
-> Biodiversity.
ii. In this comparison, what do the ‘nuts’ refer to? (1mark)
-> Species and genes.
iii. Do you consider this comparison apt? Justify your answer. (3marks)
-> The writer’s comparison of the ship losing nuts to the loss of biodiversity is doubtlessly apt. Because the ship that is losing one nut at a time and gradually going to sink and the same is the case of losing biodiversity. We are losing the species and genes that keep the earth ‘afloat’ stepwise. The line of decline is increasing. If we are unable to check this line the earth will also sink. Already signs of this alarming condition are manifested by a series of global changes in climate, hydrological patterns and other ecological functions that we all survive on. And by the collapse of global fisheries, the desertification of tens of millions of hectares of one productive land, the loss of soil nutrition and so on.
Both scenes are likewise the same and the comparison has perfectly matched.
b) There is a danger of the world getting liberty-drunk in these days like the old lady with the basket, and it is just as well to remind ourselves what the rule of the road means.
i. What according to the writer does ‘rule of the road’ mean? (1mark)
-> Rule of the road also means the civil sense of the people.
ii. What does ‘liberty-drunk’ mean? (1mark)
-> Liberty drunk means to wish and so just anything in the name of individual liberty.
iii. Narrate the incident of the ‘old lady with the basket’ which led the writer on to make this comment.
-> The old lady was carrying a basket in her hand walking on just the middle of the road. She was simply an indulgent lady who had no idea about the rules of the road or the safer of the people. For his liberty means she was free to do whatever she liked. She could walk down any track because she had got liberty.
9. Attempt a character sketch of any one of the following in about 80 words: (5marks)
a) Mrs. Bouncer
-> Mrs. Bouncer is a greedy and opportunist lady who wished to make more money by giving two people the same room as their working hours were totally different from each other. She lent Mr. Box a printer and Mr. Cox a hatter the same room. One worked at night and the other during the day. But slowly the changes in the room, the shifting of the furniture or the things in the kitchen and other such things finally disclosed the fact that they were living in the same room by paying two rents. Mrs. Bouncer thought the capital idea could not last for long and she was caught by the two tenants.
b) Mr. Cox
-> In the short story “Box and “Cox” Mr. Cox was a hat maker who went out in the morning and returned home at night to sleep. He shared his room unknowingly with Mr. Cox who rented the room to the both under different pretenses. He used all sorts of hats like white, black, broad brimmed, narrow brimmed hats etc. he was suspicious of Mr. Bouncer that she had been using his flat during the day as things were disappearing from the room. He abstained smoking, so he did not like the smell of tobacco in his room. He was not also quarrelsome but opposed unjust things done by Mrs. Bouncer.
10. Answer any two of the following within 25 words each: (2×2=4)
a) How does Mrs. Bouncer explain the smoke in the room?
-> Mrs. Bouncer gives various excuses. He says that Mr. Box occupies the attic, is a persistent smoker and that his smoke must come down the chimney.
b) What do you understand by ‘charismatic animals’?
-> There are some animals in the forest which have the capacity to attract and inspire the human mind. They are frightful and arouse excitement in people’s minds. At the same time they are endowed with graceful beauty and grandeur. Such wonderful and in some cases rare animals are charismatic. They are attractive and a view of such animals creates a pleasing view. Some are very dangerous yet very much graceful on the other hand. Special care has been taken to preserve those species.
c) What is a blue book? Why does the writer read it?
-> A blue book is a book that contains government records. He read them for his professional purpose and for earning money.
d) Why did everyone expect Pyotr to marry Anastasia?
-> Everyone expected Pyotr to marry Anastasia because he frequently visited her house and also went for walks with her.
11. Answer any two of the following questions within 30 words each: (3×2=6)
a) What were the topics discussed by the men who boarded the railway carriage that the writer was travelling in?
-> The speaker was discussing his family history and the deeds of his sons in the war. He also criticized the generals and politicians and discussed international politics criticizing France and Germany.
b) What ‘device’ does Pyotr decide to use to avoid getting hitched to Anastasia?
-> Excuses that Pyotr made to Kondrashkin to convince him that he was not a suitable suitor for Anastasia were-
1. Pytor said that he was a drunkard with a hereditary vice of going on drinking bouts.
2. Pytor gave an excuse that he had the vice of taking bribes and was a trial for embezzlement.
3. As per Pytor he was a runaway convict and was accused of forgery as well.
c) Who is Seattle? What message does he share with the people on economic development and conservation of biodiverse life?
-> The Native American Chief is Seattle. Seattle said that all the eagles and fish are gone and the waters killed by pollution, only then will we realize that money cannot be eaten. He conveys this message which implies that the people of this world will realize only that day when there will be nothing with us except money. Because money is not everything. We cannot survive with money. For our survival we need all the resources of this earth. But when all these will be ended, then survival of human beings will also be impossible.
d) How does Cox explain the word grumble to Mrs. Bouncer? What are some of the things he grumbles about?
-> According to Mr. Cox, if we turn to the letter G we will find Grumble verb neuter to complain without a cause. He was grumbling about the steady evaporation of his candles, wood, sugar and matches from his room.
12. Give the meaning of any five of the following words: (1×5=5)
a) Biodiversity
-> The variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat.
b) Genetic
-> The variation in the relative frequency of different genotypes in a small population.
c) Bio-piracy
-> The practice of commercially exploiting naturally occurring biochemical or genetic materials.
d) Conservation
-> To preserve something or future use.
e) Ecology
-> To the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another surroundings.
f) Patent
-> A permission.
g) Sustenance
-> Something that gives support and strength for survival.
UNIT – III: GRAMMAR
13. Make sentences with any two pairs of words to illustrate the difference in meaning between them. (2×2=4)
Accept, except; holy, wholly; rein, reign; fair, fare; band, banned; air, heir.
14. Fill in the blanks with the suitable form of the verbs given in the brackets (any three): (1×3=3)
a) As soon as she _____ (arrives) please bring her to my office.
-> Arrives
b) I enjoy ______ (watch) a good movie.
-> Watching
c) I ______ (study) English for six years now.
-> Studying
d) I ______ (return) from Shimla last night.
-> Returned
e) He would have done it if you _____ (tell) him so.
-> Told
f) This teacher ______ (teach) in this school for ten years.
-> Taught
g) Did you ______ (see) him yesterday?
-> See
h) They are ______ (get) their house painted soon.
-> Getting
15. Add tag questions to the following (any four): (1/2×4=2)
a) Rahim can cope with the situation, ______?
-> Can’t he
b) Ram knows that his father is in the hospital, ______?
-> Doesn’t he
c) You weren’t listening, ______?
-> Were you
d) I don’t think anyone will volunteer ______?
-> Will they
e) You have got a camera, ______?
-> Haven’t you
f) Sita would like to get a scholarship, _______?
-> Wouldn’t she
g) He won’t mind if I use his phone, _______?
-> Will be
16. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate prepositions (any six): (1/2×6=3)
a) I come _____ a big family.
-> From
b) What is this called _______ English?
-> In
c) No evil can happen ______ a good man.
-> To
d) It is you who are to blame _____ your mistakes.
-> For
e) Throw the ball _____ the wicket.
-> At
f) Man doesn’t live _____ bread alone.
-> On
g) Women wear necklaces _____ their neck.
-> Around
17. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate articles where necessary (any six): (1/2 x6=3)
a) She bought _____ expensive necklace.
-> An
b) He went on a holiday tour to _____ Andaman.
-> The
c) They went for _____ walk.
-> A
d) The Taj Mahal is in _____ city of Agra.
-> The
e) He is _____ MA in History.
-> An
f) She is wearing _____ white skirt.
-> A
g) _____ Brahmaputra floods every year.
-> The
18. Identify five nouns and five adjectives in the sentence given below: (1/2×10=5)
In Japan, some people grow miniature trees that have a famous history and an important place in horticultural art.
UNIT – IV: CREATIVE WRITING SKILL
19. Write a paragraph of about 180 to 200 words on any one of the following: (8marks)
a) India’s performance in international sports
b) Your favorite festival
c) Rhino poaching
d) My grandmother
20. Write a substance of Para 1 of the passage given in Question No. 1 (7marks)
Or
Develop a story from the given outline: (7marks)
Boys playing near pond-sees frogs playing inside it-picks up stones-throws at frogs-competes with each other-who could hit most frogs-some rocks hit hard-frogs die. Finally one frog says-stop-fun for you-death for us.
