Read the passage given below - 1. The Higgs boson has been called, or miscalled, the God particle, enabling it to pass into the realm of popular scientific lore.

प्रश्न

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. The Higgs boson has been called, or miscalled, the God particle, enabling it to pass into the realm of popular scientific lore, like the discovery of the smallpox vaccine, the structure of DNA, or the theory of relativity. It would be difficult for most people to understand its significance, just as it would be to comprehend the notion of relativity, but such problems are overcome by locating science in personalities as well as cultural and national traditions. The first thing that you and I know about the Higgs boson is that it’s named after Peter Higgs, a physicist at Edinburgh University who made the discovery - although the original insight, in one of those recurrent back stories of science, was Philip Anderson’s.

2. Still, we have Higgs, and Edinburgh, and western civilisation to fall back on. The rest - “the Higgs boson is a hypothetical elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. It belongs to a class of particles known as bosons ...” - we needn’t worry too much about. But maybe we should worry just enough to ask, “What is a boson?” since the word tends to come up as soon as Higgs does. Is it, an ignoramus such myself would ask, akin to an atom or a molecule? It is, in fact, along with the fermion (named after Enrico Fermi), one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particles.

3. From Bose

The word must surely have some European genealogy. In fact, “boson” is derived from Satyendra Nath Bose, an Indian physicist from Kolkata who, in 1924, realised that the statistical method used to analyse most 19th-century work on the thermal behaviour of gases was inadequate. He first sent off a paper on quantum statistics to a British journal, which turned it down. He then sent it to Albert Einstein, who immediately grasped its immense importance, and published it in a German journal. Bose’s innovation came to be known as the Bose-Einstein statistics and became a basis of quantum mechanics. Einstein saw that it had profound implications for physics; that it had opened the way for this subatomic particle, which he named, after his Indian collaborator, “boson.” Still, science and the West are largely synonymous and coeval: they are words that have the same far-reaching meaning. Just as Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings digest the Japanese prints they were responding to so we don’t need to be aware of Japanese prints when viewing the post-impressionists, western science is pristine, and bears no mark of what’s outside itself.

4. Other Indian contributions

The last Indian scientific discovery that is universally acknowledged is zero. Indians are very strong at maths, and the only modern Indian who’s remotely part of the western mythology of science is Srinivasa Ramanujan, equally well known for his Hindu idiosyncrasies and his agonised stay in Cambridge as he is for his mathematical genius.

5. Indians can be excellent geeks, as demonstrated by the tongue-tied astrophysicist Raj Koothrappalli in the U.S. sitcom Big Bang Theory; but the Nobel prize can only be aspired to by Sheldon Cooper, the super-geek and genius in the series, for whom Raj’s country of origin is a diverting enigma, and miles away from the popular myth of science on which Big Bang Theory is dependent. Bose didn’t get the Nobel Prize; nor did his contemporary and namesake, J.C. Bose, whose contribution to the fashioning of wireless predates Marconi’s. The only Indian scientist to get a Nobel Prize is the physicist C.V. Raman, for his work on a light at Kolkata University. Other Indians have had to become Americans to get the award.

6. Conditions have always been inimical to science in India, from colonial times to the present day; and despite that, its contributions have occasionally been huge. Yet non-western science (an ugly label engendered by the exclusive nature of western popular imagination) is yet to find its Rosalind Franklin, its symbol of paradoxical success. Unlike Franklin, however, scientists were never in a race that they lost; they simply came from another planet.

Based on your reading of the passage, answer twelve out of fifteen questions that follow:

(a) What is the first thing which the narrator knows about Higgs Boson?

(b) What is Bose-Einstein statistics?

(c) How does Sheldon view Raj’s country of origin?

(d) What do Van Gogh’s paintings do to Japanese prints?

(e) Has India always got credit for its merit?

(f) What do Higgs Boson have in common with Smallpox vaccine?

Both are used in medical radiography.
Both are part of scientific myth and legends now.
Both were met with scepticism on their discovery.
Both fetched their teams a Nobel prize.

(g) Which statement is not true about Boson?

They were not discovered by Enrico Fermi.
They constitute one class of subatomic particle.
It is named after an Indian Physicist.
It was discovered by Satyendra Nath Bose.

(h) Choose the word which is an apt synonym of the word Ignoramus. (used in para 2)

Idiot
Intelligent
Idealist
Ingenious

(i) How are esoteric scientific concepts made understandable for people?

By printing short introductory courses.
By comparing it with other scientific discoveries.
By locating science in personalities, social and cultural traditions. iv. By revising the country’s educational structure.

(j) Based on the reading of the passage, which statements are correct about Higgs Boson.

They are called God’s particle.
Philip Anderson’s study provided the original insight.
This concept is easily understood by common people.
A physicist from Edinburgh University made the discovery.
It was discovered by Albert Einstein.

1, 2 & 3
2, 3 & 5
1, 4 & 5
1, 2 & 4

(k) Which field of Physics was SN Bose working on?

Quantum Mechanics
Electromagnetism
Geophysics
Acoustic

(l) Which scientist/mathematician out of the following won the Nobel prize?

J C Bose
C V Raman
Srinivasa Ramanujan
S N Bose

(m) What is Srinivasa Ramanujan known for in popular culture?

Mathematical genius.
For formulation of game theory.
Hindu Idiosyncrasies.
Troubled stay in Cambridge.
For devising another explanation for chaos theory.

1, 2 & 3
1, 3 & 5
1, 3 & 4
1, 4 & 5

(n) The conclusion of third paragraph highlights that ______.

Western art grants recognition to all its inspirations.
Van Gogh painted Japanese prints.
Western art subsumes all the influences under it.
Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec are post-impressionist painters.

(o) Why did JC Bose deserve a Nobel?

He was an Indian physicist.
He was the only one researching on wireless.
His research & findings on wireless started before Marconi.
He acquired American citizenship.

संक्षेप में उत्तर

रिक्त स्थान भरें

एक पंक्ति में उत्तर

उत्तर

(a) Named after Peter Higgs- an Edinburgh University Professor

(b) Bose realised that the statistical method used to analyse most. 19th-century work on the thermal behaviour of gases was inadequate. He first sent off a paper on quantum statistics to a British journal, which turned it down. He then sent it to Albert Einstein, who immediately grasped its immense importance, and published it in a German journal. Bose’s innovation came to be known as the Bose-Einstein statistics.

(c) Raj’s country of origin is a diverting enigma, and miles away from the popular myth of science on which Big Bang Theory is dependent.

(d) The Japanese prints that inspired Van Gogh's paintings were digest in his paintings.

(e) No. very few acknowledgments – CV Raman only Indian Physicist to have won the Nobel Prize

(f) Both are part of scientific myth and legends now.

(g) It was discovered by Satyendra Nath Bose.

(h) Idiot

(i) By locating science in personalities, social and cultural traditions.

(j) 1, 2 & 4

(k) Quantum Mechanics

(l) C V Raman

(m) 1, 3 & 4

(n) Western art subsumes all the influences under it.

(o) His research & findings on wireless started before Marconi.

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Unseen Passage Comprehension

क्या इस प्रश्न या उत्तर में कोई त्रुटि है?

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2022-2023 (March) Sample

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2022-2023 (March) Sample (with solutions)

Q 1 | 12 marks

संबंधित प्रश्न

During the devastating July 2005 floods that hit Mumbai, Rajen Dutia received an urgent call from a relative, Lopa Vyas late in the evening. “A friend’s mother is stranded near your home, Rajen. Can you please take her home? Her name is Rashmi,” Vyas told him.
Mumbai had come to a halt and people were trapped everywhere. Despite power failure and raging rain, Dutia stepped out and made his way to the spot, where he found Rashmi as well as a dozen other people. They were stranded in the dark, shivering in the rain. They all lived far away and had no place to go for the night.
Rajen took all of them to his one-bedroom flat, where he served them dinner and invited them to spend the night.
"By doing so," says Rajen, "I was simply fulfilling my karma, paying the universe back for the good it had done for me."

"God is kind. My daughter had just started her new job that day, and had gone for her training. She was stranded too. While she was trying to get to our relatives, she almost drowned, but a young stranger saved her. He and his friends even dropped her to my relative's place and phoned me to say she was safe. One good turn deserves another."

A2. Order
Look at the following sentences from the passage and put them in the correct sequence: (2)
(a) He took them to his one-bedroom flat.
(b) Rajen found Rashmi as well as a dozen other people shivering in the rain.
(c) Mumbai had come to a halt and people were trapped everywhere.
(d) Rajen Dutia received an urgent call.

A3(i). Fill in the blanks :
Select the words given in the passage (1)
(i) Thousands Of pilgrims were …………….. due to the cloud burst in Uttarakhand.
(ii) The tiger was ……………… by the hunter.

(ii). Antonyms:
Select the correct antonyms for the given words from the alternatives :
(1) Please :
(a) unplease (b) displease (c) misplease
(2) Safe: '
(a) insafe (b) safeless (c) unsafe

A4(i) Tags :
Select the correct tag for the alternatives given below :
One good turn deserves another.
(a) Doesn’t it? (b) don’t it (c) does it?

(ii). Guess:
Choose the correct answer : (1)
Rajen can you please take her home? ‘Can’ indicates :
(a) Obligation (b) ability (c) permission

A5. Personal Response :
‘ one good turn
Deserves another.’
Explain with an
example of your own.

Look at the balloons. Which are the qualities inculcated in the author by her teacher? Write them. (2)

Sister Monica, however, wasn't quite as lenient as that, and spent most of the time telling me about the importance of regularity and hard work. She made me realise that success is, like genius, 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration. It's a lesson that has stood me in good stead.
The teachers I'm most grateful to, though, are not those who have taught me the most, but those who have simply been friends to me, believed me and believed in me. Prominent among them is Sudha Ramasubramanium-Rambo, as we used to call her. I didn't know her too well. She taught me in college, and apart from being incredible in class unless one missed class, she also believed that I actualIy had a Problem when I developed an injury (which several doctors found difficult to diagnose). Despite my missing an exam-the HSC, of all exams- she was the only person who told me to concentrate on my health and assured me that I could take the exam off the top of my head any time I wanted to.
I'm not even certain she remembers it, but at the time, it felt like one of the only rays of hope in an extremely dark tunnel. Perhaps few teachers realize how far their influence extends or how much of a difference their actions and words can make. A number of my teachers have unfortunately taught me kindness and tolerance and patience by being precisely the opposite, and quite obviously, they aren't the people I like to think about. But many of my teachers have been extraordinary people, who have not only taught me in class but also helped mould me and my character in every other way. I only hope that I live up to what their endeavors were undoubtedly mean to create.

B2.Answer
(1) What kind of teachers are disliked by the author? (1)
(2) What was Sudha Ramasubramanium's advice to the author when she was going to miss her HSC exam. ? (1)

B3. Match :
Match the words with their appropriate meanings : (2)

‘A’	‘B’
(i) Prominent	(a) Treatment
(ii) Incredible	(b) Natural
(iii) Diagnose	(c) Unbelievable
(iv) Endeavours	(d) Noticeable
	(e) Efforts
	(f) Identify a disease

B.4(i) ‘Wh question’
She made me realize that success is, like genius. (1)
(Frame a ‘Wh’ question to get the underlined part as an answer)

(ii) She taught me in college. (1)
(Begin the sentence with ‘I’ and rewrite).

B5. Personal Response
Do you agree that a teacher should also be your good friend? Justify your answer. (2)

AI. Who said to whom
(i) "Is he going to live, sir?"
(ii) "______ the struggle is too hard at the end ______.”

The doctor said to himself, "If my word can save his life, he shall not die.
The will be damned." He called, "Gopal, listen." This was the first time he was going to do a piece of acting before a patient, simulate a feeling and conceal his Judgement. He stooped over the patient and said, with deliberate emphasis, "Don't worry about the will now. You are going to live. Your heart is absolutely sound."
A new glow suffused the patient's face as he heard it. Be asked in a tone of relief,
"Do you say so? If it comes from your lips it must be true............ . "
The doctor said, "Quite right. You are improving ever second. Sleep in peace. You must not exert yourself on any account. You must sleep very soundly.
I will see you in the morning." The patient looked at him gratefully for a moment and then closed his eyes. The doctor picked up his bag and went out, shutting the door softly behind him.
On his way home he stopped for a moment at his hospital, called out his assistant and said, "That Lawley Extension case. You might expect the collapse any second now. Go there with a tube of .....................................'in hand, and give it in case the struggle is too hard at the end. Hurry up.”
Next morning he was back at Lawley Extension at ten. From his car he made a dash for the sick bed. The patient was awake and looked very well. The assistant reported satisfactory pulse. The doctor put his tube to his heart, listened for a while and told the sick man's wife, "Don't look so unhappy, lady. Your husband will live to be a ninety.’’ When they were going back to the hospital, the assistant sitting beside him in the car asked, "Is he going to live, sir?"
"I will bet on it. He will live to be ninety. He has turned at corner. How he has survived this attack will be a puzzle to me all my life," replied the doctor.

A2. Web
Complete the web:

A3. Personal Response
What is your opinion about the doctor and his behaviour?

The natural life span of a domesticated horse is about 25 – 30 years, 10 years down from what it was in the wild. You can tell a horse’s age from the number of teeth he has. They get all their teeth by the age of 5, after which those teeth just get longer. Horses have close to 360 degree all round vision. The only place they cannot see is directly behind or right in front of themselves, which is why it’s dangerous to stand behind a horse. If they later I it also means that they cannot see a jump once they are about four feet from it, and have to rely on memory as to its height and shape! Each of the horse’s two eyes work independently wherever a horse’s ear points is where the horse is looking. A horse is able to sleep standing up as he is able to lock his leg muscles so that he dosen’t fall asleep. Nor do all horses in the same field ever lie down at once – one animal always stands “on look out” duty.

1) What is the life span of a wild horse?
(2) Why do the horse owners cover their horse’s eyes with blinkers?
(3) What prevents a horse from falling while asleep?
(4)
(a) Falls /shorter/ the mane/ on the/ side/ legged.[Rearrange the words to make a meaningful sentence]
(b) Form antonyms by adding a prefix :
(i) able
(ii) direct
(5)
(a) They get all their teeth by the age of five. [Pick out the prepositions]
(b) If they feel something behind them they may kick. [Rewrite using ‘unless’]
(6) How have horses helped man through the ages?

The hopping kangaroo is a familiar sight in every snapshot relating to Australia. Members of the kangaroo family can be as small as a rat or as big as a man. Kangaroos are found mainly in Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. Kangaroos, which are big-footed marsupials that evolved in Australia, use their short front legs like arms. The man-sized kangaroos of Australia are capable of speeding up to 88 km/hr for short distances, their means of locomotion being their powerful hind legs, which carry them over the ground in jumps of 9 m or more at a time.
Weighing around 70 kg, they have an average lifespan of around six to eight years and a maximum lifetime of 20 years. When bothered by predators, kangaroos often head for the water, standing submerged to the chest and attempting to drown the attacker by holding him under water. Another defensive technique is to get their back to a tree and kick at their adversary with their clawed hind feet, sometimes with sufficient force to kill a man. Normally shy animals, they alert other kangaroos to danger by beating on the ground with their hind feet. This loud alarm signal carries over a long distance.
The tail is important for kangaroos. It holds them in balance and supports them when they sit or fight against other kangaroos. The kangaroo uses its short legs as arms. With them it scratches itself, cleans its fur and holds branches when it eats leaves. Kangaroos are marsupials and the females carry newborns in a pouch in front of their abdomens. The babies are born small and climb up into safety of the pouch. There, for the next 225 days or so, they eat, sleep and grow. Once they reach full development, they leave the pouch. A young kangaroo that leaves the pouch is called a ‘joey’. To keep from getting too hot, the kangaroos take naps in the afternoon and do most of their grazing at night. But the best stay-cool secret of these creatures is the spit bath! Kangaroos drool and lick saliva all over their faces and bodies to cool down.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, complete the following sentences with appropriate words/phrases:
(a) When followed by predators, kangaroos submerge ____________ and _________________.

(b) The powerful hind legs help kangaroos to __________________.

(d) They use their front legs to ___________________.

(e) Kangaroos warn others of danger by _______________________.

(f) The secret of kangaroos to stay cool is ______________________.

(g) They use their tails to _________________________.

(h) Before becoming ‘joeys’, the young ones stay in the ______________ and ________________.

It is rare to find someone with good technical and communication skills. You can get far ahead of your colleagues if you combine the two early in your career. People will judge, evaluate, promote or block you based on your communication skills. Since habits form by repeating both good and bad forms of communication, learn to observe great communicators and adopt their styles and traits — in written and verbal forms. The art of listening and learning from each and every interaction is another secret recipe. Develop the subconscious habit of listening to yourself as you speak and know when to pause.

Learning what not to say is probably more important than learning what to say. As your career develops, you will realize that the wise speak less. Speak when you have value to add, else refrain. Poorly constructed emails with grammatical errors are acceptable between friends, but they should be seriously avoided while communicating formally with your seniors. Avoid any communication in an emotional state when might say things you will regret later. One unnecessary word uttered at the wrong time or place can ruin a relationship, career or even your life. Such is the power of words. If such a thing happens, you should immediately apologise, else it may haunt you for life.

Another problem to overcome is speaking too fast. Since our minds are working faster than our speech, we are inclined to speak fast. This does not necessarily mean that the person hearing it will get it any faster. On the contrary, it is always the reverse. So slow down and think before you speak. “When I get ready to speak to people,” Abraham Lincoln said, “I spend two-thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one-thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one-third thinking what I want to say.” Adding humour and wit is also essential. But realize that not all jokes are funny and observe certain boundaries. Never say anything that could offend. Remember you are not a comedian who must offend as many people as you can to be witty.

2.1 Answer the following questions briefly:

(a) Why is it necessary to have good communication skills?

(b) How can communication skills be developed?

(d) Why should you be careful when you tend to be humorous?

2.2 Choose the most appropriate meanings of the given words from the options provided:

(a) evaluate (para 1)

(i) estimate
(ii) assume
(iii) punish
(iv) evolve

(b) trait (para 1)

(i) treaty
(ii) trail
(iii) quality
(iv) liberty

(i) flatter
(ii) speak
(iii) rot
(iv) unique

(d) haunt (para 2)

(i) hunt
(ii) chant
(iii) trouble
(iv) avoid

The Perfect Dog
In the summer of 1967, when I was ten years old, my father caved into my persistent pleas and took me to get my own dog. Together we drove in the family station wagon far into the Michigan countryside to a farm run by a rough-hewn woman and her ancient mother. The farm produced just one commodity—dogs. Dogs of every imaginable size and shape and age and temperament. They had only two things in common: each was a mongrel of unknown and distinct ancestry, and each was free to a good home.
I quickly decided the older dogs were somebody else’s charity case. I immediately raced to the puppy cage. “You want to pick one that’s not timid,” my father coached. “Try rattling the cage and see which ones aren’t afraid.”

I grabbed the chain-link gate and yanked on it with a loud clang. The dozen or so puppies reeled backward, collapsing on top of one another in a squiggling heap of fur. Just one remained. He was gold with a white blaze on his chest, and he charged at the gate, yapping fearlessly. He jumped up and excitedly licked my fingers through the fencing. It was love at first sight.
I brought him home in a cardboard box and named him Shaun. He was one of those dogs that give dogs a good name. He effortlessly mastered every command I taught him and was naturally well-behaved. I could drop a crust on the floor and he would not touch it until I gave the okay.
Relatives would visit for the weekend and returned home determined to buy a dog of their own, so impressed were they with Shaun – or “Saint Shaun”, as I came to call him. Born with the curse of an uncertain lineage, he was one of the tens of thousands of unwanted dogs in America. Yet by some stroke of almost providential good fortune, he became wanted. He came into my life and I into his – and in the process, he gave me the childhood every kid deserves.

The love affair lasted fourteen years, and by the time he died I was no longer the little boy who had brought him home on that summer day. I was a man, out of college and working across the state in my first real job. Saint Shaun had stayed behind when I moved on. It was where he belonged. My parents, by then retired, called to break the news to me. My mother would later tell me, “In fifty years of marriage, I’ve only seen your father cry twice. The first time was when we lost Mary Ann” – my sister, who was still-born. “The second time was the day Shaun died.”

Saint Shaun of my childhood. He was a perfect dog. At least that’s how I will always remember him. It was Shaun who set the standard by which I would judge all other dogs to come.
(Marley and Me by John Grogan)

1.1 Based on your reading of the passage, complete the following statements.

(a) The dog farm was run by ________________________________.

(b) The author did not want an old dog because ______________________________.

(d) Shaun became so obedient that he ______________________ until the author allowed him.

(e) After visiting them, their relatives wanted ________________________.

(f) When Shaun died even _______________________.

1.2 Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following.

(a) urgent requests (para 1)

(b) falling (para 3)

Q1 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

1. Too many parents these days can't say no, As a result, they find themselves raising 'children' who respond greedily to the advertisements aimed right at them. Even getting what they want doesn't satisfy some kids; they only want more. Now, a growing number of psychologists, educators, and parents think it's time to stop the madness and start teaching kids about what's really important: values like hard work, contentment, honesty, and compassion. The struggle to set limits has never been tougher ‒ and the stakes have never been higher. One recent study of adults who were overindulged as children paints a discouraging picture of their future: when given too much too soon, they grow up to be adults who have difficulty coping with life's disappointments. They also have a distorted sense of entitlement that gets in the way of success in the workplace and in relationships.

2. Psychologists say that parents who overindulge their kids set them up to be more vulnerable to future anxiety and depression. Today's parents themselves raised on values of thrift and self-sacrifice, grew up in a culture where no was a household word. Today's kids want much more, partly because there is so much more to want. The oldest members of this generation were born in the late 1980s, just as PCs and video games were making their assault on the family room. They think of MP3 players and flat-screen TV as essential utilities, and they have developed strategies to get them. One survey of teenagers found that when they crave something new, most expect to ask nine times before their parents give in. By every measure, parents are shelling out record amounts. In the heat of this buying blitz, even parents who desperately need to say no find themselves reaching for their credit cards.

3. Today's parents aren't equipped to deal with the problem. Many of them, raised in the 1960s and '70s, swore they'd act differently from their parents and have closer relationships with their own children. Many even wear the same designer clothes as their kids and listen to the same music. And they work more hours; at the end of a long week, it's tempting to buy peace with 'yes' and not mar precious family time with conflict. Anxiety about the future is another factor. How do well-intentioned parents say no to all the sports gear and arts and language lessons they believe will help their kids thrive in an increasingly competitive world? Experts agree: too much love won't spoil a child. Too few limits will.

4. What parents need to find, is a balance between the advantages of an affluent society and the critical life lessons that come from waiting, saving, and working hard to achieve goals. That search for balance has to start early. Children need limits on their behaviour because they feel better and more secure when they live within a secure structure. Older children learn self-control by watching how others, especially parents act. Learning how to overcome challenges is essential to becoming a successful adult. Few parents ask kids to do chores. They think their kids are already overburdened by social and academic pressures. Every individual can be of service to others, and life has meaning beyond one's own immediate happiness. That means parents eager to teach values have to take a long, hard look at their own.

(a) Answer the following:

What values do parents and teachers want children to learn?
What are the results of giving the children too much too soon?
Why do today's children want more?
What is the balance which the parents need to have in today's world?
What is the necessity to set limits for children?

(b) Pick out words from the passage that mean the same as the following:

a feeling of satisfaction (para 1)
valuable (para 3)
important (para 4)

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

These meadows aren't worth much to me. They only come to five dessiatins, and are worth perhaps 300 roubles, but I can't stand unfairness. Say what you will, I can't stand unfairness.

(a) Who speaks the above lines and to whom?

(b) How much are the meadows worth?

Read the passage given below :

Kausani is situated at a height of 6,075 feet in the Central Himalayas. It is an unusally attractive little town. It covers just about 5.2 sq. kms. It lies to the north of Almora in Uttarakhand's picturesque kumaon region.

Kausani provides the 300-km wide breathtaking view of the Himalayas. It is the most striking aspect of the place. Snow-capped peaks are spread in a stately row. They stare at you in silvery white majesty. The most famous peak on view is Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India. It is situated at a height of 25.645 feet and 36 miles away as the crow files. The other famous peaks on view are choukhamba (23,420 feet) and Trishul (23,360 feet). Then there are also Nilkanth, Nandaghunti, Nandaghat and Nandakot. On a clear day, the blue of the sky makes a splendid background to these peaks. At sunrise and at sunset, when the colour changes to a golden orange, the scene gets etched in your memory.

When Gandhiji visited this place in 1929, its scenic beauty held him spellbound. He named it the 'Switzerland of Indian'. He prolonged his two-day stay to fourteen days, making time to write a book, 'Anashakti Yoga'. The place where he was staying was originally a guest-house of the tea estate. It was renamed 'Anashakti Ashram' after the book.

Kausani is the birthplace of Sumitranandan Pant, India's poet laureate. Its natural surroundings inspired many of his poems. Its tea gardens mingle with dense pine forests and fruit orchards. The area is also host to many fairs and religious caremonies. If Uttaranchal is the abode of gods, Kausani is God's own backyard. There is no traffic, no one is in a hurry. If serenity could be put on a canvas, the picture would resemble Kausani.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following questions :

(a) Where is Kausani situated ?

(b) What is the most striking aspect of Kausani ?

(d) How did Kausani influence Sumitranandan Pant ?

(e) When does the view of peaks become so memorable ?

(f) How can we say that Gandhiji was greatly charmed by the natural beauty of Kausani ?

(g) What makes Kausani a calm and quiet place ?

(h) Why, do you think, is Kausani known as 'God' s own backyard' ?

Read the passage given below:

1. I rested for a moment at the door of Anand Bhawan, on Market Road, where coffee-drinkers and tiffin-eaters sat still at their tables, uttering low moans on seeing me. I wanted to assure them, "Don't mind me, you hugging the cash box − you are a coward, afraid even to breathe. Go on, count the cash, if that is your pleasure. I just want to watch, that's all. If my tail trails down to the street, if I am blocking your threshold, it is because, I'm told, I'm eleven feet tip to tail. I can't help it. I'm not out to kill − I'm too full. I found a green pasture full of food on my way. I won't attack until I feel hungry again. Tigers attack only when they feel hungry, unlike human beings who slaughter one another without purpose or hunger."

2. To the great delight of children, schools were being hurriedly closed. Children of all ages and sizes were running helter-skelter, screaming joyously. "No school, no school. Tiger, tiger!" They were shouting and laughing and even enjoying being scared. They seemed to welcome me. I felt like joining them. So I bounded away from the restaurant door. I walked along with them, at which they cried, 'The tiger is coming to eat us; let us get back to school!"

3. I followed them through their school gate while they ran up and shut themselves in the school hall securely. I climbed up the steps of the school, saw an open door at the far end of a veranda, and walked in. It happened to be the headmaster's room. I noticed a very dignified man jumping on the table and heaving himself up into an attic. I walked in and flung myself on the cool floor, having a special liking for cool stone floors.

4. As I drowsed, I was aware of cautious steps and hushed voices all around. I was in no mood to bother about anything. All I wanted was a little moment of sleep; the daylight was very bright.

On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following questions:

(a) How did the diners at Anand Bhawan react on seeing the tiger?

(b) When do tigers attack? In this context, how are human beings different from tigers?

(d) What did the headmaster do on seeing the tiger? What did the tiger like to do in the headmaster's office?

(e) Identify the word which means the same as 'hugging'. (Para 1)

(i) counting
(ii) hiding
(iii) rubbing
(iv) holding tightly in the arms

(f) Identify the word which means the same as 'delight'. (Para 2)

(i) pleasure
(ii) fear
(iii) sorrow
(iv) nervousness

(g) Identify the word which means the same as 'dignified'. (Para 3)

(i) tall
(ii) honourable
(iii) terrified
(iv) tired

(h) Identify the meaning of the word, 'bounded'. (Para 2)

(i) walked
(ii) jumped forward
(iii) walked with heavy steps
(iv) ran lazily

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

When I got to New Mullion, my eager expectations of a sweet and simple country village were severely disappointed. Its streets were rivers of mud, with rows of wooden shops, either painted a sour brown, or bare of any paint at all.

(a) Who is 'I'?

(b) Why was 'I' disappointed?

Read the passage given below:

1. Every morning Ravi gives his brain an extra boost. We're not talking about drinking strong cups of coffee or playing one of those mind-training video games advertised all over Facebook. "I jump onto my stationary bike and cycle for 45 minutes to work," says Ravi. "When I get to my desk, my brain is at peak activity for a few hours." After his mental focus comes to a halt later in the day, he starts it with another short spell of cycling to be able to run errands.

2. Ride, work, ride, repeat. It's scientifically proven system that describes some unexpected benefits of cycling. In a recent study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, scientists found that people scored higher on tests of memory, reasoning, and planning after 30 minutes of spinning on a stationary bike than they did before they rode the bike. They also completed the tests faster after pedalling.

3. Exercise is like fertilizer for your brain. All those hours spent on exercising your muscles, create rich capillary beds not only in leg and hip muscles, but also in your brain. More blood vessels in your brain and muscles mean more oxygen and nutrients to help them work. When you pedal, you also force more nerve cells to fire. The result: you double or triple the production of these cells – literally building your brain. You also release neurotransmitters (the messengers between your brain cells) so all those cells, new and old, can communicate with each other for better, faster functioning. 'That's a pretty profound benefit to cyclists.

4. This kind of growth is especially important with each passing birthday, because as we age, our brains shrink and those connections weaken. Exercise restores and protects the brain cells. Neuroscientists say, "Adults who exercise display sharper memory skills, higher concentration levels, more fluid thinking, and greater problem-solving ability than those who are sedentary."

5. Cycling also elevates your mood, relieves anxiety, increases stress resistance, and even banishes the blues. "Exercise works in the same way as psychotherapy and antidepressants in the treatment of depression, maybe better," says Dr. Manjari. A recent study analyzing 26 years of research finds that even some exercise – as little as 20 to 30 minutes a day – can prevent depression over the long term.

6. Remember: although it's healthy, exercise itself is a stress, especially when you're just getting started or getting back into riding. When you first begin to exert yourself, your body releases a particular hormone to raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels, says Meher Ahluwalia, PhD, a professor of integrative physiology. As you get fitter, it takes a longer, harder ride to trigger that same response.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, complete the statements given below with the help of the options that follow:

(a) Ravi gets his brain to work at peak level by

(i) drinking three cups of coffee.
(ii) playing games that need brain activity.
(iii) cycling on a stationary bike.
(iv) taking tablets to pump up his brain.

(b) When nerve cells work during exercise then

(i) the body experiences stress.
(ii) the brain is strengthened by multiplying them.
(iii) you start to lose your temper.
(iv) your stationary cycle starts to beep.

Answer the following questions briefly:
(c) How does exercise help the brain?
(d) Why does Ravi do a circuit of 'ride, work, ride'?
(e) What is the work of neurotransmitters?
(f) What benefits other than greater brain activity does one get from cycling?
(g) Why is exercise so important for adults?
(h) How is exercise itself a stress?

(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:

(i) manure (para 3)
(ii) inactive (para 4)

Read the passage given below:

Keeping cities clean is essential for keeping their residents healthy. Our health depends not just on personal hygiene and nutrition, but critically also on how clean we keep our cities and their surroundings. The spread of dengue and chikungunya are intimately linked to the deteriorating state of public health conditions in our cities.

The good news is that waste management to keep cities clean is now getting attention through the Swachh Bharat Mission. However, much of the attention begins and stops with the brooms and the dustbins, extending at most to the collection and transportation of the mixed waste to some distant or not so distant place, preferably out of sight.

The challenge of processing and treating the different streams of solid waste, and safe disposal of the residuals in scientific landfills, has received much less attention in municipal solid waste management than is expected from a health point of view.

One of the problems is that instead of focusing on waste management for health, we have got sidetracked into "waste for energy". If only we were to begin by not mixing the biodegradable component of solid waste (close to 60 percent of the total) in our cities with the dry waste, and instead use this stream of waste for compositing and producing a gas called methane.

City compost from biodegradable waste provides an alternative to farmyard manure (like cow-dung). It provides an opportunity to simultaneously clean up our cities and help improve agricultural productivity and quality of the soil. Organic manure or compost plays a very important role as a supplement to chemical fertilisers in enriching the nutrient-deficient soils. City compost can be the new player in the field.

Benefits of compost on the farm are well-known. The water holding capacity of the soil which uses compost helps with drought-proofing, and the requirement of less water per crop is a welcome feature for a water-stressed future. By making the soil porous, use of compost also makes roots stronger and resistant to pests and decay. Farmers using compost, therefore, need less quantity of pesticides. There is also evidence to suggest that horticulture corps grown with compost have better flavour, size, colour and shelf-life.

City compost has the additional advantage of being weed-free unlike farmyard manure which brings with it the seeds of undigested grasses and requires a substantial additional labour cost for weeding as the crops grow. City compost is also rich in organic carbon, and our soils are short in this.

Farmers clearly recognize the value of city compost. If city waste was composted before making it available to the farmers for applying to the soil, cities would be cleaned up and the fields around them would be much more productive.

Quite apart from cleaning up the cities of biodegradable waste, this would be a major and sustainable contribution to improving the health of our soil without further damage by excessive chemical inputs. What a marvellous change from waste to health!

The good news is that some states are regularly laying plastic roads. Plastic roads will not only withstand future monsoon damage but will also solve a city's problem of disposing of non-recyclable plastic. It is clear that if the mountains of waste from our cities were to be recycled into road construction material, it would tackle the problem of managing waste while freeing up scarce land.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary (minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

The most alarming of man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrevocable; the chain of evil it initiates is for the most part irreversible. In this contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world; radiation released through nuclear explosions into the air, comes to the earth in rain, lodges into the soil, enters the grass or corn, or wheat grown there and reaches the bones of a human being, there to remain until his death. Similarly, chemicals sprayed on crops lie long in soil, entering living organisms, passing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death. Or they pass by underground streams until they emerge and combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and harm those who drink from once pure wells.

It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth and reached a stage of adjustment and balance with its surroundings. The environment contained elements that were hostile as well as supporting. Even within the light of the sun, there were short wave radiations with power to injure. Given time, life has adjusted and a balance reached. For time is the essential ingredient, but in the modern world is no time.

The rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature. Radiation is no longer the bombardment of cosmic rays; it is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom. The chemicals to which life is asked to make adjustments are no longer merely calcium and silica and copper and all the rest of the minerals washed out of the rocks and carried in the rivers to the sea; they are the synthetic creations of man’s inventive mind, brewed in his laboratories, and having no counterparts in nature.

(a) On the basis of your understanding of the above passage make notes on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply a title to it.

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
The Jahangir Art Gallery, the State Bank of lndia building and the canteen close by which offered affordable fare, the amazing street fare, bhelpuri and vadapav. The joy of reading Bombay Times with its page 3 people one would never meet but who seemed like old friends. The Strand bookstore where one could browse for hours. And just when a book was longingly but firmly put down from nowhere, Mr Shanbagh would materialise magically at one's elbow with a special price. Not to forget the joys of trawling the booklined pavements at Fountain, where one could watch the world go by. And wherever I chose to go, there was always my friend, the sea, oh. I loved her, in all her moods, but especially in the monsoon when violent and enraged she splattered Worli seaface with walls of sea spray. My friends are lost, some passed away, some moved away, there were many whose names I never found out, though we took the train together, or met in the lift, every day.

Like every migrant, I promise myself, someday I will return. I may, perhaps, return sometime, but even so, I know, "that one cannot step into the same river twice." You seduced me steadily, o Mumbai, with your glamour and bright lights. City of dreams, tinsel town. I pay tribute to you. Today, I say good-bye with a heavy heart.

(1) What does this extract focus on?

(2) Which mood of the sea did the writer like the most?

(3) How would the writer spend her free time?

( 4) According to you, how can you make your locality clean and beautiful?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) She splattered Worli seaface with walls of sea spray.
(Rewrite it using the Simple Present tense.)

(ii) I never found out their names though we took the train together
(Make it a Compound Sentence.)

(iii) I promise myself, someday I will return.
(Rewrite it using the modal auxiliary 'must'.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean -

(i) courageously

(ii) attracted

(A) Read the fo llowing extract and answer the questions given below :

Kalpana Chawla was extremely proud other birth-place and made every effort to bring it into the lime-light. During space flights she vit, (mid prondk point it out to her Fellow-astronauts. Once, during the second Hight she remembered her closest friend, Dais Chawla, who died in a road accident. In fact, despite her celebrity status, she took pains to track down her former teachers, classmates and friends in India and showed a keen desire to stay in touch with them.

Her affectionate and humble nature won the hearts of all who came in contact with her. Although Kalpana had a strong desire to go to Mars, fly over its canyons she was equally concerned about the well-being of the earth. She always urged young people to listen to the sounds of nature and take care of our fragile planet. During, her space trips, she took many breatlitakilig photographs of the earth for various terrestrial studies later on the ground. When she was in space, she always felt a sense of connection with everyone on the earth.

It was Kalpana's cherished desire to visit India again. But that was not to be. A few months after her tragic death, Harrison visited India. He went to her school and college, met her family, teachers and friends and scattered her ashes over the Himalayas.

(1) What is the extract about? (1)

(2) How was Kalpana connected with India and Indians? (2)

(3) How was Kalpana concerned about the well-being of the earth? (2)

(4) What would you like to do For India? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

(i) She took many breathtaking photographs of the earth.
(Rewrite it using the Present Perfect Continuous tense.) (1)

(ii) He scattered her ashes over the Himalayas.
(Rewrite it beginning with 'Her ashes ...... ')(1)

(iii) Kalpana was extremely proud of her birth-place and made every effort to bring it into limelight.
(Rewrite it using 'not only ...... but also'.)(1)

( 6) Give the antonyms from the extract for -

(i) collected (1/2)
(ii) forgot (1/2)

(B) Summary :
Write a summary of the above extract with the help of the following
points and suggest a suitable title :
Points : Kalpana's affection towards India and Indians her humble - nature her love for the earth Harrison's visit to India. (4)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given
below:
Prominent among the urges that inspire and drive a person in life, is the mge to be a somebody. It is quite human, especially in the early stages of life, to want to do something to win laurels and admiration of all around. There's a pitfall though - the very process of becoming a somebody may subtly reduce yon to a nobody.
American poet Emily Dickinson, who lived in obscurity, has an interesting poem on this theme. "I'm nobody!" she declares, with apparent pride.
"Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?"
Why should anybody be happy about being nobody?
The poem explains :
"How dreaiy to he somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
The word 'bog' is significant. When you become a somebody, you invite adulation :
this then begins to bog you down. The moment you think you have arrived, you begin to stagnate, or, worse, your downslide begins. An endless list of writers, artists, sportsmen, politicians ..... fit this pattern of personal history.
To sustain your development in absolute terms, to become a true somebody, it is important to remain a temporal nobody. Even if destiny makes you a temporal somebody,
you should be able to see yourself as merely an agent of a superior power; no more. This requires an exercise of will. You have to constantly watch out and talk to yourself morning and evening.

(1) What is the main idea of the extract? (1)

(2) Why is it important for one to remain a temporal nobody? How? (1)

(3) What does Emily Dickinson declare with pride? Why? (2)

(4) What would you like to be in your life - Somebody or nobody? Why? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed
(i) This requires an exercise of will.
(Rewrite it using the Simple Future tense.) (1)

(ii) You have to constantly watch out and talk to yourself.
(Rewrite it using another modal auxiliary showing 'compulsion'.) (1)

(iii) You begin to stagnate.
(Rewrite it using the noun form of the word underlined.) (1)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean -

(i) danger (1/2)

(ii) praise (1/2)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
One day, I saw the tree was being cut. I rushed to the site and begged the tree cutters to spare the trunk as it wast the home of many a parrot. But I was laughed at and the tree fell with a great thud. I ran to the top end to see two just hatched chicks thrown out of their nest and smashed to death. I looked into all the nests and saw smashed eggs in two of them and one little chick in the other one. Fortunately, the little one survived the fall. I brought it home. The chick can be identified as a parrot only by the shape and colour of its beak. No feathers had come out. 1 carefully fed it with milk and within two weeks it began to eat bananas; and two months later, it started to fly and I let him fly away. But he would not fly long. He used to liner on the coconut trees in our compound and when I reached home from school, he would fly down and land on my head!
I would show him my finger and he would jump on to it from my head and drink the milk I offered him in a little plate. By putting the sharp end of the upper beak stationaty in the plate, he would drink the milk by moving his tongue and lower beak to and fro. Then he would fly on to my shoulder and eat paddy from mypahn.

(1) What is the extract about? (1)

(2) Describe how did the boy save the life of a chick ? (2)

(3) What was the parrot's daily routine at the author's home? (2)

(4) Do you think, we have deprived the birds of their natural habitats? What are its effects? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) I rushed to the site. (Rewrite the sentence using 'used to'.) (1)

(ii) The tree was being cut. (Rewrite it beginning with 'They .... .' (1)

(iii) I looked into all the nests and saw smashed eggs in two of them. (Rewrite the sentence using the word 'when'. (1)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean -
(i) neatly (1/2)
(ii) stay for longer (1/2)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :

Early risers clearly have the edge in life. By the time most of us wake up, they've been through their morning rituals, enjoyed their walk, had their tea and read the daily news. They're also likely to have made long-distance calls before dawn to those similarly inclined. Thus, by the time the sun warms up they're likely to have discussed all varieties of 'men, matters, and affairs' with a dozen people.
The upshot of these varying tendencies is that such extreme contrasts often exist in the same household. Weeks pass before the younger lot (typically late risers) and the older lot (normally early birds) come face to face. It's almost as if they live in different time zones and different countries.
All over the country, things are likely to be pretty much the same in this respect, one would think. If the man of the house, any house, decides to take a day off from work, he'd probably find his son emerging from his room at about I0 a.m. and that too in a 'rubbing-eyes' mode. After fooling around for a while the lad would probably dash off to college in a rush whilst simultaneously zipping up his jeans and sending text messages on his phone. His father would undoubtedly be left shaking his head and burying himself deeper into his newspaper.

(1) What is the extract about?

(2) How do the early risers get a headstart in life?

(3) What kind of lifestyle of the young son is reflected in the extract?

(4) According to you, why do the youngsters rise up late?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) He goes for his morning walk at 1 p.m.
(Rewrite it in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.)
(ii) They live in different time zones.
(Make it a complex sentence.)
(iii) The man decides to take a day off from work.
(Rewrite it using the noun form of the underlined word.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean:
(i) have a slight advantage over
(ii) coming out

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Researchers recently announced the earth could actually withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits, and only at 1·3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being ina can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6·5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwide. Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that the population would reach 11·I6 billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9·3 billion. Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11·5 billion. While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure - the poorest 20% a tiny 1·3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated?
Concerns on the scarcity of food are equally baseless. In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth. If people starve in many countries it is not because food is becoming scarce; it is because those people cannot afford it.

Questions:
(1) What conclusions did the researchers arrive at?

(2) How does the writer explain that fertility is on the decline?

(3) What does the extract predict about the fear of scarcity of food?

(4) How will the population become a gift in the global market scene?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) The earth could withstand up to 200,000 times the current population.
(Rewrite the sentence using the modal auxiliary showing 'certainty'.)
(ii) The earth would be too hot to be habitable.
(Remove 'too' and rewrite the sentence.)
(iii) These resources are being used.
(Rewrite the sentence beginning with, 'We ........... .')

(6) Write the antonyms of:
(i) habitable
(ii) stabilize

(A) Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
Chronic floods during the monsoon, on average, affect more than 30 million Indians annually Ironically, 60% of India's farmland, 66% of its livestock and its entire forest area depend on rains for survival.
According to a recently released Central Water Commission (CWC) report, on an average, 7·21 million hectares (roughly 72,000 sq. km.) go under floodwater. This water typically ravages 3·78 million hectares of agricultural land, damaging crops worth Rs. 1, 118 crores annually.
Heavy rains and floods account for nearly 1,700 lives lost annually. Apart from this, I ·25 lakh houses are annually damaged by torrential rains that also wipe out nearly 96,000 livestock.
Floods are the most recurrent natural calamity, hitting India almost every year. According to the CWC's report on financial aspects of flood control, anti-sea erosion and drainage projects, it is not possible to provide absolute protection instantly to all flood-prone areas. It says that such an attempt will neither be practical nor economically viable.
The CWC's analysis of floods in India from 1953 to 2011 shows a marginal decline in flood-affected areas over the years, the data shows 1977 1978 and 1979 were the worst-hit. The 1977 floods killed over 11,000 people, six-time the average for the 59 years, between 1953 and 2011. In terms of area and population affected, the floods of 1978 were the most destructive.
In terms off the financial loss, recent floods have been far more destructive. The total loss of crops, houses and public utilities in 2009 was Rs. 32541 crores, the highest for any year.

Question
(1) What is the above extract about?

(2) How do floods adversely affect India?

(3) Why is it not possible to provide absolute protection to all flood-prone areas?

(4) How would you help the flood-affected people?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) The floods of 1978 were the most destructive.
(Change the sentence into the 'positive degree'.)
(ii) Floods are the most recurrent natural calamity hitting India almost every year.
(Make it a complex sentence.)
(iii) Floods have been far more destructive.
(Rewrite the sentence using the Simple Present tense.)

(6) Give the meanings of:
(i) entire
(ii) calamity

(B) Write a brief summary of the above extract with the help of the points given below and suggest a suitable title.
Floods - natural, recurrent calamity in India - destroy life and property - no absolute protection - neither practical nor economically viable- floods in 1977 and 1978.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below.

I grew up in India in which telephones were both rare and virtually useless. When I left India in 1975 to go to the US for graduate studies, we had perhaps, 600 million residents in the country and just two million landline telephones. Having a telephone was a rare privilege: if you weren’t an important government official, or a doctor, or a journalist, you might languish in a long waiting list and never receive a phone.

Telephone were such a rarity (after all, 90% of population had access to a telephone line) that elected members of Parliament had amongst their privileges the right to allocate 15 telephone connections to whomever they deemed worthy.

And if you did have a phone, it wasn’t necessarily a blessing. I spent my high school years in Calcutta, and I remember that if you picked up your phone, you had no guarantee you would reach the number you had dialled. Sometimes you were connected to someone else’s ongoing conversation, and they had no idea you were able to hear them; there was even a technical term for it, the ‘cross - connection’ (appropriately, since these were connections that made us very cross). If you wanted to call another city, say Delhi, you had to book a ‘trunk call’ in the morning and then sit by the telephone all day waiting for it to come through; or you could pay eight times the going rate for a ‘lightning call’ = but even lightning struck slowly in India those days, so it only took half an hour instead of the usual three or four or more to be connected.

Questions:

(1). Why were telephones a rarity before 1975? (1)

(2) What special rights did elected members of Parliament use to have? (2)

(3) How did the author differentiate between a ‘trunk call’ and a ‘lightning call’? (2)

(4) Do you think the cellphone has made us global? (2)

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed. . (3)

(i) You could pay eight times the going rate for a ‘lighting call’. (Rewrite it using modal auxiliary showing compulsion)

(ii) I spent my high school years in Calcutta. [Rewrite it using past perfect tense]

(iii) Telephones were a rarity. [Make it a rhetorical question]

(6) Match the words in column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’. (1)

	Column A		Column B
(i)	Privilege	(i)	means to reach or get
(ii)	Access	(ii)	remedy
		(iii)	special right

Read the following passage and do the activities.

In the early days of farming, people did not understand how plants obtained essential nutrients. It so happened that wood ash, fish remains and slaughterhouse waste were thrown on vacant land just to get rid of them. Then, people started to notice that the grass, bushes and shrubs on this vacant land began to grow very well. They reasoned that if their farmland were similarly treated, the growth of their crops would also improve. People gradually began to realize that the nutrients required by plants came from the soil and that the amount of nutrients could be increased by the application of such organic remains to the soil. Thus started the manuring process in farming.
The practice of manuring has been practised as early since the seventeenth century. However, the importance of manuring was not properly understood until scientists began to study the nutritional needs of plants and gave birth to fertilizers. Thus, gradually, the use of fertilizers became accepted by farmers.
There are many types of manure and fertilizer currently being used. Manure is a substance derived from animals and plants. The most important advantage of using manure is the fact that they not only supply a wide range of plant
nutrients, but also improve the structure of the soil. It cements together the soil particles to form soil crumbs. The crumb structure is a desirable condition of cultivated soil. The addition of manure to soil will increase the inorganic and humus content which helps to prevent soil erosion and loss of plant nutrients when it rains. The common manure used in farming consists of farmyard manure, compost, blood meal, bone meal and fish meal.
Unlike manure, fertilizers are inorganic substances which do not improve the structure of the soil. They only supply extra amounts of nutrients to the growing plants when applied to the soil. The commercial fertilizers commonly used today
can be classified into three major categories; namely, nitrogen (N), phosphate and potash fertilizers.
Besides knowing the type of fertilizer to use, a farmer also needs to know when to apply the fertilizer and how to apply it. The fertilizer should be applied at the time when the plants need a particular nutrient most. The time and method
of application will determine how profitably the fertilizers have been used in farming. Fertilizers which have not been properly applied cannot be absorbed in large quantities by plant roots. These fertilizers may be washed away by rain
or they may kill the plants. This would mean a definite financial loss for the farmer.

(A1) Choose the correct option and rewrite the sentences.
(a) What did the people not understand in the early days of farming ? (1/2)
(i) how farming is done
(ii) how plants obtained essential nutrients
(iii) how grass, shrubs and bushes grow.

(b) What is manure ? (1/2)
(i) a substance derived from animals and plants.
(ii) the soil particles to form soil crumbs.
(iii) a combination of nitrogen, phosphate and potash.

(c) When should fertilizers be applied ? (1/2)
(i) When the plants get dried.
(ii) When the plants need a particular nutrient most.
(iii) In the early days of farming.

(d) What determines the profitability of the fertilizers ? (1/2)
(i) grass, bushes and shrubs
(ii) nitrogen, phosphate and potash.
(iii) The time and method of application.

(A2) How did the process of adding manure to the soil begin? (2)

(A3) Find out similar words from the passage. (2)
(i) necessary (ii) comprise
(iii) step by step (iv) ascertain

(A4)
(i) They supply extra amount of nutrients to the growing plants (Begin the sentence with ‘Extra amount of.......... ’.)(1)

(ii) It cements together the soil particles to form soil crumbs.
(Choose the correct option to name the tense.)(1)
(i) Simple present tense
(ii) Simple past tense
(iii) Simple future tense

(A5) ‘Agriculture plays important role in Indian economy’. Explain. (2)

(B) Read the passage given in Q. 4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable title to your summary. (5)

Read the following passage and do the activities.

The Delhi Metro is a metro system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Bahadurgarh, Ballabhgarh, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida in the National Capital Region of India. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited
(DMRC), a State-owned company with equal equity participation from the Government of India and the Government of Delhi, built and operates the Delhi
Metro. It is the second oldest metro in India after the Kolkata Metro.
The Delhi Metro is the largest and busiest metro in India, and the world’s 9th longest metro system in length and 16th largest in ridership. A member of CoMET, the network consists of eight colour-coded regular lines, with a total
length of 317 kilometres, serving 231 stations including 6 on Airport Express line and interchange stations. The system has a mix of underground, at-grade, and elevated stations using both broad-gauge and standard-gauge. DMRC operates over 2,700 trips daily. In the financial year 2016–17, the Delhi Metro had an average daily ridership of 2.76 million passengers and served 100 crore (1.0 billion) riders.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was certified by the United Nations in 2011 as the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and helping in reducing pollution levels in the city by 630,000 tonnes every year. Planning for the metro started in 1984 when the Delhi Development Authority and the Urban Arts Commission came up with a proposal for developing a multi-modal transport system for the city. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was incorporated in May 1995, construction started in 1998, and the first section, on the Red Line, opened in 2002. The development of the network was divided into phases, Phase I containing 3 lines was completed by 2006, and Phase II in 2011. Phase III is scheduled to be mostly complete by 2018.

(A1) Name the following.
(a) The Government authority which built and operates the Delhi Metro -
(b) The first and the oldest Metro in India -
(c) The satellite cities nearby Delhi -
(d) The largest and busiest metro in India -

(A2) The salient features of Delhi Metro are -

(A3) Find out antonyms from the passage for the following.
(i) shortest ´ (ii) increasing ´
(iii) irregular ´ (iv) ended ´

(A4) The Delhi Metro is the largest and busiest metro in India.
(Complete the following sentences with the help of the given sentence.)
(i) No other metro................................
(ii) The Delhi Metro is larger.......................

(A5) “Transportation is the backbone of Indian economy’’ - Elaborate

(B) Read the passage given in Q. 4 (A) and write the summary of it. Suggest a suitable title to your summary.

Read the extract and do the activities that follow :

‘Your father was my enemy,’ said Frederick. ‘I would have been better pleased by your brave deed if you had told me of another father?’
‘I am proud to be Sir Rowland's son,’ answered Orlando angrily,’ and I would not change my place to be the heir of this dukedom.’
The Duke and his lords went away, leaving Orlando alone with Rosalind and Celia. Celia was angry with her father for speaking so unkindly to Orlando. ‘Would I have done this in my father’s place?’ she said to Rosalind.
‘My father loved Sir Rowland as much as his own soul,’ Rosalind said to Celia, ‘and all the world agreed with him. If I had known that his young man was Sir Rowland’s son I should have begged him with tears not to take so great a risk.’
‘Let us go and speak to Orlando,’ said gentle Celia. ‘I am ashamed of my father’s rude and angry words.’
The two girls went up to Orilando and praised him for his bravery. Rosalind took a gold chain from her neck and gave it to him. ‘I would like to give you more’, she said, ‘but I am not rich.’ Then she and Celia went away.
Orlando, however, could not forget them. He had already fallen in love with the fair Rosalind, but he could not stay at the Duke’s palace. His friends warned him that Frederick was angry and jealous of him. They told Orlando to leave the dukedom, because the Duke meant to do him harm.

A1. Match -

Match the characters and their attributes:

	A		B
i.	Celia	a.	fair
ii.	Orlando	b.	rude and unkind
iii.	Frederick	c.	gentle
iv.	Rosalind	d.	brave

A2. Write an imaginary paragraph:

Write an imaginary paragraph in about 50 words in continuation with the given extract.

(A) Read the extract and do the activities that follows :

“Pluck the flowers off”, said the other boy and the daisy trembled for fear, for to be pulled off meant death
to it; and it wished so much to live, as it was to go with the square of turf into the poor captive lark’s cage.
“No, let it stay,” said the other boy, “it looks so pretty.” And so it stayed, and was brought into the lark’s cage. The poor bird was lamenting its lost liberty, and beating its wings against the wires; and the little daisy could not speak or utter a consoling word, much as it would liked to do so. So the forenoon passed. “I have no water,” said the captive lark, “they have all gone out and forgotten to give me anything to drink. My throat is dry and burning. I feel as if I had fire and ice within me and the air is so oppressive. Alas! I must die, and part with the warm sunshine, the fresh green meadows, and all the beauty that God has created.” And it thrust its beak into the piece of grass, to refresh itself a little. Then it noticed the little daisy, and nodded to it, and kissed it with its beak and said : “You must also fade in here, poor little flower. You and the piece of grass are all they have given me in exchange for the whole world, which I enjoyed outside. Each little blade of grass shall be a green tree for me, each of your white petals a fragrant flower. Alas! You only
remind me of what I have lost .

A1. True / False -
State whether the following statements are true or false :
(i) The boys had kept water in the cage for the lark.
(ii) The daisy had a desire to console the poor lark.
(iii) The lark was reminded of its lost liberty.
(iv) The daisy did not want to go into the lark’s cage.

A2. Write an imaginary ending :
Write an imaginary paragraph in about 50 words to give a different ending to the above extract.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :

Reuben arrived at the factory. The sack buyer was about to lock up.
"Mister! Please don't close up yet." The man turned and saw Reuben, dirty and sweat-stained.
"Come back tomorrow, boy."
"Please, Mister. I have to sell the sacks now-please." The man heard a tremor in Reuben's voice and could tell he was close to tears.
"Why do you need this money so badly?"
"It's a secret."
The man took the sacks, reached into his pocket and put four nickels into Reuben's hand. Reuben murmured a quiet thank-you and ran home.
Then, clutching the tin can, he headed for the store.
"I have the money" he solemnly told the owner, pouring his coins onto the counter.
The man went to the window and retrieved Reuben's treasure. He wiped the dust off and gently wrapped it in brown paper. Then he placed the parcel in Reuben's hands.
Racing home, Reuben burst through the front door. His mother was scrubbing the kitchen range. "Here Mum!Here!" Reuben exclaimed as he ran to her side. He placed a small box in her work-roughened hand.
She unwrapped it carefully, to save the paper. A blue-velvet jewel box appeared. Dora lifted the did, tears beginning to blur her vision.
In gold tettering on a small, almond-shaped brooch was the word 'Mother'
It was Mother's Day, 1946
Dora had never received such a gift; she had no finery except her wedding ring. Speechless, she smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms.

(1) Why did Reuben insist on the sack buyer to buy his sacks that day only?
(2) How did the mother react when Reuben gave her the gift?
(3) In what way was Reuben's gift special to his mother?
(4) What do you plan to do on Mother's Day?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) I have to sell the sacks.
(Rewrite it replacing the underlined part with the modal auxiliary showing 'compulsion'.)
(ii) She smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms. (Use 'As soon as'.)
(iii) She unwrapped it carefully.
(Rewrite the sentences using the noun form of the underlined word.)
(6) Find out the words/phrases from the extract which mean:
(i) showing joy (ii) got back

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Researchers recently announced the earth could actually withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits, and only at 1.3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being in a can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6.5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwide. Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that the population would reach 11.16 billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9.3 billion. Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11.5 billion. While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure - the poorest 20% a tiny 1.3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated?
Concerns on the scarcity of food are equally baseless. In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth.

(1) What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
(2) What is the relationship between the population and the available resources?
(3) Why do the researchers claim that the earth is capable of sustaining a bigger population?
(4) What, according to you, are the problems caused by the increasing population?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) The earth would be too hot to be habitable. (Remove 'too'.)
(ii) Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. (Rewrite it using 'but')
(iii) Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11.5 billion. (Make it 'less definite'.)
(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean :
(i) natural capacity to produce (ii) shortage

Read the following extract and complete the table given below:

Children are perpetually asking questions. As adults, we are awkward with questions. We link the act of asking questions to ignorance. It indicates that we do not know; hence, we may look stupid while asking questions.

Children have no shame, whereas adults suffer from layers and layers of shame. Because children have no shame, they are more capable of failing at something and moving on from it. Our sense of shame makes us inhibited. So we do not try new things at work.

Children quickly make friends with strangers. Put two small kids alongside a few toys and they will start playing before they care to know about each other’s antecedents. As adults, we seek the false comfort of known relationships before we agree to play with each other.

Children freely express their emotions; adults learn to suppress their emotional side. We come to the workplace and are frequently counselled, “Do not get emotional.”

Children play. They find play in everything. Adults shun play and consider it the opposite of “serious work”. To a child, every act is an act of play.

Traits Delinking Childhood and Adulthood:

	Traits	Children	Adults
1	Asking Questions	Perpetually ask questions freely	(1) Feet awkward with questions (2) ___________
2	Feeling Shame	(1) Feel no shame (2) ____________	(1) Suffer from shame (2) Inhibited to try new things at work
3	Making friends	(1) Quick in making friendship without knowing each other	(1) ____________
4	Expressing emotions	(1) ____________	(1) Suppress emotions.

Read the first activity, read the extract and then do all the activities:

A1. Complete the following sentence choosing the correct alternatives:

He goes for a morning walk at 1 p.m., because -
(1) ______________________________________________
(2) ______________________________________________
(a) He arrives from work past midnight.
(b) He has to stay in bed for a longer time till late morning.
(c) He has a special plan for early morning.
(d) He does not like to join the early birds' club.

Some people can just never wake up early. They munch their breakfast on the way to work.

They have excuses ready when they reach the office late. They miss trains on a regular basis. They have never seen a sunrise or met the milkman.

Until a loved one turned over a new leaf recently, she was one such late riser. Try as she might, she couldn't help pressing the snooze button a hundred times before she finally got up. She felt terrible about this tendency but there was nothing she could do about it. Come morning, She would just not be able to shrug off the desire to sleep a while more. Only when divine intervention answered her prayers recently was she able to join the early bird's club.

Another relative has no plans of joining this league through. She is rather unabashed about waking up past noon on a daily basis. To be fair, her husband is a media personality who typically arrives home from work past midnight. That does indeed give them sufficient justification to stay longer in slumberland each morning. This practice does lead to certain oddities through. He goes for his 'morning' walk at 1 pm, heatwaves, and appalled onlookers notwithstanding. They once returned from a night out only to meet the neighbour's son who was off on an early morning jog!

A2. Web :

Complete the following web :

A3. Complete the following statement :

Early risers clearly have the edge in life, because -
(1)
(2)

A4. Vocabulary :

Match the words in column 'A' with their meanings in Column 'B'.

Column 'A'	Column 'B'
(1) justification	(a) dismiss
(2) oddities	(b) sleep
(3) slumber	(c) strange things
(4) shrug off	(d) clarification

A5. Personal Response:
State two things that you can do to join the early birds' club.

A6. Grammar:
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

(1) She felt terrible about this tendency but there was nothing she could do about it. (Rewrite the sentence using 'although'.)

(2) They have never seen a sunrise or met the milkman. (Rewrite using 'neither ... nor'.)

Read the following passage and do the given activities.
A1. State whether the following statements are true or false:
i. The narrator writes comics.
ii. Sudhir qualified as a friend.
iii. The narrator met Sudhir in Dehra.
iv. Friendship is all about disintegration.

FRIENDSHIP IS ALL ABOUT DOING THINGS TOGETHER. IT MAY BE Climbing a mountain, fishing in a mountain stream, cycling along a country road, camping in a forest clearing or simply traveling together and sharing the experiences that a new place can bring.
On at least two of these counts, Sudhir qualified as a friend, albeit a troublesome one, given to involving me in his adolescent escapades.
I met him in Dehra soon after my return from England. He turned up at my room, saying he’d heard I was a writer and did I have any comics to lend him?
“I don’t write comics”, I said; but there were some comics lying around, leftover from my own boyhood collection. So I gave these to the lanky youth who stood smiling in the doorway, and he thanked me and said he’d bring them back. From my window, I saw him cycling off in the general direction of Dalanwala.
He turned up again a few days later and dumped a large pile of new-looking comics on my desk. “Here are all the latest”, he announced. “You can keep them for me. I’m not allowed to read comics at home”.

A2. Complete the web chart with the information from the passage:

A3. Find out four compound words from the passage.

A4. Do as directed:
i. I am not allowed to read comics at home.
(Pick out the infinitive)
ii. From my window, I saw him cycling.
(Use ‘when’ and rewrite the sentence)

A5. According to you, what are the qualities of a good friend?

Read the extract and do the activities that follow :

Two weeks later, I wrote: "Dear Mum, thanks for the socks. But I wish you had sent me a food parcel instead. How about some guava cheese? And some mango pickle. They don't give us pickle in school. Headmaster's wife says it heats the blood."

"About that skeleton. If a dead body was hidden in that cupboard after 1930- must have been, if the newspapers of that year were under the skeleton - it must have been someone who disappeared around that time or a little later. Must have been before Tirloki joined the hotel, or he'd remember. What about the registers- would they give us a clue?"

Received a parcel containing guava cheese, strawberry jam, and mango pickle. HEadmaster confiscated the pickle. Maybe he needed it to heat his blood.

A note enclosed with parcel read: "Old hotel registers missing. Must have been thrown out. Or perhaps Mr. Green took them away when he left. Tirloki says a German spy stayed in the hotel just before the War broke out. The spy used to visit the Gurkha Lines and the armaments factory. He was passing information on to a dentist who visited Germany every year. When war broke out, the dentist was kept in a prisoner-of-war camp. The spy disappeared-some say to Tibet. Could the spy have been silenced and put away in the cupboard? But I keep forgetting it was a woman's skeleton. Tirloki says the spy was a man. But a clever spy may have been a woman dressed as a man. But a clever spy may have been a woman dressed as a man. what do you think? "

It was the football season, and I wasn't doing much thinking. Chasing a football in the monsoon mist and slush called for single-minded endurance, especially when we were being beaten 5-0 by Simla Youngs, a team of junior clerks from the government offices. Not the ideal training for a boy-detective. The winter holidays were still four months distant, and the case of the unidentified skeleton appeared to be resolving itself with a little help from my mother and her friends.

B1. Complete :
Complete the following sentences :

(1) The narrator's football team was beaten 5-0 by ___________ .
(2) Headmaster's wife says that ___________ .
(3) Things that the narrator received in the parcel are __________ .
(4) The German spy was passing information ___________ .

B2. Write a gist :

Write a gist of the extract in about 50 words.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :

But being named an 'AdarshGaon · is far from easy. Villages had to give a proposal after Which a committee headed by Mr. Pawar inspected the villages. "The villages had to show dedication in the struggle to fight mediocrity. They had to follow all the conditions of becoming an 'AdarshGaon '. We chose villages with a revolutionary spark." Mr. Pawar says.

Villages need to follow strict rules. The process begins with effective water managc1nent through the watershed technique and Water auditing. taking responsibility for the village's natural resources -phmting trees and stopping grazing, contributing labour for the village Work, and then expanding to bring about behavioral changes in the people for harbouring social change. Hiware Bazaar is free of any kind of addiction and there are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village. Vasectomy has been made co1npulsory. as is the pre-marital HIV test.

The 'AdarshGaon · n1odcl prides itself of being based on the joint decisions made by the (Gram Sabha, Where all the villagers are present. Even while selecting the new villages under the scheme, Mr. Pawar made sure that the decision to become an ideal village was taken by the entire village together.

The greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar so far has been the reverse migration that the village has witnessed since 1989. As many as 93 families have come back to the village, "from the slums in Mumbai and Pune." Mr. Pawar says.

(1) What features of 'AdarshGaon' are given in this extract?
(2) What is the procedure for selecting 'AdarshGaon'?
(3) What is the greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar?
(4) Do you think all villages in Maharashtra should follow the ideals of Hiware Bazaar? Why?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the Ways instructed :

(i) Mr. Pawar inspected the villages.
(Rewrite it using the noun form of the word underlined.)
(ii) Vasectomy has been made compulsory by the villagers.
(Rewrite it beginning with -"The villagers ........ ".)
(iii) There are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village.
(Rewrite it using 'neither ........ nor'.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean :

(i) causing a great change
(ii) the quality of being average

Read the following extract and answer the questions given
below:

So what is a city? It's a dense amalgamation of buildings and people. A city must provide equity and also be sustainable. As an architect who has been closely connected with Delhi and its planning, my wish list is more about the direction we need to take
so that future generations don't end up living in chaotic dysfunctional cities.

The first requirement for a city is a pragmatic plan. Many of our cities such as Delhi and Bhubaneshwar and even Port Blair in the Andamans have reasonably good master plans. Many also have City Development Plans which have been made an essential
requirement to draw funds from the government's Urban Renewal Programme (JNNURM). But they should be updated frequently based on the changing needs of its people.

And let's not forget its citizens-they need to be more proactively involved when evolving master plans. But often, there's a lack of planning and inadequate implementation systems. This applies to all essential components of city-streets, public transport system, traffic management, affordable housing, cars and parking, drainage, water supply, sewerage, and garbage. Any deficiency in these will lead to poor quality cities which won't be able to handle the pressure of increased population and changing needs.
The second requirement of a good city is good social infrastructure such as parks and places for leisure such as river and sea fronts. It needs to preserve and protect its heritage.

(1) What does a city require to emerge as a good city?

(2) What is the second requirement of a good city?

(3) What are the basic requirements to draw funds from the government's-Urban Renewal programme (JNNURM)?

(4) What suggestions will you give to make your city ideal?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

(i) It's a dense amalgamation of buildings and people.
(Rewrite it using 'as well as'.)
(ii) A city must provide equity and also be sustainable.
(Rewrite it using another modal auxiliary showing "advice".)
(iii) The first requirement for a city is a pragmatic plan.
(Frame a 'Wh' ·question to get the underlined part as an answer.)

(6) Match the words in column 'A' with their meaning in 'B':

Column A	Column B
1 pragmatic	1 blend
2 amalgamation	2 fantastic
	3 realistic
	4 ancient

Read the passage carefully:

As the family finally sets off from home after many arguments, there is a moment of lull as the car takes off. “Alright, so where are we going for dinner now?” asks the one at the driving wheel. What follows is chaos as multiple voices make as many suggestions.
By the time order is restored and a decision is arrived at, tempers have risen, feelings injured, and there is at least one person grumbling.
Twenty years ago, you would step out of home, the decision of meal and venue already made with no arguments or opposition, and everybody looked forward to the meal with equal enthusiasm. The decision was made by the head of the family, and the others fell in line. Today, every member of the family has a say in every decision, which also promotes a sense of togetherness and bonding.
We empower our kids to take their own decisions from a very early age. We ask them the cuisine they prefer, the movie they want to see, the holiday they wish to go on, and the subjects they wish to study.
It’s a closely connected world out there where children consult and guide each other. A parent’s well-meaning advice can sound like nothing more than unnecessary preaching. How then do we reach our children through all the conflicting views and make the voice of reason be heard? Children today question choices and prefer to go with the flow.
What then is the best path to take? I would say the most important thing one can do is to listen. Listen to your children and their silences. Ensure that you keep some time aside for them, insist that they share their stories with you. Step into their world. It is not as complicated as it sounds; just a daily half an hour of the quality time would do the trick

2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer the following questions in 30-40 words each:

Write one advantage and one disadvantage of allowing every family member to be part of the decision-making process.
In today’s world, what are parents asking their kids?
Which two pieces of advice does the writer give to the parents?
The passage supports the parents. How far do you agree with the author’s views? Support your view with a reason.

2.2 On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following:

The synonym of ‘hurt’ as given in paragraph 2 is ______.
The word, which means the same as a style or method of cooking in paragraph 4, is:
1. cuisine
2. gourmet
3. gastric
4. science
The antonym of ‘agreeable’ as given in paragraph 5 is ______.
The antonym of ‘simple’ as given in paragraph 6 is:
1. difficult
2. complicated
3. easy
4. tricky

Read the passage given below.
Then all the windows of the grey wooden house (Miss Hilton used to live here. She expired last week.), were thrown open, a thing I had never seen before.
At the end of the day a sign was nailed on the mango tree: FOR SALE.
Nobody in the street knew Miss Hilton. While she lived, her front gate was always locked and no one ever saw her leave or saw anybody go in. So even if you wanted to, you couldn't feel sorry and say that you missed Miss Hilton.
When I think of her house I see just two colours. Grey and green. The green of the mango tree, the grey of the house, and the grey of the high iron fence that prevented you from getting at the mangoes.
If your cricket ball fell in Miss Hilton's courtyard you never got it back. It wasn't the mango season when Miss Hilton died. But we got back about ten or twelve of our cricket balls.
The house was sold and we were prepared to dislike the new owners ever before they came. I think we were a little worried. Already we had one resident of the street who kept on complaining about us to our parents. He complained that we played cricket on the pavment; and if we were not playing cricket he complained that we were making too much noise anyway.
One afternoon, when I came back from school Pal, said, "Is a man and a woman. She pretty pretty, but he ugly like hell". I didn't see much. The front gate was open, but the windows were shut again. I heard a dog barking in an angry way.
One thing was settled pretty quickly. Whoever these people were they would never be the sort of people to complain that we were making noise and disturbing their sleep.
A lot of noise came from the house that night. The radio was going at full volume until midnight when the radio station closed down. The dog was barking and the man was shouting. I didn't hear the woman.

On the basis of your understanding the above passage complete the following statements :

(a) Nobody went into Miss Hilton's house because her front __________.

(b) Her house had only two colours, (i) __________ and (ii) __________.

(c) High iron fence did not let the boys get __________.

(d) They never got it back if their __________ fell into her courtyard.

(e) The boys were ready to dislike the __________.

(f) One resident of the street always __________.

(g) New owners of Miss Hilton's house were (i) __________ and (ii) __________.

(h) A man was shouting, a dog was barking, only __________.

A. Read the following passage and do the given activities:

A1. List the benefits of Yoga (02)

______
______
______
______

We give undue importance to our health and the treatment of diseases. A large number of medicines treat only the symptoms of the disease, and not the root cause. In fact, the cause of many chronic ailments is still being researched. It is here that Yoga therapy comes to our assistance. Yoga emphasizes the treatment of the root cause of an ailment. It works in a slow, subtle and miraculous manner. Modern medicine can claim to save a life at a critical stage, but, for complete recovery and regaining of normal health, one must believe in the efficiency of Yoga therapy.

The Yogic way of life includes a code of ethics, regulations, discipline, combined with prayer and meditation. Even a discussion of these subjects helps one relieve mental tensions and change attitudes. Simple Asana has helped to stretch and relax the whole body and release tensions. The sincere practice of Yoga postures is beneficial, for the mind and body.

The continued practice of Yoga has a profound effect on the inner dimensions of life. Yoga aims at developing mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional facilities. Other forms of physical exercises, like aerobics, assure only physical well-being. They have little to do with the development of the soul and mind.

A2. Complete the following statement according to the passage: (02)

One must believe in the ________
Aerobics assure only __________

A3. Fill up the word-formation chart: (02)

Noun	Verb	Adjective
development	______	______
______	believe	______

A4.

Yoga emphasizes the treatment of the root cause of an ailment.
(Frame ‘Wh-‘ Question to get the underlined part as an answer) (02)
We give undue importance to our health.
(Begin with Undue importance......) (02)

A5. Do you believe Yoga Asanas are better than physical exercises? Justify your answer.

B. Summary Writing (5)

Write a short summary of the passage given in above and suggest a suitable title.

Read the passage given below.

5	Technology is making advancements at a rapid rate but at the cost of a valued tradition - the crafts industry. The traditional crafts industry is losing a lot of its trained and skilled craftsmen. With that, the art of embellishing brass and copper utensils with fine engravings is also disappearing. The government has identified around 35 crafts as a languishing craft.
10	The speciality of handcrafted items is their design, an association with long traditions belonging to a specific region. The word ‘handcrafted’ does not imply the involvement of dexterous human fingers or an agile mind with a moving spirit anymore. Lessening drudgery, increasing production and promoting efficiency have taken precedence. The labour-saving devices are taking the place of handcrafted tools and this has jeopardized the skills of these artisans.
15	Mechanisation has made its way into everything - cutting, polishing, edging, designing etc. Ideally, the use of machinery should be negligible and the handicrafts should be made purely by hand with a distinguishable artistic appeal. However, with the exception of small-scale industries, the export units are mostly operated by machines. The heavily computerised designs contribute to faster production at lower costs.
20	Although mechanization of crafts poses a challenge to safeguarding traditional crafts, the artisans are lured with incentives in order to impart handicrafts training. Some makers do see machines as a time-saving blessing since they are now able to accomplish difficult and demanding tasks with relative ease. These machines might give a better 25finesse to these products but they don’t stand out as handcrafted. The quantity has overtaken quality in this industry.
30	A need to highlight the importance of the handmade aspect is required by both the government and private sectors, in order to amplify awareness and also support the culture of making handicrafts. A few artisans are still trying their best to rejuvenate and revive their culture and heritage but it’s an uphill task competing with the machine-made goods. A multitude of artisans have changed their professions and are encouraging their progeny to follow suit. There are others who have stayed their ground but are clearly inclined towards buying machines.
35	Nearly two decades ago, there were around 65 lakh artisans in the country. Three years ago, when the government started the process of granting a unique number to the artisans based on the Aadhaar card, 25 lakhs were identified. Loss of traditional crafts is clearly a worrying issue, but it stands to reason that forcing any artisan to follow old ways when concerns of livelihood overrule other considerations, is unfair.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below.

What does the writer mean by calling handicrafts a ‘valued tradition’?
Rewrite the following sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with a word that means the same from lines 5-15.
If it continues, the workcation (work + vacation) trend will be a powerful boost to domestic tourism operators failing to make progress in the economic slump caused due to the pandemic.
State any two reasons why artisans are choosing to work via machines rather than handcrafted tools.
Why do the artisans need to be ‘lured with incentives’ to impart handicrafts training?
List one likely impact of the support of government and private sectors towards the culture of making handicrafts.
How does the writer justify an artist’s act of abandoning her/his traditional craft for a more lucrative option?

Read the following excerpt from a case study.

Impacts of Festivities on Ecology

Festivals are synonymous with celebration, ceremony and joy. However, festivals bring to the fore the flip side of celebrations – pollution – air, water, soil and noise. This led to the need of assessing the awareness level among people about ecological pollution during festivals. So, a study was conducted by scholars of an esteemed university in India. This study was titled Awareness Towards Impact of Festivals on Ecology.

There were two main objectives of the study. The first one was to assess the awareness level among people about ecological protection during festivities. Exploring solutions to bring awareness about celebrating festivals without harming ecology was the second objective. The method used to collect data was a simple questionnaire containing 6 questions, shared with 50 respondents across four selected districts of a state in the southern region of India.

The research began by understanding the socio-economic conditions of the respondents before sharing the questionnaire. Once the responses were received, the data collected were tabulated (Table 1), for analysis.

Table-1: Awareness level among respondents

QUESTIONS	YES %	NO %	CAN’T SAY%
1. Do you feel that bursting crackers is a must during festivities?	46	54	0
2. Do you think most people abuse environmental resources during the celebration of festivals?	72	28	0
3. Do you think that celebrations & festivities result in uniting people?	64	32	4
4. Do you enjoy bursting crackers for amusement?	68	32	0
5. Do you feel pressured to burst crackers during festivals as an expectation of your social status?	82	12	6
6. Are you aware of waste segregation & disposal guidelines for better ecology?	56	40	4

The study recommended the imposition of strict rules and regulations as opposed to a total ban on all festive activities which have a drastic impact on our environment. The researchers believed that such measures would help in harnessing some ill-effects that add to the growing pollution and suggested further studies be taken up across the country to assess awareness about ecological degradation.

The observations made in the study pointed to the environmental groups and eco-clubs fighting a losing battle due to city traffic issues, disposal of plastics, garbage dumping and all sorts of ecological degradation. The researchers stressed that the need of the hour is increasing awareness among people to reduce environmental pollution which can be facilitated by celebrating all festivals in an eco-friendly manner.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below.

Why do the researchers call pollution the ‘flip side’ of festivals?
Comment on the significance of the second objective of the study with reference to lines 7-12.
Justify the researchers’ recommendation for limiting the drastic impact of festival pollution on the environment with reference to lines 16-21.
Why do the researchers feel that environmental groups and eco-clubs are fighting a losing battle in the given scenario?
Even though a larger number of people say ‘no’ to bursting crackers than those who say ‘yes’, festival pollution persists. How does evidence from table 1 support this statement?
What purpose does the ‘Can’t Say’ column serve in the questionnaire (table 1)?

Read the following passage and do the activities.

November 4, 1851.

Dear Brother John Honston,

When I came to Charleston day before yesterday, I learned that you were anxious to sell the land where you live, and move to Missouri. I have been thinking of this ever since, and cannot but say such an idea is quite foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here? Is the land any richer? Can you, there, any more than here, raise com and wheat without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better place than right where you are; if you do not intend to work, you cannot get along anywhere. Crawling about from place to place can do you no good. You have raised no crop this year. What you really want is to sell the land, get the money and spend it. Part with the land you have and my life upon it-never after will you own a spot big enough to bury you. Half of what you will get for the land, you will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other hall you will eat, drink, wear out and no foot of land will be brought. Now I feel it my duty to have no hand in such a piece of foolery.

Now do not misunderstand this letter. I do not write it in any unkindness. I write it in order, if possible, to get you to face the truth which truth is, you are poor and needy because you have idled away your time. Your thousand excuses for not getting along better are all nonsense. They deceive nobody but yourself. To go to work is the only cure for your case.

Affectionately,
Your brother,
Abraham Lincoln.

A1. Answer the following whether True or False:

Writer came to Charleston
Writer is Abraham Lincoln
Letter is for sister Honston
No crop was raised

A2. How, according to Lincoln, would his brother spend the money coming from selling the land?

A3.

Find out two words with prefix from the passage.
Write two different words on your own by using the same prefix.

A4. Do as directed:

Rewrite the sentence using 'Not only .......... but also'.
She forgot to wish me on my birthday and did not even apologize.
Change the voice:
The workers built the dome.

A5. Lincoln wishes to have no hand in selling the land Justify.

Read the passage and write a summary of it in a paragraph. Suggest a suitable title.

Vegetarianism promotes a natural way of life. But despite its implicit message of universal love and nonviolence, it has not spread as it should have. This may be because it usually is an inward looking habit and is best cultivated in the mind.

Leading a vegetarian way of life helps the animal kingdom to coexist with man. The animals supply milk, manure and energy. This has been central to Indian culture for thousands of years. A vegetarian lifestyle is natural, multifaceted and helps preservation in a healthy way. Food and health are closely related.

Vegetarians are of various types. There are lacto-vegetarians who consume dairy products; Lacto-ovo-vegetarians include eggs in addition to dairy products. Vegans are pure vegetarians who do not consume any food derived from animals.

The Western science of food considers food as something to sustain only the human body, whereas Indian science considers food as something which sustains not only the body but also maintains the purity of heart, mind and the soul. Thus, an item of food that is injurious to the mind is not considered to be fit for consumption, even if it is otherwise beneficial to the body or satisfies the taste. Indian food science does not give so much importance to protein or even to a balanced diet but it gives importance to food that increases the strength of the body and its vitality.

Vegetarian foods provide an infinite variety of flavours whereas non-vegetarian foods have hardly any taste of their own. In fact, non-vegetarian foods have to be seasoned with ingredients from the vegetable kingdom to make them palatable.

Read the passage given below.

1	Mountains have always been held in great awe by mankind. They have been a challenge to humans. Those brave among us have always wanted to conquer them. You see, the more incredible the mountains, the greater the thrill – a challenge to the bravery of the human race. Climbing mountains is an experience that is hard to put into words. You are in a beautiful environment and, when you reach the top, you feel incredible. But you also have to climb down, which is when most accidents happen – people are tired, it gets dark, it’s harder. So, mountain climbing is undoubtedly one of the most popular adventure sports along with being challenging and risky for the climber.
2	Without any perceived risk, there can’t be a feeling that any significant challenge has been surmounted. Fair, but we have to bear in mind that mountaineering is not a sport that can be embraced without preparation. The enthusiasts must develop in themselves the spirit of adventure, willingness to undertake hardships and risks, extraordinary powers of perseverance, endurance, and keenness of purpose before climbing a mountain. They should also know how to handle mountaineering equipment. Then comes the penance of the rigorous training. This could very well be the lifeline up there. It helps inculcate and hone survival instincts that allow the climber to negotiate perilous situations. There are numerous institutes in India and abroad that offer such training.
3	Mountain climbers are unanimous in agreeing that unpredictable weather is what they fear the most. There may be sunshine one moment and a snowstorm the other. At higher altitudes, snow is a regular feature and being decisive about setting up camps or proceeding further is crucial. The icy sheets after ice storms make walking treacherous, while the powdery snow makes a mountaineer sink deep into the snow. Up there, where the intention is to embrace Nature’s wonder, one realizes that it cannot be done without facing its formidable glory. A true mountaineer may challenge the mountain, yet is always respectful of the powerful forces of nature.
4	Summiting mountains carries its own health risks such as oxygen and altitude sickness problems, frost bites, swelling of hands and feet, fluid collection in brain or lungs and exhaustion. Yet, the gratification mountaineers feel from mastering something that is so frightening, urges them to undertake these endeavors. We may think that the mountaineers are fearless, experts say, “Not at all. It’s fear that keeps them so intrigued with such arduous journeys.” Impulse and brazenness can be deadly foes. In the words of the Indian mountaineer, Bachendri Pal, “The biggest risk ... is to not to take the risk at all. Remember that.”

i. Why does the writer say that mountains inspire ‘awe’ in humans? (Paragraph 1) (1)

They present us with opportunities for exciting sports.
They evoke the wish in us, to master them.
They inspire in us, deeds of valour.
They represent peace and calm, to us.

ii. Select the option that corresponds to the following relation below: (1)

The more incredible the mountains - the greater the thrill (Paragraph 1)

The higher the stamina - the lower the food intake
The more you laugh - the lesser your illness
The smaller the car - the bigger the advantage
The heavier the luggage - the higher the penalty

iii. Select the option that displays what the writer projects, with reference to the following: (1)

So, mountain climbing is undoubtedly one of the most popular adventure sports (Paragraph 1)

doubt
caution
conviction
denial

iv. Complete the following with a phrase from paragraph 1. (1)

Opinion	Reason
______	Best experienced rather than described

v. The writer compares training to penance in the line - Then comes the penance of the rigorous training. (Paragraph 2) (1)

State 1 point of similarity between training and penance.

vi. Based on your reading of the text, list 2 reasons why the writer says that
“mountaineering is not a sport that can be embraced without preparation”. (Paragraph 2) (1)

____________
____________

vii. What connect does the writer draw out between unpredictable weather and setting up of camps? (Paragraph 3) (1)

viii. The writer says, “A true mountaineer may challenge the mountain, yet is always respectful to the powerful forces of nature.” (Paragraph 3) (1)

Select the reason the mountaineer is respectful to the forces of nature, up in the mountains.

survival
experience
tradition
directive

ix. justify the following: (1)

While mountain climbing, an impulsive mountaineer is either disaster-prone or as good as dead.

x. Evaluate the Inappropriate reason for the feeling of exhilaration on reaching a summit, that the mountain-climbers experience. (1)

Achievement of a seemingly impossible feat
Spectacular panoramic view
Application of the inculcated survival instincts
Opportunity to use sophisticated mountaineering equipment

II. Read the passage given below.

1	The North-East of India is a melting pot of variegated cultural mosaic of people and races, an ethnic tapestry of many hues and shades. Yet, these states are lesser explored as compared to the rest of the country. The new generations of travellers who are ‘money rich and time poor’ are increasingly looking for unique experiences --a phenomenon being called the emergence of the ‘experience economy’. For this new and growing breed of tourists, the North-East with its variety and uniqueness holds immense attraction.
2	A study conducted in 2020 by Dr. Sherap Bhutia, revealed that the foreign tourist arrival in the North-East increased from 37,380 persons in 2005 to 118,552 in 2014. The overall growth rate of tourists (both domestic and foreign) in the North-East was as high as 26.44% during 2005-06. High and positive growth of 12.53% was registered in foreign tourist visits to North-East States of India during 2012 from 2011, which further rose to register a growth of 27.93% during 2013 from 2012. Foreign tourist arrivals in the North-East witnessed a growth of 39.77% during 2014 from 2013, according to data provided from the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
3	The study recommendations for tourism planners included the need to concentrate on some key areas like enhancement of tourist facilities, tourism financing, focus on community involvement and others for the formulation of a sustainable tourism strategy in the North-East States of India.

i. Infer one reason for the following, based on information in paragraph 1. (1)

The rate of tourism in the North-East of India puzzles tourism officials.

ii. Select the appropriate option to fill in the blanks. (1)

From paragraph 1, we can infer that the ______ and ______ of the North-Eastern states aid attracting the ‘money rich and time poor’ tourists.

1. distinctiveness
2. conventionality
3. diversity
4. uniformity
5. modernity

1 & 3
2 & 4
2 & 5
1 & 4

iii. Complete the following analogy correctly with a word/ phrase from paragraph 1: (1)

aroma : cooking : : ______ : painting
(Clue: Just like aroma is integral to cooking, similarly, ______ is/ are integral to painting)

iv. Select the correct option to complete the following sentence: (1)

Travellers advocating the ‘experience economy’ seek a holiday package with ______ (Paragraph 1)

grand facilities, expensive hotels and excellent services to pamper them.
a wholesome experience within the budget they have planned for.
places and cities to buy things from and opportunities to spend money.
cost-effective services, affordable accommodation and many days of touring.

v. Select the chart that appropriately represents the trend of foreign tourist travels in the North-East, from 2011-2014, as per paragraph 2. (1)


(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)

Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4

vi. Fill in the blank by selecting the correct option. (1)

The study of tourist travel statistics in the North-East, from 2005 to 2014 showed ______ results.

expected
encouraging
inconsistent
questionable

vii. Substitute the word ‘witnessed’ with one word similar in meaning, in the following, sentence from paragraph 2: (1)

Foreign tourist arrivals in the North-East witnessed a growth of...

viii. List any 2 examples of ‘tourist facilities’ as referred to, in Paragraph 3. (1)

ix. List one reason why the researchers recommend that the formulation of a tourism strategy in the North-Eastern States of India be sustainable. (1)

x. Select the option that titles paragraphs 1-3 appropriately, with reference to information in the text. (1)

1. Full Speed Ahead!
2. Ups and Downs
3. Cause for Concern
1. Winds of Change
2. Numbers Don't Lie
3. Time for Action
1. Inspecting Trends
2. Statistically Speaking
3. Let's Investigate
1. Cause and Effect
2. Dynamic Data
3. Dependable Facts

Based on the careful reading of the passage given below, answer any four out of five questions that follow:

Climate change and global warming are the biggest threats of the present time and how the world manages to control pollution will define our future. Rising industrialization, urbanization, deforestation etc., are endangering the natural ecosystem. Since 1880, the earth’s temperature has been rising at a rate of 0.14° F (0.08° C) per decade and the rate of increase has doubled since 1981 at 0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade. The 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2015, with 2020 recorded as the second-warmest year as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

With growing economies, global carbon measurements have been rapidly rising for the last 15 years. As per recent data, in January 2022, carbon dioxide (CO₂) measurement stood at 418 parts per million, up around 11% from 378 parts per million recorded since 2007.

(a) What is the key to defining our future?

The means employed to control pollution.
The means employed to control resources.
The means employed to control state policies.
The means employed to educate masses.

(b) Which of the following elements are not responsible for endangering natural ecosystem?

Deforestation
Inflation
Industrialization
Urbanization

(c) According to the passage, economy, and carbon emissions have been ______ to each other for last 15 years.

Inversely proportionate
Directly proportionate
Not related
Disproportionate

(d) Name the institution responsible for observing and recording earth’s temperature over the years.

National Organic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
North Organic and Atmospheric Administration
National Offshore and Atmospheric Administration

(e) Carbon dioxide measurement stood at ______ parts per million in 2007.

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

1.	Too many parents these days can't say no, As a result, they find themselves raising 'children' who respond greedily to the advertisements aimed right at them. Even getting what they want doesn't satisfy some kids; they only want more. Now, a growing number of psychologists, educators, and parents think it's time to stop the madness and start teaching kids about what's really important: values like hard work, contentment, honesty, and compassion. The struggle to set limits has never been tougher and the stakes have never been higher. One recent study of adults who were overindulged as children paints a discouraging picture of their future: when given too much too soon, they grow up to be adults who have difficulty coping with life's disappointments. They also have a distorted sense of entitlement that gets in the way of success in the workplace and in relationships.
2.	Psychologists say that parents who overindulge their kids set them up to be more vulnerable to future anxiety and depression. Today's parents themselves raised on values of thrift and self-sacrifice, grew up in a culture where no was a household word. Today's kids want much more, partly because there is so much more to want. The oldest members of this generation were born in the late 1980s, just as PCs and video games were making their assaults on the family room. They think of MP3 players and flat-screen TV as essential utilities, and they have developed strategies to get them. One survey of teenagers found that when they crave something new, most expect to ask nine times before their parents give in. By every measure, parents are shelling out record amounts. In the heat of this buying blitz, even parents who desperately need to say no find themselves reaching for their credit cards.
3.	What parents need to find, is a balance between the advantages of an affluent society and the critical life lessons that come from waiting, saving, and working hard to achieve goals. That search for balance has to start early. Children need limits on their behaviour because they feel better and more secure when they live within a secure structure.
4.	Older children learn self-control by watching how others, especially parents act. Learning how to overcome challenges is essential to becoming a successful adult. Few parents ask kids to do chores. They think their kids are already overburdened by social and academic pressures. Every individual can be of service to others, and life has meaning beyond one's own immediate happiness. That means parents eager to teach values have to take a long, hard look at their own.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any eight questions from the nine given below:

What is challenging for today's parents?
What will be the consequence of over indulging children?
Why do parents get caught in the buying blitz?
How do children learn critical life lessons?
What is the impact of advertisements on children?
Why do children need limits on their behaviour?
How do older children learn self-control?
Find a word in the passage which means 'research'. (Paragraph 2)
Find a word in the passage which means 'wealthy'. (Paragraph 3)

Read the passage given below:

Starting Monday, the country's low-cost Mars mission with the red planet for an extended period will enter the "blackout" phase snapping communication with the satellite. From June 8 to 22 the Sun will block Mars from the Earth snapping communication with the satellite.
A senior Indian Space Research Organisation official said. "This will be for the first time that there will be a communication break for such a long period of about 15 days. During this period, there will be no communication with the satellite", he added.
Expressing confidence about regaining control over the satellite once the blackout phase is over, he said, "the scenario has been tested and the line of communication will be established." The spacecraft's life has been extended for another six months in March due to surplus fuel.
Stating that the spacecraft has been "configured" for the blackout, the ISRO official said, "we are not sending any commands to the spacecraft now, till 8th June few hours of signals will be sent by the spacecraft that will be for about two to three hours per day". In May next year, the mission will have to go through a similar phase once again, if there is another extension of mission life when the Earth will come between the Sun and Mars.
Scripting space history, India on September 24 last successfully placed its low-cost Mars spacecraft in orbit around the red planet in its very first attempt, breaking into an elite club of three countries.

Infer one reason for the following based on information in paragraph 1. (1)
The 'blackout' phase is significant ______.
Choose the appropriate option to fill in the blank. (1)
From paragraph 1 & 2, we can infer that there will be ______.
1. no communication with the people.
2. blackout phase.
3. satellite will get no communication.
4. the moon will block the earth.
5. the communication break will be for 15 days.
1. 1, 2 & 3
2. 1, 3 & 4
3. 2, 3 & 5
4. 3, 4 & 5
The communication with the satellite will break for approximately ______ days. (1)
1. 10
2. 15
3. 20
4. 25
Complete the following analogy correctly with a word/phrase from paragraph 2: (1)
aroma : cooking : : ______ : space research
(Clue - just like aroma is integral to cooking, similarly __ is/are integral to space research.)
According to ISRO official till 8^th July, when Sun will block Mars, ______ signal/signals per day will be sent to the spacecraft. (1)
1. no
2. considerable
3. indefinite
4. only for few
Select the correct option to complete the following sentence: (1)
The ISRO officials are ______ about their control over the spacecraft after the blackout phase.
1. doubtful
2. apprehensive
3. confident
4. jittery
The spacecraft's life was extended by six months because of ______. (1)
1. extra fuel
2. incomplete work
3. lack of communication amongst ISRO officials
4. technical problems in its landing
Read the following sentences: (1)
(A) The blackout was a sudden development.
(B) Because of this, the officials are very nervous about the success of the spacecraft.
1. Both (A) & (B) are true.
2. Both (A) & (B) are false.
3. (A) is true and (B) is false.
4. (A) is false and (B) is true.
Substitute the word 'nonpareil' with one word similar in meaning in the following sentence from paragraph 5. (1)
India managed to get into the nonpareil club of Mars spacecraft in orbit.
The word 'fascination' in the opening sentence means the same as: (1)
1. enchantment
2. boredom
3. disinterest
4. ugliness

Read the extract given below:

(1)	Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. When areas in and around Leh began to experience water shortages, life didn't grind to a halt. Why? Because a retired civil engineer in the Jammu and Kashmir Government came up with the idea of artificial glaciers.
(2)	Ladakh, a cold desert at an altitude of 3,000 - 3,500 meters above sea level, has a low average annual rainfall rate of 50 mm. Glaciers have always been the only source of water. Agriculture is completely dependent on glacier melt, unlike the rest of river/monsoon-fed India. But over the years, with increasing effects of climate change, rainfall and snowfall patterns have been changing, resulting in severe shortage and drought situations. Given the extreme winter conditions, the window for farming is usually limited to one harvest season.
(3)	It is located between the natural glacier above and the village below. The one closer to the village and lowest in altitude melts first, providing water during April-May, the crucial sowing season. Further, layers of ice above melt with the increasing temperature, thus ensuring continuous supply to the fields. Therefore, farmers have been able to manage two crops instead of one. It costs about 1,50,000 and above to create a glacier.
(4)	Fondly called the glacier man, he has designed over 15 artificial glaciers in and around Leh since 1987. In recognition of his pioneering effort, he was conferred the Padma Shri by The President of India.
(5)	There are a few basic steps followed while creating an artificial glacier. River or stream water at high altitude is diverted to a shaded area of the hill, facing north, where the winter sun is blocked by a ridge or a mountain range. At the start of winter ie., in November, the diverted water is made to flow on sloping hills facing distribution channels. Stone embankments are built at regular intervals which impede the flow of water, making shallow pools which freeze, forming a cascade of ice along the slope. Ice formation continues for 3-4 months resulting in a large accumulation of ice which is referred to as an ‘artificial glacier’.

Based on your understanding of the extract, answer the questions below:

Infer one reason for, the following, based on information in paragraph 1. (1)
Areas in and around Leh began to experience water shortage but life didn't grind to a halt.
Select from the passage the appropriate option to fill in the blanks: (1)
Agriculture is completely dependent on ______ unlike the rest of river/monsoon-fed India.
1. rainfall pattern
2. climate change
3. glaciers melt
4. extreme winter conditions
Complete the following analogy correctly with a word/phrase from paragraph 3: (1)
Icing : cake :: layers : ______.
Select the correct option to complete the following sentence: (1)
At the start of winter the diverted water is made to flow ______.
1. on sloping hills facing distribution channels.
2. on high altitude.
3. on ice-cold water level.
4. on mountain range.
From the chart select the months of water surplus. (1)
1. January, February.
2. November, December.
3. July, August, September.
4. March, April
Fill in the blank by selecting from the passage the correct option: (1)
The ______ have been the only source of water in areas in and around Ladakh.
1. glaciers
2. rivers
3. streams
4. water springs
The word 'located' in paragraph 3 means: (1)
1. found
2. locally found
3. situated
4. adapted
Write any two steps followed while creating the glaciers. (1)
List one reason why artificial glaciers seem the best option. (1)
Select the most suitable title from the following for the passage: (1)
1. Water Shortage.
2. New Ways Pool Water.
3. Artificial Glacier.
4. River Beds.

Read the following text.

	Arthur lay in his cabin, still trying to piece together the events of the last few hours. He had watched his home planet of Earth be demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, been saved by his friend Ford, and then whisked away on a ship that was powered by an "infinite improbability drive." It was all too much for him.
5.	Just then, Ford stuck his head around the door. "Hey, Earthman," he said, "come and have a look at this." Arthur stumbled after him down a corridor and into the ship's control room. He gazed in amazement at the banks of controls and flashing lights. In the center of the room was a large console covered in buttons and switches, and in the middle of the console was a small, white mouse.
10	"What's that?" asked Arthur. "That's the ship's computer," said Ford. Arthur stared at the mouse. "That's a computer?" he said. "Yup," said Ford. "Five-dimensional, biologically-based, super intelligent, and in the form of a white lab mouse. Pretty neat, huh?"
15	"I don't know," said Arthur. "I don't think I really understand anything anymore. Why is a mouse the ship's computer?" "It's a long story," said Ford. "But the short version is that the mice built the Earth as a giant computer to figure out the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Then they ran out of money and had to destroy it to make way for a hyperspace bypass. So now they're using the Heart of Gold to finish the calculation."
20	Arthur was about to say something, but at that moment the ship's intercom crackled to life. "Good evening, Heart of Gold," said a smooth, computerized voice. "This is Eddie, your shipboard computer. I'm feeling a bit depressed today. Would you like me to sing you a song?" "Oh, not again," groaned Ford.
25	"Eddie, would you mind shutting up?" said Arthur. Arthur sighed and leaned back against the console, trying to make sense of everything. But as he closed his eyes, he heard a voice inside his head. "Hello?" it said. Arthur jumped, startled. "Who's there?" he said.
30	"It's me," said the voice. "Marvin." "Marvin?" said Arthur. "Who's Marvin?" "The Paranoid Android," said the voice. Arthur looked around, but he didn't see anyone. "Where are you?" he said. "I'm down here," said the voice.
35	Arthur looked down and saw a small, metal figure shuffling across the floor. It was about three feet tall, with a round head and a body that looked like it had been cobbled together from spare parts. Its eyes were a dull red, and its voice was a monotone. "I've been waiting for someone to talk to me for over two million years," said Marvin.

Answer the following questions, based on the passage above.

Select the option that classifies Arthur's confusion about drastic events such as the destruction of his home planet and the introduction of new technologies, correctly. (1)
1. Routine and boredom
2. Adventure and excitement
3. Loss and change
4. Calm and relaxation
What is the significance of the white lab mouse in the control room of the Heart of Gold spaceship? (1)
1. It is the captain of the ship
2. It serves as the ship's computer
3. It is a pet of the crew
4. It is used for scientific experiments
Share evidence from the text, in about 40 words to support the view that the writer’s writing style is descriptive and humourous. (2)
Complete the sentence appropriately with a characteristic or its description. (1)
Based on the information given in the excerpt, one can infer that the mice who built the Earth are ______.
Select the option that is similar in meaning to Ford’s expression, “Pretty neat, huh?". (1)
1. Easy, isn’t it?
2. Could be worse, no?
3. Impressive, yes?
4. Too difficult for you?
Explain, in about 40 words, why the name "The Paranoid Android" is considered ironic. (2)
In the line, “…a body that looked like it had been cobbled together from spare parts…”, what comparison does the word “cobbled” refer to? (1)
How does the following, impact the reader, even though they know Marvin is just an android? (2)
"I've been waiting for someone to talk to me for over two million years," said Marvin. Answer in about 40 words.
Read the five headlines (a) -(e), given below: (1)
(a) HUMANITY'S JOURNEY WITNESSED BY A DEPRESSED ROBOT
(b) HITCHHIKING THROUGH SPACE: A COMICAL TAKE ON THE END OF THE WORLD
(c) NEW STUDY FINDS ALIENS LIVING AMONG US
(d) GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY WILL SOON ENABLE TIME TRAVEL
(e) INTERGALACTIC TRAVEL VIA NEW INFINITE IMPROBABILITY DRIVE
Identify the option that displays the headline/s that DOES/ DO NOT correspond with occurrences in the passage.
1. Only (a)
2. (b) (c) and (d)
3. Only (e)
4. (a) and (e)

Read the passage given below:

(1)	Seagulls, as you know, never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them a disgrace and a dishonour. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve – slowing, slowing, and stalling once more –was no ordinary bird. Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.
(2)	This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make oneself popular with other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent the whole day alone, making hundreds of low-level gliders, experimenting. "Why, Jon, why?" his mother asked. "Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can't you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? Why don't you eat? Son, you're bone and feathers!" "I don't mind being bone and feathers, Mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can't, that's all. I just want to know." "See here Jonathan," said his father, not unkindly. "Winter isn't far away. Boats will be few, and the surface fish will be swimming deep. If you must study, then study food, and how to get it. This flying business is all very well, but you can't eat a glide, you know. Don't you forget that the reason you fly is to eat?"
(3)	Jonathan nodded obediently. For the next few days, he tried to behave like the other gulls; he really tried, screeching and fighting with the flock around the piers and fishing boats, diving on scraps of fish and bread. But he couldn't make it work. It wasn't long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea, hungry, happy, learning. The subject was speed and in a week's practice he learned more about speed than the fastest gull alive. Time after time it happened. Careful as he was, working at the very peak of his ability, he lost control at a high speed. The key, he thought at last, dripping wet, must be to hold the wings still at high speeds – to flap up to fifty and then hold the wings still.
(4)	From two thousand feet he tried again, rolling into his dive, beak straight down, wings full out and stable from the moment he passed fifty miles per hour. It took tremendous strength, but it worked. In ten seconds he had blurred ninety miles per hour. Jonathan had set a world speed record for seagulls! But victory was short-lived. The instant he began his pullout, the instant he changed the angle of his wings, he snapped into the same uncontrollable disaster, and at ninety miles per hour, it hit him like dynamite. Jonathan Seagull exploded in midair and smashed down into a brick-hard sea. As he sank low in the water, a strange hollow voice sounded within him. There's no way around it. I am a seagull. I am limited by my nature. If I were meant to learn so much about flying, I'd have charts for brains. If I were meant to fly at speed, I'd have a falcon's short wings. Short wings. A falcon's short wings! That's the answer! What a fool I've been! All I need is a tiny little wing, all I need is to fold most of my wings and just fly on the tips along. Short wings!

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below:

Complete the sentence by choosing an appropriate option: (1)
Majority of seagulls fly only short distances as ______.
1. they are more interested in food than flight
2. they don't have energy
3. they are not meant to fly low
4. food is not available at high speed
Why were Jonathan Livingston's parents' dismayed? (1)
Give two reasons for Jonathan's unconventional behaviour. (1)
(Clue: think about Jonathan's point of view.)
Select the option that conveys the opposite of 'glory' from the words used in paragraph 1. (1)
1. disgrace
2. dishonour
3. learning
4. unashamed
The writer would not agree with the given statements based on paragraph 2, EXCEPT (1)
1. Jonathan could not fly but only glide.
2. Jonathan wanted to be popular with other birds.
3. Jonathan realised that even the albatross flew at high altitudes.
4. The reason seagulls flew was to find food.
Jonathan was different, from other seagulls. Based on your understanding of paragraph 2, list what Jonathan wanted to know. (1)
What was the mother's concern about Jonathan? (1)
Complete the given sentence with an appropriate inference with respect to the following: (1)
Father reminds Jonathan that he 'can't eat a glide' in order to ______.
It, wasn't long before Jonathan Gull was off by himself again, far out at sea. Which trait of Jonathan does this statement reveal? (1)
1. practical bird
2. persistent learner
3. lonely and sad
4. carefree and irresponsible
Was it fair to fly like a falcon when he was just a seagull? Why does he say so? (1)

Read the following passage and do the activities:

A1. Complete the following sentences from the passage: (2)

Kalam earned a degree in ______ engineering.
DRDO stands for ______.
Kalam was ______ of the SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle.
Kalam served as lecturer at ______.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in full Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, (born October 15, 1931, Rameshwaram, India - died July 27, 2015, Shillong), Indian scientist who played a leading role in the development of India's missile and nuclear weapons programmes. He was President of India from 2002 to 2007.

Kalam earned a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology and in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In 1969, he moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation, where he was project director of the SLV-III, the first satellite launch vehicle that was both designed and produced in India. Rejoining DRDO in 1982, Kalam planned the programme that produced a number of successful missiles, which helped earn him the nickname “Missile Man”. Among those successes was Agni, India's first intermediate-range ballistic missile, which incorporated aspects of the SLVIII and was launched in 1989.

Kalam remained committed using science and technology to transform India into a developed country and served as lecturer at several universities. Kalam wrote several books, including an autobiography, Wings of Fire (1999). He received the Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990), Indira Gandhi award for National Integration (1997) and the India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997).

A2. Complete the web diagram: (2)

A3. Fill in the blanks by using the suitable phrases/words from the bracket: (2)
[moved to, served as, launched, autobiography]

Mr. Gunaji has ______ a Principal in this college.
“The Story of My Experiments with Truth” is the ______ of Mahatma Gandhi.
My teacher ______ to England for further studies.
ISRO successfully ______ Chandrayaan-3 mission.

A4. Do as directed: (2)

Kalam wrote several books. (Frame a Wh-type question to get the underlined part as answer)
Kalam earned a degree in aeronautical engineering. (Begin the sentence with “A degree in…….)

A5. Who is your role model? Write few lines about him/her. (2)

Read the passage given below - 1. The Higgs boson has been called, or miscalled, the God particle, enabling it to pass into the realm of popular scientific lore.

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Read the passage given below - 1. The Higgs boson has been called, or miscalled, the God particle, enabling it to pass into the realm of popular scientific lore.

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