SSC (English Medium) १० वीं कक्षा - Maharashtra State Board Question Bank Solutions for English

Read the following passage and do the given activities :

B1. Answer in one word : (2)

1. At what age was Stephen diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?
2. Over the years. how many books has Stephen written or co-written?
3. When did Stephen catapult to international prominence?
4. In which year was his life story depicted?

Stephen Hawking (born January 8, 1942) is a British scientist, professor and author who has done groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology, and whose books have helped to make science accessible everyone. At the age of 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Part of his life story was depicted in the 2014 film The Theory of
Everything.

Over the years, Stephen Hawking has written or co-written a total of 15 books. A few of the most noteworthy include :

In 1988 Hawking catapulted to international prominence with the publication of A Brief History of Time. The short, informative book became an account of cosmology for the masses and offered an overview of space and time, the existence of God and the future. The work was an instant success, spending more than four years atop the ‘London Sunday Times’ best-seller list. Since its publication, it has sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into more than 40 languages.

A Brief History of Time also wasn’t as easy to understand as some had hoped. So in 2001, Hawking followed up his book with The Universe in a Nutshell, which offered a more illustrated guide to cosmology's big theories.

In 2005, Hawking authored the even more accessible A Briefer History of Time, which further simplified the original work’s core concepts and touched upon the newest developments in the field like String theory.

B2. Complete the following table with relevant information about Stephen Hawking: (2)

B3. Find out the 'Antonyms' from the passage for the following : (2)

1. worst × ______
2. exclude × ______
3. duplicate × ______
4. oldest × ______

B4.

1. It has sold millions of copies world wide and been translated into more than 40 languages.  (1)
   (Change it into simple sentence) 
2. The short informative book became an account of cosmology.  (1)
   (Add a Question Tag)

B5. ‘Stephen Hawking was a versatile personality’ Justify. (2)

Read the following extract and do the given activities :
A1. Fill in the web with what passion poesy can do to you: (2)

…...................and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms :
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty deed;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read
An endless fountain of immortal drink
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour; no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple’s self, so does the moon,
The passion poesy, glories infinite,
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,
That, whether there be shine, or gloom o’ercast
They always must be with us, or we die.

A2. List the things which express sorrow from the extract. (2)
A3. Write down the rhyme scheme of the last five lines. (1)

Prepare a speech to be delivered for District level Elocution Competition.
The subject given to you is How to live a happy and joyful. Use the following points:
• Live in a stress free atmosphere.
• Daily meditation and exercise.
• Be in a company of cheerful people.
• Take inspiration from great people.

Rearrange the letters to make a meaningful word:
yonnaed 

Read the following passage and do the given activities.
A1. Choose the correct alternatives to the given statement: 
 i. Dr. Kalam was invited to _______
 a. Swamiji’s programme
 b. attend 102nd birthday celebration
 c. meet Swamiji 
ii. Swamiji looked as steady and alert as any other _______ present there.
 a. Elder
 b. Person
 c. Youngster

iii. In Swamiji’s Ashram more than _______ children are taking education.
 a. Nine thousand
 b. Nineteen thousand
 c. Seven thousand
 iv. Dr. Kalam was deeply touched by _______
 a. Birthday celebration
 b. Swamiji’s inner strength
 c. Swamiji’s Ashram
 In April 2009, Dr. Kalam was invited to attend the 102nd birthday celebrations of His Holiness Dr. Sri Sri Shivakumara Mahaswamiji in the Tumkur district of Karnataka. Mahaswamiji is a remarkable person, who has dedicated his life to the service of humanity. His greatest contribution is the establishment of a free residential education system for more than nine thousand children in the ashram. The most astonishing aspect of the entire event of his birthday was that the 102 year old Swamiji stood on his feet without any support! He looked as steady and alert as any other youngster present there. This display of inner strength touched Dr. Kalam deeply.
 A couple of days later, we were discussing this unusual birthday party. I said to him, ‘Sir, do you know, only four out of 1 lakh people cross the age of 100?’ I had googled the subject beforehand. He replied, ‘But how many of these four would be able to stand tall for half an hour, give a wise discourse, and then go on to feed thousands of children?’ Of course, nobody could know the exact answer to his question but the question itself led to many other relevant queries. ‘I wonder what powers Mahaswamiji possesses that keeps him so strong at such an advanced age? Maybe it’s a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, or perhaps it’s genetics?’ I asked. 

A2. Find evidences from the passage that indicates that Swamiji: 
 i. was dedicated
 ii. had inner strength
 iii. contributed to the good of the society
 iv. was younger than the young generation. 
A3. Find out the noun forms of the following from the passage: 
 i. celebrate _______
 ii. contribute _______
 iii. educate _______
 iv. strong _______
 A4. Do as directed: 
 i. I had googled the subject beforehand.
 (Identify the tense of the sentence)
 ii. We were discussing this unusual birthday party.
 (Add a question tag)
 A5. Personal Response: 
 What measures will you take to keep yourself physically and mentally fit? 

Prepare a speech to be delivered by you at children’s day celebration, laying stress on “Today’s Children - Future of India”.

B. Read the following passage and do the given activities: 
B1. Choose the correct options from the bracket and fill in the blanks: 
 (younger, eighty, twenty, interval)
 i. I went over during the _______ and sat down beside her.
 ii. None of us are getting any _______.
 iii. It was _______ years ago.
 iv. I had _______ francs to last me the rest of the month. 
 

I caught sight of her at the play and in answer to her call. I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her and, if someone had not mentioned her name, I hardly think I would have recognized her. She addressed me brightly.
“Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time does fly! We’re none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.”
 Did I remember?
 It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment and I was earning barely enough money. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and presently, I received from her another letter saying she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me. But her time was limited and the only free moment she had was on the following Thursday and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot’s afterward? Foyot’s is a restaurant and it was so far beyond my means that I had never even thought of going there. I had eighty francs (gold francs) to last me the rest of the month and a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks, I could manage well enough.

B2. Where and when did they decide to have luncheon?

B3. Find out the ‘Synonyms’ from the passage for the following words: 
i. A set of rooms
ii. Acknowledged
iii. Handle
iv. Directed.

 B4. Do as directed: 
 i. I hardly think about it.
 (Begin the sentence with ‘How_______!)
 ii. She had read a book of mine.
 (Begin the sentence with ‘Hadn’t _______?)

B5. Personal Response: 
If you were in the place of the narrator, how would you have reacted in the given situation? 

Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in paragraph format.

Night of the Scorpion
 I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.

 Parting with his poison – flash
of diabolic tail in the darkroom –
 he risked the rain again

The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyze the Evil One.

With candles and with lanterns
 throwing giant scorpion shadows
 on the mud-baked walls
 they searched for him: he was not found.
 They clicked their tongues.
 With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
 moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
 May he sit still, they said
 May the sins of your previous birth
 be burned away tonight, they said.
 May your suffering decrease
 the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
 May the sum of all evil
 balanced in this unreal world
 against the sum of good
 become diminished by your pain.
 May the poison purify your flesh
 of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
 they said, and they sat around
 on the floor with my mother in the center,
 the peace of understanding on each face. 

More candles, more lanterns, more neighbors,
 more insects, and the endless rain.
 My mother twisted through and through,
 groaning on a mat.
 My father, sceptic, rationalist,
 trying every curse and blessing,
 powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid
 He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it. 
 I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
 I watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the
 poison with an incantation.
 After twenty hours
 it lost its sting.

 My mother only said
 Thank God the scorpion picked on me
 And spared my children.
-Nissim Ezekiel

you can use the following points while appreciating the given poem:
 i. Title 
 ii. Poet 
 iii. Theme/Central idea
iv.Rhyme scheme 
v. Figures of speech
vi. Special features (type the poem, imagery, implied meaning if any,etc.)
vii. Favorite lines
viii. Why I like/don’t like the poem. 

Your college has organised 'A Health Awareness Programme' to emphasise the importance of healthy food and say goodbye to 'Junk food'.

As a class representative, prepare a speech in about 100 words to be delivered during the inaugural function. You may use the following points :
(1) Importance of healthy food.
(2) Regular and proportional diet, avoiding junk food.
(3) Importance of exercise.
(4) Add your own points.

Attempt any one of the following:
Speech:
Prepare a speech to be delivered in the school assembly on ‘Science and spirituality go hand in hand’. Use the following points:

• Can work together
• Can explain lot of things of life.
• Gives scope for reasoning and thinking.
• Can give scope for intelligence and creativity.
• Can make more and more discoveries. 

Speech:
 You are selected as the head boy/girl of your school. You are expected to appeal to the students for growing more trees. Look at the following news to prepare your speech. You may use your own points.

Patan: The fast deforestation in the vicinity is resulting in serious changes in the weather conditions. Scanty rain, migration of birds, rising level of mercury is all due to the loss of proper environment. If we don’t take proper steps in time, we will have to face the penalty

Speech: 

‘Vachan Prerna Diwas’ or ‘Reading Day’ will be celebrated in your school. Prepare a speech to be delivered in the school assembly. You may take the help of the points given above. Add your own ideas.

Get into pairs and discuss the following with your partners and complete the table.

Many people are superstitious. This means that they have a belief for which they have no logical reason.

An example of superstition is that - walking under a ladder brings bad luck. In pairs, list any superstitions that you know of.

Brainstorm what you know about Scorpions. Use the points given below.

After reading the poem, complete the following. What happens? There are three main parts of the poem. Do you know what they are about? The first one is done for you.

Complete the following table.

Complete the following table.

Complete the following table.

Choose the correct alternative.

The child is afraid but admires ____________.

Choose the correct alternative.

His father and the villagers panic and hastily suggest _____________.