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Question
Give reasons, for us being reluctant to make friends with some strangers, but being comfortable with some, even after meeting them for the first time.
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Solution
Because of the way some people carry themselves, we tend to term them as closed or reserved. The gait, body language, and tone of these people make them appear unapproachable. Our inhibitions and apprehensions about a negative outcome stop us from befriending such people. In contrast, some people appear to be warm and welcoming. Their mannerisms and speech indicate that they are willing to befriend anyone. When we come across such people, we feel that they are far more approachable. The pleasing personality of such people gives us the impression that we have known them for a long time even though we are meeting them for the first time.
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Have you are wondered why soldiers are always clad in green? This is to enable them to camouflage themselves during wartime. Hiding in the jungles, their green attire blends into the surrounding trees and shrubs, making it difficult for the enemies to spot them.
Long before man-made use of camouflaging, insects have already adopted the tactic of disguise to escape from the clutches of their predators. By having body colour close to those of the rocks and dried leaves, they can escape from being pursued by the predators.
Butterflies and moths have developed a variety of camouflage strategies since they are quite defenceless and their predators are abundant. Possessing wings which resemble dried leaves help certain butterflies and moths to hide among heaps of dried leaves when predators are around.
Fortunately, not all insects choose the art of disguise to escape from their predators; otherwise, the world would be so dull and colourless. There are insects which assimilate the bright body colours of bees and wasps to escape from being pursued by their predator. Long ago, birds have already learnt to avoid brilliantly coloured wasps and bees in fear of their painful stings. Hence, over millions of years, many harmless insects have assimilated the bees and wasps by imitating. their bright body colours and shapes. In this way, they appear dangerous and hence ward them off.
The beefy, not only appears like the bumblebee in terms of body colour, even its hums sound similar too. The only difference is that the beefy does not have a stirring and is hence harmless. The hoverfly is another insect which imitates. the body colours of the wasps. Their bodies are striped yellow and black. The only deviations are that hoverflies do not have stings, and they have only one pair of wings each while wasps have two pairs each. These variations are hardly noticed by the predators and hence help them to escape.
A1. Complete the table with the information from the passage : (2)
| Insects | Similarity | Difference |
| Bumblebee - Beefy | ||
| Wasp - Hoverfly |
A2. Complete the tree diagram : (2)
A3. Find out : (2)
‘Nature has given a self-protection mechanism to insects’.
Find out at least two examples from the passage to prove this statement.
A4. Vocabulary - (2)
Find the words from the passage for :
(i) animal or bird that hunts other for food
(ii) to get free from danger
(iii) to prevent something from harming
(iv) to make a copy
A5. Personal response - (2)
‘Soldiers disguise themselves to prevent enemies to spot them’.
Give two more examples when the disguising technique is used by humans.
A6. Grammar - (2)
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) They have only one pair of wings.
(Make it negative without changing the meaning)
(ii) Insects have already adopted the tactic of disguise to escape from the clutches of their predators.
(Replace infinitive with gerund and rewrite)
(B) Summary : (3)
Summarise the above extract with the help of the points given and suggest a suitable title.
Camouflage of soldiers and insects - reason and ways for disguising - assimilation of insects - need of imitation.
Explain how diction is important in the poem with the help of an example.
What brought the six humans together? Where were they?
Which literary device is used in the last two lines:
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear, Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
Whose family has been referred to earlier in the context?
There are two pauses when Kaspar tells Wilhelmine in the last stanza that it was a famous victory. Nay … nay…my little girl, quoth he.What do these pauses show?
Explain and discuss the themes in the poem.
Can the poem The Patriot be considered a dramatic monologue? Justify.
What thought makes him feel safer?
What does the old man’s moral dilemma reveal in Hemingway’s short story, “The Old Man at the Bridge?
What does “I think the sun is a flower” mean in Ray Bradbury’s short story “All Summer in a Day”?
You have recently moved to a new neighborhood in your city. Describe the new neighbourhood, comparing it to the one you have just left.
Choose two of the passages (a) to (c) and answer briefly the questions that follow:
Benedick: I can see yet without spectacles, and I see no such matter. There's her cousin, she were not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of May doth the last of December. But I hope you have no intent to turn husband, have you?
Claudio: I would scarce trust myself though I had sworn the contrary if I Hero would be my wife.
(i) Whom is Benedick referring to in the above lines?
(ii) Benedick says: 'I see no such matter.' What does he mean by it?
(iii) Explain the lines:
"There's her cousin, she was not possessed with a fury, exceeds her as much in beauty as the first of May doth the last of December".
(iv) What does the comparison of Beatrice with May suggest about Benedick?
(v) What does Claudio mean by 'sworn the contrary'?
(vi) Give the meaning of the following words as they are used in the context of the passage: possessed; fury; intent
Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an account of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the picture or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear connection between the picture and your composition.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Lying in bed, Swami realized with a shudder that it was Monday morning. It looked as though only a moment ago, it had been the last period on Friday; already, Monday was here. He hoped that an earthquake would reduce the school building to dust but that my good building, Albert Mission School, had withstood similar prayers for over a hundred years now.
At nine o'clock, Swaminathan wailed, “I have a headache.”
His mother said, “Why don’t you go to school in a bullock cart?”
“So that I may be completely dead at the other end? Have you any idea what it means to be jolted in a cart?”
“Have you any important lessons today?”
“Important! Bah! That geography teacher has been teaching the same lesson for over a year now. And we have arithmetic, which means for a whole period we are going to be beaten by the teacher............ Important lessons!”
And Mother generously suggested that Swami might stay at home.
At 9:30, when he ought to have been lining up in the school prayer hall, Swami was lying on the bench in Mother’s room.
Father asked him, “Have you no school today?”
“Headache,” Swami replied,
“Nonsense! Dress up and go.”
“Headache.”
“Loaf about less on Sundays, and you will be without a headache on Monday.”
Swami knew how stubborn his father could be and changed his tactics.
“I can’t go so late to class.”
“I agree, but you’ll have to; it is your own fault. You should have asked me before deciding to stay away.”
“What will the teacher think if I go so late?”
“Tell him you had a headache, and so are late.”
“He will beat me if I say so.”
“Will he? Let us see. What is his name?”
“Mr. Samuel.”
“Does he beat the boys?”
“He is very violent, especially with boys who come late. Some days ago, a boy was made to stay on his knees for a whole period in a corner of the class because he came late, and after getting six cuts from the cane and having his ears twisted, I wouldn’t like to go late to Mr Samuel’s class.”
“If he is so violent, why not tell your headmaster about it?”
“They say that even the headmaster is afraid of him. He is such a violent man.”
And then Swami gave a lurid account of Samuel’s violence; how when he started caning, he would not stop till he saw blood on the boy’s hand, which he made the boy press to his forehead like a Vermillion marking. Swami hoped his father would be made to see that he couldn’t go to his class late. But his father’s behaviour took an unexpected turn. He became excited.
“What do these people mean by beating our children? They must be driven out of service. I will see…..”
The result was that he proposed to send Swami late to his class as a kind of challenge. He was also going to send a letter with Swami to the headmaster. No amount of protest from Swami was of any avail: Swami had to go to school.
By the time he was ready, his father had composed a long letter to the headmaster, put it in an envelope, and sealed it.
“What have you written, father?” Swaminathan asked apprehensively.
“Nothing for you. Give it to your headmaster and go to your class.”
Swami’s father did not know the truth—that, actually, Mr. Samuel was a very kind gentleman.
(a) Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. (3)
One-word answers or short phrases will be accepted.
- jolted
- stubborn
- avail
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:
- What did Swami wish for on a Monday morning? Why was his wish unlikely to be answered? (2)
- Which sentence tells us that Swami’s father was completely unsympathetic to his son’s headache? (2)
- In what way was Swami’s mother’s response different from his father’s? (2)
- Why did Swami give a colourful account of Mr. Samuel to his father? (2)
- In what way did Father’s behaviour take an unexpected turn? (2)
- What was Swami finally ordered to do by his father? (2)
(c)
(i) In not more than 60 words, describe how Swami tries to prove that Mr. Samuel is a violent man. (8)
(ii) Give a title to your summary in 3
(c). Give a reason to justify your choice. (2)
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| airship | flagship | lightship |
There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.
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-
Remove
-
slackers
-
muck
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kept in
-
got carried away
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cut
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sadist
-
shrivelled up
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Approval from the outside world and approval within the family.
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It took the narrator quite some time to understand that what he heard as 'piper', in fact, meant 'paper' and the phrase 'mind the gap' in the Tube. What do you think caused the problem?
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Satyajit’s recollection of the forgerer when he was on the train.
Give reasons for the following.
Satyajit's feeling that he was an impostor.
What is a space shuttle? Name the shuttle which took Kalpana in space.
Look at these sentences.
- Deserts are the driest places on earth.
- Gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in cool underground burrows.
Now form pairs. Ask questions using a suitable form of the word in brackets. Try to answer the questions too.
Do you know
1. Which animal is the _______________________ (tall)?
2. Which animal runs the _______________________ (fast)?
3. Which place on earth is the _______________________ (hot) or the _______________________ (cold)?
4. Which animal is the _______________________ (large)?
5. Which is the ————————————— (tall) mountain in the world?
6. Which is the _______________________ (rainy) place on earth?
7. Which is the ________________________ (old) living animal?
Can you add some questions of your own?
Your teacher will speak the words listed below. Write against each a word of opposite meaning.
Examples:
liquid-solid
hard-soft
1. old —————
2. wet —————
3. open —————
4. blunt —————
5. forget —————
After reading the text one can easily understand that there is a lot of risks involved in mountaineering. Write in short about any adventure sport that you like and the risk involved in it.
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Steps to be taken to eradicate inequality.
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- _________________________
- _________________________
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The line means - __________________.
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'Pride goes on horseback, but returns on foot'.
Write what you think about the following thoughts and actions of Mathilde :
Mathilde wrote a note to her friend as dictated by her husband.
Now read the beginning and end of a sci-fi story given below and complete the story using your imagination.
|
‘The Magic Glasses’ After ten years of diligent experimenting on ‘light’, Jayant, a brilliant scientist, created a pair of eye-glasses which would enable him to see through all opaque objects, doors, walls, metal structures, etc. On Monday, he put on his ‘magic’ glasses and stepped into the busy street outside ____________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ And so, Jayant received the ‘State Award for Brave Citizens’ _____________________________________________ |
Do you have pet animals? Write an interesting story about your own or your friends' pet.
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Present the quotations in a beautiful hand on card paper.
Imagine the Stranger-man narrates how the Neolithic ladies overpowered him. Write an account of the same making him the narrator.
Write your opinion, in your own words:-
Why do you think the children dislike their aunt’s story?
What is the name of her diary?
Create a poster for the following.
Good handwriting is the index of an individual. Design a poster on the importance of good handwriting. Use catchy slogans or phrases. Your poster should not exceed 50 words.
Your friend is coming to your city/town to spend a week with you. He/she wants to visit some tourist places and enjoy the special food items of the place. Prepare a two-day itinerary for the visit.
| Day | Timing | Stopover | Stopover | Mode of Transport |
| Day 1 Sunday | 8.00 am | Market | Go shopping for | Auto |
| clothes/curios | ||||
| Day 2 Monday | ||||
Develop the following hints.
Akbar - Birbal - courtiers jealous of Birbal - ask Akbar - test Birbal wiseness - Courtier puts a question - How many crows in Agra - Birbal asks for a week - every day sitting on the terrace - looking at the crows- after a week - courtier asks - Birbal says 156757 crows - asks the courtier to check- Akbar laughs.
Read scene I. Discuss with your partner what Mrs Reed might write about Jane in her letter to the owner of a school. Now complete her letter to Mr. Brocklehurst.

Work in groups.
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- Write down the ingredients you need like rice and water.
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- Each person in the group should tell others how rice is cooked in their house.
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Fill in the blank with choosing prepositions from the option.
As they flew ______ the tree they were trapped.
Fill in the blank by choosing the preposition from the option.
The girl was thrilled ______ see her new bicycle.
Now complete the following suitably.
I was sitting in a taxi yesterday when _________
Find one word from the story that means
move fast s ______.
In the sentence below the capital letter, comma, full stop and question mark are missing. Put these in the correct place.
the tailor went to the market mr singh
Can you write six things that are made of wood?
Debate is an essential skill and your classroom is the best place to practice this skill. Your teacher will now divide the class into two groups and organize a debate on the topic “Fast food tastes better than nutritious food.” The following points may help you to participate and speak in a debate. One group will speak FOR the motion and the other group will speak AGAINST the motion. Now prepare a speech for the debate.
One has to be cautious and not be carried away by stories. How did Sletherby exhibit caution?
Respond to the following advertisements.
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What kind of relationship existed between Miss Meadows and the Science Mistress?
Now write a short story to explain these proverb.
Actions speak louder than words
Answer the following question as briefly as possible and with close reference to the relevant text.
How does Prospero prove, “the rarer action is in/virtue than in vengeance” in the final act of The Tempest?
Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an account of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the picture, or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear connection between the picture and your composition.

You must have seen and liked a play (in any language) on the stage. Write down the following details about it.
- Name of the play
- Important Characters
- Its main theme
- Whether it was a Comedy/Tragedy /Social Theme or any other
- Why you liked it
- The message of the play
- Any other information about the play
