English Medium Class 9 - CBSE Question Bank Solutions for English - Communicative

Here is a news story about how crops are saved by climate-proofing them Complete it by choosing the right words from those given in the brackets.

(A) Among the most worrying aspects of climate change today (a) __________ (is/has been) the effect it (b) __________ (has had/have had) on the food supply of the world. Sctentists (c) __________ (have focussed /focus) their attention and efforts on increasing crop yield and improving crop resilience. Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (d) __________ (have been I are) the most affected today. Their population (e) __________ (is/has been) the world’s fastest growing rice consumer. The most vulnerable agricultural systems (f) __________ (are/have been) the rain-fed uplands and lowlands that form 80% of total rice land. Until recently, scientists (g) __________ (have focussed / focussed) on improving crop yields, and in a relatively short period of time, (h) __________ (give / have given) us, higher yields. Reports warning of increased droughts and floods, (i) __________ (shift/have shifted) scientists’ attention to making crops “climate- proof”

(B). Answer the questions based on your reading of the passage above.
(a) What have been the most worrying aspects of agricultural growth?
(b) What do scientists today focus on?

(c) Where is the negative impact of climate most felt?
(d) What have the scientists focussed on so far?
(e) How has their attention shifted?

(C) Did you know
You would have used the simple present and present perfect tense in your
answer. Why?
The main use of the simple present tense is to refer to
(i) an action that takes place now.
(ii) routine action/ s.
The present perfect tense is used to refer to an action which has happened
in the past but whose effect still remains.
(e.g.) Among the most worrying aspect of climate change is the effect it has on
the world's food supply.
Climate scientists have predicted that the cultivation of rice in Asia and SubSahara
Africa has been affected severely, since 1970. But, today lack of funds
hinders research.

Imagine that you have just returned from Topo Island. The Editor of a local newspaper has asked you to write about your adventure. Write the article. 
Some hints : 
1) Very briefly, describe how you landed on the island, and the main features of the island. 
2) Write about where you set up camp, describe one main adventure, and how you were eventually rescued. 
3) Make the adventure part of your story exciting, with lots of action. 
4) Include dialogue in the adventure part. 
5) Try to create mystery and suspense, as in B.3. 
6) Finally, give your adventure story a suitable heading. 
7) Your story must be written in paragraphs and should carry your By line. 

Look at the map of Topo Island in B.2 and read the notes given below. Then complete the tourist brochure. 
Notes

• Beaches - 6km north-west coast, 6km south - east coast; relax 
• Fishing - near beach on north - west coast 
• Adventure seekers - caves, mountains 
• Trees - fruit, shade if day is too hot 
• Lookout Point - can see whole island

Visit Topo Island for the Holiday of a Lifetime!
Here is the perfect paradise for holidaymakers - Topo Island. You .......... Fishing ........... . If it's adventure that you're after,........... . Fruit trees found on most parts of the island ........... And the Lookout Point on the northern tip of the island ................. Come to Topo Island, an exotic place, where dreams come true. 

(A) Working in pairs, fill up the table by asking your partner about what he/ she does on the following days and times.

 (B) Write a brief account of his/her actions on the specified times and days, in the
space below. Ask further questions, if necessary. Use the simple past/past
perfect tense to write your description.
e.g. (a) Rani visited the zoo on Sunday.
(b) She had.finished all her homework by 5. 00 am on that day.

Present Continuous
Look around your classroom and observe the activities in your school in this
period. Describe what you, your teacher or class are doing in the form of a
paragraph.
e.g. The Blue House is practising its songs for the competition. I can hear the band
which is playing patriotic tunes, in the playground.

Simple Past and Past Continuous
There was a burglary in your neighbourhood. You saw something suspicious.
Tell the police officer all about it by filling in the blanks choosing the correct
forms of the words from the options given below.

It (a) was raining last night. I (b) _________ TV. I (c) _________ a little restless. I (d) _________ to the window and was looking out when I (e) _________ that Mr Sharma, my neighbour (f) _________ near the door. I thought he had gone to shut it. I also (g) _________ Mrs Sharma walking up and down in her garden. Then I heard Mr Sharma calling his wife to come in. I (h) _________ back to my table and opened my book. I (i) _________ when I heard a thud and a scream. I (j) _________ out of the house and saw a man in a black coat and hat running towards the gate. Mr and Mrs Sharma (k) _________ in the street. I saw a car speeding away with the burglar.

(a) (i) raining                  (ii) was raining                          (iii) were raining                      (iv) rained
(b) (i) were watching      (ii) watched                               (iii) was watching                    (iv) watching
(c) (i) has felt                  (ii) felt                                       (iii) was feeling                        (iv) feel
(d) (i) had gone              (ii) went                                    (iii) was going                          (iv) gone
(e) (i) noticing                (ii) was noticing                        (iii) were noticing                     (iv) noticed
(f) (i) stood                     (ii) were standing                      (iii) was standing                     (iv) were stood
(g) (i) seeing                   (ii) saw                                       (iii) was seeing                         (iv) seen
(h) (i) had come             (ii) was coming                          (iii) came                                  (iv) were came
(i) (i) hadread                 (ii) was reading                         (iii) were reading                       (iv) read
m (i) rushed                   (ii) was rushing                         (iii) were rushed                         (iv) rushing
(k) (i) had screamed      (ii) was screaming                     (iii) screamed                              (iv) were screaming

Past Continuous
A young girl was kidnapped from the main street of Srutipur at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Chetan was there at that time.

Look at the verbs in the box and put them in the correct columns in the table that follows

The verb ‘to have’
Be careful with the verb ‘to have’, which has many different uses and meanings. Study the box below and consider the sentences that follow.

Put a tick (✓) or cross (✗) against each sentence according to whether it is correct or incorrect.

• Mr Sinha has a severe headache. ___________
• He is having a blue-coloured Maruti car. ___________
• Mr Sinha has two daughters and no sons. ___________

Now, work individually, and with the help of the information in the box below, write six appropriate sentences.

‘Since’or‘For’
We often use the Present Perfect with time expressions using ‘since’ or ‘for’.
Which expressions go with since and which go with for? (Indicate with a tick). (The first two have been done for you.)

We use ‘since’ to express ______ in time, whereas ‘for’ is used to express ______ of time.

since	for
		last week
		a short time
		a decade
		deepawali
		the day before yesterday
		centuries
		june
		22 june
		several weeks
		2009
		6 months
		ages

Read the following extracts from the story, and try to puzzle out the meanings of the encircled words from other words and phrases in the extract. Write the clues in the empty boxes. Then give your own explanation of the encircled word. 

When the liner had finally vanished over the horizon, I was absolutely alone in the stormy night sea. First I thought I had to swim one way, then another. It was not even midnight yet, and I had no hope at all of finding my way in this terrible night time ocean. I began to feel afraid. Waves of fear rolled through me, starting from my hands and feet, attacking my heart and then reaching through my neck to my head. Waves broke over me and water went into my snorkel. I realised I would not be able to last even half an hour in such a condition. 
I saw individual stars, but I could not distinguish the constellations they belonged to. Then dawn came and put out all my stars and I felt my solitude more keenly. The sky was grey at first, then blue-violet shades appeared. In a few minutes, the colours became brighter, with dark red strips cutting across the sky! 
The rising sun came up over the ocean. I was surrounded by large waves. The clouds turned pink and swept across the sky in all directions. It was a windy day. 
There was no land visible. I grew alarmed. Had I made a mistake in my calculations? Perhaps the current had carried me a long a way off the course during the night? 
An hour passed, perhaps two. "Landlll" I could not deny myself the pleasure of shouting the magic word aloud and of hearing my own voice. Perhaps it was my ghostly island of Siargao? I almost felt I had succeeded - now at least I had hope. 
The sun looked out for the last time, as if it was saying goodbye to me, and hid itself away again. In a few minutes the sky was filled with all the colours of a rainbow, the bright shades changing and merging as I watched. At first the clouds became deep red and then their edges turned bright orange. A little while afterwards, the clouds turned lilac and dark violet. Darkness fell swiftly. My second lonely night in the ocean began. The stars came out unnoticed. I changed course and headed for the south west. As it turned out, this was an unforgivable mistake. 
Evening was approaching. The ocean around me was full of life; large fish often leapt out of the water and big birds flew right above my head. I could see the island distinctly now. A line of dancing palms stretched the length of its shore. The sides of the mountain were covered in many different shades of green. 
An hour passed, perhaps more. It was extraordinarily quiet. Then suddenly to my horror, I discovered my island had noticeably begun to move north and was drifting further and further in that direction right before my eyes. Before I had worked out what was happening and could sharply change my course towards the north, the southern tip of the island had appeared in front of me and, beyond that, open ocean stretched to the very horizon. I was totally at the mercy of the current and realised to my alarm that it was slowly carrying me past the land. 
My third night in the ocean crept up unnoticed. This third night in the ocean was very dark, much darker than the two previous ones. I almost decided to die as I had no hope of seeing another dawn. I was suddenly aware of a quiet voice: "Swim to the sound of the breakers." 

Indeed, there had been a distant rumbling for some time, although I had paid no attention to it. Now, I started listening and I thought it sounded like the characteristic noise of jet aeroplanes constantly landing and taking off. The voice inside kept insisting that I should swim towards this thunder of waves. 
At last I obeyed. Again I heard an approaching rumble. What I suddenly saw at a distance of about 30 or 40 metres has imprinted itself on my memory forever. It was a gigantic wave with steep, very slowly falling crests. Never in my life had I seen such an enormous wave - it even seemed to be touching the sky. It moved very slowly and was fantastically beautiful. 
The wave did not break over me as I assumed it would. An irresistible force dragged me up its steep slope right to the very foot of the falling crest. Instinctively I clutched my mask snorkel and managed to take a deep breath. The crest started to break over me and pulled me under it. For a moment, I found myself in the air 

under the crest as ifin a cave. Then my body was in a swirling current of water; the inner power of the wave made me recover several times, twisting me in all directions before it subsided. 
I realised that I had to try to keep my body on the crest and I quickly took up a horizontal position. This time the wave quickly grabbed me and carried me at great speed for quite a long distance on its crest. 
I got up to the surface easily and swam in the direction the waves were heading. "Somewhere there, beyond the reef, there should be a lagoon," I hoped. 
Suddenly, I felt something hard under my feet. I could stand up to my chest in water! Around me I could see random currents of water, splashes of foam and phosphorescent spray, all swirling about. Before I fully came to my senses, another large wave approached and carried me some distance further. I was up to my waist in water when a new wave picked me up, taldng me several metres forward. Now the depth of the water was only up to my knees. I had enough time to take a few tentative steps, to catch my breath and look around. 
I surfaced at the foot of very tall palm trees. I left a trail of luminous water and my body glittered like some princess's ball-gown. Only now did I feel completely safe. The ocean was behind me .... 

(a) I saw individual stars, but I could not distinguish the constellation they belonged to. Then dawn came and put out all my stars. 
Therefore, constellation means ................... 

(b) Indeed there had been a distant rumbling for some time, although I had paid no attention to it. Now that I started listening to it I thought it sounded like the characteristic noise of jet airplanes constantly landing and taking off. 
Therefore, rumbling means ............

(c) It was a gigantic wave with steep, very slowly falling crests. Never in my life had I seen such an enormous wave. It seemed to be touching the sky. 
Therefore, gigantic means ............

(d) The wave did not break over me as I assumed it would. An irrsistible force dragged me up its steep slope, right to the very foot of the falling crest.
Therefore , irrisistible means.....................

(e) For a moment, I found myself caught in the air under the crest, as if in a cave . Then , my body was in the swirling  current of water ; the inner power of the wave made me recover several times , twisting me in all directions before it subsided .
Therefore , swirling means..........

(f) All around me I could see random currents of water splashes of foam and phosphorescent spray of luminous water and my body glittered like some princess's ball gown. 
Therefore, phosphorescent means .................

Choose three ‘since’ expressions and three ‘for’ expressions from the table above. Then write six sentences using the pattern in the box below.

I haven’t seen him since the day before yesterday.
I have not seen him for ages.

Suppose you are on a ship, far out into sea. Something happens, and you find yourself in the water. The ship continues on its journey. Discuss the following with your partner and share your views with the class 

• How long do you think you can stay alive in the water? 
• How will you know which way to swim? 
• What dangers will you face? 

The news
(a) Narendra Singh – broke record – long jump – regional meet – Principal sent congratulations – also President Youth Federation
(b) Narendra Singh from St. Michael’s School has broken the regional long jump record. The principal of St. Michael’s has sent his congratulations. Best wishes have also come from the President of the Youth Federation.

Use your imagination to make the news item sound exciting

'Ordeal in the Ocean' is the story of Slava Kurilov, a Russian, who faced a remarkable trial in the water. Slava Kurilov tells his own story. Read on ....... 

When the liner had finally vanished over the horizon, I was absolutely alone in the stormy night sea. First I thought I had to swim one way, then another. It was not even midnight yet, and I had no hope at all of finding my way in this terrible night time ocean. I began to feel afraid. Waves of fear rolled through me, starting from my hands and feet, attacking my heart and then reaching through my neck to my head. Waves broke over me and water went into my snorkel. I realised I would not be able to last even half an hour in such a condition. 
I saw individual stars, but I could not distinguish the constellations they belonged to. Then dawn came and put out all my stars and I felt my solitude more keenly. The sky was grey at first, then blue-violet shades appeared. In a few minutes, the colours became brighter, with dark red strips cutting across the sky! 

The rising sun came up over the ocean. I was surrounded by large waves. The clouds turned pink and swept across the sky in all directions. It was a windy day. 
There was no land visible. I grew alarmed. Had I made a mistake in my calculations? Perhaps the current had carried me a long a way off the course during the night? 
An hour passed, perhaps two. "Landlll" I could not deny myself the pleasure of shouting the magic word aloud and of hearing my own voice. Perhaps it was my ghostly island of Siargao? I almost felt I had succeeded - now at least I had hope. 
The sun looked out for the last time, as if it was saying goodbye to me, and hid itself away again. In a few minutes the sky was filled with all the colours of a rainbow, the bright shades changing and merging as I watched. At first the clouds became deep red and then their edges turned bright orange. A little while afterwards, the clouds turned lilac and dark violet. Darkness fell swiftly. My second lonely night in the ocean began. The stars came out unnoticed. I changed course and headed for the south west. As it turned out, this was an unforgivable mistake. 
Evening was approaching. The ocean around me was full of life; large fish often leapt out of the water and big birds flew right above my head. I could see the island distinctly now. A line of dancing palms stretched the length of its shore. The sides of the mountain were covered in many different shades of green. 
An hour passed, perhaps more. It was extraordinarily quiet. Then suddenly to my horror, I discovered my island had noticeably begun to move north and was drifting further and further in that direction right before my eyes. Before I had worked out what was happening and could sharply change my course towards the north, the southern tip of the island had appeared in front of me and, beyond that, open ocean stretched to the very horizon. I was totally at the mercy of the current and realised to my alarm that it was slowly carrying me past the land. 
My third night in the ocean crept up unnoticed. This third night in the ocean was very dark, much darker than the two previous ones. I almost decided to die as I had no hope of seeing another dawn. I was suddenly aware of a quiet voice: "Swim to the sound of the breakers." 
Indeed, there had been a distant rumbling for some time, although I had paid no attention to it. Now, I started listening and I thought it sounded like the characteristic noise of jet aeroplanes constantly landing and taking off. The voice inside kept insisting that I should swim towards this thunder of waves. 

At last I obeyed. Again I heard an approaching rumble. What I suddenly saw at a distance of about 30 or 40 metres has imprinted itself on my memory forever. It was a gigantic wave with steep, very slowly falling crests. Never in my life had I seen such an enormous wave - it even seemed to be touching the sky. It moved very slowly and was fantastically beautiful. 
The wave did not break over me as I assumed it would. An irresistible force dragged me up its steep slope right to the very foot of the falling crest. Instinctively I clutched my mask snorkel and managed to take a deep breath. The crest started to break over me and pulled me under it. For a moment, I found myself in the air 

under the crest as ifin a cave. Then my body was in a swirling current of water; the inner power of the wave made me recover several times, twisting me in all directions before it subsided. 
I realised that I had to try to keep my body on the crest and I quickly took up a horizontal position. This time the wave quickly grabbed me and carried me at great speed for quite a long distance on its crest. 
I got up to the surface easily and swam in the direction the waves were heading. "Somewhere there, beyond the reef, there should be a lagoon," I hoped. 
Suddenly, I felt something hard under my feet. I could stand up to my chest in water! Around me I could see random currents of water, splashes of foam and phosphorescent spray, all swirling about. Before I fully came to my senses, another large wave approached and carried me some distance further. I was up to my waist in water when a new wave picked me up, taldng me several metres forward. Now the depth of the water was only up to my knees. I had enough time to take a few tentative steps, to catch my breath and look around. 
I surfaced at the foot of very tall palm trees. I left a trail of luminous water and my body glittered like some princess's ball-gown. Only now did I feel completely safe. The ocean was behind me .... 

Below are some incomplete sentences about the story. Complete each sentence appropriately, according to the story. 

1. Slava Kurilov was in the water because he ... 
Evidence for this is ... 
2. His biggestmistakewaswhenhe ... 
3. He decided to die because ... 
4. He was carried towards the lagoon when he decided to ... 

Given below is a map of the area in which Slava Kurilov faced his ordeal. You will also see the major events in the story, in mixed order, each accompanied by a symbol. After you have read 'Ordeal in the Ocean', draw the appropriate symbol against each x mark. (One is already drawn for you.) Draw the symbols or number the symbols, and transfer them to the map.) 

Present Perfect Continuous
“What have you been doing?”
Imagine what people have been doing or what are the things that have been happening.

(а) Mohan comes in wearing overalls and is covered in paint.
(i) _______________________________________
(ii) _______________________________________

(b) Ramesh comes in with a smile on his face. He is holding a trophy.
(i) _______________________________________
(ii) _______________________________________

(c) Monica returns home with lots of packets in her hands.
(i) _______________________________________
(ii) _______________________________________

(b) Sheela comes in with red eyes and a wet handkerchief.
(i) _______________________________________
(ii) _______________________________________