ENGLISH PAPER 1

(LANGUAGE)

Maximum Marks: 80
Time Allowed: Three hours
(Candidates are allowed additional 15 minutes for only reading the paper.
They must NOT start writing during this time).

Attempt all four questions.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
(You are advised to spend not more than 45 minutes on Question 1,
55 minutes on Question 2, 30 minutes on Question 3 and
50 minutes on Question 4).
(You should begin each answer on a fresh page.)

Question 1

Write a composition (in approximately 400 – 450 words) on any one of the following [20]
subjects:
(You are reminded that you will be rewarded for orderly and coherent presentation of
matter, use of appropriate style and general accuracy of spelling, punctuation and
grammar.)

(i) You had to cycle home through the town on the day of a festival. Describe the
sights, the sounds and the mood of the people around you. What were your
feelings at the end of the ride?

(ii) Life is a series of choices that we make every day. Narrate an incident when you
had to make a difficult choice. Elaborate on the positive impact it had on you.

(iii) A college degree is needed to succeed in life. Argue FOR or AGAINST this
statement.
(iv) Humour.

(v) One cannot always get what one wants and sometimes it is for the best. Present
your reflections on this statement.
(vi) Write an original short story that begins with the following words.
My mother stopped suddenly at the doorway and stared in
amazement at…
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Question 2

(i) You are the editor of your school magazine. You want to bring about awareness [15]
among the students on the topic-Noise Pollution: A thrust to all life forms. Write
an article in about 300 words based on the following points
Chases of noise pollution effects on humans-effects on other living creatures
measures to reduce noise pollution-role of authorities--conclusion.

(ii) As a member of the Student Council of your school, you wish to set up a Food [10]
Club to promote healthy eating habits among students. Write a proposal in not
more than 150 words, outlining the steps that you will take to make this club а
success.

Question 3

Answer sections (i), (ii) and (iii).

(i) In each of the following items, sentence I is complete, while sentence II is not. [5]
Complete sentence II, making it as similar as possible to sentence I. Write
sentence II in each case.
Example:
(z) (I) The heavy showers of rain revived the plants
(II) The plants……..………………………………
Answer: (z) The plants were revived by the heavy showers of rain.
(a) (I) Sushil's attitude towards work has always puzzled me..
(II) I have ……………………………………….
(b) (I) As soon as I solved one problem, the teacher gave me another..
(II) No sooner …………………………………
(c) (I) He was too gentle to have committed the crime.
(II) He was so ………………………………………..
(d) (I) Not only was he a famous actor but also a renowned director.
(II) Besides ………………………………..
(e) (I) Robin said, "It gives me great pleasure to be here this evening."
(II) Robin said ………………………………..

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(ii) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not write the sentence.) [5]

(a) The judge turned ________ the defendant's appeal for a postponement.

(b) He turned ________ for the programme earlier than usual.

(c) There is an urgent need ________ a bus stop in this village.

(d) He has poor eyesight and is in need ________ glasses.

(e) The speeding driver was asked to pull ________ by the traffic police.

(f) She is very ill, but the doctors think she will pull ________.

(g) She set ________ a little money each week for the child's education.

(h) I would not even know how to set ________ mending a watch.

(i) One should not give ________ hope despite the hurdles.

(j) The mother gave ________ to the persistent demands of her child.

(iii) Fill in the blanks in the passage given below with the appropriate form of the verb [5]
given in brackets. Do not write the passage but write the verbs in the correct order.

The rain approached like a dark curtain. I _____ (1) see it marching down the
street, heavy and remorseless. It ________(2) (drum) on the tin roof and swept
across the road and over the balcony of my room. I ______ (3) (sit) there without
__________(4) (move), letting the rain soak my sticky shirt and gritty hair.
Outside, the street rapidly _________(5) (empty). Buses, cars and bullock carts
___________(6) (plough) through the suddenly rushing water. A group of small
boys came jumping along a side street, which was like a river in spate. A garland
of marigolds, swept off the steps of a temple, came __________(7) (float) down
the middle of the road. The rain ________ (8) (stop) as suddenly as it had begun.
The day was _________(9) (end), and the breeze, __________(10) (remain) cool
and moist.

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 Question 4

Read the passage given below and answer the questions (i), (ii) and (iii) that follow:
(1) Something happens to rate after we have enjoyed a delicious meal Call it a feline 5
sugar hit or a rush of good feeling. Abandoning our usually sedentary nature, we
transform into crazy beans who thunder down corridors, spring from one piece of
furniture to another, or pounce from behind half-closed doors to attack the
shoelaces of unsuspecting passersby. It is as though we are temporarily
possessed.
(2) That, at least, is my excuse, dear reader - and the only explanation I can offer for
my entirely unplanned global TV debut.
(3) To be fair, I had no way of knowing that my master was receiving visitors that 10
particular afternoon. Nor that he was being interviewed live, let alone by one of
America's most famous journalists.
(4) All I knew was thin, a few minutes after gorging myself on a favourite treat of
creamy pudding. felt that sudden, primal explosion of energy. I made my way
back to the suite of rooms that I shared with my master and felt an overpowering
compulsion to do something completely mad. I wanted to run like a furious jungle
cat, at that particular moment 15
(5) Bursting through the door of the room in which my master received visitors, I
tore up the carpet as raced towards the sofa opposite where he was sitting, I
ripped its fabric as I scrambled up its side like a savage creature clawing its way
up a perilous cliff. Then with a final frenzied but I launched myself off one arm
of the sofa, leaping towards the side. 20
(6) It was only at this point that realised the sofa was occupied by the journalist. She
was halfway through a sentence, and my abrupt appearance caught my master's
guest completely by surprise.
(7) You know, when something truly unexpected happens, time can seem to slow 25
down. Well, that's how it was. As I flew past the woman's face, her expression
turned from one of calm engagement to that of total surprise.
(8) As she pushed back in her seat to avoid me, the shock on ber face could not have
been more evident.
(9) But, dear reader, she was not more shaken than me. I had not been expecting 30
anyone on the sofa, let alone a TV celebrity, nor one who was mid- interview. As I
headed towards the opposite end of the sofa, for the first time I observed the
lighting, the cameras and the crew watching the action from the shadows. By the
time I landed on the other arm of the sofa, all the energy that had propelled me was
gone. 35

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 (10) I was, no longer, a furious jungle cat. The journalist looked at me. I looked at her.
Both of us were taking in what had just happened I was also conscious of the
cameras still rolling as well as many pairs of eyes watching me at that moment. My
moment of global glory.
Adapted from The Dalai Lama's Cat Omnibus
By David Michie

(i) (a) Given below are three words and phrases. Find the words which have a [3]
similar meaning in the passage:

(1) Inactive

(2) eating in a greedy manner

(3) dangerous

(b) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words [3]
using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning
from that which it carries in the passage:

(1) thunder (line 3)

(2) spring (line 3)

(3) past (line 26)

(ii) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:

(a) What is the usual nature of the narrator's kind? How is it differently [2]
presented in the passage?

(b) What did the "favourite treat of creamy pudding" do to the narrator? [2]

(c) Describe the actions of the narrator after bursting into the visitors' room [2]

(d) How did the journalist react when the narrator ‘flew past' her face? [2]

(iii) Summarise how the narrator became a global celebrity (paragraphs 4 to 11) You [6]
are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100
words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised.

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