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ST. STEPHEN S SCHOOL, DUM DUM PRE BOARD EXAMINATIONS: 2020-2021 SUBJECT - ENGLISH 2: Literature Class: X Time: 15 mins Reading 2 Hours Writing F.M.: 80 Scanning & Making PDF: 30 minutes Attempt any five questions choosing at least one from each section. SECTION A DRAMA The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare Question 1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Portia: O me, the word choose ! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike (i) Who is Portia talking to and what does the person say to cheer up Portia? [3] (ii) Why does Portia disapprove of the county Palatine? Who would she rather [3] marry? (iii) State any one characteristic of Falconbridge as described by Portia. [3] (iv) Whom does Portia ultimately marry? Who were the two other suitors who took the test? [3] (v) What do these suitors ultimately decide? Why? Who enters just after this? [4] Question 2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem Was set in worse than gold. (i) Who is the speaker of the above lines? Explain what is implied by sinful thought ? Protect by PDF Anti-Copy for Android (Update to Pro to remove watermark) [3] (ii) On which casket are the words, who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves inscribed? What warning is given by Portia to the speaker before he makes the choice? [3] (iii) What are, according to the speaker, the reasons which make him think that he deserves Portia? [3] (iv) Which casket does the prince ultimately choose? What reason did he give for rejecting the casket made of lead? [3] (v) What does the gold casket contain? What does the speaker say to Portia before he departs? What is Portia s response to it? [4] Question 3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Antonio: Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you well! Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you; For herein Fortune shows herself more kind Than is her custom (i) Where is this scene set? When does Antonio speak these lines? [3] (ii) What is meant by Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you ? [3] (iii) How has Fortune been represented in this line? Why does Antonio feel that Fortune is kind to him? [3] (iv) What is meant by lingering penance ? What is it that Bassanio must not regret and what is that Antonio does not repent? [3] (v) What offer does Bassanio make after this extract to save Antonio? How did Portia react? [4] SECTION B POETRY Treasure Trove Question 4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants a friend of sun and sky. (i) Identify the poem and the poet. Which line has been repeated in the poem and why? [3] (ii) How does the planter do a civic good ? [3] (iii) Explain: Who in the hollow of His hand Holds all the growth of all our land. [3] (iv) What stirs the heart of a man who plants a tree? [3] (v) In what way is the poem relevant in our times? [4] Question 5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: I gazed and gazed but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought. (i) Who has been referred to as I ? What is the wealth that the poet gained? [3] (ii) How many daffodils does the poet say that he saw at a glance? Why does he say so? [3] (iii) What is meant by jocund company ? Why does the poet find it jocund? [3] (iv) What happens to the poet when he is sometimes in a pensive mood? [3] (v) What does the poet mean by the term bliss of solitude ? [4] Question 6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Each one possessed a stick of wood Or so the story s told. (i) Six human beings were trapped in the bleak and bitter cold. Who were they ? (Name any three) [3] (ii) What was needed for their survival? What could these persons have done? [3] (iii) What did each man fail to do? [3] (iv) Why was the rich man lost in his thoughts? [3] (v) What type of man was the last person? Why did he too fail to part with his log of wood? [4] SECTION C PROSE Treasure Trove Question 7. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: The old man now understood the reference to the horse, thought for a second and said in his own language, I was an urchin this high when I heard my grandfather explain this horse and warrior (i) Name the story and its author. Who is referred to as the old man ? What was the shop man s assessment of his age? [3] (ii) To which village did he belong? Give a brief description of his village. [3] (iii) Where was his house located? What did he do in his prosperous days? [3] (iv) Who was the other man? What was his trade? How was he dressed? [3] (v) What did he say when he looked at the clay horse? Why did the old man feel that he should run away? Why couldn t he do so? [4] Question 8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: A vague terror had come into her thin white face. (i) Who cried out to Mr. Thompson? What did she exclaim to Mr. Thompson? [3] (ii) Was she in distress? Give two reasons [3] (iii) What was Mr. Thompson s profession? What shows that he was a kind-hearted person? [3] (iv) What was his response to the girl s request? What did he do for her? [3] (v) Whom did Mrs. Thompson see approaching? What precious burden was he carrying? Why is the burden precious? [4] Question 9. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Why they ll probably come through it all right. (i) Who is the speaker? Whom is he trying to reassure? Where were they? [3] (ii) Where had the old man come from? What had prompted him to leave his home town? [3] (iii) What was the old man s worry? Did he feel guilty about anything? [3] (iv) What is all the good luck that the old man would ever have? [3] (v) I was only taking care of animals . What animals are being referred to and what is the underlying message in this line? [4] __________________________________________________________________________
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