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PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION II 2020-21 Subject: English Marks:80 Grade:X Time:3 hrs. Part A-40 marks READING(20 marks) 1.Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 10 The art of academic writing is not easy to master. It is a formal skill, which requires precision and accuracy, and is perfected by continuous and dedicated practice,.Academic writing is the skilful exposition and explanation of an argument, which the writer has carefully researched and developed over a substantial period of time. It is a time-consuming activity and demands patience and perseverance. But the joy of reading and sharing with others , one s succinctly composed piece of argument , is incomparable. Before beginning to write, the writer must ask himself a few questions. Why I am writing? What is it that I intend to share with others?What purpose will my writing serve?Have I read enough about the topic or theme about which I am going to write? If one is hesitant to answer even one of the aforementioned questions, one better not write at all! Because academic writing is a serious activity - it makes one part of a shared community of readers who wish to disseminate and learn from well-argued pieces of writing. The structure of an argumentative essay should take into account introduction (which should be around 10 percent of the entire essay), Body (it should constitute eighty percent of the piece) and the Conclusion (again, ten percent of the essay). The introduction should function as the hook which draws the reader in and holds his attention, the body should include cogent and coherently linked paragraphs and the conclusion should re-state the argument and offer a substantial ending to the piece. Choose the most appropriate option: a.What is the ideal form of an argumentative essay? i. introduction and conclusion essay iii.introcuction, body and conclusion ii.Overview,introduction and rest ten percent of the iv.introcuction, concise essay and conclusion b. Which of the following statements about academic writing is not true? i.One s succinctly composed piece of argument is comparable ii.It is a formal skill, which requires precision, accuracy and continuous and dedicated practice. iii. It is not a quick and short term activity. iv. Art of academic writing is not easy to master. c.What is a serious activity? i. Writing on Sports ii.Academic writing iii. Writing on entertainment iv. None of these d. The ending or conclusion of paragraphs should be_____ ? i. convincing ii. considerable and substantial iii.good iv.none of the above e. How does the art of academic writing become perfect? i. By itself ii. By regular and continuous practice as well as dedication iii. When the writer hesitates while writing iv. When the writer does not research but writes everything by his own knowledge. f. What is academic writing? i. The skilful exposition and explanation of an argument ii.It is a formal skill which requires precision and accuracy. iii.Structure of an argumentative essay iv. Both i and ii g.Which of the following is the most joyful part of writing? i.Carefully researched and developed over a sustained period of time ii. Reading and sharing with others iii. Introduction , body and conclusion. iv. None of these h. Why does an academic writer write, if he hesitates to answer his own questions? i. Because it is a serious activity ii. Because he can t complete his writing iii. Because he will not follow the correct format of writing iv. Because he need to research more and more i. How does introduction function? i. As a hook ii. As a catalyst iii. Both i and ii iv. None of these j.Find out a word from the passage similar in meaning to concisely . i. cogent ii.substantial iii.aforementioned iv. incomparable 2.Read the passage given below: The Power of Thoughts 1. Ideas rule the world. You shape your fate and decide your destiny by your thoughts. You have to think high to rise. You have to believe and be sure of yourself to win a prize. Life s battles do not always go to the stronger or the faster man. But, sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. 2. Success starts with your thoughts. Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. And your mind is nothing more than a bundle of thoughts. Since you have the power to shape your thoughts, you automatically have the power to fashion your fate and decide your destiny. Thus, your thoughts are the most potent, powerful and prime source of your success. 3. For your thoughts to blossom into success, they should be combined with definiteness of purpose, perseverance and a burning, pulsating strong desire to translate them into action. Believe that you will succeed and believe it firmly. You will then do whatever is necessary to bring success about. 4. Faith in yourself as well as the confidence that you can and will succeed are the key to your success in any venture. If you keep your mind riveted on your goal and focus your thoughts onthe great and splendid things that you wish to have, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desires. 5. Thoughts are supreme. Preserve the right mental attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer. Think of success in your work and you will then do automatically and unconsciously, the things necessary to bring success about. If your desire is weak and your efforts are erratic your achievements will also be slight and fleeting. But, if you go after your goal with the the single-mindedness of a bulldog after a cat, nothing and nobody under the sun can stop you. Your goal should also be well-defined, clear-cut and specific and should be linked to a fixed timeframe so that your definite energies and efforts can be focussed and forcefully directed towards its attainment. 1.On the basis of your reading of the passage given above, answer the following questions. 8 (a) The basic triggers of achieving success are: (i) Be sure of yourself (ii) Think high (iii) Have the power (iv) Both (i) & (ii) (b) The suitable heading for para 3 is: (i) Be positive (ii) Dream big (iii) Success only depends on you (iv) Streamline your life (c) Which of these plays the most important role in achieving our success? (i) our health (ii) our thoughts (iii) hard work (iv) confidence (d) In order to change our thoughts into success, we must also have: (i) definiteness of purpose (ii) Perseverance (iii) Strong desire (iv) All of these (e) If you go after your goal with the _____, you will achieve success. (i) In a hurry (ii) Think about obstacles (iii) Be alert (iv) Single-mindedness (f) The key to your success in any venture is: (i) Faith (ii) Confidence (iii) Both (i) & (ii) (iv) None of these (g) Preserve the right mental attitude of courage, frankness and _____ (h) Thoughts are not that important. (True/False) (i) Give another word for riveted. (j) What kind of desire we should have? LITERATURE (10 marks) 3.Read the extracts and answer the following: 5 When he saw those photos, Ebright didn t shout, Eureka!or even , I ve got it ! But he believed that, along with his findings about insect hormones, the photos gave him the answer to one of biology s puzzles.. i.What photos did Ebright see? a. x ray photos of cells b. monarch caterpillars c.zoology d.biology ii.When was Ebright working with those photos? a. school b.junior year c.at the age of 22 d.kindergarden iii.Why do you think Ebright didn t shout Eureka ? a.he was sure b.he was not interested c.famous scientist d.he was alone iv.Who did Richard write for an idea of a real science experiment?? a. his mother b.Dr Frederick A. Urquhart c.both (A) and (B) (D) none of the above v. In addition to science Richard had interest in a. debate b.public speaking c.photography 4.Read the extracts and answer the following: d.canoeing e.all of the above 5 The woman who was preparing supper, replied, Yes, God willing. The older boys were working in the field, while the others were playing near the house until the woman called to them all, Come for dinner. a.Who were working in the field? i. the children ii. The older boys iii. The women iv. All of these b. Who is the woman here? i.Lencho s mother iii.narrator ii. Lencho s daughter iv. Lencho s wife c.Why does she utter the words, God willing ? i.The speaker spoke about a good harvest iii.None of these ii.The speaker spoke about a good shower d.What were the smaller ones doing? i.they were playing near the house None of the above ii.They were making noise iii.Both [i] and [ii] e.For what did the woman call the children? i. for playing ii. for dinner iii. for reading iv.didn t call GRAMMAR (10 MARKS) 5.Choose the correct option: a.Carol thinks the Congress _____ the election this time. i.will win ii.will be winning iii. will have won b. Rahul _____ start preparing for the entrance of India s top universities. i. can ii. should iii. ought to iv. should have c. I don t know if anybody ____ to watch the movie right now. i.want ii.wants iii. is wanting iv.are wanting d. She said to me, Please put on the lights of this room. i. She requested me to put on the lights of this room. ii. She said to me to put on the lights of this room. iii. She told me to put on the lights of that room. iv. She requested me to put on the lights of that room. e. There is ______ water in the bottle.(hardly any) i. a little ii.little iii.Both f.Which of the following is written in the Past Perfect tense? i. They were going to school. iv. ii.The train had left the station before I reached. iii.The boys were playing games when it started raining. g. _____ we not read books on Sundays? i.do ii.does iii.Has iv.Did h. A new pair of specs ____ gifted to me by my brother. i.was ii.were iii.none of these i.Jamil said to the shopkeeper, Could I get 2 kilos of potatoes? i.Jamil asked the shopkeeper for 2 kilos of potatoes. ii.Jamil requested the shopkeeper for 2 kilos of potatoes. iii. Jamil asked the shopkeeper if he could get 2 kilos of potatoes. iv.Jamil told the shopkeeper for 2 kilos of potatoes. j.Five years____ a long time. i.are ii.is iii.were WRITING (10 marks) 6. Manav Singh of D-15, Sector-5 , Dwarka , a class XII student of the science stream sees this advertisement. He writes a letter to the institute seeking information about the crash course of IIT-JEE, the timing of the classes, fees, etc. Write a letter `5 7.Observe the given graph and analyse the data. It shows one week s sales figures of cars of different companies in percentage. 5 LITERATURE(30 MARKS) 8.Answer the following questions in 20-30 words: 8 A.i.What ideals does Mandela set out for the future of South Africa? ii.What made the woman in the control centre look at the narrator strangely? B.i.Why is Mrs. Pumphrey worried about Tricki? ii.How was Griffin a lawless man? 9. Answer the following questions in 40-50 words each: A.i.What is the underlying idea in the poem ,Animals? ii.How can ice end the world? B.i.What experiments and projects did Ebright undertake? ii. What kind of a person was Matilda s husband? 12 10. Answer the following in 120 words: 10 A.The characters in the story The Necklace speak English. Do you think this is their language? What clues are there in the story about the language its characters must be speaking in? B.There are two kinds of conflicts in the story- between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated? *****
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