ARMY PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Summative Assessment-I (2014-15)

Class-X English Communicative(sample question paper)

TIME : 3 HrS                                                    Maximum Marks : 70                     

 Instructions: The question paper is divided into three sections.

Section A: Reading 20 marks

Section B: Writing & Grammar 25 marks

 Section C: Literature & Long Reading Text 25 marks

SECTION A (Reading – 20 Marks)

Q1. Read the following passage carefully:

 1. My grandmother, like everybody's grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather's portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and looked at least a hundred years old. He did not look the sort of person who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lots and lots of grandchildren. As for my grandmother being young and pretty, the thought was almost revolting. She often told us of the games she used to play as a child. That seemed quite absurd and undignified on her part and we treated it like the fables of the Prophets she used to tell us.

 2. She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for twenty years. She could never have been pretty: but she was always beautiful. She hobbled about the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other telling the beads of her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. Yes, she was beautiful. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.

 3. My grandmother and I were good friends. My parents left me with her when they went to live in the city and we were constantly together. She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never  bothered to learn it. Then she would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered with yellow chalk, a tiny earthen ink-pot and a red pen, tie them all in a bundle and hand it to me. After a breakfast of a thick, stale chapatti with a little butter and sugar spread on it, we went to school. She carried several stale chapattis with her for the village dogs.

 4. My grandmother always went to school with me because the school was attached to the temple. The priest taught us the alphabet and the morning prayer. While the children sat in rows on either side of the verandah singing the alphabet or the prayer in a chorus, my grandmother sat inside reading the scriptures. When we had both finished, we would walk back together. This time the village dogs would meet us at the temple door. They followed us to our home growling and fighting with each other for the chapattis we threw to them.

 I. Answer the following questions briefly. (1x8=8)

 (a) Why did the author feel that his grandfather could only have lots and lots of        grandchildren?

(b) What did the author treat like ‘fables of the prophets’?

(c) What does the author compare his grandmother to?

 (d) The grandmother was very religious. Give evidence.

 (e) What was the grandmother’s daily routine?

(f) Why did the grandmother say her morning prayer while she bathed and dressed the author?

(g) How do we know that the grandmother was kind and generous?

 (h) Find a word in the passage that means the same as ‘horrible / sickening’.

Q.2 Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. (12)

1. "Total commitment is not just hard work, it is total involvement. Building a rock wall is back-breaking work. There are some people who build rock walls all their lives. And when they die, there are miles of walls, mute testimonials to how hard those people had worked."

 2. He continued, "But there are other men who, while placing one rock on top of another, have a vision in their minds, a goal. It may be a terrace with roses climbing over the rock wall and chairs set out for lazy summer days. Or the rock wall may enclose an apple orchard or mark a boundary. When they finish, they have more than a wall. It is the goal that makes the difference. Do not make rocketry your profession, your livelihood — make it your religion, your mission."

3. To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal. Individuals like myself are often called 'workaholics'. I question this term because that implies a pathological condition or an illness. If I do that which I desire more than anything else in the world and which makes me happy, such work can never be an aberration. Words from the Twenty-sixth Psalm come to mind while I work: "Examine me, O Lord and prove me." Total commitment is a crucial quality for those who want to reach the very top of their profession. The desire to work at optimum capacity leaves hardly any room for anything else. I have had people with me who would scoff at the 40 hours-a-week job they were being paid for. I have known others who used to work 60, 80 and even 100 hours a week. They found their work exciting and rewarding. Total commitment is the common denominator among all successful men and women. Are you able to manage the stresses you encounter in your life? The difference between an energetic and a confused person is the difference in the way their minds handle their experiences. Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success. All of us carry some sort of super-intelligence within us. Let it be stimulated to enable us to examine our deepest thoughts, desires, and beliefs.

5. Once you have done this — charge yourself, as it were, with your commitment to your work— you also need good health and boundless energy. Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career. People are born with different energy reserves and the one who tries first and burns out easily will do well to reorganise his or her life at the earliest. — APJ Abdul Kalam

A. (i) What is the essential requirement for success?

(2) (ii) When can one enjoy success?

(2) (iii) Why does the writer not like the term workaholic?

(2) (iv) What is the writer's view on super-intelligence?

(2) B. Choose the most appropriate option in each of the following: (1x4=4)

 (i) The word 'mute' means ....................... (a) dumb (b) passive (c) silent (d) vocal

 (ii) The word 'aberration' means ................... . (a) mad (b) distorted (c) bitterness (d) awareness

(iii) The word 'scoff has the same meaning as ..................... . (a) enjoy (b) rebuff (c) deride (d) make fun of

(iv) The word 'stimulated' means ................. . (a) enjoyed (b) inspired (c) encouraged (d) deserved

 SECTION B (Writing & Grammar– 25 Marks)

Q.3 You are Ravi/Ruksana. Your friend is an active volunteer of N.S.S He has been helping an organization ‘Helping the Old’ and visiting old homes and meeting senior citizens there. Inspired by his noble gesture, you joined him to help the aged. Taking cue from the following hints, write a letter to the editor of a newspaper in 100-120 words talking about your experience and the need to help motivate the neglected old to start afresh.

 Hints: Parents old - left homeless at old age homes- pitiable state - long to meet their children- some have their spouses separated from them-financially and physically dependent- get old people aware of their rights-organise fun activities & day outs to get them a fresh air-restore lost confidence & zeal to these old people.

 Q.4 On the basis of the outline given below, write a story in 150-200 words. Also, give a suitable title and the moral of the story. (10)

 a sudden cloudburst ......... Rehlu separated from parents ....... sent to an orphanage ....... adopted him ........ sent to nearby school ....... good at studies .......... Time passed on .......... my youngest brother Mohit lost .......... suspicion on Rehlu .......... sent to police custody ........ confessed his crime ......... cause jealousy.

 Q.5 Fill in the blanks with suitable words to complete the following passage. (½×6=3)

They ate (a) _________ night. The maids were tired walking (b) _______ and down the hall (c) _________ serving them. The crowd (d) ________ dispersed gradually. But there (e) __________ a few people who were ready to sacrifice their night’s sleep (f) __________ this competition.

Q.6 The following passage has not been edited. There is an error in each line against which a blank is given. Write the incorrect word and the correction in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. Remember to underline the word that you have supplied. (½×8=4)

There are some people that are afraid of (a) ______ _______ failures and sometimes they are so afraid to (b) ______ _______ themselves, that they avoid take any (c) ______ _______ risk or committing the mistake and taking (d) _______ ______ a wrong step. They abstain entirely for (e) ______ _______ any attempt and endeavor. They looked (f) ______ _______ down upon themselves and believe that (g) ______ _______ something is possible for them. (h) ______ _______

Q.7 Read the following conversation and complete the passage given below:(1x3=3)

 Policeman: You have crossed the red light. Don’t you know it is a crime?

 Driver (brandishing a hundred rupee note):Can’t we settle the issue between ourselves?

 Policeman: What do you think of a Delhi policeman? You value his worth only a hundred rupees. I will take nothing less than five hundred. 

Driver: Take two hundred or give me a receipt. I will go to the court and face the punishment.

 The policeman told the driver that he had crossed the red light and asked (a) ………………………. 

Brandishing a hundred rupee note the driver asked the policeman (b) ………………………… themselves.

 The policeman told the driver what he thought of a Delhi policeman and wondered how he valued his worth only a hundred rupee.

 He further added that (c) …………………….. hundred. 

The driver told the policeman to take two hundred or give him a receipt as he would go to the court and face the punishment.

SECTION C (Literature & Long Reading Text -25 Marks)

 Q.8 Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow in brief.

Not marble, not the gilded monuments Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme; But you shall shine more bright in these contents Than unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.

(a) What will the poet’s friend outlive?

(1) (b) Who shall shine more and in whose comparison?

 (c) Identify the literary device used in the last line.

 OR

“Why are you out so late, Nicola? “Waiting for the last bus from Padua. We shall sell all our papers when it comes in.” “Must you work so hard? You both look rather tired.” “We are not complaining, Sir.”

(a) Why were the two boys out so late? (1)

 (b) What did the narrator guess about them? (1)

 (c) What trait of their character is revealed in the last line? (1)

 Q.9 Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each. (2x4=8)

(a) What was the fact that Ms. Mebbin brought to Mrs. Packeltide’s attention? What was the effect of this discovery on Mrs. Packeltide?

 (b) Give some examples to prove that the Nightingale was really unaware of her talent and ability.

(c) How does the mirror help the woman to realize that she is no more beautiful and young?

(d) How did Nicola and Jacopo earn their livelihood?

 Q.10 Answer any one of the following questions in 80-100 words.

(4) Describe the role of Henry in the play. Do you think he is equally to be blamed for his acts like his cunning and crafty wife?

OR

Imagine you are the Postmaster. Your daughter lies ill in another town. Now you realize the pain of a father who has not received any news of his daughter for years. You write a diary describing the new turn that has come in your life.

 Q.11 Answer any one of the following questions in 150-200 words.

 Based on the reading of the novel ‘The Story of My life’, describe Helen Keller’s early life before the advent of her teacher, Miss Sullivan.

 OR

Draw a character-sketch of Anne Mansfield Sullivan highlighting her monumental efforts and patience to teach a deaf and dumb girl to speak and write.