• CBSE Guess
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• Class X
• 2007
• English
• Foreign Set - I

English - 2007 (Set I - Foreign )

SECTION - A

Reading (20 marks)

Q. 1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (12 marks)

1. One day, driving down a busy road in my town, I noticed a new fence, being built around a home, I’d always admired. The house, well over a hundred years old, faded white with large front porch, had once sat back from a quiet road. Then the road was widened, traffic lights went up, and the town began to look like a city. Now the house had hardly any front yard at all. Still, that yard, was always swept clean, and flowers burst forth from the hard ground. I began to notice a woman raking, sweeping, tending the flowers, cutting the grass. She even picked up the litter thrown by the countless cars that whizzed by. Each time I drove past the house, I watched the rapid progress of the picket fence. The elderly gardener added an overhead rose trellis and a gazebo. He painted it all to snow-white, and then the house to match.
2. One day I pulled off the road to stare long and hard at the fence. The carpenter had done such a magnificent job. I blinked tears away. I couldn’t bring myself to leave. I switched off the engine, walked over and touched the fence. It still smelt of fresh paint. I heard the woman trying to crank a lawn mower at the back. “Hi!” I called, waving. “Well hey”. She stood up straight and wiped her hands on her apron. “I - I came to see your fence. It’s beautiful.” She smiled. “Come sit on the front porch, and I’ll tell you about the fence.” “Sit on the rocking chair,” she said smilingly. I was suddenly overjoyed that I was on the porch drinking iced tea with the marvellous white picket fence surrounding me.
3. “The fence isn’t for me,” the woman explained matter-of-factly. “I live alone. But since so many people come by here, I thought they’d enjoy seeing something real pretty. People look at my fence and wave. A few, like you, even stop and sit on the porch to talk.” “But didn’t you mind when this road was widened and there was so much change ?” “Change is a part of life and the making of character, dear. When things happen that you don’t like, you have two choices : you get bitter or better.” When I left she called out : “Come back any time. And leave the gate open. It looks friendlier.” I carefully left the gate ajar and drove off, feeling something deep inside me. I didn’t know what to call it, but I could picture the hard brick wall around my heart crumbling. And in its place this neat little white picket fence was being built. I planned on leaving the gate open for whatever or whoever might come my way.

1.1 Complete the sentences given below : (1×3=3 marks)

1. The house lost all its front yard when_______________________________ .
2. The lady of the house made the fence_______________________________ .
3. The lady made the author feel at home by ___________________________ .

1.2 Fill in the blanks : (1×5=5 marks)

The lady of the house kept her (a)_____________ spick and span. She made sure that the fence looked (b)_____________ for the sake of others. This shows the (c)____________ of the lady. She realised that being better was the best way to (d)______________ with change. The meeting with the lady brought about a welcome (e) __________________ in the narrator.

1.3 Find words from the passage that mean the same as the following : (1×4=4 marks)

1. observed/paid attention to para 1
2. rubbish/garbage para 1
3. splendid/excellent para 2
4. partly open para 3

Q. 2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (8 marks)

1. Set in the declining but still green Western Ghats in the South-West of Karnataka, Coorg is the heart of India’s coffee country. Coffee is the world’s most heavily traded commodity after crude oil. Coorg boasts a land area four times larger than Hong Kong and seven times the area of Singapore. Most of it is under tree cover because unlike tea plants, the coffee bush requires shade.
2. India is acknowledged as the producer of the finest mild coffees. With their tropical climate, high altitude, abundant rainfall and fertile soil, Coorg and the neighbouring Chickmangalur districts in Karnataka have consistently produced and exported high quality coffee for over 150 years. The coffee output of these two districts accounts for 70 percent of the total coffee produced in the country. Coorg coffee is valued for its blue colour, clean beans and fine liquoring qualities and hence is in demand in the international markets.
3. In March and April, the coffee blossom time in Coorg, when blossoms transform into berries, the bushes are cropped. The cherry-red fruit is then pulped; the seeds separated, dried and sent for curing. Coorg or Kodagu is the district which is one of the largest producers of pepper, cardamom and honey in the world.
4. Not much is known about the early history of Coorg. Recorded history is available only from 1600 A.D. onwards when Kodava Rajas ruled over the region and established their capital at Mercara by constructing a mud-walled fort. The martial Kodavas troubled Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, who ruled the Mysore region in the 18th century, by way of sporadic rebellions. But in 1785, Tipu’s large army marched into Kodagu and devastated the kingdom. Fourteen years later, with the help of the British, who defeated Tipu Sultan following the historic siege of Srirangapatana in 1799, Coorg regained independence and under the leadership of Raja Veerarajendra rebuilt the capital. Later in 1834, the British exiled its ruler Chikkaveera Rajendra and assumed administrative charge of the district. The British left India in 1947, leaving behind a legacy of coffee plantations, colonial buildings and well-planned road networks.

2.1 Complete the following : (1×4=4 marks)

1. The tea plants are unlike coffee plants as the latter _______________ .
2. Coorg coffee is internationally acclaimed for its _______________________ .
3. Coorg is famous not only for coffee but also for _____________________ .
4. After crude oil, coffee is the ___________________ .

2.2 Complete the table given below. (1×4=4 marks)

SECTION - B

Writing (30 marks)

Q. 3. You are Rashmi/Rahul, the President of the Social Service Club of Vidyamandir School. You are organizing a visit to ‘Abhaya’, a nearby orphanage. Write a notice in not more than 50 words for your school notice board inviting names of the students who want to go and encouraging other students to make contributions. (5 marks)

Q. 4. You are Amrita/Amal, living at 14, Jagatpuri, Dhanbad. You missed the Amritsar Mail. Send a telegram to your father, Mr. Ram Lal, 21, Mall Road, Amritsar informing him that you are taking the train two days later. Write the telegram in not more than 25 words. Copy the following format in your answer sheet. (5 marks)

Q. 5. You are Rohit/Rhea, 15, Dilshad Garden, Delhi. You happened to overhear the following conversation between two elderly people. (10 marks)

Taking ideas from the unit on ‘Health and Medicine’ along with your own ideas, write a letter to the editor of a newspaper in about 150 words on the need to be mentally and physically fit to lead a happy life.

Q. 6. You are Nisha/Nishant. As Secretary of the Literary Club of your school, you have been asked to deliver a speech on the importance of reading. The following histogram clearly states how irrelevant reading has become for the present generation. Taking ideas from the histogram along with your own ideas, write the speech in about 150 words. (10 marks)

(For Blind Candidates Only)

You are Nisha/Nishant. As Secretary of the Literary Club of your school, you have been asked to deliver a speech on the importance of reading. Reading has become irrelevant for the present generation. Write the speech in about 150 words.

SECTION - C

Grammar (20 marks)

Q. 7. Look at the notes given below. Use the information to complete the paragraph by writing suitable words or phrases in each space. Do not add any new information. Write only the correct answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheet. (1×4=4 marks)

Coral reefs (a)___________________________________ . They are damaged (b) ______________________ . So they are (c) ______________________ nutrients. Carbon build-up is even more (d) ____________________ than rise in temperature. This has led to the fall in marine life.

Q. 8. Complete the following passage with one word in each blank. Write the correct answers against the correct blank numbers. Do not copy the whole sentences. (½×8=4 marks)

One of the most significant pilgrim centres (a) __________________ the country, Varanasi, (b) _______________________ famous for its temples and ghats. It is located (c) _____________________ the river Ganges. The waterfront is decorated (d) ________________ hundreds of lovely ghats, (e) ___________________ city houses the famous Kasi Viswanath Temple. Pilgrims flock the ghats (f) _________________ the ritual bath. A popular belief is that (g)____________________ who die in Varanasi are liberated (h) ___________________ the cycle of birth and death.

Q. 9. Given below are instructions to draw a circle. Use these to complete the paragraph that follows. Write correct answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. Do not copy the whole sentences. (1×4=4 marks)

Take a compass and insert a pencil into the provided hole and tighten it.
Keep the pointed end of the compass on one end of a scale.
Extend the arm, having the pencil, to the required length to obtain the radius.
Then keep the pointed end of the compass at the required point.
Rotate the arm having the pencil about the pointed arm to obtain a circle.

A compass is taken and a pencil is inserted into the provided hole and tightened. The pointed end of the compass (a) _____________ . The arm having (b) _______________ to obtain the radius. The pointed end of the compass (c) _______________ . The arm having the pencil (d) _______________ about the pointed arm to obtain a circle.

Q. 10. In the passage given below there is an error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the correction against the correct blank number in your answer sheet. Underline the word you have supplied. The first one has been done for you. ( ½×8=4 marks)

Q. 11. Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences. The first one has been done for you as an example. Write the answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheet. (1×4=4 marks)

in the / is swimming / with tremendous / one sport / potential / country /
One sport in the country with tremendous potential is swimming.

1. our/is/full of/talented swimmers/country /
2. not / utilized / potential / fully / their / is /
3. academic subjects / other activities / take precedence / over / in school /
4. has done / the sport / the government / very little / to boost /

SECTION - D

Literature (30 marks)

Q. 12. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly.

I would ne’er have striven
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!

1. Explain the phrase, ‘my sore need’. 1
2. Why was the poet in need of help ? 2
3. What was the poet’s appeal to the West Wind ? 1

Q. 13. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers. correctly.

At length did cross an Albatross,
Through the fog it came,
As if it had been a ‘Christian soul’,
We hailed it in God’s name.

1. What was the atmosphere around the ship when the albatross came ? 1
2. Why has it been called a ‘Christian soul’ ? 2
3. How did the mariners hail it ? 1

Q. 14. What explanation did Brutus give for murdering Caesar ? How was he able to win the hearts of the Roman mob ? Answer in 75 - 100 words. (5 marks)

Q. 15. “You are wrong, Ebenezer. I am the ghost of Jacob Marley.” Why did the ghost appear to Scrooge ? What advice did it give him ? Answer in about 75 words. (5 marks)

Q. 16. Babuli’s wife seems to be unperturbed by the partition. Write a brief character sketch of Babuli’s wife as she appears in the lesson, ‘The Tribute’. Write your answer in 50 - 75 words. (4 marks)

Q. 17. You are Lakshmi Das. The night after you visit Ali’s grave you make a diary entry about this extraordinary man and your relationship with him. Write it in 150 - 175 words. (8 marks)