SECTION A (READING)
A1. Read the following passage carefully. (8 marks)
Getting a good night’s sleep can help you cope with stress more effectively. But not getting enough sleep can cause more stress. Insomniacs have higher concentrations of stress hormones than others.
Women are prone to sleep disturbances. Their sleep problems frequently interfere with their daily activities.
Experts believe that sleep, especially deep sleep, enables our nervous system to function well. Without it, we lose our ability to concentrate, remember or analyse. Some experts speculate that during deep sleep, cells manufacture more proteins, which are essential for cell growth and repair of damage from things like stress and ultraviolet rays.
Scientists believe that activity in the area of the brain that controls emotions and social interactions lessens during sleep and that deep sleep may help people be emotionally and socially adept when awake.
Sleep may also help our brain to store a newly learned activity in its memory bank. In a study in Canada, students deprived of sleep after learning a complex logic game showed a 30 percent learning deficit when tested a week later compared with students not deprived of sleep.
The effects of sleep deprivation on other bodily functions are just as alarming. In studies from five medical centres across the country, researchers established that individuals with insomnia were also more likely to have poor health, including chest pain, arthritis and depression, and to have difficulty accomplishing daily tasks. Another breakthrough study revealed that even temporary loss of sleep can affect the body’s ability to break down carbohydrates, interfere with the function of various hormones and worsen the severity of ailments such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
So whatever works to help you sleep well, whether it’s regular exercise earlier in the day, weekly massages, yoga, meditation or a lavender-scented bath, make time for it today. (300 words)
A1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the passage above complete the following sentences. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. (8 marks)
While good sleep helps to (a) ………….lack of it can (b) ………… (2)
Deep sleep makes the nervous system (c) ……………….……..so that we can (d) ……….well. (2)
A canadian research on students’ sleep has proved that (e) ……… (1)
A1.2 Any two ways suggested in the passage to promote good sleep are: (1 marks)
A2. Read the following passage carefully. (8 marks)
1. An overseas poll conducted by the BBC has concluded that Sir Isaac Newton was the “Greatest Briton” of all time, followed by Churchill and Princess Diana.
2. Newton’s enormous scientific achievements seem to have influenced the outcome; while in the case of Churchill, it was his leadership qualities during World War II.
3. Ranking Diana third has destroyed the credibility of the whole exercise. Her charm, kindness and involvement in charitable causes contributed greatly to make her an icon all over the world. But that is where the admiration for her has to stop.
4. However, I was shocked to find Shakespeare, the greatest genius of all time, had been relegated to the status of a ‘runner-up’. There is also no justification to deny Darwin his rightful place, in as much as his contribution to biology is as significant as Newton’s is to physics. For all these reasons, opinion polls of this kind are unreliable, misleading and invite ridicule.
5. Take a look at Shakespeare’s enormous vocabulary. He employed 9,36,433 words in his writings, out of which 27,780 are different words. The average person uses less than 1,000 words in writing, a little more than that in speech and has a recognition vocabulary of about 5,000 words. Some of the greatest writers may have twice this capability.
6. Today, English has a total vocabulary of two million words followed by German as a pathetic second with 1,86,000 words, Russian with 1,36,000 words, and French with 1,26,000 words. Thus Shakespeare in the 16th Century used five times the number of words in modem German!
7. Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in history. His plays have been translated into 50 languages. In the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations containing about 20,000 quotations, Shakespeare alone monopolises a staggering 60 pages (10 percent). He coined 1700 new words. Many of the phrases and terms created by him are in daily use. Some of them have been used as titles for books and movies.
8. The vastness of vocabulary and the ability to see the relationship between words is one of the major factors in measuring genius. Shakespeare excelled any other human being in this aspect. His encyclopaedic knowledge of science, history, mathematics, classical literature, sociology, psychology, law, Latin, French politics, music and art acquired by studying books relating to almost every mental discipline and observing the habits and style of life of various sections of people all around him enabled him to draw ideas generously from all those sources for being. used in his plays.
9. The lyrical grandeur of his language covers every known figure of speech from metaphor to simile, hyperbole to hendiadys. The alchemic process in the crucible of Shakespeare’s brain transmuted emotions, like ambition, frustration, jealousy, greed, romantic love, joy, and sorrow he found all around him in people into the rich gold of his ever-lasting plays. Hence there is no emotion or activity or situation in the human condition that is not found in his plays.
10. Then what justification is there for any voter, whatever his profession, to place this extraordinary man who is “In judgement a Nestor / In genius a Socrates! In art a Virgil” in the position of a runner-up in a ranking of the greatest Briton ever.
11. Is it not ironical that a great poet like Coleridge had once equated Shakespeare to 500 Newtons but the voters who took part in the BBC poll have placed him far below Newton?
12. Any poll will only succeed in devaluing its own assessment, and lose its sanctity and credibility, if it denies this “mighty poet”, to quote De Quincey, his rightful place as the greatest genius of all time. (593 words)
A2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the passage above complete the following sentences. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. (8 marks)
According to the BBC overseas poll (a) ……, (b) …………and Princess Diana are ranked as first, second and third respectively in the list of ten greatest Britishers (2)
The author says the opinion poll lacks credibility because (c) ……. (1)
According to the poll conditions, Shakespeare (d) ……, which is unjust. (1)
(e) Four instances quoted by the author in support of Shakespeare’s genius
are: (4)
A2.2 Find words / phrases from the passage which mean the same as the following from the paragraphs indicated. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. (4 marks)
SECTION B (WRITING)
B1. Rahul is writing an article on Self-control for the school magazine. He referred to a newspaper and made the following notes. Use the information in the notes to complete his write-up. Do not add any new information. Write your answer against the correct blank number in your answer sheet. (5 marks)
NOTES European chemical industry — drastic change — emphasis on self regulation — |
The regulations governing the European Union’s (EU) chemical industry (a) ……… with special emphasis (b) ………….This shift in focus was apparent in the draft of the EU’s new Chemical legislation (c) ……………...recently by the European Commission ( Termed REACH, an acronym for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (d) …………………that are in force in the region currently. (e) ……………the EU environment commissioner highlighted the aspect.
B2. You are Vikram / Vasantha of Class XI studying in Sun Residential School, Chennai, staying in the school hostel. You wish to join a crash course in Computers. Draft a telegram in not more than 20 words to your father in Vishakhapatnam seeking his permission and requesting him to send you the registration fees of Rs. 100 immediately. Copy the format for the telegram from the question paper in your answer sheet. (5 marks)
B3. You are Pawan / Preeti. Prepare a speech to be presented in your school’s Science Day celebrations on how Science or Technology can be misused in different ways by which we may lose our greatest wealth of health. You may use the ideas from the visual given below and your own ideas to prepare the speech. Your speech should not exceed 200 words. (10 marks)
HEALTH HAZARDS
B4. You are Ganesh I Gomti, the elder brother/ sister of Kumar who is in Class XII pursuing his studies in the Commerce stream. Kumar seeks your guidance regarding his under graduation studies. He is not sure if he should pursue his under graduation in India or abroad. Write a letter to him advising him to pursue his course in India. You may use your own ideas, along with the ideas from the unit on ‘Education’ and the ideas given below. Your letter should be in about 150-200 words. (10 marks)
NOTES Innumerable courses in India — low and affordable course fees--emotional security —i--- backing from parents, friends and relatives — no culture crisis - son of the soil — job opportunities high — as more industrial and economic development— low cost of living. |
SECTION C (GRAMMAR)
C1. In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. Ensure that the word that forms your answer is underlined. (1/2 x 10 = 5 marks)
Ordinary good looks depend one’s sense e.g. depend on one’s
of humour—”a merry heart a cheerful (a)
countenance.” Joyfulness keeps the heart face (b)
young. A laugh makes us better friends with (c)
ourselves and everybody us, and puts us into (d)
closer touch with is best and brightest in our (e)
life. Physiology tells a story The great (f)
sympathetic nerves closely allied; and when (g)
one set carries bad news to the head, the nerves
reaching the stomach are affected, indigestion
comes and one’s countenance becomes doleful. (h)
Laugh when you; it is a cheap medicine. (i)
Merriment is a philosophy not well understood.
The eminent surgeon Chavasse says that we to (j)
begin with the babies and train children to
laugh as much as they can the right way.
C2. Supply a suitable word in each of the blanks and complete the paragraph meaningfully. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. (½ x 8=4 marks)
Four (a) ……………….. nature and wildlife magazines—National Geographic, Smithsonian, Sunset and Conde Nast Traveller—have (b) ……… pulled up by (c) ……………..publishers of nine environmental magazines for (d) …….virgin fibre paper in (e) …………….. publications. According (f)…………...estimates, 7,37,809 trees were (g) ………………down in 2001 to provide paper for these
four magazines alone, some of (h) …………………., ironically, often celebrate nature with the finest photographs.
C3. Look at the words and phrases below. Rearrange them to form meaningful sentences. The first one has been done as an example.
Write the correct sentences in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. (½ x 6 =3 marks)
hunting tools / enable them to locate / seals’ whiskers / important / as far as /180 m away / are / that / their prey
Seals’ whiskers are important hunting tools that enable them to locate their prey as far as 180 m away.
(a) to detect fish / dolphins / sonar / use / about 110 m away / up to
(b) seals do not use sonar, / since / was believed / they relied on / or / passive hearing / but / it / vision / that
(c) to be useful / whiskers / only / were / in detecting objects / one centimeter / of / within a range / thought / or less
C4. Look at the newspaper items below. Then provide a suitable headline to each of the paragraphs. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers. Do not copy the whole sentence. (½ x 6=3 marks)
(a) ………………
Chennai, Aug. 30.
“September 2 will be observed as World Coconut Day to make people understand that this crop has a vital role in poverty reduction and to provide nutritional and health security, which are the prime need of this hour,” says the Executive Director of the Asian and Pacific Coconut Community, headquartered at Jakarta.
(b) ……………..
Montgomery, Aug. 31.
Montgomery Federal Judge has said the State of Alabama is in compliance with his order requiring the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.
(c) ……………..
Bhopal, Aug. 30.
The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today emphasized the resolve to ensure electric supply in every village by the year 2007 and said that every house in the country would get a power connection by 2012.
SECTION D (LITERATURE)
D1. Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctly. (4 marks)
Said the frog : “I tried to teach her”
But she was a stupid creature—
Far too nervous, far too tense.
Far too prone to influence.’
(a) Who was stupid? (1)
(b) What happened to her? Why? (2)
(c) What moral do you learn from the above lines? (1)
D2. Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. Write the answers in your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Remember to number the answers correctlj (4 marks)
Ah! Well a day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to? (1)
(b) Why did the ‘old and young’ cast evil looks at him? (2)
(c) How was the person punished by them? (1)
*D3. Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. Write the answers in your answer sheet. Remember to number the answers correctly. (5 marks)
These couchings and these lowly courtesies
Might fire the blood of ordinary men,
And turn pre-ordinance and first decree
Into the law of children.
Thy brother by decree is banished
If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
(a) Who is speaking these lines and to whom? (2)
(b) Why is the speaker rebuking him? (1)
(c) How does the speaker justify his decision? (2)
D4. (a) In the play ‘A Christmas Carol’ what type of character is Ebeñezer
Scrooge in the beginning? (2)
(b) In what ways does he change in the play? (3)
D5. Give a character sketch of the grandmother in the ‘The Ultimate Safari’. Your answer should not exceed 75 words. (4 marks)
D6. Babuli’s wife writes a letter to her friend on how she felt about the partition of the family land and her reaction to her husband’s giving away his share of land to his elder brother. Write the letter in about 150-175 words. (8 marks)
