English Language and Literature : 2019 [Delhi] Set II

Read the following passage carefully. [8]

(1)  Few guessed that this quiet, parentless girl growing up in New York City would one day become the First Lady of the United States. Even fewer thought she would become an author and lecturer and a woman much admired and loved by people throughout the world.

(2)  Born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in 1884 to wealthy, but troubled parents who both died while she was young, Roosevelt was cared for by her grandmother and sent to school in England. In 1905, she married her distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She and her husband had six children. Although they were wealthy, her life was not easy and she suffered several personal tragedies. Her second son died when he was a baby. In 1921, her strong athletic husband was stricken with polio, which left him physically disabled for life.

 

(3)  Eleanor Roosevelt was a remarkable woman who had great intelligence and tremendous strength of character. She never let things get her down. She nursed her husband back to good health and encouraged him to remain in politics. She then helped him to become Governor of New York, and in 1933, President of the United States.

 

(4)  While her husband was the President, she took a great interest in all the affairs of the country. She became her husband's legs and eyes; she visited prisons and hospitals; she went down into mines, up scaffoldings and into factories. Roosevelt was tireless and daring. During the depression she travelled all over the country bringing goodwill, reassurance and help to people without food and jobs. During World War II she visited American soldiers in camps all over the world. The United States had never known a First Lady like her.

 

(5)  Roosevelt also kept in touch with the American people through a daily newspaper column called ‘My Day’. She broadcast on the radio and delivered lectures, all first for a First Lady.

 

1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer the following questions. (any eight)                                           [1x8=8 marks]

 

(a)  How was Eleanor Roosevelt's personality in contrast to what she became?

(b)  Apart from being the First Lady what else did she have to her credit?

(c)  What challenges did she face in her personal life but remained unfazed?

(d)  Eleanor was a strong woman who helped her husband become the President of America. How?

(e)  What does the statement: 'she became her husband's legs and eyes' mean?

(f)  What was her special contribution during the depression?

(g)  How did she motivate soldiers during World War II?

(h)  What did she do for the first time for a First Lady?

(i)   What side of her personality is reflected in this passage?

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow.    [12 marks]

 

(1)  Overpowering prey is a challenge for creatures that do not have limbs. Some species like Russell viper inject poison. Some others opt for an alternative non-chemical method. Rat snakes, for instance, catch and push their prey against the ground, while pythons use their muscle power to crush their prey to death. But snakes can't be neatly divided into poisonous and non-poisonous categories.

      

(2) Even species listed as non-poisonous aren't completely free of poison. The common Sand Boa, for instance, produces secretions particularly poisonous to birds.  So the species doesn't take any chance – it crushes its prey and injects poison as an extra step.

      

(3)  Do vipers need poison powerful enough to kill hundreds of rats with just one drop? After all, they eat only one or two at a time.

 

(4)  While hunting animals try their worst to kill most efficiently, their prey use any trick to avoid becoming a meal, such as developing immunity to poison. For instance, Californian ground squirrels are resistant to Northern Pacific rattlesnake poison.

 

(5)  Competition with prey is not the only thing driving snakes to evolve more and more deadly poison. Snakes also struggle to avoid becoming prey themselves.

 

(6)  Some snake killers have partial immunity to poison. Famously, mongooses are highly resistant to cobra poison, and with their speed and agility, kill snakes fearlessly. It would be the death of cobras as a species if they didn’t evolve a more deadly poison to stop mongooses.

 

(7)  Poison has another important role. It's an extreme meat softener; specific enzymes break up the insides of the prey. Normally, a reptile depends on the sun's warm rays to aid digestion.

 

(8)  But I wonder if we cannot use venom in our favour. In remote parts of India, local hospitality often involves leather-tough meat. I chew and chew until my jaws ache. If I spit it out or refuse, our hosts would be offended. I swallow like a python stuffing a deer down its throat and hope I don't choke. If only I had poison.

 

2.1 Read the questions given below and answer any four in 30-40 words each.          [2x4=8 marks]

 

(a)  Russell viper and rat snake have different methods to attack prey. How?

(b)  How does Sand Boa kill its prey?

(c)  There is a constant tussle between the hunting animal and its prey? Why?

(d)  What makes mongoose a snake predator?

(e)  What difficulty does the writer face when he is entertained in the remote parts of India?

 

 

2.2 On the basis of your reading of the above passage fill in any two of the following blanks.  

[1x2=2 marks]

 

(i)   Overpowering ________ is a challenge for creatures that do not have limbs.

(a)  a killer                       (b)  humans

(c)  a python                          (d)  prey

 

(ii)  Poison ________ meat.

(a)  enhances taste of           (b)  hardens

(c)  softens                      (d)  breaks down

 

(iii) Californian squirrels are ________ rattlesnake poison.

(a)  afraid of                    (b)  helpless against

(c)  resistant to        (d)  indifferent to

 

2.3 Find words from the passage which mean the same as: (any two)                        [1x2=2 marks]

(a)  Another (para 1)

(b)  Liquid substances released from glands (para 2)

(c)  Particular (para 7)

You have lost your original certificates of class X and XII. You want to get their duplicates issued but you do not know the procedure. Write a letter to the Chairman, CBSE, Preet Vihar enquiring about the fee to be deposited, mode of payment, time taken by the board for issuing duplicate certificates and any other formalities. You are Tarun /Taruna, 7/9 , Kunj Apartments, Shimla (100-120 words).

More and more people are used to carrying mobile phones to their workplace. However, the use of mobile phones can be dangerous at certain times and places. Write an article on the topic, "Mobile Phone Manners. Take hints from the information that follows:

 

The Government on Thursday banned the use of cellular phones at petrol pumps as they could ignite the flammable vapours present in the air.

• Don’t use mobiles.
• While driving
• Inside an aircraft
• When in an ICU
• If you are near a heart patient or someone who has pacemaker.

 

Develop a short story in 150-200 words which begins as of the following:

Last Sunday I along with my friends decided to go to the riverside for a picnic. We planned to spend the whole day there, but…… Give it a suitable title also.  [10 marks]

With the help of the following cues, develop a short story along with a title in 150-200 words;

A cap seller carrying a bundle of caps………. sleeps under a tree …… puts the bundle beside him ……….. some monkeys take away the caps…….. wakes up …. finds monkeys wearing caps…… angry ……. throws his own cap …… monkeys throw their caps ……. collects …… happy.

Fill in any four of the following blanks choosing the most appropriate options from the ones given below each. Write the answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers.  [1x4=4 marks]

Birds and animals live in the lap (a) ……… nature and can predict the likely changes accurately. Swallows usually fly high (b) ………. the sky. But during a storm, they come down (c)…………. fly close to the ground. If they fly low you (d) ……….. be sure of strong winds. Even a toad can be (e) ………. reliable weatherman.

(a)  (i)   in           (ii)  of          (iii) on          (iv)        for

(b)  (i)   in           (ii)  of          (iii) on          (iv) to

(c)  (i)   nor        (ii)  or          (iii) but        (iv) and

(d)  (i)   would   (ii)  should   (iii) might    (iv) could

(e)  (i)   a            (ii)  an          (iii) the        (iv) some

 

The following paragraph has not been edited. There is an error in each line. Write the error along with its correction in the space provided. Do any four. [1x4=4 marks]

                                                 Error    Correction

The pleasure in being outdoors          e.g.      In          Of

is fundamental for human                  (i) ……………       …………

happiness. There are so much            (ii) ……………      …………

to learn and it is an constant              (iii) ………….       …………

source of delight to know more on the (iv) ………….  …………

flora and fauna around. One discover   (v) …………     …………

how exciting the world is.

Rearrange any four of the following words / phrases to make meaningful sentences.

[1x4=4 marks]

(a)  ignore / instinct / my first/ the snake / was to

(b)  I didn't want/ killed one/ I had/ It /as /never / to kill

(c)  only dangerous/ duty/ to/ was/ kill/ my/ ones

(d)  back/ and returned/ farm/ I went/ to the/ stick /with a

(e)  hesitated/ it/ I/ but still/ attack/ to

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:                       [1x4=4 marks]

When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he casually replied that I had better get one in the Tigris marshes, for there they were as common as mosquitoes, and were often tamed by the Arabs. We were going to Basra to the Consulate-General to collect and answer our mail from Europe. At the Consulate-General we found that my friend's mail had arrived but that mine had not.

Questions:

(a)  What was 'they'?

(b)  Where could the author get 'one'?

(c)  Find the exact word from the extract which means domesticated'.

(d)  What did the author find at the Consulate-General?