JUSCO SCHOOL, KADMA

HALF YEARLY EXAMINATION

2018 –19
CLASS: IX M.M: 80
SUB: ENGLISH TIME: 3H

Read the questions carefully and write the answers neatly and correctly.

SECTION –A (READING) 20 marks

A1.Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follows. 1 x 12 = 12 marks

Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on 2 August 1861 in the district of Jessore, now in Bangladesh, close to the
birth place of Madhusudan Dutt, widely regarded as the Milton of Bengal. It was the best of times and the
worst… The British had by now perfected their role as masters and British values permeated the Indian upper
classes to the very last 3 details like table manners. That of course, was not the worst of the British influence.
What was far more demeaning to the educated Indians – and there were several – was the fact that senior
government positions were closed for them. Being forfeited of one’s right in one’s land of birth would become
the rallying point for the Indian intelligentsia in the years to come. Ray’s father Harish Chandra Ray, a man of
learning and taste, was closely associated with the cultural and intellectual leaders of the time and exerted
great influence on his son. Ray had his early schooling in the village school founded by his father but soon his
father shifted to Kolkata and at the age of nine, little Prafulla set eyes for the first time, on the bustling city that
would be his home for many years to come. He was filled with wonder at the ever-changing sights and sounds
– the city seemed to change moods ever so often! His formal schooling was interrupted due to illness but that
did not affect his education.

i. When and where was Prafulla Chandra Ray born?

ii. What was demeaning to the educated Indians?
iii. Who was regarded as the Milton of Bengal?
iv. What was the name of Prafulla’s father?
v. Why was Prafulla filled with wonder when he visited Kolkata?
vi. Where Prafulla did his early schooling?
vii. Give one word for ‘spread throughout’ from the passage.
viii. His formal schooling ___________ (complete the sentence from the passage).
ix. Write the antonym of ‘retained’ from the passage.
x. Write an ‘adjective’ from the passage
xi. Make sentence of your own with ‘education’. (10 to 12 words)
xii. Give a suitable title to the passage.

A2. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. 2 X 4 = 8 marks

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There is an old saying, “rod is the logic of fools”. To some extent it is quite true, but it is not absolutely
correct. It was quite common a few years back that in almost all the schools the insolent students were beaten
by their teachers with a stick or a foot ruler. Many a times it happened so that the stick or ruler got broken
during the beating-process, but the beating could not mend the persistent-pupils. Finally, the teachers had to
avoid such students, the ultimate option which the teachers were left with. What came out of this painful
process? Nothing at all, rather it soured the relationship of a teacher and a student. Both nursed grudges against
one another. Corporal punishment in schools these days is almost banned. It not only hurts a student
physically, but mentally too, it tortures the student. In certain cases, it has ended in suicides and scuffles.
Despite all, this trend is still followed in certain educational institutions. It is unavoidable in certain cases.
Overall these days, it is neither liked by the teachers, nor the students, though their parents may like it.

But, a few days ago Reema fell victim to this abuse. Unfortunately, she forgot to take my maths homework
notebook to school. She apologized for her fault to her teacher but her earnest request failed and two hard slaps
flushed both her cheeks in no time. A silence fell all over in the class. Thenceforth, a volley of harsh words
came from my teacher that twanged her ears. She stood as still as a grave. She made her stand at her seat for
rest of the period. A fierce struggle sublimed with rage, pity, hate, shame and revolt with abrupt changes every
moment went on in her mind. Reema felt like wailing pressing her fists, but she controlled herself. Thoughts of
expecting a liberal attitude from her teacher crept into her mind. Had that been the case this would not have
happened at all. She knew it was all for the time-being, the next day would have come with different feelings.
All days had never been the same. But the time that she spent in agony is still fresh in her mind.

i. What is banned in schools these days and why?

ii. Why was Reema punished?
iii How did the teacher punish Reema?
iv How did Reema feel?

SECTION –B (WRITING AND GRAMMAR) 30 marks

B1. You recently visited a village fair. Write a descriptive paragraph (150 – 200 words) describing your day
spent at the fair. 10 marks
B2. You are Vikash/Vini. You were on the flight to Chennai for a vacation with your family. You find that you
are seated next to the Bollywood superstar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Write a diary entry in 100 to 150 words
expressing your feelings about the whole experience of meeting him. 8 marks

B3. Fill in the blanks with correct tense of the verb given in the bracket. 3marks

By the time Tom _____ (notice) the door bell, it ____ (be) already _____ (ring) three times. As usual he
______ (listen) to loud music on his stereo. As he opens the door, there___ (be) an old man _______ (stand)
on the steps. He is his grandfather.

B4. 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 corrected word in your answer sheet. 4marks

Error Correction

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The collecting, writing, editing and
presenting a new of news articles in a. _________________ __________

newspapers, magazines, radio and

television broadcasts is broadly speaking b. _________________ __________

what journalism is all about. Originally,

journalism means c. _________________ __________

reportage of current event of printed form. d. _________________ __________

B5. Change the voice in the given sentences. 1x2=2 marks

i. Peter gave me flowers on my birthday.(Active voice to Passive voice)
ii.The window pane has been broken by the children.(Passive voice to Active voice)
B6.Do as directed. 1x3=3 marks
i. I____ speak Arabic fluently. (Fill in the blank with suitable ‘Modal’.)
ii. Jess, “I am going to clean the room”. (Change the sentence into ‘Indirect Speech’.)
iii. Future/bright/has a/generation/this/young. (Rearrange the jumbled words into a meaningful sentence)

SECTION- C (LITERATURE) 30 marks

1. With reference to the given text, answer the following questions. 1x 4=4marks
‘For she said, “My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away”
So, she put them on the shelf

(a) Who said these lines to whom?

(b) What does “My cakes that seem too small” mean?
(c) What do we learn about the speaker from the above lines?
(d) Name the poet.

2. Answer any four questions in about 30-40 words. 2x 4=8marks

a. How is innocence outraged? How does it affect out life and surroundings?
b. How has the tree grown?
c. How does Toto come to grandfather’s private zoo?
d. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?
e. Who were Kalam’s school friends? What did they become later?

3.Answer any one question in about 100-150 words. 8x 1=8mark

a. Contrast ‘bleeding bark’ with ‘green twigs’. What has the poet tried to express in the poem ‘On killing a
tree’?
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 OR
b. Who was Sivasubramania Iyer? How did he change his wife’s conservative ideas?

4. Answer any one question in about 200-250 words. 10x 1=10 marks
a. Explain how human beings create conflict? Do you agree to the poet that all men are equal? Justify the title
‘No men are foreign’.
OR
b.Describe Kezia’s father as she saw him. What made her change her opinion about her father at the end of
the story?

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