Sample Test Paper – 1
English Core
Class – XI
Time: 90 Mts. M.M: 40 Marks
General Instructions:
(1) All questions are compulsory.
(2) Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary.
(3) Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. Marks will be deducted if this limit is crossed.
1. Read the following poem carefully: 5 Marks
What I Leave to My Son
No point in leaving you a long list
Of those who have died
Even if I limit it to my friends and your uncles
It won’t do. Who could remember them all?
My son, isn’t it true?
The obituaries leave me indifferent
As the weather. Sometimes they seem to matter
Even less: How can that be, my son?
I’ll leave you, yes,
A treasure I’m always seeking, never finding
Can you guess? Something wondrous
Something my father wanted for me
Although (poor man!) it’s been nothing
But a mirage in the desert
Of my life.
My soul will join his now, praying
That your generation may find it-
Simply peace-
Simply a life better than ours
Where you and friends won’t be forced
To drag grief-laden feet down the road.
Answer the following questions by selecting the most appropriate options from the ones given below:
1. The obituaries and weather:
(a) have no significance for the poet
(b) leave the poet depressed
(c) matter a lot to the poet
(d) are an integral part of the poet’s survival
2. The legacy the poet wishes to leave to his son is:
(a) To live a life devoid of hatred
(b) To have a better life than his own generation
(c) To be a happy and responsible citizens
(d) All of the above
3) The poet‘s father’s wishes have been nothing but:
(a) A dream
(b) Something wondrous
(c) Treasure he always is seeking
(d) A mirage in the desert of his life
4) The expression “drag grief laden feet” means:
(a) A life that has no aim
(b) Being unhappy
(c) Leading a slow life
(d) Leading a life of monotony
5) The poet‘s father was:
(a) a poor man
(b) a careless person
(c) a rich man
(d) mentally retarded
2. The Eco-Club of your school organized a rally to help spread awareness about the importance of tree plantation. Write a report in about 100 words for your school magazine. 8 Marks
3. Fill in the blanks with suitable determiners: 3 marks
Today many students are concerned about money and fashions. (a)_________ are not concerned about (b) ___________country. No one, except (c) _________want to join (d) _________army or become police officers as (e) _________professions do not pay (f) __________. I think.
4. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow: 4 Marks
The cardboard shows me how it was
When the two girl cousins went paddling,
Each one holding one of my mother’s hands
And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.
(1) What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? 1 mark
(2) Who were the three girls captured in the photograph? 1 mark
(3) Where had they gone for outing? 1 mark
(4) What does the poet say about the mother? 1 Mark
5. Answer any three of the following in about 30 words each. 3 x 2 = 6 marks
(a)What made the grandmother unhappy in the city?
(b)When did the narrator and his wife marry almost lose all hope of survival?
(c)What did John Byro notice in his horse after it was returned to him?
(d)Why and when did the narrator feel an urge to see her mother’s belongings?
6. Answer any one of the following in about 150 words. 6 Marks
(a) Describe how the bond of friendship between the author and her grandmother grew strong and then weak with the passage of time.
(b) Give a brief account of Mourad’s adventure with the white horse.
7. Answer any one of the following in about 150 words: 8 Marks
(1) How can you say that Canterville Chase was a haunted place?
(2) How did Mr. Otis face the ghost?
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reading
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