HALF YEARLY EXAMINATION 
ENGLISH CORE
Class: XI

Time Allowed: 3 Hrs.
Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

(i) This paper is divided into three Sections: A, B and C. All the sections are compulsory.
(ii) Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read these instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully.
(iii) Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

Section – A (Reading) 20 Marks

Q1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (12)

1. Spices are aromatic vegetable products derived from the roots, seeds, leaves or bark of certain plants and trees. The term ‘spice’ was formerly applied also to incense or perfume, but modern usage limits the term to flavourings used in food or drinks, although many spices have additional commercial uses, for example, as ingredients of medicines, perfumes, incense and soaps.

2. India has been the home of spices for more than 6000 years. Even today, it is one of the world’s largest exporters of spices, the majority of which come from the state of Kerala. Spice plants need rocky soil and plenty of moisture for their growth, both of which are available in the hills of Kerala. The earliest mention of the use of spices is found in the Vedas. The Rig Veda lists more than a thousand medicinal plants. The story of Indian spices thus goes back 7000 years.

3. To understand the amazing prestige of spices in ancient times we must remember that in those days food was not so varied or palatable. There were no potatoes, corn, tea, coffee or chocolate. There were no lemons with which to prepare refreshing beverages, and neither was there any sugar with which to sweeten them. However, a dash of pepper, a little cinnamon or ginger, mixed with even the coarsest dishes, could make them palatable.

4. In modern times we can use refrigeration to keep food fresh for months or even years, but in the ancient world refrigerators were unknown. There was no way of storing food and preventing it from going bad. Spices were therefore freely used to preserve food, as well as to hide the taste of food which was not very fresh.

5. Romans sailed to India from Egypt in search of spices even in the first century AD. The demand for spices spread like a wave over Europe. Wars were fought over the ownership of spices. In Europe, during the Middle Ages, a pound of ginger was worth the price of a sheep; a pound of mace would buy three sheep or half a cow; and cloves cost the equivalent of about $20 a pound. Pepper, however, fetched the highest price. Pepper was so valuable that it was counted out corn by corn. In the 11th century, many towns kept their accounts in pepper; taxes and rents were paid in this spice; and a sack of pepper was worth a man’s whole life.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option. (1×6= 6 marks)

1. The term ‘spice’ was formerly applied to _______________ .

a. incense
b. taste
c. flavour
d. aroma

2. Find the antonym of the word ‘tasteless’ from the passage.

a. bland
b. palatable
c. flavoured
d. refreshing

3. Which state is one of the world’s largest exporters of spices?

a. Kerala
b. Rajasthan
c. Tamil Nadu
d. Bihar

4. Find out the synonym of the word ‘aroma’ from the given options.

a. foul smell
b. fragrance
c. odour
d. stench

5. What method is used to keep food fresh in modern times?

a, preservation
b. refrigeration
c. flavouring
d. spices

6. Who sailed to India from Egypt in search of spices?
a. The Egyptians
b. The Romans
c. The Chineses
d. The Greeks

II. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences. 1×4=4

1. List two uses of the spices in the modern times. 1
2. What has made Kerala rich in spices? 1
3. Why is India known as the home of spices? 1
4. Why were spices considered so valuable in the old days? Which was the most valuable spice? 1

III. Find out the words from the passage which have the same meaning as given below. 1×2=2 Marks

(a) a component (Para 1)
(b) not smooth (Para 3)

Q2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.  8 Marks

1. “Cancer is one offshoot of smoking. There is much more,” says Dr. Vikram Jaggi, a chest specialist who runs a Quit Smoking Clinic at his Asthma, Chest and Allergy Centre in Delhi. He sounds ominous when he says, “A person who has smoked 20-30 cigarettes, regularly for more than 10 to 15 years has reduced his life expectancy by about 10 years. 50 percent of the heavy smokers will die due to a cause related to smoking.”

2. When you take a puff, the nicotine in the cigarette reaches the oral cavity, goes into the blood stream, liver and reaches the brain in eight seconds flat. With every cigarette you smoke, 2.5 mg of nicotine enters your body. Gradually, this affects the brain – like a drug addiction. In fact, nicotine addiction is much stronger than cocaine or morphine, says Dr. Jaggi. It affects the blood stream, has an adverse effect on cholesterol, causes thickening of arteries, affects the heart, increases the heart rate and heart attack propensity, causes stroke, various kinds of cancer, and problems in the lungs, particularly in the air tubes (like bronchitis and emphysema). There are approximately 4,000 identified chemicals in cigarette smoke, of which about 600 are known to be carcinogenic.

3. It is clearly documented that a pregnant woman who smokes has more still births, more abortions, and her children will weigh 20-25 percent less than children of non-smoking mothers. Even after child birth, if a woman continues to smoke and the child is around, there is possibility of crib death. Children of women who smoke have two times more infection of the throat and ear than non-smoking mothers’ kids.

4. A smoker has wrinkled skin, yellow teeth, sagging cheeks, greying hair and is prone to baldness. Teeth become yellow and prone to dental problems and fall spontaneously. Smokers have a coated tongue and lose their taste buds. Those who quit smoking suddenly realize the taste of food.

5. Everybody knows smoking causes lung cancer but it also causes emphysema and bronchitis. These are very, very serious long-term conditions which are debilitating. It increases the bad cholesterol and decreases good cholesterol. It narrows the arteries which take blood to the heart. The heart rate in turn increases, so does the pulse rate, and more adrenaline is pumped into the body, which causes the heart to pump faster. All this in turn, can cause heart attack. Gangrene in the lower limb is mostly 100 percent related to smoking. The arteries that supply blood to the lower limbs, toe etc., get thin and blocked. In this case, there is no choice but to amputate the limb. Smoking also causes impotence.

6. Roughly one fourth of whatever smoking does to smokers is what it does to passive smokers. “Quitting is ideal but more ideal would be not to start smoking in the first place. After all, smokers start young and they begin because of the advertisements. Ten percent of the government’s excise revenue comes from cigarettes; two percent of the total government revenue again comes from cigarettes. The government is not going to let go of it,” says Dr. Jaggi. He further adds, “Some sports brands have them on sports gear due to which children actually think sportsmen smoke”.

7. “Remember the Marlboro man, who was considered the macho man in the US? He died of smoking. The next model they took also died of smoking. Need we say more?”

(a) Based on your understanding of the above passage prepare notes on it. Use recognisable abbreviations and symbols. Give a suitable title also. (5)

(b) Prepare a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words. (3)

Section – B (Writing and Grammar) 30 marks

Q3. You are Naman/Namita, head boy/girl of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mathura. Prepare a notice, in not more than 50 words, to inform the students about the Children’s Day Programme to be organised by the primary section of your school on 14th November. Give the time, venue and brief details of the programme schedule. 4 marks

Or
You are Arpan Singh, 13/50 South Avenue, New Delhi. Prepare an advertisement in not more than 50 words to sell your scooter since you are transferred to another place.

Q4. Climate change and its consequences have become a crucial problem that mankind faces nowadays. It is evident from the recent floods in Kerala. Write a letter to the editor of the Hindu regarding how to deal with such natural calamities in future. (120-150 words) 6 marks
Or
You are Aman/ Arpita. You want to join a diploma course in journalism in St. Mary’s College, Jhansi. Write a letter to the college authorities regarding the admission, fee structure etc. (120- 150 words)

Q5. “A sound mind lives in a sound body”. Nowadays overweight due to eating of junk food is affecting the health of children adversely. So a little bit of physical exercise is necessary in schools. Prepare a speech to be delivered in your morning assembly on the importance of Physical Education in our schools. You are Arjun/Arya of Army Public School, Jamshedpur. (150- 200 words) 10 marks
Or
Discipline and character development are the main objectives of our school education. You are Rahul/Raveena, head boy/girl of K.V. Kathmandu. Write an article to be published in your school magazine about developing the habit of discipline in your life. (150-200 words)

Q6. Complete the conversation by filling the blanks using the correct form of the verb in brackets. (1/2×8=4 marks)

Yesterday, the PM____________ (arrive) at 7.30 am sharp. He________________ (be) welcomed by the deputy P M. First of all he___________ (go) to the Raj Bhavan and_____________ (chair) the meeting. Then he_______________ (visit) the State Museum and a statue of the former CM_____________ (be) unveiled by him. At last he _____________ (address) the gathering and___________ (return) to Delhi at 8.30 pm.

Q7. Re-arrange the following words into meaningful sentences. (2 marks)

(a) my/the/woman/is/neighbour/in/car/the.
(b) sorry/having/they/for/disturbed/are/you.

Q8. Edit the following paragraph identifying the error in each line and write the grammatically correct word for it. (8X1/2=4 Marks)

Sanchi Stupa is one of the historical religious monument of India. (a)____________
It is situates at Sanchi of M P. (b) _____________
Sanchi lie on Jhansi-Bhopal railway track. (c) _______________
It was build by Ashoka, the great. (d) _______________
Sacred bones of the two Buddhist monks are keeping safe in the stupa. (e) _______
It is an monument of peace. (f) ____________
Sanchi is a greatest centre of the teachings of the Buddha. (g) ____________
It is open for all on the last Sunday of November every year. (h) ___________
Section – C (Literature) 30 marks

Q9. Read the following passage and answer the questions below: (1×3=3 marks)

Now she’s been dead nearly as many years
As that girl lived. And of this circumstance
There is nothing to say at all.
Its silence silences.

(a) Name the poem and the poet
(a) What is the circumstance referred to?
(c) Explain “its silence silences”.

OR

I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin
And make pure and beautify it:

(a) Whose is the voice in the passage?
(b) What is the significance of the line “I give back life to my own origin?”
(c) How does rain beautify the world?

Q10. Answer any three of the following questions in 30-40 words: (3×3=9 marks)

(a) Why did the grandmother not like the city education?
(b) How does the goldfinch bring a change to the Laburnum tree?
(c) Why was the Garoghlanian tribe famous?
(d) What made Einstein unhappy at school?

Q11. Answer the following in about 120-150 words. (6 marks)

Keeping an optimistic attitude will help one to deal with the hazardous experience in one’s life. Elaborate it in the light of the lesson “We are not afraid to die…”
OR
Who discovered the Tut’s tomb and what problems did he face when he reached the mummy? How did he solve them?

Q12. Answer the following in about 120-150 words (6 marks)

People like Mrs. Dorling forget the ultimate end of man. For some earthly gain, people discard their values. Elucidate.
OR
How did the narrator arrange Ranga’s marriage with Ratna?

Q13. Answer any two of the following in about 120-150 words. (6 marks)

(a) Contrast the Chinese view of art with the European view of art with examples
OR
(b) Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? Give your opinion.

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