Sample Paper

Question 1
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on ANY ONE of the following: [20]
(a) Write an original short story ending with the words, “.............I promised myself
that I would never put myself in such a position again!”
(b) Describe an early morning walk through your neighbourhood. Describe the
different sights and scents that you experienced.
(c) Narrate an incident in which you, as a hitchhiker, feared for your safety but came
out of the experience wiser.
(d) “The downward trend in health among the population today is our
responsibility.” State your views either for or against this statement.
(e) Study the picture given below. Write a short story or a description or an account
of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the
picture, or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear
connection between the picture and your composition.

Question 2
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select ANY ONE of the following: [10]
(a) Write a letter to your friend telling him/her about your visit to an old age home
and what impact it had on you.
(b) Write a letter to the Editor of your local newspaper informing him/her of the
need for a playground in your neighbourhood.
Question 3
(a) You are the Cultural Captain of your school. Write a notice for your school
noticeboard inviting students to volunteer for the work being done in setting up a
carnival on school grounds. [5]
(b) Write an email to the principal of the neighbouring school to send students to
enjoy the carnival, taking details from the above notice. [5]
Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Lying in bed, Swami realised with a shudder that it was Monday morning. It looked
as though only a moment ago it had been the last period on Friday. Already Monday
was here. He hoped that an earthquake would reduce the school building to dust,
but that good building—Albert Mission School—had withstood similar prayers for
over a hundred years now. At nine o’clock, Swaminathan wailed, “I have a
headache.” His mother said, “Why don’t you go to school in a bullock cart?” 5 ‘So
that I may be completely dead at the other end? Have you any idea what it means
to be jolted in a bullock cart?’ ‘Have you many important lessons today?’ his mother
said. 7
‘Important! That geography teacher has been teaching the same lesson for over a
year now. And we have arithmetic, which means for a whole period we are going to
be beaten by the teacher… important lessons!’ And mother generously suggested
that Swami might stay at home. 10
At 9.30, when he ought to have been shouting in the school prayer hall, Swami was
lying on the bench in mother’s room. Father asked him, ‘Have you no school today?’
12
‘Headache,’ Swami replied. ‘Nonsense! Dress up and go.’ ‘Headache.’ ‘Loaf about
less on Sundays and you will be without a headache on Monday.’ 14
Swami knew how stubborn his father could be and changed his tactics. ‘I can’t go so
late to the class.’ ‘I agree, but you’ll have to; it is your own fault. You should have
asked me before deciding to stay away.’ 17
‘What will the teacher think if I go so late?’ ‘Tell him you had a headache and so are
late.’ ‘He will beat me if I say so.’ ‘Will he? Let us see. What is his name?’ ‘Samuel.’
20
‘Does he beat the boys?’ ‘He is very violent, especially with boys who come late.
Some days ago a boy was made to stay on his knees for a whole period in a corner
of the class because he came late and that too after getting six cuts from the cane
and having his ears twisted. I wouldn’t like to go late to Samuel’s class.’ ‘If he’s so
violent, why not tell your headmaster about it?’ ‘They say that even the headmaster
is afraid of him. He is such a violent man.’ 25
And then Swami gave a lurid account of Samuel’s violence; how when he started
caning he would not stop till he saw blood on the boy’s hand, which he made the
boy press to his forehead like a vermilion marking. Swami hoped that with this his
father would be made to see that he couldn’t go to his class late. 29
 But Father’s behaviour took an unexpected turn. He became excited. ‘What do
these teachers mean by beating our children? They must be driven out of service. I
will see…’ 31
The result was that he proposed to send Swami late to his class as a kind of
challenge. He was also going to send a letter with Swami to the headmaster. No
amount of protest from Swami was of any avail. 34
Swami had to go to school. By the time he was ready, Father had composed a letter
to the headmaster, put it in an envelope and sealed it. ‘What have you written,
Father?’ Swaminathan asked apprehensively.
‘Nothing for you. Give this to your headmaster and go to your class.’ Swami’s father
did not know the truth, that actually Mr. Samuel was a very kind and gentle man. 38
Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage:
One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. [3]
wailed (Line 5))
(ii) protest (Line 33)
(iii) apprehensively (Line 36)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
(i) Whose prayers has the school building withstood? [2]
(ii) What was Swami’s father’s suggestion to avoid headaches? [1]
(iii) What did Swami say about Mr. Samuel’s nature? [2]
(iv) What was Swami’s father’s response to his son’s account of Mr. Samuel? [2]
(v) What was Swami instructed to do when he went to school? [2]
(c) In not more than 50 words, detail why you think Swami gave a false account of
Mr. Samuel to his father. [8]
Question 5
Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do
not copy the passage, but write the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space in the
correct serial order. [4]

Example: (0) was Gauri (0) ____________ (is) shivering. As she

(1)____________(tremble), her bangles clinked and jingled. The wolf, who (2)
____________ (move) away, stopped when he (3) ____________ (hear) the sound. He
(4) ____________ (turn) around, his eyes gleaming in the dusk. The sound of a scream
caused the distant search party to (5) ___________ (freeze) and look at each other in
fright. They (6) ____________ (know) that they were too late. The girl had (7)
____________ (run) away from home in anger, but they had not expected her to enter
the forest. It was too late. There was nothing they (8)____________ (can)
(b) Fill in each blank with an appropriate word: [4]
(i) The taller girl is the smarter ____________ the two.
(ii) There is always a demand ____________ skilled carpenters.
(iii) All these villages were ruled ____________ by one mighty King.. (
iv) My cousin crawled ____________ the bed and hid there for an hour.
(v) The teacher complained ____________ the boy when she met his mother.
(vi) He was overwhelmed ____________ pity when he heard about her downfall.
(vii) Hothal insists ____________ going to school even though she is sick.
(viii) He told me to stop myself ____________ dancing in the rain.
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and,
but or so: [4]
(i) My dad has to apologize to his boss. He will not work again if he doesn’t.
(ii) You are going to make me angry. Keep quiet! (
iii) I use this utensil rarely. I bought it a year ago.
(iv) The driver got lost in the fog. He had also forgotten his phone
(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each.
Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each
sentence. [8]
(i) Heavy rain has caused the cancellation of the cricket match.
(Begin: Due ………………….)
(ii) Only a few pens were left in the box after the exam.
(Begin: Most…………………)
(iii) It doesn’t matter in which order you put the ingredients in, the dish will be the
same.
(Use: difference)
(iv) These windows need cleaning again.
(Begin: These windows will …………………)
(v) I have never seen so many dogs on this street before.
(Begin: This is ………………)
(vi) My father said I could go to the concert only if I return home by 10 p.m.
(Use: as long as……….)
(vii) If we all scream together, the search party will hear us.
(Begin: We will…………………)
(viii) Who is the man in the red sweater?
(Begin: Do you know…………………)