Grade 8 English

Semester I Marks: 80

SECTION A- READING

I. Read the following passage and answer the questions 5×1=5

About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy named Charles Chaplin was often
seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theatres. He looked thin and
hungry but his blue eyes were determined. He was hoping to get work in show
business. He could sing and dance. His parents were music-hall performers and he
had been born into the life of the theatre. And, although his own boyhood was
painfully hard, he knew how to make people laugh.

His own father had died from drinking too much. And his mother was not really
able to look after Charles and his older half-brother, Sid. She was often sick in
mind and had to be sent to hospital.

1. Choose the right option.

1) The boy Charles Chaplin was __________.

a) brown-haired b) dark-haired c) red-haired d) light-haired

2) Chaplin thought to get a job in __________.

a) soap business b) hotel business c) show business d) hospital business

3) His parents were __________.

a) music-hall performers b) actors c) singers d) directors

4) His father had died due to __________.

a) an illness b) accident c) drinking d) suicide

5) The meaning of ‘determined’ is ___________.

a) mind made up b) mind turn up c) mind fade up d) mind turn down

II. Read the given poem and answer the given questions 5 × 1= 5

The First Day of School

I’ve got a brand-new lunchbox.
My shoes are shiny clean.
I’ve got a cool, new book bag
And a pencil box that’s green.
But I don’t know my teacher,
Or where my desk will be.
I don’t know if I’ll like the kids,
Or if they’ll play with me.
I peep inside my classroom.
I stand there for a while.
My teacher’s tall and kind of loud,
But has a great big smile.
And, best of all, she’s got my
Favorite book upon the shelf!
I kiss my mother at the door
And walk in by myself.

1) The child’s shoes are_____________________

a) dirty b) clean c) comfortable d) fancy

2) The child has got a pencil box which is____________

a) red b) green c) yellow d) pink

3) What did the child like about the teacher?

4) How did you feel on the first day of your school?

5) What was the best thing that the child found in the class?
III. Read the passage and answer the questions given below 5x1=5

The tree was young and strong and it took a long time to kill. It took two workmen
with axes, two days including tea breaks. Which without conscious irony, they
took in the shade of the leafy branches of the, tree they were chopping down. It
was a Gulmohar I had planted 13 years ago, along with several other saplings,
when Bunny and I moved into the National media centre. The NMC is built on a
little over 22 acres and many hundreds of the local babul trees that used to cloak
that part of the Haryana countryside like smoke from evening chullas must have
been cut down to make way for the brick and cement of our colony. I'm not a tree
hugger but still felt that some restitution was due. So Bunny and I planted several
saplings. The two Gulmohars at the rear were foot high saplings when we put them
in the floor window, flooding the room with afterglow and screening from view the
ugly scars of new construction in what had once been open fields behind our
house. I felt the smugness of satisfaction, of having done the right thing. I'd given
back, in however small a way, a little bit of what we take away from the earth
every day, everywhere. Righteousness invites its own revenge. The roots of one of
the trees had spread, crushing the sewage system. The handyman gave us the
choice of either cutting down the tree or its roots would endanger the foundations
of the house.

a) What is the irony in the first para?

b) What did the author decide to do?
c) What sort of feelings evoked in the author when he visualises newly grown
Gulmohar trees?
d) Why did the writer had to get free felled?
e) What is meant by ‘being righteous’?

SECTION B – WRITING & GRAMMAR

IV. Imagine yourself as Hari or Adarsh residing at Allahabad. You are staying in
hostel. Your school fees are yet to deposit. Write a letter to your father asking him
to send the money as early as possible to avoid any penalties. 5x1=5

OR

Write a letter to your friend describing the importance of English.

V. Write a short paragraph in about 80 words on any of the following topics
5x1=5
a) The importance of trees OR b) The importance of good habits

VI. Convert the following into Indirect speech. 5x1=5

a) Reena said, "I am very beautiful"

b) She said, "The earth moves around the sun"

c) Mahesh said to Ramesh, " I went to the railway station yesterday"

d) Jay said, " I have two pencils in his pocket"

e) Ram said to Rahim, "Where do you live?"

VII. Fill in the blanks with appropriate phrasal verbs from the box. 5 x 1 = 5

[give away, sold out, hold on, take up, broke down, take off]

1. All the tickets for the Avengers were _____.

2. My car ________ in the middle of the road.
3. The kid decided to ____ a new hobby.
4. The judges will ____ to their decision for a while.
5. Please don’t ____ all your money.
VIII. Rearrange the following to form meaningful sentences. 5x1=5
1. called / rose / the / queen / the / is / flowers / of
2. widely / it / grown / is / the / all / world / over
3. 500 / there / about / are / species / roses / of
4. the / rose / Persian / best / is / the
5. brought / from / there / was / it / India / to
IX. Given below is an outline of a story in which a disciple is expecting the
visit of God. Develop a complete story on the basis of the input given. Also
state the moral of the story. 5x1=5
God’s promise to a disciple to visit her………….. disciple cleans her house and
waits for God………….. poor old lady knocks her door ………….. disciple
doesn’t help her ………….. tells her not to waste her time ………….. next,
beggar comes at her door step she doesn’t entertain him either …………..
Finally a child knocks her door ………….. she sends him away too …………..
dreams of God that night ………….. God tells him that he had come thrice at her
door step, but she didn’t bother ………….. lady disappointed ………….. moral.
SECTION C – LITERATURE

I. Answer the following questions: (ANY FIVE ) 5 x 2=10

1. Who did connie Macpherson think her visitor was ?
2. Write about Almas Javed ,who affected by Tsunami .
3. Write about Ram Mohan Roy .
4. What are mysterious activities of the cat that you noticed ?
5.Mention any three things that Parimal Choose knew about Bepin Babu.
6. How did the poet feel after talking to the child on the
beach ?
7. What are the supports Cricket needed from the Ants ?

IV. Answer in detail: (ANY TWO ) 2×5 =10

1. Describe the activities of Macavity in your own words .

2. Write a brief character sketch of Bepin Babu.
3. Write about the story of Tilly during the Tsunami .
4. Describe about the meeting of connie and Mr. Macpherson.
V.Write a summary on any one of the following 2×5=10

1. " The Ant and the Cricket "

OR

" The last Bargain "

2. " Children at work "

OR

" The treasure within "