English
Language
Preparatory
I, 2016-17
General Instructions:
Attempt all four
questions. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in
brackets. You are advised to spend not more than 35 minutes in answering
Question 1 and 20 minutes in answering Question 2.
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Question
1
Write a composition
(350-400) words on any one of the following:
(25)
a)
Most footprints on the sands of time
were made by work shoes. Give your views.
b)
Describe an occasion when you
experienced rejection and what you learnt from it.
c)
“Teenagers should not be given pocket
money.” Give your views either for or against the proposition.
d)
Write a short story which ends with, “He
caught the gleam of happiness in his eyes and won the competition.”
e) Study the
picture given below. Write a 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 pictures and your composition.
Question 2
Select
ONE of the following:
(10)
a)
Write a letter to the Commissioner of
Municipal Corporation, requesting him to take adequate measures to prevent the
spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya in
your area.
b)
Write a letter to your penfriend in London who wants to know about
‘the festival of Diwali’ and the activities associated with it.
Question
3
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that
follow: (25)
Justice
Benaja was sitting in his office. Then a bull-cart bearing Ransie and his wife
Ariela stopped at his door. “We,” said the woman, “want a divorce.” “We can’t
get along together. It’s lonesome enough to live in the mountains when a man
and a woman cannot stand one another.”
“The
regular price of a divorce in this court,” said the Justice, “is five dollars.”
Ransie paid the amount and the judge stuffed the bill into his pocket. He then
wrote the decree upon a piece of paper. The Justice was about
to hand over the documents to Ransie, when Ariela interrupted him.
“
If Ransie can afford a divorce, let him pay me alimony of five dollars,” said
Ariela.
“
Ransie, you are ordered by the court to pay the plaintiff the sum of five dollars before the decree of
divorce is issued,” said the Justice.
“
I have no more money,” breathed Ransie. “I had paid you all I had.”
“
If you give me till tomorrow,” pleaded the husband, “I will be able to rake or
scrape it up somewhere.”
“The
case is adjourned,” said the Justice, “till tomorrow.”
Then
while going home, Justice Benaja was stopped by a man, whose face was covered.
He pointed a rifle at Justice Benaja and asked him for all the money he had.
The Justice gave the only five dollars he had to the man.
The
day Ransie and his wife came to the Justice’s office. In the presence of
Justice, Ransie handed to his wife a five-dollar bill. The Justice handed each one a decree of
divorce.
“I
reckon you’ll be going back up to the cabin,” Ariela said to Ransie.
“You
are going to your brother Ed’s?” asked Ransie.
“I
do not have any other place to go,” said Ariela.
Ariela
was silent. She folded the five-dollar bill and placed it in the pocket of her
dress. The Justice watched the money disappear with mournful eyes behind his
spectacles.
Ransie
stared out towards his cabin. He did not
look at Ariela.
“Want
me to go back along with you in the cart and wind the clock, Ransie?” asked Ariela.
Ransie reached out a big hand and enclosed Ariela’s thin brown face. He soul
peeped out at once through her impassiveface,
hallowing it. “I will not pester you any more,” said Ransie. “I reckon I have
been mean and low.”
“My
heart is in that cabin, Ransie,” she
whispered, “along with you. I am not going to get mad any more. Lets be
starting, Ransie.” Justice Benaja interposed as they started for the door.
He
said, “ I forbid you from defying the court’s decree. This court is more than
willing to see the clouds of discord rolling away from two loving hearts. But
it is the duty of the court to preserve the morals of the state. You are no
longer man and wife, since you are prepared,” went on the Justice, “to remove
the disabilities set up by the decree of divorce by performing the ceremony of
marriage, enabling you to resume marital life. The fee for performing this ceremony will be five dollars.”
Ariela
caught the gleam of promise in his words and kept the bill on the Justice’s
table. Her sallow cheek coloured as she stood hand in hand with Ransie,
listening to the reuniting words.
(a)
Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage.
One
word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (3)
i)
Decree
ii)
Plaintiff
iii)
Impassive
b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. (12)
i) Why did Ransie and his
wife Ariela go to Justice Benaja’s office? (2)
ii) Which documents did Justice Benaja want to handover to Ransie?
Why did Ariela stop him from doing so? (2)
iv)
What happened to Justice
Benaja while he was going back home? (2)
v)
Why was Justice Benaja
mournful on seeing Ariela keep five dollars in her pocket? (2)
vi)
Explain briefly Ransie and
Ariela’s feelings after getting the decree of divorce. (2)
vii)
What is interesting in the
way the story ends? (2)
c) Describe in not more than
60 words, summarise Ransie and Ariela’s
attempt of getting a divorce and then reconciling their differences to start
their life afresh. (8)
Give a title to your
summary and give a reason for it. (2)
Question 4
(a) In the following
passage, fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word
given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order
the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space. (4)
When he was 15, swimmer Michael Phelps used to
dream about….(win) an Olympic gold medal for the US. But, never had he
…..(imagine) that one day he ……(win) 13 individual gold medals and break a
2,168 year-old record of 12 solo titles set by Leonidas of Rhodes.
Leonidas……(compete) in four
successive Olympiads and …..(run) barefoot
in extremely hot and humid conditions he …..(become) the only athlete to
have won 12 solo titles in any discipline.
But then they say, records are meant …….(break) sooner or later.
So on Friday morning, after
winning a gold I the 200 metre individual medley 31 year old pool shark
Phelps……(break) Leonida’s record. Phelps clocked one minute and 54.66 seconds.
b) Fill in the blanks with
appropriate words: (4)
i) Do not brood…..your bad
days.
ii) The management is
indifferent……public opinion.
iii) She is
desirous……..having a big car.
iv) Shobha takes
delight…..classical music.
v) My neighbour has
encroached …….my land.
vi) Rohan is liable…….fine
for jumping the red light.
vii)Arun is popular….all for
his good sense of humour.
viii)Overeating told……his
health.
d) Combine each of the following sentences without using and, but, or
so: (4)
i)
He was pardoned. He had
confessed his crime.
ii)
Don’t be a borrower. Don’t
be a lender.
iii)
The suitcase is very light.
I can carry it.
iv)
He makes posters. He earns a
lot.
v)
Re-write
the following sentences according to the instructions given after each.
i)
Will fresh vegetables be
scarce during the rainy season? (Use: scarcity)
ii)
He was surprised that you
have arrived early in the morning. (Use: arrival)
iii)
She feared she might lose
her jewellery and so she kept it in safe. (Use: lest)
iv)
She often helped him, but he
never succeeded. (Begin: In spite of)
v)
“How did you do that?” the
teacher asked Meena. (Begin: The teacher…)
vi)
As soon as he came, he
started shouting. (Begin: No sooner..)
vii)
She is as attached to me as
to you. (Use: Comparative degree)
viii)
Nobody has talked to me like
this before. (Begin: Never…)
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