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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