Please refer to Class 10 English Sample Paper Term 2 With Solutions Set D provided below. The Sample Papers for Class 10 English have been prepared based on the latest pattern issued by CBSE. Students should practice these guess papers for class 10 English to gain more practice and get better marks in examinations. The Term 2 Sample Papers for English Standard 10 will help you to understand the type of questions which can be asked in upcoming examinations.
Term 2 Sample Paper for Class 10 English With Solutions Set D
SECTION – A (READING)
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
(1) Hundreds of thousands of our qualified youngsters take off from different international airports every year for higher studies or highly lucrative jobs in the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia, and most of these Indians prefer to settle down abroad, attracted by the facilities and the higher quality of life provided by these countries. We have been crying hoarse about the brain drain from India over the last five decades or more, without going in for a wellset blueprint to check the counter-productive phenomenon. Some of the public schools in our metros and our IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) are providing world-class education. One might wonder that having spent a lot on infrastructure, training and other facilities and the best teaching staff, can the government and the people of India look away as the talent, assiduously nurtured in India, is utilised by other countries for their development and excellence in different fields?
(2) Critics ask that when other developed countries provide higher facilities, pay packages and perks, how can you dissuade our youngsters from going abroad? What has been our loss has been the gain of the countries where our youth has migrated. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-American women astronaut in space, had been a role model for every woman – world over including India. Though she became an Indian American, we still recognise her as a citizen who could climb to the summit of excellence, when given a chance. Two distinguished scientists who won Nobel Prize for their meritorious work in Physics and Medicine in 1983 and 1968, were Dr. S. Chandrasekhar and Dr. Hargobind Khorana, respectively. They were working in the US. One might ask, had they been working in India, would they have ever got the highly prestigious prize like the Nobel Prize?
(3) During the decades-long debate on the brain drain, it was said that our youngsters leave India just because excellence is neither recognised nor rewarded in India. This could have been partly true at the beginning of this debate. But today, things have changed beyond recognition and talented people can reach the highest position possible if only they are prepared to work hard.
(4) Youngsters from India – whatever be the field they are working in – are today suitably recognised and rewarded.
(5) Take the field of sports where many of the celebrities are household names – Sania Mirza, Narain Karthikeyan,Sachin Tendulkar, Anju Bobby George, P.T. Usha and several others. Innovation and managerial skill get recognition when Indians can vie with others in excellence from any part of the world.
(6) If there is one individual who has catapulted India to the number one position in milk production in the world, it’s none other than Dr. Verghese Kurien, the father of the White Revolution. A top engineer who completed the Konkan Railway in record time, Mr. E. Sreedharan has build up the world class Delhi Metro. Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is no longer a megastar of the Indian screen only. His presentation of Kaun Banega Crorepati and other ventures have made him a living legend of global proportions. Take the story of the Ambani brothers, the Tatas, the Mittals and others who are having their footprints in different continents. We have had so many Indian film and theatre actors who rose to the summit and earned so much acclaim not just in Bollywood, but also globally. In the wake of globalisation, India has produced a galaxy of eminent entrepreneurs in IT; biotechnology, civil aviation, steel production and the like. Just mention a field and we are already in the vanguard or moving ahead at a frantic pace. A time may come when India would be capable of reversing the so-called brain drain to India’s supreme advantage.
(7) And happily enough, this is already happening now. A report released by a high-tech lobbying group in the Silicon Valley in 2005 revealed that the highly-skilled Indian-born talent that once flocked to the US was returning home, “turning America’s brain drain into India’s brain gain.” Titled “Losing the Competitive Edge : The Challenge of Science and Technology in the US”, the report said that countries like India and China, through the restructuring of their economies, were dramatically increasing the skill sets of their work force, thereby posing a challenge to the US leadership in the technology domain. Public-private partnerships (in India) have invested in technical universities and communication infrastructure to create cutting edge technology parks in place like Bangalore in Karnataka. This will make India more competitive and alluring to investors and multinational companies. The report further said : “They are dramatically increasing the skill sets of their workforce, investing in research and development, and adapting advanced technologies, all to create wealth and spur economic growth.”
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY FIVE questions from the six given below:
(i) What is brain drain?
Answer.When hundreds of thousands of qualified youngsters take off from different nations every year for higher studies or better job opportunities or to settle down in the countries like US, UK, Germany, France and Australia, this process of leaving one’s own country is called brain drain.
(ii) Replace the underlined word without changing the meaning of the sentence. … look away as the talent, assiduously nurtured in India …
Answer.look away as the talent, carefully/diligently nurtured in India ….
(iii) What do other countries provide that attracts youngsters?
Answer.Countries like US, UK, Australia, etc. provide higher facilities, pay packages and other perks that attract youngsters.
(iv) How have the things changed today?
Answer.Today, talented people can reach the highest position possible if only they are prepared to work hard.
(v) Describe about Verghese Kurien.
Answer.Verghese Kurian, the father of the White Revolution is one person who has catapulted India to the number one position in Milk production in the
World.
(vi) What does the report of 2005 reveal?
Answer.A report released by high tech lobbying group in the Silicon Valley revealed that highly skilled Indian born talent is not returning home making it India’s gain.
2. Read the following passage carefully.
(1) Last week was spent glued to TV, watching India getting thrashed by a rejuvenated England at Lord’s. Like most Indians, I too was dispirited by India’s inability to live up to its reputation as the number one team. But at least there was the immense satisfaction of watching the match live and – even listening to BBC’s good humoured Test Match Special on Internet radio.
(2) It was such a change from my school days when you had to tune in to a crackling short wave broadcast for intermittent radio commentary. Alternatively, we could go to the cinema, some three weeks after the match, to see a two-minute capsule in the Indian News Review that preceded the feature film.
(3) It is not that there was no technology available to make life a little more rewarding. Yet, in 1971, when B.S.Chandrasekhar mesmerized the opposition and gave India its first Test victory at the Oval, there was no TV, except in Delhi.
(4) Those were the bad old days of the shortage economy when everything, from cinema tickets to two-wheelers, had a black market premium. Telephones were a particular source of exasperation. By the 1970s, the telephone system in cities had collapsed. You may have possessed one of those heavy, black Bakelite instruments but there was no guarantee of a dial tone when you picked up the receiver. The ubiquitous ‘cable fault’ would render a telephone useless for months on end.
(5) What was particularly frustrating was that there was precious little you could do about whimsical public services. In the early 1980s, when opposition MPs complained about dysfunctional telephones, the then communications minister CM Stephen retorted that phones were a luxury and not a right. If people were dissatisfied, he pronounced haughtily, they could return their phones!
(6) Inefficiency was, in fact, elevated into an ideal. When capital-intensive public sector units began running into
the red, the regime’s economists deemed that their performance shouldn’t be judged by a narrow capitalist
yardstick. The public sector, they pronounced, had to exercise ‘social’ choices. India, wrote Jagdish Bhagwati
(one of the few genuine ‘dissidents’ of that era), “suffered the tyranny of anticipated consequences from the
wrong premises.”
(7) Being an Indian in those days was truly demeaning if you had the misfortune of travelling overseas. Government regulations decreed that a private citizen travelling overseas had the right to buy all of $8. Subsequently, the ceiling was raised to $500 every three years. This meant that Indians had to evolve innovatively illegal methods of buying a few extra dollars or scrounging off fortunate NRI relatives. No wonder, escaping from India became a middle class obsession, as did petty hawala.
(8) India was an object of mockery. We were mocked for leading a “ship to mouth” existence while preaching
morality to the rest of the world. We were pitied, not least by rich Pakistanis who would compare their
spanking new Impala cars to our creaking Ambassadors that were in perennial short supply.
(9) Enforced socialist austerity bred dishonesty and subterfuge. India’s creative genius became preoccupied with ways to bypass a system that in all seriousness demanded that the better-off 97% of their income in taxes, and where the remuneration of company directors had to be approved by babus sitting in a ministry in Delhi.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer ANY FIVE questions.
(i) Why was the narrator along with many other Indians disappointed?
Answer.The narrator and many other Indians were disappointed because Indian cricket team failed to live up to its reputation as the number one team and was defeated by England at Lord’s.
(ii) How did the narrator use to enjoy cricket during his school days?
Answer.During his school days, the narrator had to tune in to a cracking short wave broadcast for intermittent radio commentary. Or they could visit a cinema hall three weeks later to catch the match’s highlights.
(iii) How did the narrator describe the economy of his younger days?
Answer.The narrator describes it as bad days of shortage economy where everything from cinema tickets to two-wheelers had a black market.
(iv) Telephones were a particular source of exasperation. Replace the underlined word without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Answer.Telephones were a particular source of annoyance/irritation.
(v) How did the CM stephen react on complaints related to telephones?
Answer.The CM retorted by saying that phones were a luxury and not a right. He stated that if people were unhappy, they could return their phones.
(vi) Why was it demeaning being Indian in early days?
Answer.It was demeaning because a private citizen travelling overseas couldn’t buy or spend more than $8.
SECTION – B (WRITING AND GRAMMAR)
3. Attempt any one of the given questions.
The given bar graph shows the sale of different flavours of ice cream made in an ice cream shop in the month of June. Write an analytical paragraph based on the graph in 100-120 words.
OR
You have placed an order for a few books with City Central Book Shop, No. 10, Paharganj, Delhi. You have not received the books so far. Write a letter in 100-120 words to the bookshop complaining about the noncompliance of your order.
Answer.The given bar graph shows the sale of different flavours of ice cream from an ice cream dealer in the month of June. The flavours are vanilla, chocolate, mint choco, butter scotch and mango.
From the graph the first thing we can tell is that for this month chocolate made the biggest sale with almost 1050 cups of ice cream sold. After chocolate the second favoured flavour is vanilla which made a sale just over 800 units. Vanilla’s sale is closely followed by mango ice cream with a monthly sale hitting 800 exact units. Butter scotch has also pulled in decent number with a sale of just under 700 units. The flavour that made the least money in the month of June for this ice cream dealer is mint choco. Looking at the graph though chocolate is the clear winner, the rest of the flavours are selling well and are almost neck to neck in competition except for mint choco with its sale numbers barely 400 cups.
To conclude the graph gives us a better idea about which flavours of ice cream are more in demand and which ones are not.Chocolate being the clear winner and mint choco barely in the race makes an interesting study of choices of people.
4. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Identify the error and write its correction against the correct blank number. Remember to underline the correction. The first has been done for you.
Error Correction
(a) who which
(b) an the
(c) he you
5. Read the conversation between two friends and complete the passage that follows :
Sumit : Did you see my new watch? Isn’t it exquisite?
Jay : Yes it is! Did you buy it from the mall?
Sumit : No, my uncle from London has brought it for me.
Sumit asked his friend Jay (a) and wanted to know whether it was an exquisite one. Jay agreed and asked
Sumit if he had bought it from the mall. Sumit replied in the negative and added that (b) .
Answer.(a) if he saw his new watch
(b) his uncle from London brought it for him
SECTION – C (LITERATURE)
6. Answer ANY SIX of the following in about 30-40 words.
(i) What do you learn about Natalya from The Proposal?
Answer.Natalya was a young unmarried girl of twenty five years. She lived in the neighbourhood of Lomov, a young unmarried man. She was an excellent housekeeper and was not bad looking. She was well educated, but she did not seem to be so. She was very quarrelsome and abusive by nature. She began a bitter quarrel with Lomov over a piece of land that had little value. Later, she regrets it and behaves like a love sick cat.
(ii) Describe the physical appearance of Custard?
Answer.Custard, the dragon had big sharp teeth. He had spikes on top of him and under his scales. His mouth resembled a fireplace. His nose was a chimney and his toes were like daggers. He was very fierce in his appearance but everybody made fun of him for being a coward.
(iv) What does Bill say about Lutkins’ character to the narrator?
Answer.Bill tells the author that Oliver Lutkins is a dishonest person. He says that he plays a lot of Poker. He is good at deceiving people. He owes money to many people. He says that Oliver Lutkins mother is a terrible woman. She is about 9 feet tall and 4 feet thick. She is quick as a cat. And she talks too much .
(v) M. Loisel was a loving and caring husband. How?
Answer.Monsieur Loisel is a loving, but he cannot be called a subservient, husband. He wants to do what his wife wants, or anything to make her happy. He sacrifices his comfort for hers. When she asks for money for a dress to go to the ball, he acquiesces and gives her the money he has set aside for himself.
(vi) Why was Sulekha nicknamed Bholi?
Answer.When Sulekha was ten months old, she fell off from the cot. Her head and some part of her brain got damaged. She remained a backward child since then. She learned to speak at the age of five even then her speech wasn’t clear; she stammered. Therefore, Sulekha came to be known as Bholi, a simpleton.
(vii) What was the most fascinating thing that Valli saw on the street?
Answer.The most fascinating thing that Valli saw on the street was the sight of the bus which travelled from her village to the nearest town. The bus was filled with a new set of passengers each time. Watching the bus come and go was a source of unending joy for Valli. She harbours a strong desire to ride the bus one day and even plans for it meticulously.
7. Answer ANY TWO of the following in about 120-150 words each.
(i) Valli is not a selfish person neither insensitive to the sufferings of others. She grieves over the accidental death of a young cow. Discuss the values of Valli’s character on the basis of ‘Madam Rides the Bus’.
Answer.In modern era, people are selfish and insensitive to the sufferings of their neighbours. But Valli is not one of them. On her way to the town, while she was in the bus, she came across a young cow running in the middle of the road, in front of the bus. Watching the young creature running about spiritedly, filled little Valli with joy and excitement, and she clapped with glee. However, the joy and excitement was shortlived as while coming back from the town, she saw the same young cow lying by the roadside, quite dead. Valli had been enthusiastic throughout the journey and would have never imagined of witnessing death so closely. But on being faced with such a tragic and dismal truth of life, the readers come across a sensitive Valli as she grieved the accidental demise of the young cow. She became sombre thinking about what had been a beautiful creature a while ago, alive and free spirited, was not so anymore. It seemed to have lost its charm, now that it lay lifeless in a pool of blood. Eight year old Valli neither feels frightened nor does she lose her confidence, only her enthusiam dampens. Instead, she processes the information like a grown up. She feels sympathy for the dead young cow.
(ii) ‘The Necklace’ reveals that vanity is an evil. It may bring joy for a short period but ultimately it leads to ruin.
If you were placed in a situation similar to that of Matilda, what would you have done? Write your views.
Answer.Matilda always craved for a life of riches, exquisite food, sparkling jewellery, etc. However, she did not have such a life, and it upset her. Matilda envied her childhood friend, Mme. Forestier, because the latter had everything that Matilda desired.
Matilda was finally able to fulfil her heart’s deepest desire when she and her husband M. Loisel were invited to a fancy ball organised by M. Loisel’s boss, the Minister of Education. Matilda Loisel bought an expensive dress. But that was not enough. So, she borrowed a staggeringly beautiful diamond necklace from her childhood friend to wear with the dress on the evening of the ball. That night, she was the fairest maiden of them all and she basked in the glory to the fullest. The profound joy of being the centre of attraction was short lived for Matilda. She had lost the precious necklace. Economically, the Loisels’ situation worsened because M. Loisel had to borrow a huge amount of money to replace the cost of the diamond necklace. The Loisels’ lifestyle changed as they became completely poor. Their misery continued for ten years. Eventually, when the debt was paid off, Matilda Loisel had lost everything. Everything about her had changed except for one thing. She was even sadder and more bitter than she used to be.
‘The Necklace’ reveals that vanity is an evil. It may bring joy for a short period but ultimately it leads to ruin. If I were in Matilda Loisel’s place, I would cut my coat according to my cloth and be content with what I have. What Matilda failed to understand before she lost the diamond necklace is that modest life can be sufficient and comfortable. Had I been the one to lose the necklace instead of Matilda I would have confessed to my friend and apologised for losing the necklace.
