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Read the passage given below and answer
the questions that follow. (8)
In democratic countries any
effort to restrict the freedom of the press is rightly condemned. However, this
freedom can be easily abused. Stories about people often attract far more
public attention than political events. Though we may enjoy reading about the
lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy
reading about ourselves. Acting on the contention that facts are sacred,
reporters can cause untold sufferings to individuals by publishing details
about their private lives. Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they
cannot only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can
even overthrow a government.
The story of a poor family that
acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the
press. The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 25000 inhabitants in South
Dakota. As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against
poverty. They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more
pressing economic problems. If they had only one more child the fact would have
passed unnoticed. They would have continued to struggle against economic odds
and would have lived in obscurity. But they suddenly became the parents of
quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their
lives.
The day after the birth of the
five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers.
The news was of national importance, for the couple had become the parents of
the only quintuplets in America.
Their rise to fame was swift.
Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in thecountry.
Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive right
to publishphotographs. Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from
baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. The
old farmhouse the family lived in was tobe replaced by a new $100000 home.
Reporters kept pressing interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as the
spokesmen of the family at press conferences.
(a) Answer the following
questions. (1
x 8 = 8)
(i) What is condemned in
democratic countries?
(ii) Why is the freedom of press a
matter of abuse?
(iii) How do reporters cause
suffering to individuals?
(iv) Who are responsible for such
abuses?
(v) What is the power of the
press?
(vi) What does change the lives of
ordinary people?
(vii) Who are employed at press
conferences?
(viii) What role does the
television play?
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Read the passage given below and answer
the questions that follow. (12)
It is agreed that disasters have
become a way of life. We simply can't wish them away. Be it earthquakes,
cyclones, floods, landslides, sea-erosion or fires. But we are definitely in a
stage to marginalize their effects. Because these calamities by themselves do
not kill people, it is the structurally deficient buildings that give way
burying within themselves the hapless many.
The recent earthquake in Gujarat
has indeed shaken all of us. Whereas Bhuj, at the epicentre of the quake, has
turned into debris, many a buildings in Ahmedabad, 400 kms away, also simply collapsed.
Surprising was the fact that the lower floors of many buildings sank into the
soil. In the cyclone affected coastal Andhra and Odisha, majority of the houses
were razed to the ground due to inadequate structural provisions.
Stories of major fires in
buildings in urban areas are too frequent to be missed by any of us. Why is it that
same intensity of earthquake in Gujarat killed over 30000 people and destroyed
over 3.5 lakhhouses and in Seattle with the same earthquake two weeks later,
only one died, that too of heart attack with no damage to buildings.
Sadly, a major portion of this
loss to life and property was, in fact, avoidable, had the habitations been
constructed with structural safety precautions and disaster resistant
provisions, as already available in the National Building Codes and Earthquake
Codes and Enactments. With details on disaster proneness of various regions for
natural calamities already available through theVulnerability Atlas, what is
needed is a determined effort to enforce a techno-legal regime to ensure incorporation
of safety provisions in new construction as well the strengthening of existing vulnerable
buildings in the operative buildings.
Byelaws of the local bodies. So
also for fire safety, we need to design and construct buildings with fire
safety provisions. Insisting on annual renewal certificates to ensure proper
maintenance could avoid many a fire hazards.
The designs without structural
soundness, execution with inferior quality of material and workmanship and
scant attention to safety norms and disaster resistant features in construction
are all fraught with serious risk and hazard to both life and property. It is
indeed heartening to note that large number of discerning home owners have
already started asking searching questions to the builders if the building is
structurally safe for all situations. This never used to happen earlier.
(a) Answer the following questions. (2
x 4 = 8)
(i) Name some disasters that have
become a way of life.
(ii) What happened in Gujarat
earthquake?
(iii) What is Vulnerability Atlas?
(vi) What should be done for fire
safety?
(b) Answer the following questions.
(1 x 4 = 4)
(i) What is the meaning of the word
'deficient'?
(ii) Give a synonym for the word
'incorporation' in the passage.
(iii) Give the opposite for the
word 'inferior' in the passage.
(iv) Pick out a word from the passage
that means- 'hardly any'.
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Recently you visited Indian Art
Gallery. Many paintings adorned the mounting wall. Your joy knew nobounds to
see the paintings. Write your feelings in a diary in 100 - 120
words. (5)
Or
You come across various
incidents of misbehavior of youngsters with their teachers and parents. Youare
worried of at the fall in human values. Write an article on "The Changing
Value Systems and A Need for Reorientation' in about 100-120 words.
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Write a short story in about 150
- 200 words beginning with the following line. (10)
''We were just about to board the
plane when ...........''
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Read the following paragraph
carefully and fill in the blank with one correct word. (1
x 3 = 3)
(a) ........never seen a house
on fire before. So, when I heard fire engines with loud alarm bells rushing
past
(b) ........house, I quickly
came out a (c) ........ streets away and joined the crowd.
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In the following passage one
word is missing. A '/' is provided instead. Write the correct word in the space
provided.
(1
x 4 = 4)
(a) He / never repeat that
mistake ...............
(b) Had I seen you, I/have
come ...............
(c) He applied / his superior
office for promotion ...............
(d) He applied / hard to his
success ...............
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Rearrange the following
words/phrases to form meaningful sentences. The first one has been done foryou
as an example.
(1
x 3 = 3)
pre s sure/be/high/will
Pressure will be high.
(i) love/to go/I/morning
walk/father/with/daily/for a/my
(ii) track suits/sports
shoes/and/My father/I/and/wear our/for/the/walk
(iii) is fresh/the
air/morning/the/in
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Read the extracts given below and answer
the questions that follow. (1
x 3 = 3)
"Till last by
Philip's farm I flow
To join the
brimming river,
For men may come
and men may go,
But I go on for
ever"
(i) Where is Philip's farm
situated?
(ii) What does the phrase
'brimming river' mean?
(iii) Which poetic device is used
here?
Or
"They carried the big dog into the house.
Marcy took one look at Duke's breathing/ at his brown eyes with the
stubbornness gone."
(i) What happened to Duke?
(ii) What does the word
"stubbornness" mean?
(iii) Whose 'eyes' are referred
here?
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Answer the following questions in 30-40
words each. (2
x 4 = 8)
(i) Why did William Wordsworth
say, 'The music in my heart-I bore'?
(ii) Why do you think that the
women at the temple discuss the latest episode of 'Kashi Yatre'?
(iii) Why was Gaston not in favour
of buying the villa initially?
(iv) What are the two ways in
which the Brook is similar to life?
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Was Gaston right in what he did
to his wife and Mrs Al Smith? Explain your stance in 80-100 words. (4)
Or
You are Krishtakka. Write a
diary expressing your feelings why you liked 'Kashi Yatre' and how it motivated
you to learn to read. (80 - 100 words)
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Answer any one of the following
questions in about 150-200 words. (10)
Describe the metropolis and
Gulliver's experience in the city. (Gulliver
s Travels)
Or
Analyse the character of the
king of Brobdingnag. (Gulliver's
Travels)
Why did the friends agree when George
said, "No oil"? (Three
Men in a Boat)
Or
Analyse the significance of Stivvings
in the novel. (Three
Men in a Boat)
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