Jigme Sherubling Central School

Trial Exam, October 2017

Wamrong: Dungkhag

Class: X (A, B, C &D) Writing Time: 3 Hours

English Paper –II Total Marks: 80

SECTION A
SHORT STORY
Direction: From the two sets of questions under this genre, choose ONE SET and write your
responses in the space provided. Read the extract given below and answer the questions based
on the story from which this extract has been taken.

“Some were sparkling white. These had just started hunting that day and irritated the White Knight
by innocently asking directions to the nearest Black Knight”.

SET I
Question Ia. [1x5=5]
Each question below is followed by four responses. Choose the correct response and write it in the
space provided.
1. The White Knight lived in a
A: white palace.
B: village.
C: castle.
D: forest.

2. What was the White Knight‟s first misconduct?

A: He stole buns from a bakeshop.
B: He killed another White Knight.
C: He ravished an innkeeper‟s daughter.
D: He replaced his horse with another white horse.

3. In the above extract, some knights were described as “sparkling white” because they were
A: the good white knights.
B: irritating the White Knight.
C: inexperienced in their quest.
D: wearing lots of sparkling jewelries.

4. “The world at large”, has been symbolized in the story as forest of

A: life.
B: trees.
C: birds.
D: animals.

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5. The given story is an example of
A: contemporary realistic fiction.
B: classical satire.
C: allegory.
D: fantasy.

Question 1b [3x5=15]

Read the following questions carefully and write your answers in the space provided in about 60
words.
1. Why does the protagonist feel that he is superior to the Black Knight? Give TWO reasons. [5]

2. If you were the White Knight, what would you have done to the innkeeper‟s daughter, after
knowing that she loved you? Support your answer with TWO points. [5]

3. “The White Knight took the right decision in returning to his castle at the end”. Do you agree?
Give TWO justifications. [5]

SET II
Question 2. [2x10=20]
Read the following questions carefully and write your answers in the space provided in about
150 words.
a. Suggest ONE alternative each to solve the problems that the White Knight created along his
journey after he finished his money. What could he have done? [10]

b. “Is evil then triumphant?” Do you think this statement holds any truth in the present day
context? Justify with at least FOUR points.

SECTION B
ESSAY

Direction: Read the essay given below carefully. From the two sets of questions on this text,
choose one set and write your responses in the space provided.

The Long Chain of Evolution

Darwin’s great work, The Origin of Species, is now generally accepted as one of the most
important books ever written. But when it first came out in 1859, it was both bitterly condemned
by scientists and laymen. Much of the opposition to The Origin of Species arose from Darwin’s
claim that all living creatures, including men are somehow related. Many people were outraged
by the suggestion that man shared a common ancestor with animals such as apes and monkeys.
They attacked Darwin for saying that man descended from the apes. But Darwin never actually
said this. He believed that modern men and apes have both descended from the same ancestor.
But at some time in pre-history, millions of years ago, men and apes began to develop separately,
and ever since have continued to take on different characteristics. Today, more than 90 years
after Darwin’s death, this is the opinion which scientists continue to hold.

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In his works, Darwin described the progression of life from its earliest forms. First came the
invertebrates – creatures without a backbone. Then invertebrates evolved into fish; fish into
amphibians; amphibians into reptiles; and reptiles into birds and mammals. Fossil remains were
not the only information which we now possess but which Darwin lacked. He did not know that
apes have the same diseases as men; nor that they and men have same kind of blood. Nor did he
know about the modern uses of radiation which enable scientists to tell the age of fossil remains
and so estimate the speed at which evolution has taken place.

Lacking all this information, Darwin had to rely on other branches of science. One of them was
comparative anatomy – the science which compares the physical make-up of different species.
He observed that all vertebrates – amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals – possess forelimbs
which are basically the same. The limbs may be used for swimming, flying, or walking, but they
are all built on the same plan. They contain one bone in the upper arm, two bones in the forearm,
several bones in the wrist, and five bones in the hand with finger joints attached.

Darwin marvelled at this similarity between such widely differing species. „What can be more
curious,‟ he asked, „than that the hand of a man formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging,
the leg of a horse, the paddle of a porpoise, and the wings of a bat, should all be constructed on
the same pattern?‟ From this extraordinary fact, he drew the correct conclusion: that different
species share the same characteristics because they are descended from the same ancestors.
Then, later, they took on the separate characteristics which helped them most in the struggle to
survive in their own environments.

Darwin also made use of the science of embryology, which deals with the early stages that a
creature passes through inside its mother’s body before being born, or inside an egg before being
hatched. He observed that the embryos of fish, birds, and men have amazing similarities. For
example, all three have gill slits and tails. The reason is that in the period before it is born or
hatched, every creature passes rapidly through several stages which follow the entire history of
its species. A human embryo therefore reproduces the stages when man’s remote ancestors
possessed gills for swimming and, later, tails for maneuvering among the trees.

Long before birth the human embryo closes its gills and curls up its tail, so that no signs of them
appear after it is born. Yet every human carries traces, now useless, of man’s distant past. He
possesses patches of the hair which once protected his ancestors against the cold, and the
beginnings of muscles which his ancestors once used to twitch their ears.

Once again Darwin drew the inescapable conclusion from his observations. Since the embryos of
men, fish and birds possess some of the same characteristics, all these orders of life must have
descended from the same ancestors.
[Source: Guided English for India, Book 5, (2nd Edition)
Howe, D.H. Oxford University Press.]

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 SET I
Question 1a [1x5=5]
Each question below is followed by four responses. Choose the correct answer or response that
best fits the given question and write it in the space provided.

1. The major claim made by Darwin in “The Origin of Species” is that,

A man has descended from apes.
B apes and monkeys are man’s ancestors.
C man and apes share a common ancestor.
D there is no difference between a man and an ape.

2. Fossil is the
A: remains of plants or animals preserved in a rock for a very long time.
B: photographs of plants and animals which have become extinct.
C: embryos of animals like apes, fish and amphibians.
D: group of animals and plants kept in a zoo.

3. The third paragraph of the essay is about

A: description of animals‟ forelimbs.
B: vertebrates possessing forelimbs which are same.
C: vertebrates using their limbs for different purposes.
D: all the forelimbs being similar in the embryo stage.

4. Two branches of science that Darwin used for his work were studies of
A: embryology and fossil.
B: fossil and comparative anatomy.
C: comparative diseases and embryology.
D: embryology and comparative anatomy.

5. To which of the following forms of writing does the given essay belong?
A: Argumentative
B: Persuasive
C: Expository
D: Descriptive

Question Ib. [3x5=15]

Read the following questions carefully and write your answers in the space provided in about
60 words.
1. Using Darwin‟s theory of evolution, explain how you would draw a connection between      
     yourself and a fish.

2. Darwin’s theory of evolution was opposed by the people of his time, especially the religious
ones. Why? Give ONE reason.

3. The essay states that it took millions of years for humans to evolve from hairy apes. Scientists
today believe that humans are under continued process of evolution.
    What changes, in terms of intelligence and physical features do you foresee in humans in the
distant future of about 1000 years?

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 SET II
Question2. [2x10]
Read the following questions carefully and write your answers in the space provided in about
150 words.

a. Explain Darwin‟s theory of “The Origin of Species” in your own words.

b. Why did Darwin believe that humans and apes descended from the same ancestor? Give
TWO reasons and explain them.

SECTION C: POETRY

Direction: Read the poem given below carefully. From the TWO SETS of questions on the
poem, choose ONE SET and write your responses in the space provided.

Autumn leaves
Golden, crisps leaves falling softly from almost bare trees,
Lifting and falling in a hushed gentle breeze,
Slowly dropping to the soft cushioned ground,
Whispering and rustling a soothing sound.

Coppers, golds and rusted tones,

Mother Nature’s way of lifting go
They fall and gather one by one,
Autumn is here, summer has gone.

Crunching as I walk through their warm fiery glow,

Nature’s carpet rich and pure that again shall grow,
To protect and shield its Majestic tree,
Standing tall and strong for the world to see

They rise and fall in cool, crisp air.

It’s a time of change in this world we share,
Nature’s importance reflecting our own lives,
Letting go of our fears and again, too, we shall thrive.

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/autumn-leaves-5

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 SET I

Question 1a. [1x5=5]

Direction: For each of the following questions there are four possible responses. Choose the
correct response and write it in the space provided.

1. Identify the figure of speech used in the given line, “Standing tall and strong for the
world to see”.
A: Simile
B: Metaphor
C: Personification
D: Alliteration

2. Who helped the falling and lifting of leaves on trees in autumn?

A: Animals and birds
B: Wind
C: Rain
D: Human being

3. What is the significance of approaching of autumn season

A: Trees looks bare and naked
B: Growing of leaves on the tree and looks green
C: Nature’s carpet rich and pure that again shall grow,
D: Golden, crips leaves falling softly from almost bare trees

4. “Autumn is here, summer has gone”. The literal meaning of above given line is
A: Approaching of autumn
B: Human lives and dies
C: Reflecting our own lives
D: End of summer

5. How the rich nature is nurtured herself?

A: Avoiding human activities in rich vegetation
B: Applying manure as well as watering
C: Fall of golden leaves
D: The return of the season.

Question 1b. [5x3=15]

Direction: Answer the following questions in about 150 words each.
1. Explain the 1st stanza of the poem in your own words. [5]
2. How would you take care of Mother Nature? Share your opinions. [5]
3. If you are the poet of this poem, what would be your message to the readers? [5]

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 SET II
Question 2. [10x2=20]
Direction: Answer the following questions in about 150 words each.
1. Write the fourteen lines poem describing the Autumn fall claiming effect it can have on our
lives. [10]
2. What is the essence of poem? Portray the reflection to be given on human lives based on the
poem, Autumn leaves. [10]

SECTION D

NOVEL

Direction: From the TWO SETS of questions based on the novel ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry,
choose ONE SET and write your responses in the space provided.

SET I
Question 1a. [1x5=5]
Direction: For each of the following questions there are four possible responses. Choose the
correct response and write it in the space provided.

1. What book is not in every household?

A: Encyclopedia
B: Dictionary
C: A thick community volume containing descriptions of every office, factory, building and
committee
D: Book of Rules

2. 16. Why does Jonas leave the community more quickly than planned?
A: Preparations did not take as long as expected.
B: Gabriel will soon be adopted and Jonas will lose contact with him, so he needs to take him
away.
C: The Giver wants to leave with Jonas and says that leaving soon would be better.
D: The decision to release Gabriel has been made, so Jonas needs to take him where he cannot be
found.

3. Which department is considered a joke among the community due to the fact that it constantly
changes location?
A: Department of the Elders
B: Department of Bicycle Repair
C: Department of Laborers
D: Department of Recreation

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 4. Who made the following comment about releases: “Here today and gone tomorrow.
Never seen again.”?
A: Asher
B: Jonas
C: The Giver
D: Fiona

5. In which of the following situations did the Elders seek advice from The Giver?
A: When an airplane flew over the community.
B: When Asher stole a bicycle from the House of the Old.
C: When Caleb fell into the river and disappeared.
D: When the community lacked a sufficient number of Nurturers.

Question1b. [5x3=15]
Direction: Answer the following questions in about 60 words each.
1. Explain why feelings and memories have been eliminated from Jonas' community.
2. Discuss whether Jonas' assignment as the next Receiver of Memory is an honor or a punishment.
3. The climax of the novel is when Jonas’s father performed the release of twin child.
Discuss the feelings of Jonas, when he saw such cruel act of his loving father.

SET II
Question 2. [10x2=20]
Direction: Answer the following questions in about 150 words each.
1. Discuss any four themes from the text. [10]
2. Write the summary of novel based on its elements. [10]

ALL THE BEST!!!

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