(Solved) CBSE Class 11 English Sample Paper

CBSE Class 11 English Sample Paper

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

1- This paper is divided into two parts: A and B. All questions are compulsory

2- Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read these instructions very carefully and follow them.

3- Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

 

PART A (40 MARKS) READING (18 MARKS)

Q 1- Read the passage given below. (1 x 10=10)

1. I was born on 30th of November, 1835, in the almost invisible village of Florida, Monroe County. Missouri. suppose Florida had less than three hundred inhabitants. It had two streets. Each a couple of hundred yards I long: the rest of the avenues mere lanes, with rail fences and cornfields on either side. Both the streets and the lanes were paved with the same material tough black mud in times, deep dust in dry.

2. Most of the houses were of logs all of them, indeed, except three or four; these latter were frame ones.There were none of brick, and none of stone. There was a log church. With a puncheon floor and slab benches. A puncheon floor is made of logs whose upper surfaces have been chipped flat with the adz. The cracks between the logs were not filled there was no carpet, consequently, if you dropped anything smaller than a peach, it was likely to go through. The church was perched opon short sections of logs, which elevated it two or three feet from the ground. Hogs slept under there, and whenever the dogs got after them during services, the minister had to wait till the disturbance was over. In winter there was always a refreshing breeze up through the puncheon floor, in summer there were fleas enough for all.

3. A slab bench is made of the outside cut of a saw-log, with the bark side it is supported on four sticks driven into auger holes at the ends; it has no back and ions. The church was twilighted with yellow tallow candles in tin sconces hung against the walls. Week days the church was a schoolhouse.

4. There were two stores in the village. My uncle, John A. Quarles, was proprietor of one of them It was a very small establishment, with a few rolls of “bit” calicoes on half a dozen shelves: a few barrels of salt mackerel, coffee, and New Orleans sugar behind the counter stacks of brooms, shovels, axes, hoes, rakes, and such things here and there a lot of cheap hats, bonnets, and tiware strung on strings and suspended from the walls; and at the other end of the room was another counter with bags of shot on it, a cheese or two, and a keg of powder, in front of it a row of mail kegs and a few pigs of lead, and behind it a barrel or two of New Orleans molasses and native corn whisky on top. If a boy bought five or ten cents’ worth of anything, he was entitled to half a handful of sugar from the barrel; il a woman bought a few yards of calico she was entitled to a spool of thread in addition to the usual gratis trimmin’s”: if a man bought a trifle, he was at liberty to draw and swallow as big a drink of whisky as he wanted.

5. Everything cheap apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and corn, ten cents a bushel: chickens, ten cents a piece; butter, six cents a pound; eggs, three cents a dozen; coffee and sugar, five cents a pound; whisky. ten cents a gallon. I do not know how prices are out there in interior Missouri now, but I know what they are here in Hartford, Connecticut. To wits apples, three dollars a bushel, peaches, five dollars; Irish potatoes (choice (Bermudas), five dollars: chickens, a dollar to a dollar and a half apiece, according to weight; butter, forty-five to sixty cents a pound (An Excerpt from Mark Twain’s Autobiography)

 

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY TEN questions from the eleven that follow.

i) Lanes in Florida were paved with……..

a) wet earth and shingles

b) black mud in wet times and deep dust in the dry months

c) black mud in wet times and dry mud in dry times

d) dry mud in wet times and wet mud in dry times

 

ii) During weekdays the local church served as a…….

a) bazaar

b) pilgrim spot

c) school house

d) priest’s lodgings

 

iii) If a boy customer bought five to ten cents’ worth of goods he was entitled to……

a)a spoonful of molasses free

b) a bale of calico

c) a cheese or two

d) half a handful of sugar

 

iv) The church was Twilighted with…

a) red candles

b) beautiful lighthouse

c) yellow bulbs

d) yellow tallow candles

 

v) When the author was born, Florida had . …. 

a) more than three hundred

b) no inhabitants

c) only three hundred

d) less than three hundred inhabitants

 

vi) Uncle John A. Quarles was……

a) a resident of Delhi

b) the founder of Hartford

c) the proprietor of a store in the village

d) None of the above

 

vii) The author hailed from………

a) Hartford

b) New Orleans

c) Florida

d) Ireland

 

viii) Most of the houses in Florida were made of…

a) bricks and stones

b) wood

c) logs

d) cement

 

ix) As a result is the synonym of ………in para 2.

a) cheppid

b) elevated

c) hogs

d) consequently

 

x) Winters were marked with…….

a) stale breeze

b) gusty wind

c) hail storm

d) refreshing breeze

 

xi) Detached is the antonym of …in para 4.

a) trifle

b) liberty

c) suspended

d) rakes

 

Q 2- Read the passage given below.(8 marks)

1. Roshni Bairwa remembers running all the way from her home in Tonk’s Mahmoodnagar Dhani village to the room where the ‘bal samoch (children’s group) met. “My grandparents are getting me married, you have to do something,” the then 12-year-old told the 20 or so children sitting there.

2. The children, all aged between eight and 16, trooped up to Roshni’s house and urged her grandparents to stop the impending wedding. Others, including village elders and teachers, joined in. The wedding was stopped. She had discovered a way out of the quagmire with the help of a local NGO and the village children.

3. When she was in class XII, the pressure to get married returned. This time her uncle found a match for her. When she resisted, she was taunted, and beaten. People would point to her as the girl who brought shame to her family, and asked their children not to speak to her. “I was 16 years old and alone in the world. I walked to school with my eyes Fixed to the ground. I would think sometimes, what have I done that is so terrible for everyone to hate me so much? I would cry myself to sleep,” recalls Rosıni, who lost her father when she was two and had been abandoned by her mother shortly after. But even in those dark moments, Roshni didn’t give up, moving out of the village to Peeplu tehsil in Rajasthan where she rented a room and attended college.

4. With education and independence came a sense of confidence. “I kept in touch with the children in the village. Every time there was a child marriage, they would call me and I would go to stop it. I realized I had already been thrown out of the village, the On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any ten questions from the eleven that follow. Worst had already happened, what else could the villagers do? So I went and fought with everyone who was getting their child married,” she says with a laugh. So far she has stopped over a dozen marriages.

5. Even without the support of the law, young girls have been crusading against the practice. Earlier this month, 19-year-old Sushila Bishnoi from Barmer succeeded in getting her marriage annulled, submitting photographs and congratulatory messages from her husband’s Facebook account to the court. The court accepted these as evidence that the union took place when both bride and groom were 12 years old, and declared the marriage invalid

6. Seema Bairwal (name changed) was 15 when she was married to a man a few years older. Later when she started attending bal samooh’ meetings with NGO Shiv Shiksha Samiti and Save the Children, it dawned on her that she had a choice. “I learnt that my life is mine. I have the power to say no to marriage.

 

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY EIGHTH questions from the nine that follow.

 

(a) The brides mentioned in the passage are rebels against….

(i) The dowry system

(ii) Child marriage

(ii) Purdah system

(iv) Arranged marriages

 

Answer:

(ii) Child marriage

 

 

(b) When Roshni was twelve years old, she succeeded in her mission with the help of….

(i) 20 children aged between eight and sixteen

(ii) Her grandparents

(iii) 20 children, her grandparents, village elders and teachers

(iv) Children and an NGO

 

Answer:

(iii) 20 children, her grandparents, village elders and teachers

 

 

(c) When she rejected her uncle’s offer of wedding, the village people..

(i) Taunted her and beaten her up

(ii) Boycotted her

(iii) Were angry with her

(iv) Were sympathetic and understanding

Answer:

(i) Taunted her and beaten her up

 

 

(d) Roshni moved out of the village in order to………

(i) Seek a job

(ii) Escape the villagers

(iii) Attend college

(iv) Marry a boy of her choice

 

Answer:

(iii) Attend college

 

(e) “Give up’ in para 3 means….

(i) Stop attending classes

(ii) Stop doing something

(iii) Very eager

(iv) Voluntary help

 

Answer:

(ii) Stop doing something

 

(f) ‘Annulled’ in para 5 means……….

(i) To state officially that something is not legally valid

(ii) Help somebody

(iii) Impending doom

(iv) Social works

 

Answer:

(i) To state officially that something is not legally valid

 

(g) Roshni lost her father when she was……….

(i) Two years old

(ii) Three years old

(iii) Four years old

(iv) Five years old

 

Answer:

(i) Two years old

 

(h) Education and Independence made Roshni….

(i) Dull

(ii) Nostalgic

(iii) Confident

(iv) Thinker

 

Answer:

(iii) Confident

 

(i) ‘Bal Samooh’ meetings with NGO Shiv Shiksha Samiti and Save the Children’ discouraged…

(i) Dowry

(ii) Communal hatred

(iii) Intolerance

(iv) Child marriage

 

Answer:

(iv) Child marriage

 

 

GRAMMAR (8 marks)

Q 3- Fill in ANY FOUR out of five blanks using the best options.(1×4 = 4)

About half of India’s children aged (a)….. (Among, between, with, about) 6 and 14 do not go to school. About 5.5 crore children (b)……….. (Worked, working, has been working, work) in factories, cottage industries (c). .. (and, around, about, some) in the agricultural sector. One of the most important (d)………. (Reason, reasons, reason’s, reasons’) for our nation’s (e)…….. (Backwardness, backwardsness, backness, backward) is illiteracy.

 

Q 4- Attempt ANY FOUR out of live questions and choose the correct option to make a meaningful sentence:

 

(i) church/every/she/an/when/to/was/Jane/cycled/morning adolescent

(a) Jane cycled to church every morning when she was an adolescent

(b) Jane to when church every cycled she an morning adolescent was.

(c) Jane morning cycled church to when every slie adolescent was an

(d) Jane to cycled church morning was every when she adolescent an.

 

(ii) yesterday/the/arrested/the/murderer/police

(a) Police the yesterday arrested murderer the

(b)The police arrested the murderer yesterday. 

(c) The arrested police yesterday murderer the

(d) The yesterday police murderer the arrested.

 

(iii) hospital/being/lates/he/admitted/in

(a) He being hospital hates admitted in.

(b) He hospital being admitted in hates.

(c) He being admitted hates hospital in,

(d) He hates being admitted in hospital.

 

(iv) shootout yesterday/arrested/a/connection/notorious/police/the/criminal/the/city/the/in/with/in

(a) the Yesterday police a notorious criminal the shootout in arrested city in connection with the.

(b) Yesterday the police arrested a notorious criminal in the city in connection with the shootout.

(c) the police arrested a Yesterday criminal in notorious shootout city in the connection with the

(d) the police a notorious criminal arrested in the city in connection shootout Yesterday with the

 

(v) procedures/not/of/aware/the/?/you/Were

(a) Were you not aware of the procedures?

(b) you Were procedures not of aware the?

(c) you not of the Were procedures aware?

(d) you not aware Were of procedures the?

 

LITERATURE (14 MARKS)

Q 5- Read the extracts given below and attempt ANY ONE of the Two given by answering the questions that follow.

(1) The  cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling,

Each one holding one of my mother hands,

And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.

(a) What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem?

(i) A frame

(ii) A frame that supports a photograph

(iii) A cardboard only

(iv) None of the above

 

(b) What’s the meaning of paddling here?

(i) Running

(ii) Thinking

(iii) Walking

(iv) Jumping

 

(c) Who is big girl referred in the last line?

(i) Poetess

(ii) Cousin

(iii) Poetess’ friend

(iv) Poetess’ mother

 

(ii) Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.

Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,

She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up

Of chitterlings, and a tremor of wings and trillings

The whole tree trembles and thrills.

It is the engine of her family

 

(a) What’s the meaning of startlement here?

(i) Happiness

(ii) Laziness

(iii) Fearfulness

(iv) Feeling or showing sudden shock

 

(b) To what is the bird’s movement compared? 

(i) Snake

(ii) Lizard

(iii) Snail

(iv) Bettle

 

(c) Who is the poet of the poem?

(i) Ted Hughes

(ii) Shirley Toulson

(iii) Walt Whitman

(iv) Robert Frost

 

Q 6- Read the extracts given below and attempt ANY TWO of the THREE given, by answering the questions that follow. (6×1=6)

(i) A wonderful old tale is told about the painter Wu Daozi, who lived in eighth century. His last painting was a landscape commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong, to decorate a palace wall. The master had hidden his work behind a screen, so only the emperor would see it. For a long while the Emperor admired the wonderful scene, discovering forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in an immense sky, men on hilly paths, birds in flight. “Look, Sire”, said the painter, “in this cave, at the foot of the mountain, dwells a spirit.”

(a) Wu Daozi’s last painting was about……..

(i) Dragon

(ii) A fly

(iii) Landscape

(iv) Emperor

 

(b) What did the Emperor notice in the painting?

(i) Forests, mountains, waterfalls ete.

(ii) A beautiful princess

(iii) A beautiful garden

(iv) Pride of lions

 

(c) According to Wu Daozi a………used to live in the cave.

(i) Queen

(ii) An old king

(iii) Soldiers

(iv) Spirit

 

(ii) At the corner of the road I looked up at the name-plate. Marconi Street, it said. I had been at number 46. The address was correct. But now I didn’t want to remember it any more, I wouldn’t go back there because the objects that are linked in your memory with the familiar life of former times instantly lose their value when. severed from them, you see them again in strange surroundings. And what should I have done with them in a small rented room where the shreds of black-out paper still hung along the windows and no more than a handful of cutlery fitted in the narrow table drawer?

(a) Whose address has been mentioned in the paragraph?

(i) Mrs. S

(ii) Daughter of Mrs. S

(iii) Mrs. Dorling

(iv) None of the above

 

(b) What kind of memories are mentioned in the paragraph?

(i) Memories of family and house

(ii) Memories of childhood

(iii) Memories of school days

(iv) Memories of friends

 

(c) The story tells us about the repercussions of…

(i) Domestic violence

(ii) War

(iii) Communal hatred

(iv) flood

 

(III) Since I was a frequent visitor to Rama Rao’s place, the girl was quite free with me. I completely forgot to mention her name! Ratna, it was. The very next morning I went to their house and told Rama Rao’s wife, “I’ll send some buttermilk for you. Ask Ratna to fetch it.” Ratna came. It was a Friday, so she was wearing a grand saree. I told her to sit in my room and requested her to sing a song.

(a) Who frequently visited Rama Rao’s house?

(i) Ranga

(ii) The narrator

(iii) Village people 

(iv) The astrologer

 

(b) Why did Ratna visit narrator’s house?

(i) To seek some advice

(ii) To sing a song

(iii)To fetch buttermilk

(iv) To give some documents

 

(c) The narrator requested Ratna……….

(i) To sing a song

(ii) To cook food

(iii) To help him in household chores

(iv) To bring him some water

 

Q 7. Answer ANY FIVE out of six from the following questions appropriate by choosing option:

(a) What did the sing in the zoo in Alaska read?

(i) Animal

(ii) Lion

(iii) The world’s most dangerous animal”

(iv) Warning

 

(b) Why didn’t the grandmother like music?

(i) It was the monopoly of harlots

(ii) She liked only religious prayers

(iii) She liked the traditional folk music

(iv) She thought it would distract him from studies.

 

 (c) Why did the author decide to go for a round-the-world voyage?

(i) To duplicate the voyage 200 years ago by Captain James Cook

(ii) To see the world.

(iii) To settle down in different country

(iv) To show his children the world through ship

 

(d) Who promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk)?

(i) Tutankhamun

(ii)Amenhotep IV

(iii) Amenhotep III

(iv) None of the above

 

(e) How did Carter cut the body of Tut?

(i) First head and then every limb

(ii) first leg and then head

(iii) First leg, head and then limbs

(iv) Limbs, hands only

 

(f) When did the Green movement start?

(i) 35 years ago

(ii) 15 years

(iii) 20 years ago

(iv) nearly 25 years ago

 

PART B (40 MARKS) READING

 

Q 8- Read the following passage carefully:

1. A good business letter is one that gets results. The best way to get results is to develop a letter appearance, style and content, conveys information efficiently. To perform this function, a business letter should be concise, clear and courteous.

2. The business letter must be concise: don’t waste words. Little introduction or preliminary chat is necessary. Get to the point, make the point, and leave it. It is safe to assume that your letter is being read by a very busy person with all kinds of papers to deal with. Re-read and revise your message until the words and sentences you have used are precise. This takes time, but is a necessary part of a good business letter. A short business letter that makes its point quickly has much more impact on a reader than a long-winded, rambling exercise in creative writing. This does not mean that there is no place for style and even, on occasion, humour in the business letter. While it conveys a message in its contents, the letter also provides the reader with an impression of you, its author: the medium is part of the message.

3. The business letter must be clear. You should have a very firm idea of what you want to say, and you should let the reader know it. Use the structure of the letter the paragraphs, topic sentences, introduction and conclusion to guide the reader point by point from your thesis, through your reasoning, to your conclusion. Paragraph often, to break up the page and to lend an air of organization to the letter. Use an accepted business letter format. Re-read what you have written from the point of view of someone who is seeing it for the first time, and be sure that all explanations are adequate, all information provided (including reference numbers, dates, and other identification), A clear message, clearly delivered, is the essence of business communication.

4. The business letter must be courteous. Sarcasm and insults are ineffective and can often work against you. If you are sure you are right, point that out as politely as possible, explain why you are right, and outline what the reader is expected to do about it. Another form of courtesy is taking care in your writing and typing of the business letter. Grammatical and spelling errors (even if you call them typing errors) tell a render that you don’t think enough of him or can lower the reader’s opinion of your personality faster than anything you say, no matter how idiotic. There are excuses for ignorance; there are no excuses for sloppiness.

5. The business letter is your custom-made representative. It speaks for you and is a permanent record of your message. It can pay big dividends on the time you invest in giving it a concise message, a clear structure, and a courteous tone.

 

a) Make notes on the passage using recognizable abbreviations in any suitable format. Give a title to the passage.

b) Write a summary of the passage in about 50 words

 

WRITING (16 MARKS)

Q 9- You are the Secretary of the English Literary Association of Tagore Memorial School, Patna. Write out a notice for notice-board, inviting names of those who would like to participate in the proposed inter-house debate, oratorio! and elocution contest.

Or

Water supply will be suspended for eight hours (10 am to 6 pm) on 6th of March for cleaning of the water tank. Write a notice in about 50 words advising the residents to store water for a day. You are Karan Kumar/Karuna Bajaj, Secretary, Janata Group Housing Society, Palam Vihar, Kurnool.

Q 10- You are Simar / Smriti of Lotus International School, Jodhpur. Your school is organizing a workshop on “Prevention of Drug Abuse” in the coming week. Prepare a poster with complete information for the students of class X-XII.

Or

Design a poster in not more than 50 words about the need for regular exercise. You may use slogans.

Q 11- Write a letter to the Sales Manager, MMS Books. Ashok Vihar, Delhi, placing order for five titles of books that you need for educational purpose. You are Sanjeev/Sanjana, 12/CA, Model Town, Kurukshetra. 5

Or

Write a letter to the Manager, Oberoi international, Lucknow, to find out the rates for conducting the wedding reception of your sister on their lawns, enquiring specifically about the catering cost per head, service and decoration charges and advance to be paid. You are Nadu/Nandani of Agra

Q 12- You are Ankit/Ankita. You have to deliver a specch on the topic Education Gives One Power”. You have jotted down the following notes:

Education trains mind sharpens skill and abilities Education: a source of power improve self be independent earn money ignorance to knowledge- removes superstition develops a free spirit important for women gives them freedom from social ills-independent-responsible. Write your speech in 150-200 words

Or

You are Priya/Piyush. You are a member of the Environment Club of your school. After visiting many places you have realized that it is the need of the hour to protect environment. You decide to create awareness among the students. Write a speech in 150-200 words on Environmental protection to be delivered in the morning assembly.

 

LITERATURE (16 MARKS)

Q 13- Answer the following questions in 30-40 words as instructed:

 

a) What did the author notice in the vast open plains after leaving Ravu? (Silk Road)

Or

How did the grandmother spend her time when the narrator went up to university?

 

b) What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you? (A Photograph)

Or

How does the rain give life to its own origin?

 

Q 14- Answer ANY ONE out of the two from the given short questions in 30-40 words:

 

a) How did uncle Khosrove react to John Byro’s complaint about the steal of his hours?

b) Why did Albert see no point in learning dates and facts?

 

Q 15- Answer ANY ONE out of two from the given long questions in about 120-150 words:

a) Childhood is an essential stste in the process of growing up, but it can’t go on forever.” Discuss.

b) What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?

(“We ‘re Not Afraid To Dei… // We All Can Be Together “)

 

Q 16- Answer ANY ONE out of two from the given long questions in about 120-150 words: a) What impression do you form of Mrs Annie Pearson? (Mother’s Day) by There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician.” Discuss.