MID-TERM EXAM (2017-18)

ENGLISH
CLASS -10 (SET-A)
TIME : 3 HOURS M.M. : 80
SECTION - A
(Reading 20 Marks)

1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 8
Fight against Fat
Egyptian Eman Ahmed's plight has moved Indians so much that they have
raised 35 lakh so far through various crowdfunding sources for her travel and
treatment. The 36-year-old's story is a tearjerker: she weighs around 500 kg, is
five-foot wide, has chronic medical conditions, and, worst of all, was
homebound for 25 years till last week when she was literally airlifted from her
home in Alexandria to Mumbai.
According to a medical estimate, there are at least 25 lakh morbidly obese
Indians who struggle with their weight almost as much as Eman does (the
Global Burden of Diseases Study 2013 said India is home to 30 million obese
people who have a body mass index of over 24). These are Indians who struggle
to get into lifts or climb floors, and people smirk when they take up that "extra
space" on train or metro seats. They cannot easily fit into aircraft seats, ditto
with finding hospital beds or diagnostic scans. A reason that doctors at
Mumbai's Saifee Hospital are waiting for Eman to reduce 100 kg before
planning an operation is to ensure she can be then moved on special stretchers
to the operation theatre.
"Many of my patients have been exposed to weight-based discrimination or fat
shaming, whether intentional or unintentional, for years. This could happen
from unexpected quarters such as family, schoolmates, teachers, gym instructors
or strangers," says Dr Ramen Goel, a bariatric surgeon who operates on at least
one morbidly obese patient every day
"Studies have shown that for every three-point increase in a man's BMI, couples
were 10% more likely to be infertile," said Dr Shashank Shah, a bariatric
surgeon who moves between Pune and Mumbai and has started a two-city study
on the effects of obesity. The first results from his study shows that of the 400
morbidly obese patients interviewed between January 2015 and October 2016,
over 70% of the patients with a BMI of over 40 had some degree of sexual
dysfunction.
Obesity is a risk factor for most diseases, be it hypertension, diabetes or
arthritis. This is because extra fat is known to affect the functioning of the heart,
liver, pancreas, kidneys, among others. "For those who say bariatric surgery is a
cosmetic procedure, I'd like to point out that it's actually a life-saving one," says
Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who plans to operate on Eman after the results of her
genetic tests become available shortly.
At 6'11", businessman Sripad Kulkarni towered over most people, but he could
barely walk for five minutes without feeling breathless. "I weighed 175 kg until
four months back," says the 48-year-old who decided to go under the scalpel
because he felt his weight triggered his bouts of anger. "I would snap at
everyone and had high blood pressure. These were reasons enough for me to
seek a permanent solution to my obesity," he says. Kulkami has so far shed 30
kg, and for the last week he's managed to swim for 30 minutes a day and walk
without any exertion. Eman's story resonates with all of them, and a hopeful
Sheela says: "I am sure Eman too will walk one day"
Answer the following questions: 8x1=8
(a) Why is Egypt's Eman Ahmed in the news?
(b) What has a medical estimate got to say on obesity?
(c) What difficulties does people have with body mass index over 24?
(d) What has Dr. Ramen Goel observed about his patients?
(e) For what reason Eman's operation is kept on hold?
(f) Obesity can cause what risks to health and why?
(g) What has Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala got to say on obesity?
(h) What is businessman Sripad Kulkarni's problem and what solution does he
opt for?

2. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: 12
Lionel was in bad shape. My daughter Nola and I found him bloodied and
beaten. He was too weak to haul his poor, broken little body inside the house.
By the time we saw him, his battered body had already lost too much blood.
Lionel, the duck, died a few minutes later. We never found out who had beaten
Lionel, so savagely, or why they felt the need to hurt him. A customer at Nola's
store said she found some teenagers jumping the back fence a few minutes
before we found Lionel. They were carrying cricket bats.
When Nola slowly broke the news to her customers over the next few days, they
were devastated. One elderly gentleman was especially heartbroken. After
doing his weekly shopping, he used to feed Lionel a slice of bread or a biscuit
which he kept in his pocket especially for the occasion. They would spend an
hour every week like that, just chatting and enjoying each other's company.
When he heard about Lionel's death, the old man sat down on the same bench
and let the tears run freely down his cheeks. Two weeks later, he was dead.
Nola also had to tell the local primary-school children who used to play with
Lionel on their way to school. Lionel waddled around them, muttering and
letting them feel his soft white feathers while they waited for the bus. Some of
the children made sympathy cards for Nola. She also received many
condolencesa few from friends and many from strangers. It was only then
that we realized how many friends Lionel had made; how many hearts he had
touched. It seemed as if the whole town was mourning his death. Lionel was a
very social duck.
Lionel liked human company and loved to waddle around. Many people who
came to the shop enjoyed passing the time of the day with a duck. But it was not
just human company Lionel sought. Lionel was friends with an assortment of
multicoloured hens and one red rooster. But Lionel also liked spending time
quietly by himself.
An elderly couple who lived 100 kilometres away read about Lionel's death in
the newspaper and drove all the way to Nola's shop to deliver a condolence gift.
It was the statue of a duck the elderly man, an invalid pensioner, had made.
Nola somberly placed the statue at the head of Lionel's grave. The next day, an
acquaintance of mine, exasperated at all the fuss being made, said to me, 'He
was only a duck!' But he was wrong. Lionel was much more than that. He was a
loving friend, not just to me, but to many others and our lives certainly won't be
the same without him waddling around.
2.1 Answer the following questions: 4x2=8
(a) Why was Lionel unable to go inside the house?
(b) What was the reaction of the elderly gentleman on listening to the news of
Lionel's death?
(c) How did the elderly gentleman spend one hour with Lionel every week?
(d) What makes you think that Lionel was a loving friend to all?
2.2 Find words from the passage which mean the same as: 4x1=4
(a) speaking in low unclear tone (para 3)
(b) a person one knows slightly (para 5)
(c) shocked and sad (para 2)
(d) to walk with short steps (para 4)

SECTION - B
(Writing & Grammar 30 Marks)

3. You are Akansha/Ajay of B-18, New Town, Delhi. You are interested in
joining Best English Speaking and Personality Development Institute of your
locality as a student. Write a letter to the Director of the centre enquiring about
various particulars of the admission and other related information. 8
OR
Man's use of fossil fuelscoal, oil and nature gastogether with deforestation
have increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon-dioxide, a heat-trapping
greenhouse' gas. Higher temperatures threaten dangerous consequences:
drought, disease, floods etc. Write a letter to the editor of a national daily,
expressing your concerns about the rapidly increasing global warming and its
consequences and your suggestions for improving the situation.'

4. Write a story in 200-250 words based on the input given below: 10

Once upon a time, there was a jackal who wanted to have crabs that were on the
other side of the river. He wondered how to .........
OR
Hearing a knock on the door, she hustled towards it with her little feet ..........

5. Fill in the blanks choosing the most appropriate options from the ones
given below. 8 x 1/2= 4
The city of Singapore (a) ............. its fiftieth anniversary with gay and
splendour. Fighter jets (b) .................. across the sky and people were given (c)
................ ride on buses and trains. The celebrations. (d) .............. with a show
of fireworks after a military parade. The sense of (e) ............... was reinforced
with a tribute video to its (f) ............... Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. The (g) .............. left
the citizens feeling (h) and was an example to the world.
6. The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each line
write the incorrect word and the correction.
Five robbers barging into the house
of a middle-aged women and decomped
with cash or gold jewellery worth
lakhs, after injuries her, in Saket, South
Delhi. The victims, Pushpa telling the police
that the assailants were armed and she
Identify one of them as Vijay, whose
mothers had been
works as a domestic help in the house
8 x 1/2 = 4
Error Correction
(a) ............ ...............
(b) ............ ...............
(c) ............ ...............
(d) ............ ...............
(e) ............ ...............
(i) ............ ...............
(g) ............ ...............
(h) ............ ...............

7. Rearrange the following words to form meaningful sentences: 4 x 1 = 4

(a) Lalima / newborn / is / the / named / calf
(b) World's / cloned / she / calf / the / first / is / buffalo
(c) cell / donor / murrah / the / buffalo / taken / ear / from / was / a / the / of
(d) can be/desired/technique/sex/of/a calf/obtained/by this

SECTION C
(Literature : Textbook & Long Reading Text 30 Marks)

8. Read the following extracts and answer the questions: 4x1=4

He smiled uncomfortably. "Just plans, Sir," he answered in a low voice.
(a) Who is talking to whom?
(b) What plans is the speaker referring to?
(c) Why did the speaker answer in a low voice?
(d) What favour did Jacopo ask from the narrator?
OR
Now the frog puffed up with rage
Brainless bird-you're on the stage
Use your wits and follow fashion
Puff your lungs out with your passion
(a) Why was the frog puffed up with rage?
(b) What personality trait of the frog is revealed in this extract?
(c) Who do you hold guilty for the nightingale's death?
(d) Why is the nightingale called 'brainless'?
9. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words. (Any four) 4x2=8
(a) How did the boys, Nicola and Jacopo, help the narrator?
(b) What steps had the villagers taken to make sure that Mrs. Packletide's tiger
hunting expedition was safe?
(c) The frog was benefiting himself, by urging the nightingale to sing
excessively. Justify.
(d) Why did the people working at the post-office make fun of Ali?
(e) Why has Sylvia Plath referred to the candles and the moon as liars?

10. Answer any one of the following questions in 100-120 words: 8

Mrs. Packletide decides to write her autobiography in which she plans to cover
the tiger episode as well as the blackmailing incident. Write her autobiography.
OR
With the impact of time everything comes to an end but a poet's work, his
writings are immortal. Elaborate with reference to the poem 'Not marble, nor the
Gilded Monuments'.

11. Answer any one of the following questions in 200-250 words: 10

How was Helen's most petted doll a victim of her outbursts of temper and
affection?
OR
Helen's parents are a role model for other parents. Elucidate.