I (A) Read the following passage and answer the following questions: Occasionally, my father came to take me home and I would always ask him to treat me to a special fruit cocktail at a juice center near the club. While this regular demand was a little unreasonable because at that time I did not realize that my parents also had to take care of the needs of my brothers and sister. My father would invariably end up giving me what I wanted, just to see me happy. On other days, when I made my way home from Shivaji Park on my own, I’d often fall asleep on the bus – if I managed to sit down.
Anyone who has been on a Mumbai bus at peak hours will know just how difficult it is to get a seat. On days when I wasn’t so lucky, it was still a challenge just to stand with the kitbag, because the bus conductors would inevitably complain about me taking up another passenger. It could be embarrassing because the conductors were often rude and sometimes asked me to buy two tickets. I didn’t have the money for a second ticket and I had to learn to take these remarks in my stride. Dirty clothes often added to the embarrassment.
With time, I evolved a way of wrapping the kitbag around me. Just as the helmet and pads became a part of me while batting, so the kitbag became an extension of me on the bus. I’d often take the bus or train from Bandra to Church gate, and it was all a great learning experience Now answer the questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write A, B, C, or D in the answer booklet
1. Sachin’s father used to treat him with _________ a) Chocolates b) Juice c) Cocktail juice d) Vadapav
2. Conductors would ask Sachin to buy __________ for the space occupied in the bus. a) ticket b) kitbag c) two tickets d) clothes
3. Sachin always asked his father to ………. a) take him to Mumbai b) take him to Shivaji Park c) treat him to a special fruit juice at the juice center near the club d) buy him new dresses
4. It was challenging for Sachin to ……………. a) buy two tickets b) stand with a kitbag in the bus. c) travel to Mumbai d) wear a helmet.
Answer the following in 2 or 3 sentences: 5. Why did Sachin feel that his demand was unreasonable? 6. What did the conductor complain about?
B. Read the following lines of the poem and answer questions following that: Is there aught you need that my hands withhold, Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold? Lo! I have flung to the East and West Priceless treasures torn from my breast,
And yielded the sons of my stricken womb To the drum-beats of duty, the sabres of doom. Gathered like pearls in their alien graves Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,
Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands, They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands, They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.
Now answer the questions. Each question has four choices. Choose the correct answer and write A, B, C, or D in the answer booklet
1. What does ‘Raiment’ mean? a) Clothing b) Apparel c) Food d) attire
2. The poem evokes a sense of…….. a) pride b) grief c) loss d) all the above
3. The simile used for soldiers in the poem is…………. a) pearls b) aliens c) gifts d) tears
4. Mother India gave one of the following gifts to the world. a) Her sons c) precious things like gold b) Clothes and food grains d) Material heritage like statues, etc
Answer the following in 2 or 3 sentences: 5. What does Mother India mean by ‘‘To the drum-beats of duty’’ in the poem? 6. How did Mother India feel when she found her sons dead?
II. Annotate any TWO of the following text given below: a. I must say it was an opportunity that transformed my life b. ‘‘But the big ones come once in 15 years’’.
c. In almost every house we’ve been, We’ve watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about And stare until their eyes pop out.
d. I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honoured name
III. Answer any TWO of the following questions: 1. One of Steve Jobs’s motto was: ‘Think differently’. Can this make a person succeed in life? What challenges are there in thinking differently? 2. How did the poet come to know about the broken statue of Ozymandias 3. Write about Kalpana’s work at NASA. 4. How does the poet describe the broken statue?
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