Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :

CHESS

1. Chess is called the game of kings. It has been around for a long time. People have been playing it
for over 500 years. Chess is based on an even older game from India. The chess we play today is
from Europe.

2. Chess is a two-player game. One player uses the white pieces. The other uses the black pieces.
Each piece moves in a special way. One piece is called the king and each player has one. The players
take turns moving their pieces. If a player lands on a piece, he or she takes it. The game ends when a
player loses his or her king. There are a few more rules, but those are the basics.

3. Some people think that chess is more than a game. They think that it makes the mind stronger.
Good chess players use their brains. They take their time. They think about what will happen next.
These skills are useful in life and in chess. Chess is kind of like a workout for the mind.

4. You don’t always have lots of time to think when playing chess. There is a type of chess with short
time limits. It’s called blitz chess. In blitz chess, each player gets ten minutes to use for the whole
game. Your clock runs during your turn. You hit the time clock after your move. This stops your clock.
It also starts the other player’s clock. If you run out of time, you lose. Games of blitz chess are fast-
paced.

5. Chess is not just for people. Computers have been playing chess since the 1970s. At first, they did
not play well. They made mistakes. As time went on, they grew stronger. In 1997, a computer beat
the best player in the world for the first time. It was a computer called Deep Blue. Deep Blue was
big. It took up a whole room. By 2006 a cell phone could beat the best players in the world. Chess
surely has come a long way. Don’t you think so?

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, solve the following questions by choosing the

most appropriate options. Attempt any ten questions.

(a) What is the author’s purpose in writing the second paragraph?

(i) To explain the rules of chess (ii) To compare different types of games

(iii) To talk about game pieces (iv) To persuade people to play chess

(b) Which is not a reason that chess is a good workout for the mind according to the text?

(i) Good chess players think about what will happen next.

(ii) Good chess players take a lot of risks.

(iii) Good chess players take their time.

(iv) Good chess players use their brains.

(c) How long have people been playing chess?

(iii) Over 1000 years (iv) Over 5000 years

(d) Where did the game that chess is based on come from?

(i) Europe (ii) America (iii) India (iv) All of the above

(e) Which best describes the main idea in the fourth paragraph?

(i) This paragraph argues that players should think less.

(ii) This paragraph explains how blitz chess is played.

(iii) This paragraph explains time clocks work.

(iv) This paragraph describes many different ways to play chess.

(f) How does a game of chess end according to the text?

(i) One player takes all of the other player’s pieces.

(ii) One player makes it to the end of the board.

(iii) One player becomes king.

(iv) One player loses his or her king.

(g) Which happened first?

(i) Computers did not play chess well. (ii) Deep Blue won an important game.

(iii) Cell phones got good at playing chess. (iv) Deep Blue took up a whole room.

(h) How is blitz chess different from regular chess?

(i) Each player has two kings. (ii) Players are blindfolded.

(iii) Players only have ten minutes to play. (iv) Players start from a random position.

(i) If it’s your turn in blitz chess, what happens when you hit the clock?

(i) Both your clock and the other person’s clock keep running.

(ii) The other person’s clock stops running and yours starts.

(iii) Both clocks stop running.

(iv) Your clock stops running and the other person’s clock begins.

(j) When did a computer first beat a strong human player in chess?

(i) 2006 (ii) 1997 (iii) 1970 (iv) 1976

(i) The game has travelled across the world

(ii) There have been a lot of developments in the game

(iii) Chess was invented long-long ago

(iv) 1976

(l) If a player lands on a piece,........... (para 2). Here, the word ‘lands’ means …..

(i) surface (ii) turns flat

(iii) settles (iv) takes off

..................................................................................................................................................................

They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that
stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to - on a screen, you know. And then when
they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it
the first time.

Questions :

(a) ‘they’ here refers to Margie and ………………

(i) her mother (ii) her grandfather (iii) her mechanical teacher (iv) Tommy

(b) How were ‘they’ supposed to read books?

(i) silently (ii) loudly (iii) on screen (iv) by turning pages

(c) The pages were yellow and crinkly. This shows that

……………

(i) it was an old book

(ii) it was an expensive book

(iii) the book had been exposed to fire

(iv) some yellow liquid had got spilled on the book

(d) The whole thing was fun for them because….

(i) they didn’t have to attend class at that time

(ii) they had never seen a real book before

(iii) they took pleasure in everything

(iv) they had got bored of their own books

(i) present (ii) past (iii) future (iv) space

Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual. Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-yearold Evelyn was waiting to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,” says Isabel Glennie.

Questions :

(a) Evelyn’s deafness was sighted first at the age of..

(i) eight months (ii) eight years (iii) eighteen months (iv) eighteen years

(b) Her name was called for ……

(i) receiving the prize (ii) reciting a poem (iii) playing piano (iv) some gymnastic performance

(c) What was Evelyn’s response when her name was called?

(i) she left the hall (ii) she began crying (iii) she clutched her mom’s fingers tightly

(iv) She did not move at the call

(d) When was her deafness confirmed?

(i) at the age of eight (ii) at eleven years of age (iii) soon after the birth (iv) when she graduated from
her college

(e) From whom did she try to conceal her deafness?

(i) from her mother (ii) from her teachers and iii) from her maid (iv) from the grandparents

To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided.

Questions :

(a) Who is the little girl in the passage?

(i) Evelyn (ii) Santosh (iii) Kezia (iv) Maria Sharapova

(b) The little girl was afraid of …..

(i) her father (ii) her Maths teacher (iii) the ghost in the house (iv) her own shadow

So the youngster played by himself much of the time. He especially loved mechanical toys. Looking
at his newborn sister, Maja, he is said to have said : “Fine, but where are her wheels?”

Questions :

(a) The youngster mentioned here is ……..

(b) He had to play all by himself because ……..

(i) he was expert in everything (ii) other children thought he was too boring

(iii) there were no kids nearby (iv) he was sick

(c) His remark about his newborn sister shows that …….

(i) he was stupid (ii) he was too much funny (iii) he was drunk (iv) he had too much interest in
machines

Write the story in 150-200 words with the help of the following outlines: Given a suitable title and
moral also.

1. Outline: A little boy ........... saying to his mother ...........a boy in the forest .......... making fun of
him ........... mocks at the boy ............. stutters after each statement .......... gets exasperated ............

jumped over the fence ........... searches in to the forest ........... could not be found ........... mother
tells him .............only an echo voice ............ a dog’s similar story ........... mirrors in the room ........
dies of exhaustion ............ .

(a)__________- think of road safety at all? is because of the gruesome accidents that occur almost
every day on the roads (b)____________ which all sorts of vehicles, human beings and even animals
are endangered. These accidents (c)_________- loss of life and property and, ______(d) importantly,
obstruction to traffic.

(a) (i) who, (ii) what, (iii) why, (iv) where

(b) (i) on, (ii) at, (iii) for, (iv) in

(c) (i) brings, (ii) give, (iii) take, (iv) mean

(d) (i) most, (ii) much, (iii) a lot, (iv) least.

Change to in direct speech

Sonal : My father is nor well, can you visit our house?

Doctor: What is your father suffering from

Sonal: Well, that is for you to see.

The doctor asked Sonal (a) ____________ there Sonal told him that (b) ____________ and asked him
(c) _________________. The doctor wanted to know (d) _____________. Sonal replied that
it was for him to see