PT2 (2022-23)

ENGLISH CORE (301)

Class: XI Roll No:
Time allowed: 3hrs Maximum Marks:80

General Instructions:
1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections-READING, WRITING and
LITERATURE.
2. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

SECTION A
Reading Skills
Q1. Read the passage given below

1) Ants talk- not with words but with tastes and smells! Their vocabulary is made up of a mixture of substances they
produce in various parts of their bodies and emit via their glands. The substances, known as pheromones, are signals
that other ants can smell and taste. The messages they communicate set off a specific kind of behaviour: fetching food
for instance or looking after the brood or feeding the queen. Ants use a hundred different scents to communicate a
hundred different messages. With such a sophisticated array of messenger fragrances, ants organise complicated tasks
with close-to-perfect efficiency.
2) When you see a handful of ants scurrying around in the kitchen without any apparent purpose, it doesn’t mean they’ve
lost their bearings. They’re scouts foraging for food. Once they’ve found something edible, they report back to base,
depositing their chemical spores on the way. “Food located, please collect,” is the taste and smell message for the
other members back at the nest.
3) Soon, long chains of worker ants begin scurrying back and forth from their nest ferrying food which they
handover to ants which specialize in housekeeping. The duties of these ants include keeping the nest in good order and
cleaning and feeding the queen.
4) Jet ants settle in hollow trees where they build papery structures to live in. In these trees, they keep herds of
greenflies which they actually milk in the same way we milk cows. It is a model partnership. Tosatisfy their need for
amino acids, the greenflies have to ingest large quantities of sap. As a result, surplus sugar forms in their bodies which
they excrete through their rear ends. This so-called honeydew is the jetants‟ main source of nourishment. In return, the
ants see to it that the greenflies don’t get stuck fast in their own honey and also protect their herds from marauding
predators such as ladybirds. In fact, it is a form of dairy farming. Dairying is only one of the many ingenious ideas
ants have come up with in the course of evolution. Small red wood ants, for example, regulate the temperature in their
high-rise anthills by sunbathing on warm spring days and then scuttling back to the nest double quick to give off the
warmththey have soaked up.
5) An ant colony, Holldobler says, is an almost perfectly organised network of ants complementing one another in all
they do. Ants will do anything as long as it is in the service of the common weal. Perhaps, socialism does work after
all under certain circumstances.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY TEN questions from the twelve thatfollow.
1*10

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a) It is important to study the animal world because
i) ants communicate in fascinating ways and they have insightful ideas to steer the course of evolution.
ii) the network of ants coordinates perfectly with each other, thus making them invincible.
iii) we need to study and manipulate their behaviour to some extent.
iv) animal behaviour is an interesting and growing field, and it is imperative for improving animal welfare.

b) Choose the option that best captures the central idea of the passage from the given quotes.

Ants can live together in It's only when you The ant is a Not every ant
solidarity and forget look at an ant collectively which stays under
themselves in the through a intelligent and the elepha nt's foot
community. In a normative magnifying glass individually stupid dies; themost
capitalist society, everyone on a sunny day animal; man is the powerful cannot
is an egoist. In the ants' that you realize opposite always killthe
civilization, you are partof how often they weakest!
the group; you burst into flame -Karl von Frisch
don't live for yourself -Mehmet Murat
alone -Harry Hill Ildan.

-Bernard Werber

(1) (2) (3) (4)

i) Option (1) ii) Option (2) iii) Option (3) iv) Option (4)

c) Which one of the following is an example of effective communication among ants?

i) Upon finding something edible, they report back by learning a fragrance indicating
“Food located, please collect.”
ii) Scurrying around and foraging for food collectively in a group.
iii) Handing over food to ants who specialize in housekeeping.
iv) Coming up with dairying to steer the course of evolution.

d) “An ant colony is an almost perfectly organised network of ants complementing one
another” -The phrase complementing one another in this context means
i) one thing complements another; it goes well with the other thing and makes its goodqualities
more noticeable.
ii) all are different and each does something different, which makes them a good combination.
iii) help (someone), typically by doing somebody else’s share of the work.
iv) to strengthen with some added piece, support, or material.

e) Select the option that makes the correct use of “marauding”, as used in the passage, to
fill in the blank space.
i) It is likely that leprosy entered Norway from the British Isles during the time of

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marauding Vikings.
ii) The decent businessmen were marauding all across the territory in search of raw materials
and labour.
iii) The marauding police officers took the gangs of youths in custody.
iv) The nuns were marauding the homes in search of patients smitten by cholera.

f) The author attempts to the readers through this write-up.

i) educate ii) brief
iii) offer aid to iv) reproach

g) What does the author mean when he says, “the common weal”?
i) the benefit or interests of all members ii) the common needs of all members
iii) the things in common with all members iv) the factors which motivate all members

h) The phrase “close-to-perfect efficiency” as used in the passage, refers to

i) proficient ii) spontaneous
iii) flawless iv) exquisite

i) The ants communicate among themselves by

i) making up a mixture of substances they produce in various parts of their bodies
ii) using an intricate turn out of messenger fragrances
iii) by scurrying around and secreting pheromones
iv) by setting off a specific kind of behaviour

j) Which of the following is NOT the duty of the ants specialized in housekeeping?
i) Keep herds of greenflies to milk them
ii) Fetching food and looking after the brood
iii) Scurrying back and forth from the nest ferrying food
iv) Maintaining the nest and feeding the queen

k) Socialism, as portrayed in the text, means-

i) the means of making wealth should be controlled by the workers, thus leading to social welfare
ii) all production and distribution decisions are made by the centrally located powerful members
iii) creating social equality and providing security
iv) opposition to excesses and production for use, rather than profit

l) An example of an ideal coalition from the passage is-

i) Papery structures built by jet ants in hollow trees
ii) Sheltering of herds of greenflies in the hollow trees by the jet ants for dairying
iii) Scouting for food and depositing chemical spores on the way
iv) Regulating the temperature of ant hills by the small red wood ants

Q2. Read the passage given below:

Touristry is a thriving business for earning valuable foreign exchange as well as providing an opportunityfor cultural
exchange and generating employment. India has a rich heritage of art, sculpture, music, dance and drama. Many
European countries have promoted tourism as a trade.

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In some countries, it is run like an industry. We, in India, are running it in an amateurish manner as is evident from the
pie chart of domestic as well as foreign tourists. Tourism in India is important for the country’s economy and is
growing rapidly. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) calculated that tourism generated 16.91 lakh crore
INR or 9.2% of India’s GDP in 2018 and supported 42.673 million jobs. Over one crore foreign tourists arrived in
India in 2019. Domestic tourists who visited all states and union territories, numbered about 155 crores in 2019.

It is time we must regard travel and tourism as an industry and launch action plans to accelerate the growth of tourism. A
nodal financial institution catering to the specific needs of the tourism industry should be established. The main
stumbling blocks in the development of tourism at present are lack of infrastructure, inadequate ways of reaching hotels,
tourist sites, gateways, paucity in the number of coaches and cars (specially air-conditioned ones), ill-maintained
roads, etc. Conferences, cultural exchanges, tourism exchanges, leisure trips, education trips, holiday trips or business
trips should be segregated and facilitiesavailable be published as an attractive package.

The need and aspiration of the various categories of tourists should be carefully analysed and adhered to in the sphere
of accommodation, food, entertainment and guided tours. Last but not the least, the hotel industry should adopt a
business-like outlook in greeting and sending off the visitors with a smile. Give them a pleasant experience and
prepare them to undertake a repeat visit soon.

On the basis of understanding of the passage, answer ANY EIGHT questions from the ten that follow.[1×8=8]
a) According to WTTC, in 2018, tourism generated:
i) 5.5% of India’s GDP ii) 9.2% of India’s GDP
iii) 10.6% of India’s GDP iv) 12.8 % of India’s GDP

b) In 2018, tourism was responsible for creating what number of jobs?

i) About 427 lakh ii) About 40 lakh
iii) About 50 lakh iv) About 60 lakh

c) In the line, “. ........... a thriving business for earning”, the word “thriving” DOES NOT refer to:
i) flourishing ii) progressing
iii) expanding iv) languishing

d) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the benefits of a boomingtourism
industry.
1) Helps to earn valuable foreign exchange
2) Increases credits

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3) Provides an opportunity for cultural exchange
4) Contributes to the rise in population
5) Generates employment
i) 1, 2 and 5 ii) 2, 3 and 4 iii) 1, 4 and 5 iv) 1, 3 and 5

e) The number of tourists that arrived in India from Eastern countries in 2019 was:
i) One crore ii) 30 lakh
iii) 15 lakh iv) 32 lakh

f) What is the main stumbling block in the development of tourism at present?

i) Lack of infrastructure ii) Inadequate ways of reaching hotels, tourist sites
iii) Insufficient coaches and cars iv) All of these

g) How many domestic tourists visited all states and union territories in 2019?
i) About 1 crore ii) About 110 crores
iii) About 130 crores iv) About 155 crores

h) Choose the option that lists a statement that is NOT TRUE.

i) Publicity of the available facilities should be put to stop.
ii) Special attention to the needs of the tourists should be given.
iii) Tourism is important for a country’s economy.
iv) WTTC stands for World Travel and Tourism Council.

i) Which of these countries has promoted tourism as a trade?

i) African countries ii) South American countries
iii) European countries iv) All of these

j) Choose the option that lists the correct answer for the following:
City A has many tourist sites; however, it suffers from poor accommodation facilities in its hotels. What is the city
likely to experience in tourism?
i) Increase in the number of tourists visiting the city
ii) Increase in the number of newly constructed hotels
iii) A strong fall in the number of tourists visiting the city
iv) A pleasant and memorable experience

Q3. The effects of plastic bags on the environment are really quite devastating because there is no disposal method that
will really help eliminate the problem. While reusing them is the first step, most people don’tdo it, because most of them
are not durable enough to survive multiple use.
The biggest problem with them is that once they have been soiled, they end up in the trash, which then ends up in the
landfill or is burned. Either solution is very poor for the environment. Burning emits toxic gases that harm the
atmosphere while landfills hold them indefinitely as part of the plastic waste problemthroughout the globe.

One of the greatest problems is that an estimated 300 million plastic bags end up in the Atlantic Ocean alone. These
bags are very dangerous for sea life, especially those of the mammal variety. Any hunting mammal can easily mistake
the size, shape and texture of the plastic bag for a meal and find its airway cut off. Needless deaths from plastic bags
are increasing every year.

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The environmental balance of the waterways is being thrown off by the rate of plastic bags finding their way into the
mouths and intestinal tracts of sea mammals. As one species begins to die off at an abnormal rate, every other living
organism in the waterways is impacted.The indefinite period of time that it takes for the average plastic bag to break
down can be literally hundreds of years.

Questions:
a. On the basis of your reading make notes on the above passage. 5
b. Write the summary of the passage in your own words. (50 words) 3

SECTION B

Q4. Complete the following by choosing the correct answers from the options given below: 3*1
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Thursday may not have (a) its primary audience in Jammu
and Kashmir which was in blackout. But he did well by speaking out on his decision to
(b) its special status, and divide it into two Union Territories. Considering the secrecy and disinformation that (c)
the decision that he rightly characterised as historic, and the triumphalism among his supporters that followed, the
address was reassuring.

(a) i. reacted ii. reached iii. guided iv. earned

(b) i. term ii. ratify iii. revoke iv. rate
(c) i. preceded ii. surfaced iii. determined iv. ascribed

Q5. Look at the words and phrases given below. Rearrange them to form meaningful sentences 4*1
(a) The/ first/doctor/a diagnosis/makes/an illness/ of
(b) he or she/what/then/kind/decides/of treatment /needed/is
(c) can/treated with/many/bela course of medicines/illnesses
(d) may/the doctor/if/ is serious/the case/operate.

Q6. a. Santa Public School in Delhi requires cricket and hockey coaches. Draft a suitable advertisement
for the ‘Situations Vacant’ column of the ‘Daily Herald’, stating your requirements regarding age, qualification,
experience, etc. You are the Principal of the school. [50 words] 3
OR
b. AK International School is looking for a receptionist for the school. Write an advertisement on behalf of the
Administrative Officer in the classified columns of the local newspaper giving necessary details. [50 words]

Q7. a. You are Gaurav, the Secretary of the Science Club of Avinash Public School, Rewari. Your school is organising
an Exhibition on the cultural variety of India. Draft a poster to bring awareness among the school students about the
importance of culture. [50 words] 3
OR
b. You are the Mayor of your town. The Municipal Corporation of your town has decided to conduct a ‘TreePlantation
Programme’ to make your city, a ‘Green City’. Design a poster to invite participation from the public for this noble
cause. [50 words]

Q8. a. You have to speak in the school’s morning assembly on ‘The Harm that Mobile Phones and Smartphones are
Creating in Students’ Lives’. Write the speech in 120-150 words. You are Javed/Jyotsanaof class XI-A. 5
OR

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b. Suresh has been asked to deliver a speech on ‘The Brain Drain Problem’. He has prepared the following
notes. Use these notes together with your own ideas, write the speech in about 120-150 words.

SECTION C
Reference to the Context

Q9. A. All three stood still to smile through their hair At the
uncle with the camera. A sweet face,
My mother’s, that was before I was born.
And the sea, which appears to have changed less,
Washed their terribly transient feet

a. What Epithet literary device was used in the poem?

(i) Terribly transient (ii) Through their (iii) Both wry (iv) Laboured ease

b. What was the favourite memory of the poet?

(i) her mother’s memories (ii) her mother’s laughter
(iii) her own vacation memories (iv) her childhood memories

c. Who are on both sides of her mother?

(i) Cousins, Betty and Dolly (ii) Parents
(iii) Cousins, Dolly and Adam (iv) Friends
OR
B. Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wryWith
the laboured ease of loss.

a.What is the meaning of the word ‘wry’?

(i) ironic (ii) cry (iii) sad (iv) None of the above

b. What does she feel in the last phase?

(i) pain and grief (ii) happy and nostalgic
(iii) sad and nostalgic (iv) pain and nostalgic

c. What is the poem ‘A Photograph’ about?

(i) About poet’s childhood memories (ii) tribute to the poet’s mother
(iii) Poet’s photograph (iv) Poet’s father

Q10. A. With land under my feet again, my thoughts were full of Larry and Herbie, cheerful and optimisticunder the direst
stress, and of Mary, who stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours.

a. When did they reach lle Amsterdam?

(i) around 6 pm in the evening (ii) never reached there
(iii) at 11 in the next morning (iv) they decided to take different route

b. What does ‘Mayday call’ mean?

(i) Call made in the month of May (ii) Distress call for help
(iii) Both a and b (iv) None of these

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c. Why did the author hire the two crewmen?
(i) to take rest from long the voyage
(ii) to help tackle one of the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean
(iii) because he could no longer sail the ship
(iv) he wanted to spend some time with his familyOR
B. A CT machine scanned the mummy head to toe, creating 1,700 digital X-ray images in cross-section. Tut’s head,
scanned in 0.62-millimetre slices to register its intricate structures, takes on eerie detail inthe resulting image.

a. What is the Cemetery of Tut called?

(i) Valley of the Kings (ii) Tut’s Resting Place
(iii) Resting Peace (iv) Valley of Flowers

b. Who said “The mummy is in very bad condition because of what Carter did in the 1920s”?
(i) Carter (ii) Zahi Hawass (iii) an anatomy professor (iv) A Egypt Historian

c. How has archeology changed through the decades?

(i) focusses more on treasure
(ii) focusses more on physical findings
(iii) focusses on time factors more
(iv) focusing less on treasure and more on the fascinating details of life and mysteries of death

Q11. A. ‘Every time she leaves here she takes something home with her,’ said my mother. ‘She took all the table silver
in one go. And then the antique plates that hung there. She had trouble lugging those largevases, and I’m worried she got
a crick in her back from the crockery.’ My mother shook her head pityingly.

a. Who is the protagonist of “The Address”?

(i) Mrs. Dorling (ii) Mrs. S’s daughter (iii) Mrs. S (iv) Mrs. Dorling’s daughter

b. “I thought that no one had come back.” Why does Mrs. Dorling say this?
(i) Because she was happy to see the protagonist
(ii) Because she had been waiting for the protagonist for a long time
(iii) Because she thought everyone in the protagonist’s family were dead
(iv) None of the above

c. What was the very first out of her mother’s possessions that the protagonist could recognize?
(i) Hanukkah candle-holder (ii) Woollen table-cloth
(iii) White tea pot (iv) Green knitted cardigan

d. What message does “The Address” talk about?

(i) Importance of things (ii) Not to trust someone
(iii) Human predicament of war (iv) Importance of possessions
OR
B. I do not know what to think, he said. The horse is stronger than ever. Better-tempered, too. I thank God. My uncle
Khosrove, who was in the parlour, became irritated and shouted, Quiet, man, quiet. Your horse has been returned. Pay
no attention to it.

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a. What was uncle Khosrove’s customary line?
(i) Ignore it; pay no attention. (b) Forget it.
(iii) It is harmless; ignore it. (d) It is no harm; pay no attention to it.

b. When did the boys return the horse?

(i) After Aram learned to ride it (ii) After an year
(iii) After six months (iv) After they ran into John Byro

c. Mourad had been hiding the horse

(i) in a stable (ii) in a barn of a vineyard
(iii) at a secret place of his house (iv) None of the above

d. Why did the boys return the white horse to its owner?
(i) Because they were conscience stricken (ii) Because they were afraid
(iii) Because they found it difficult to hide the horse (iv) Because they were accused of theft

Q12. Answer in 40-50 words (Any two) 3*2

a. Draw a comparison between the author’s village school education and city school education.
b. What was the interesting fact about Tut that was brought to light in the late sixties?
c. “Its silence silences,” writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has silenced her. Do you think that
this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why/ why not?
d. In the poem, ‘The Photograph’ why does the poet feel nostalgic?

Q13. Answer in 40-50 words (Any one) 3*1

a. What were the peculiarities in Uncle Khosrove’s behaviour?
b. In the lesson, ‘The Address’ Why does the narrator say, “I was in a room I knew and did not know”?

Q14. Answer in 120-150 words 6*1

a. What are the facts that are known about King Tut’s lineage?
OR
b. Happy moments are short-lived but provide a lifetime memory. They provide a cushion to bear the difficulties which
the future has in store for you. Comment in the light of the poem ‘A Photograph’ by ShirleyToulson.

Q15. Answer in 120-150 words 6*1

a. Contrast the character of the narrator’s mother and Mrs. Dorling.
OR
b. Do you think John Byro recognised his horse? Why did he not accuse the boys of stealing his horse?

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