VELALAR VIDYALAYAA SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

GRADE – XI
English Core
Periodic Test – 1 (Set- 1)
Maximum Marks: 80
Time Allowed: 3 hours
General Instructions:
 The Question Paper contains three sections.
 Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

Section A Reading
1. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: (10)
High–altitude climbing is still a very dangerous task despite the availability of oxygen masks and
other protective equipment which modern climbers take with them. These, of course, are
indispensable accessories of climbing, but more important than these is the stamina of the
climber which ultimately determines the success of his attempt. Throughout his journey, death is
his constant companion which he can keep at a distance only with his superb presence of mind.
He has to tread every inch of the ground with the utmost care, for a false step may not only strike
him a fatal blow but also bring disaster to the whole expedition. That is why all expeditions
invariably take with them local guides who are experienced climbers and who have a thorough
knowledge of the nature of the terrain. Moreover, a huge amount of capital is needed for financing
these expeditions, and this is generally provided by governments or rich private organizations.
The primary objective of the mountaineering expedition is to get to the top of a high mountain,
which, in the past has withstood all attempts to conquer it. But it should not be presumed that
the expedition is a complete failure if it does not reach its destination. Sometimes operations are
temporarily suspended because of bad weather, loss of some valuable
equipment, or the sudden death of a very important member of the party.
Every big expedition takes with it men who are interested in botany, geology & various other
branches of science, and these men carry with them equipment for recording their observations
concerning the weather, the terrain & different forms of life in higher altitudes. Other scientists,
explorers & expeditionists utilize the fruits of their observations. Thus, every unsuccessful
expedition contributes to the success of later expeditions. The British Expedition led by colonel
Hunt would have found their way to Everest much more difficult had not earlier expeditions
armed them with useful knowledge about the death-dealing weather which they had to encounter
in the Vicinity of the summit.
To ordinary people, mountaineering need not be a fearful journey in the land of snowstorms,
where the brave adventurer is always face to face with death. They can scale less ambitious
heights, rest their weary limbs under a quiet shelter and feast their eyes on the distant
landscape. In the company of friends, they can enjoy an outing near a waterfall or cross into the
next Valley with haversacks full of provisions dangling from their shoulders. All those who can
afford to go to a hill station should seek this innocent pleasure, for it can be had without any
risk to life or limb.
Answer the questions (10*1=10)
i. What is the factor that determines the success of the climbers?
a) Availability of protective equipment
b) Height and weight of the climber
c) Availability of oxygen masks
d) The stamina of the climber
ii. What precaution should the climbers take during their journey?
a) Have a subtle presence of mind
b) Avoid causing a disaster
c) Have a good sponsor
d) Take local guides along
iii. In what way does a mountaineering expedition contribute to the wealth of
Knowledge?
a) Even a failed expedition contributes to the success of later expeditions
b) Mountaineers carry equipment to record observations about weather and terrain
c) You learn to conquer the biggest hurdles of life
d) People interested in different branches of science accompany climbers
 iv. How is an ordinary mountaineer’s experience different from that of a regular
expedition?
a) All of these
b) They don’t have to worry much about finances
c) They don’t have to be face to face with death
d) They can savour the landscape from a distance
v. How does a local guide help an expedition?
a) They help clean the environment on the way
b) They can help in case of fatalities
c) They know the local language
d) They know about the place they live in
vi. Why can an expedition not be a failure?
a) Temporarily suspending operations become a necessity at times
b) Recorded observations of incomplete expeditions still stand useful
c) Reaching the destination does not mark its success
d) All of these
vii. How are recorded observations of mountaineers useful to others?
a) It would otherwise not be possible to know about Everest
b) They give an insider’s outlook to mountaineering
c) It prepares future mountaineers for what they’re going to deal with
d) They are not of much help as nature keeps evolving
viii. What is the primary objective of a mountaineering expedition?
a) Climb up and down; alive
b) Unfurl your flag at the peak
c) Reach to the top
d) Experience nature in its vicinity
ix. Find the synonym of "neighbourhood" in paragraph 3
a) Altitude
b) Summit
c) Terrain
d) Vicinity
x. Find the antonym of "opponent" in paragraph 1
a) Death
b) Companion
c) Guide
d) Climber

II. Read the text carefully and answer the questions: (8*1=8)
Kausani is situated at a height of 6,075 feet in the central Himalayas. It is an unusually
attractive little town. It covers just about 5.2 sq. km. It lies to the north of Almora in
Uttarakhand's picturesque Kumaon region. Kausani provides the 300 km. wide breath-taking
view of the Himalayas. It is the most striking aspect of this place. Snow-capped peaks are
spread in a stately row. They stare at you in silvery-white majesty. The most famous peak on
view is Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India. It is situated at a height of 25,645
feet and is 36 miles away as the crow flies. The other famous peaks on view are Choukhamba
(23,420 feet) and Trishul (23,360 feet). Then there are also Neelkanth, Nandaghunti,
Nandaghat and Nandakot. On a clear day, the blue of the sky makes a splendid background to
these peaks. At sunrise and at sunset, when the colour of the sky changes to a golden orange,
the scene gets etched in your memory. When Gandhi Ji visited this place in 1929, its scenic
beauty held him spellbound. He named it the 'Switzerland of India'. He prolonged his two day
stay to fourteen days, making time to write a book, ‘Anashakti Yoga'. The place where he was
staying was originally a guest house of a tea estate. It was renamed ‘Anashakti Ashram' after
the book.
Kausani is the birthplace of Sumitra Nandan Pant, India's poet laureate. Its natural
surroundings inspired many of his poems. Its tea gardens mingle with dense pine forests and
fruit orchards. The area is also host to many fairs and religious ceremonies. If Uttarakhand is
 the abode of Gods, Kausani is God's own backyard. There is no traffic, no one is in a hurry. If
serenity could be put on a canvas, the picture would resemble Kausan

Average Rainfall in mm in Kausani (2000-2009)

i. Kausani is situated at a height of feet in the Central Himalayas.
a. 6175
b. 6075
c. 4275
d. 7125
ii. In which year Gandhi ji visited Kausani?
a. 1914
b. 1925
c. 1929
d. 1935
iii. At sunrise and at sunset the colour of the sky changes to
a) blue
b) white
c) silverish grey
d) golden orange
iv. Gandhi ji prolonged his two day stay to
a) One week
b) 15 days
c) 10 days
d) 14 days
v. _____ is the abode of Gods.
a) Almora
b) Uttarakhand
c) Kausani
d) Switzerland
vi. Kausani is situated in Himalayas.
a) Southern
b) Northern
c) Central
d) Eastern
vii. Which month received the lowest rainfall in Kausani?
a) March
b) April
c) January
d) February
viii. The month which received almost half the rainfall of June is .
a) May
b) January
c) February
d) March
III. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow
There is nothing more frustrating than when you sit down at your table to study with the
sincerest of intentions and instead of being able to finish the task at hand, you find your
thoughts wandering. However, there are certain techniques that you can use to enhance your
concentration. "Your concentration level depends on a number of factors," says Samuel Ghosh, a
social counsellor. "In order to develop your concentration span, it is necessary to examine
various facets of your physical and internal environment," she adds.
To begin with, one should attempt to create a physical environment that is conducive to
focused thought. Whether it is the radio, TV or your noisy neighbours, identify the factors that
make it difficult for you to focus. For instance, if you live in a very noisy neighbourhood, you
could try to plan your study hours in a nearby library.
She disagrees with the notion that people can concentrate or study in an environment with
distractions like a loud television, blaring music etc. "If you are distracted when you are
attempting to focus, your attention and retention powers do not work at optimum levels,"
cautions Ghosh. "Not more than two of your senses should be activated at the same time," she
adds. What that means is that music that sets your feet tapping is not the ideal accompaniment
to your books. Also, do not place your study table or desk in front of a window. "While there is no
cure for a mind that wants to wander, one should try and provide as little stimulus as possible.
Looking out of a window when you are trying to concentrate will invariably send your mind on a
tangent," says Ghosh. Emails and phones can be two of the biggest distractions of all. If you don’t
check email at the beginning of the day, then you’ll be able to spend the morning pursuing your
own agenda rather than reacting to everybody else’s agenda and text messages, phone calls, or
alerts interrupting your focus. The second important thing, she says, is to establish goals for
oneself or to choose an anchor task, instead of setting a general target and then trying to
accomplish what you can in a haphazard fashion. Assign one (and only one) priority to each work
day. Although you plan to complete other tasks during the day, your priority task is the one non-
negotiable thing that must get done. The power of choosing one priority is that it naturally guides
your behaviour by forcing you to organize your life around that responsibility. It is very important
to decide what you have to finish in a given span of time. The human mind recognizes fixed goals
and targets and appreciates schedules more than random thoughts. Once your thoughts and
goals are in line, a focused system will follow.
She recommends that you divide your schedule into the study and recreation hours. When you
study, choose a mix of subjects that you enjoy and dislike and save the former for the last so
that you have something to look forward to. For instance, if you enjoy verbal skill tests more
than mathematical problems, then finish Maths first. Not only will you find yourself working
harder, but you will also have a sense of achievement when you wind up. Try not to sit for more
than 40 minutes at a stretch. Take a very short break to make a cup of tea or listen to a song
and sit down again. Under no circumstances, should one sit for more than one and a half hours.
Short breaks build your concentration and refresh your mind. However, be careful not to overdo
the relaxation. It may have undesired effects.
In addition, manage your energy, not your time. If a task requires your full attention, then
schedule it for a time of day when you have the energy needed to focus. For example, let’s say you
like writing. So if you have noticed that your creative energy is highest in the morning and that’s
when you’re fresh, then that’s when you do your best writing. That’s when you make the best
strategic decisions about your business. So, what do you do? You schedule creative tasks for the
morning. All other business tasks are taken care of in the afternoon. This includes doing
interviews, responding to emails, phone calls and Skype chats, data analysis and number
crunching. Nearly every productivity strategy obsesses over managing your time better, but time is
useless if you don’t have the energy you need to complete the task you are working on. More than
anything else, do not get disheartened. Concentration is merely a matter of disciplining the mind.
1. On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using
headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum
four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it. (5)
2. Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words. (3)
 Section B
Grammar & Creative Writing Skills.
(IV) Attempt any 7 questions. (7*1=7)

A.) Fill in the following blanks given below choosing the most appropriate options from
the ones that follow.
Everyone is not in a position to (a) the family and start living in a (b) room (c)
the banks (d) the Ganga.
a. (i) leave (ii) leaver (iii) tell (iv) leaving
b. (i) small (ii) smaller (iii) smallest (iv) little
c. (i) on (ii) in (iii) of (iv) off
d. (i) in (ii) of (iii) on (iv) off
B. Read the text carefully and choose the correct options to fill in the blanks to complete
the narration.
Ganesh :Doctor my wife is unwell. May I know what will be the total expenses for her treatment?
Dr.Gautam : Well, you will have to pay only six lakh for her treatment.
Ganesh : Is there any concession?
Dr.Gautam : No, not a penny. I want the complete amount together.

Ganesh told Dr. Gautam that his wife was unwell and asked if (i)_______ for her treatment. The
doctor replied that (ii) for her treatment. Ganesh asked (iii) The doctor refused to give
any concession and further stated that (iv)________
(i)
(a) he might know what the total expenses would be
(b) he might know what the total expenses will be
(c) he might know if the total expenses would be
(d) he may know what the total expenses would be
(ii)
a) he would had to pay only six lakh
b) he might have to pay only six lakh
c) he will have to pay only six lakh
d) he would have to pay only six lakh
(iii)
(a) if there was any concession.
(b) if there have been any concession.
(c) if there will be any concession.
(d) if there is any concession.
(iv)
(a) he wanted complete amount together
(b) he wants the amount completely together
(c) he would take the complete amount together
(d) he wants the complete amount together
Creative Writing Skills

V (a) You want to purchase a flat. Draft an advertisement in about 50 words for a newspaper,
detailing your requirements and your capacity to pay. (3)
OR
(b) Your brother has been missing from his home for the last two days. Draft an advertisement for
a newspaper providing necessary details and offer a reward to the informer.

VI (a) You are a member of the SPCA. Draft a poster in not more than 50 words to create
awareness on the need to prevent cruelty to animals. You are Suhas/Suhasini. (3)
OR
(b) Draft a poster advising to keep vehicular emission under control.

VII. (a) Write a speech in 150-200 words on the topic, ‘Discipline shapes the future of a
student’. It is to be delivered in the morning assembly. You are Karuna/Karan.(5)
OR
(b) After the rainy season is over, mosquitoes start breeding. They cause malaria, dengue,
Chikungunya, etc. These diseases can sometimes prove to be fatal. As the Principal of your school
you have decided to deliver a speech on protection from mosquitoes. Write the speech in 150 - 200
words.

VIII. (a) It is a common perception that Mobile phone is the major distraction in the life of
students today. Using Mobile phone makes them suffer mentally and physically. Write a debate
for or against in 150-200 words on the issue. (5)
 OR

(c) The government has banned the use of animals in the laboratories for the purpose of
dissection. Write a debate in 150- 200 words either for or against this decision.

Section C Literature

IX Read the texts below carefully and answer the questions: (3*1=3)
(A) The Laburnum Top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow
September sunlight , A few
leaves yellowing, all its seeds
fallen.
(a) Identify the correct combination of the (given) poem and the poet.
i. Ted Hughes : The Voice of the Rain
ii. Walt Whitman : The Laburnum Top
iii. Ted Hughes : The Laburnum Top
iv. Shirley Toulson : Childhood
(b) Mary said: Close your cluttered closet. Identify the similar figure of speech in the above
extract used by Mary
i. Repetition
ii. Metaphor
iii. Alliteration
iv. Onomatopoeia
(c) Which of the following is not a part of the dominant ‘yellow’ colour in the poem?
i. Goldfinch’s face
ii. The tree and its leaves
iii. The bird's feathers
iv. The sunlight
OR
(B) 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 does ‘three’ refer to?

b) When and where was the photograph taken?
c) Bring out the comparison between the sea and the ‘feet’

X Read the texts below carefully and answer the questions: (3*1=3)

A. People said that she had once been young and pretty and even had a husband, but that
was hard to believe. My grandfather's portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing
room. He wore big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best
part of his chest and he looked like a hundred years old.

(i) Who is the author of the above extract?

(a) Khushwant Singh
(b) James Harriot
(c) Gordon Cook
(d) Alan East

(ii) Who has been referred as 'she' in above extract?

(a) Sister of the author
(b) Mother of the author
(c) Grandmother of the author
(d) Aunt of the author

(iii) Which word in the extract means 'picture of face'?

(a) Turban
(b) Beard
(c) Portrait
(d) Mantelpiece
OR
 (B) At dawn on January 2, the waves were gigantic. We were sailing with only a small storm
jib and were still making eight knots. As the ship rose to the top of each wave we could see
endless enormous seas rolling towards us, and the screaming of the wind and spray was
painful to the ears. To slow the boat down, we dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy
mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then we double-lashed everything, went through our
life-raft drill, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets — and waited.

(i) What does knot mean?

(ii) Why did they drop the storm jib ?
(iii) Pick a word from the extract which means extremely big.

XI Read the text carefully and answer the questions (4*1=4)

(A) 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.
(i)Where was the name plate of Marconi Street put up?
a. at the far end of the road
b. at the edge of the road
c. at the front of the house
d. at the corner of the road
(ii) How did author convince herself that she had come at the right address?
a. she had looked at the name of the street
b. she had looked at the number of the house
c. she had looked at the number of the house and name of the street
d. she had looked at the colour of the house
(iii) Why did she not want to remember the address?
a. number of the house was already displayed
b. she did not want to go there again
c .name of the street was already displayed
d. she had a poor memory

(iv)Why did author not want to go back there again?

a. she noticed her own thing there
b. her own things had lost their importance for her
c. her former life was still in her memory
d. the surrounding was unfamiliar

OR
(B) One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every
imaginable kind of magnificence,and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream ,my cousin
Mourad,who was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me,came to my house at
four in the morning and woke me up tapping on the window of my room.

(i) Name the chapter of the extract.

(ii) Who is the author of this extract ?
(iii) Who is ‘I’ in the above lines ?
(iv) Find a word from the extract which means..the quality of being extremely beautiful.

XII Attempt any two (1each from & Poetry) of the following in 40 to 50 words: (3+3=6)
1) What do you like most about the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’ ?
2) How does the rain become the voice of the earth ?
3) Who was Howard Carter and what was his discovery ?
4) Decribe Ile Amsterdom.

XIII Attempt any one of the following in 40 to 50 words (3)

1. Who was John Byro ? Why had he come to the narrator’s house ?
2. What makes the narrator go to 46,Marconi Street ?

XIV Answer the following in 120 to 150 words. (6)

A. Elucidate how the grandmother spent half-an-hour with the sparrows. How did she
feel then? (The Portrait of a Lady)
OR
 B. How can you say that the photograph was taken on a windy day?
XV Answer the following in 120 to 150 words (6)

A. Give a character-sketch of the narrator’s cousin, Mourad. How was he considered to be the
natural descendant of the crazy streak in the family ?

OR
B. ‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.
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