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Kerala SSLC English Previous Year Question Paper March 2019
Instructions:
- The first fifteen minutes is cool-off time. You may use the time to read the questions and plan the answers.
- Read the questions carefully before answering.
- Certain Sections of the questions have choices. Follow the instructions.
Time: 2½ Hours
Maximum: 80 Scores
Questions 1 – 6. Read the excerpt from ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries one score. (1 × 6 = 6)
Excuse me, Doctor, I wonder if I might introduce myself.’ He spoke almost breathlessly, offering me the visiting card he held in his hand and studying my face to see if the name meant anything to me. Then, as it plainly did not, he went on with the same awkwardness. ‘If you could spare a few minutes….. my wife and I would like to have a word with you.’
A moment later I was occupying the vacant chair beside them. Haltingly he told me that this had been theirfirstvisittoAmerica. It was not entirely a holiday trip. They had been making a tour of the New England states, inspecting many of the summer recreational camps for young people there. Afterwards, they had visited settlement houses in New York and other cities to study the methods employed in dealing with cases of backward, maladjusted and delinquent youth.
Question 1.
Pick out from the passage the expression that shows the nervousness of the man.
Answer:
spoke almost breathlessly
Question 2.
What did the man request the narrator?
Answer:
The man requested the narrator to spare him a few minutes so that his wife and he could have a word with him.
Question 3.
Why did the man visit the New England states?
Answer:
The man visited New England States to inspect many of the summer recreational camps for young people there. Afterwards they visited settlement houses in New York and other cities to study the methods used in dealing with cases of backward, maladjusted and delinquent youth.
Question 4.
What was the purpose of the man’s visit to settlement houses in New York?
Answer:
To study the methods used in dealing with cases of backward, maladjusted and delinquent youth.
Question 5.
Find out the word from the passage that means ‘having emotional problems’.
Answer:
maladjusted
Question 6.
Pick out the verb phrase from the following sentence. ‘They had been making a tour of the New England states.’
Answer:
had been making
Questions 7 to 10 (Not in the current syllabus)
Questions 7 to 10. Read the lines from ‘A Girl’s Garden’ and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries one score. (1 x 4 = 4)
One day she asked her father
To give her a garden plot
To plant and tend and reap herself,
And he said, ‘Why not’?
In casting about for a corner
He thought of an idle bit
of walled-off ground where a shop had stood,
And he said,‘Just it.’
Question 7. What does the girl want to get from her father?
Question 8. What was the father’s response to the girl’s request?
Question 9. Pick out the expression that describes the land.
Question 10. What do you think about the father in the poem?
Question 11.
Read the following lines from the poem ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and attempt a brief appreciation focussing on the theme and poetic devices used. (5)
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’in the wind.
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Answer:
Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” asks a series of rhetorical questions, some gentle, some very penetrating. Rhetorical questions are questions for which the answer is already known. They are actually meant to make us think.
In the first stanza itself the poet asks a number of questions. How many roads should a man walk before he can be called a man? How many seas should a white dove sail before she can rest? How many times should the cannon balls fly before they are banned? The answers are there but nobody wants to find them.
The 2M stanza has also three questions. How long the mountains can last, how long can people live without being free and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see? The answers are blowing in the wind.
The third stanza also has 3 big questions. How many times’ must a man look up before he can see the sky? How many years must one have before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take for him to know that too many people have died?
The poem is aimed at our emotions in order to sensitize our consciences. The poet wants to say that enough evil has already occurred in the world and so let us stop it. The language is simple, direct and powerful. The poem reminds us the teaching of Jesus who said, “Let people with eyes see and people with ears hear.” The poem is actually a song and very melodious. There is fine imagery. There is repetition in the poem. Then poem is against war and also against racial discrimination.
Questions 12 to 16. Read the following passage and answer the questions given. Each question carries one score. (1 × 5 = 5)
When I was around four or five j was with mom at a store buying some Christmas gifts. As we were leaving I saw beautiful little dinosaurs that fit perfectly in my hands. I grabbed two of them and hid one in each of my pockets. My pockets were so small that they made me look like I had two turmours on each of my hips. I still remember the rush of energy I got from actually leaving the store undetected.
Well, when my mom and I got to the car, she found them and called the store keeper back and made me apologise. I had the absolute worst social anxiety when I was a kid so I was absolutely sobbing, telling this poor employee how horrible a person I was. I had a mental breakdown, when my.mom cried a while afterwards and bought me a nice milkshake!
Question 12.
Why did the narrator and his mother visit the store?
Answer:
To buy some Christmas gifts.
Question 13.
What did the narrator do when he was leaving the store?
Answer:
He stole two toy dinosaurs from the shop and hid them in his pockets.
Question 14.
‘I still remember the rush of energy I got’. Why do you think the narrator felt so?
Answer:
He felt so because he was able to leave the store without being caught.
Question 15.
What was the reaction of the mother when she found out the mistake made by her son?
Answer:
She called the store keeper and made her son apologize to him for stealing the dinosaurs.
Question 16.
Why did the narrator have a mental breakdown?
Answer:
He had a mental breakdown as he saw his mom crying because of his misconduct and later buying him a nice milkshake. He knew his mother loved him dearly.
Questions 17 to 21. The table given below shows the details of a few great personalities. Study the table and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries one score. (1 × 5 = 5)
Question 17.
Stephen Hawking was a ……………. by profession.
Answer:
Cosmologist
Question 18.
The only novelist in table given is ………………….
Answer:
R.K. Narayan
Question 19.
Who as per the list is the only person bom before 1900?
Answer:
Bertrand Russell
Question 20.
Find out the Indian poet enlisted in the table.
Answer:
K. Satchidanandan
Question 21.
A Japanese film maker in the list above is …………………
Answer:
Akira Kurosawa
Questions 22 – 23. Answer any ONE of the following in about 120 words. (7 × 1 = 7)
Question 22.
Satyajit Ray took pains to shoot the scene with a tiger for his film ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’. Prepare a write-up describing the difficulties Ray experienced in shooting the scene. (Hints: contacts Bharat Circus – meets the manager – brings the tiger to the location – tiger springs out – controls – calms down – shoots the scene – too dark – retake)
Answer:
As arranged with Mr. Thorat of Bharat Circus, a lorry arrived with two well-fed tigers. He brought two so that if one did not do things properly the other could be used. Atripod was placed facing the bamboo grove to mount the camera. The audience was instructed to get behind the camera. Goopy and Bagha were placed close to the bamboo grove so that they could be seen along with the tiger.
A five-foot iron rod was fixed to the ground, some 30 feet from the area where the tiger was to walk. A tiger-skin collar with a thin wire inside was placed in the neck of the tiger. The door of the cage was opened and the tiger jumped out. But instead of walking calmly it started running and jumping about. When it became calm some shots were taken. But the shots were later found to be dark owing to poor light.
The scenes had to be shot a second time. A bamboo grove near Calcutta in Boral was found. The lorry arrived with Thorat, the tiger, the steel wire, the special collar and the iron rod. The whole village came to watch the shooting. The villagers were told to keep at least 70 feet away from the scene of the shot. Without listening to the instructions, the entire crowd got as close to the camera as they could.
Thorat opened the cage. With a roar the tiger charged towards the crowd. The crowd disappeared as if my magic. Soon the tiger calmed down and the shots were taken as required. This time the tiger and the camera behaved well.
Question 23.
The doctor in the story The Best Investment I Ever Made’ was excited when he recognised Mr. John 31. after a long time. He narrates the whole incident to his friend after a while. Prepare the likely narrative. (Hints : meets Mr. John and his wife – introduce – visiting card – remembers the past – tries to commit suicide – saved – becomes a new man – helping maladjusted and delinquent youth)
Answer:
I met Mr John and his wife in a ship as I was returning home after a trip to New York. I noticed a young man was trying to talk to me. It was Mr. John’s wife who persuaded him to come and talk to me.
John lost his parents and so his uncle got him an employment in a London Lawyer’s office. As he was without friends and relatives, he soon fell into bad company and started living beyond his means. He bet on horses and lost all his savings.
He borrowed money which also he lost. He decided to steal some money from his office and make a final gamble. That also he lost. Now he would be caught and jailed and so he decided to commit suicide. He went to his room and left the gas on.
A policeman and the landlady called a doctor to help him. The doctor revived him. The policeman asked him why he decided to kill himself. He said he stole 7 pounds and 10 shillings from the office safe, If that is not returned, he would be caught and jailed.
In his helpless condition, the three present there – the doctor, the landlady and the policemah – decided to help him. The doctor gave him the money to be put back in the safe. The policeman agreed not to report the case. The landlady agreed to give John free board fora month.
All this helped John to become a good person. He worked hard and became a lawyer and later the director of an organization for the rehabilitation of delinquent youth. He and his wife work hard to help the maladjusted and delinquents. They help these youths to get training in some professions and thus help them to become useful members of the society.
Questions 24 – 26. Answer any TWO of the following. Each question carries five scores. (5 × 2 = 10)
Question 24.
Zahra was disappointed and became angry when she knew that she wouldn’t get her shoes back. Imagine that you meet Zahra and talk about it. Prepare the likely conversation between Zahra and you.
Answer:
I: Good Morning, Zahra!
Zahra: Good Morning, Ibrahim! But actually it is a bad morning for me!
I: Why? What happened?
Zahra: My brother Ali took my school shoes for . repair and he lost them.
I: Lost them! How?
Zahra: He says he left them outside a vegetable shop when he went in to buy some vegetable. When he came back the shoes were gone!
I: Why did you not ask your father to buy you another pair?
Zahra: If I ask my father to buy me another pair, from where will he find the money? And if he comes to know that Ali has lost my shoes, he will beat Ali badly. I don’t want my brother to be beaten. So I am wearing my slippers to school.
I: Won’t the teacher punish you for wearing slippers to school?
Zahra: I will explain to her why I am wearing slippers. She knows we are poor. She is sympathetic and she will understand.
I: Best of luck, Zahra!
Zahra: Thank you, Ibrahim!
Question 25.
Vanka’s Grandfather was sad after he had left the boy at Alyakhin’s work place. He writes his feelings in his diary. Prepare the likely diary entry of the Grandfather.
Answer:
Today is a sad day for me. I have left Vanka with the shoemaker Alyakhin, in Moscow. Vanka will be an apprentice to the shoemaker. I do hope that Alyakhin will treat Vanka properly. I am worried because Vanka is only a 9 year old boy. He is an orphan as his parents have died. In Alyakhin’s place there are other boys who are also apprentices. Those senior boys might rag Vanka and make him do unpleasant things. I have.heard that Alyakhin’s wife is a cruel woman. She also might mistreat Vanka. She has a small baby and maybe she will ask Vanka to take care of that baby.
I think I made a mistake in apprenticing Vanka to Alyakhin. If Vanka were with me he would help me in so many ways. He would help me in the kitchen and in the garden. He could buy things for me. He could take care of my dogs Ka’shtanka and Eel. Eel seemed to love Vanka.
Vanka could grind snuff for me. I remember how he helped me during the last Christmas when I went to the forest to bring a Christmas tree for Miss Olga Ignatevnya. She liked Vanka very much. She used to give him sweets and she taught him to write and read and to count. He too loved her.
I left him with Alyakhin in Moscow for his own welfare. I am 65 years old. I can’t teach Vanka any trade so ; that he can take care of himself when I am no more. It was with this intention I took him to Alyakhin. I only wish Vanka well. I hope he is happy there and will learn the trade of shoe-making so that he can be a successful man later in his life.
Question 26.
The English Club of your school has decided to stage a play based onthe story The Snake and the Mirror’. Draft a notice inviting all teachers and students to watch the play.
Answer:
St. George’S H.S.S.
Edappally
1 December 2019
Notice
The English Club of this School is staging a play titled “The Snake and the Mirror”. It is a hilarious comedy by the famous Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer.
Venue: School Auditorium
Date and Time: 10 December 2019, 3 p.m.
A poor doctor takes a room in a cheap hotel. The room is not electrified and it is infested with rats. He sits down on a chair near a table which has a, mirror on it. As he is sitting and thinking about his future, a cobra lands on his shoulders. What happens then? Come and watch the play!
All the teachers and students of the school are invited!
Raj Job
Secretary
Questions 27 – 31. Answer any THREE of the following. Each question carries six scores. (6 × 3 = 18)
Question 27.
Martha was extremely happy on the day she received the Scholarship Jacket. Imagine that she wrote a letter to her friend describing all the incidents that had happened in the school. Prepare the likely letter.
Answer:
St. Andrew’s School,
Texas, USA
10 May 1018
Dearest Ammini,
I received your letter and I am happy to note that you have done well in your studies.
Here in our school, I had a problem. The school had a tradition to award the Scholarship Jacket to the best Standard VIII student for outstanding performance. It is given during the Passing Out Day every year. I worked hard for it. For all the 8 years of my stay in the school I was on top. I was sure that I would get the Jacket.
But things were not as easy as I thought. I overheard a conversation between Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Boone, both my teachers. It made me sad. What I understood was that ttie Management was planning to give Joann, one of my classmates, the Jacket. Joann is the daughter of a member of the School Board.
With the support of some staff members, he wanted to manipulate things so that his daughter would get the scholarship jacket. She was next to me in performance. A new proposal was made to charge 15 dollars from the student eligible for the Award. He knew that my parents could not afford such a sum and naturally Joanne would get the jacket. The Principal had no choice but to agree with the Board’s decision. He asked me to bring 15 dollars.
I requested my grandfather to give me 15 dollars. But he refused to give me the money. He said that a scholarship jacket is not something to be bought. Fortunately for me, some teachers, especially my history teacher Mr. Schmidt supported my case and argued in the staff meeting that I should be given the jacket whether I pay or not.
The Principal had to reverse his earlier decision, and, to cut a long story short, I was given the Jacket. Oh, I am so happy! Ammini, I will visit you during this vacation. Convey my loving regards to your parents and your brother Jose.
Yours lovingly,
Martha
Question 28.
Prapare a profile of Rabindranath Tagore using the given details.
Born: 7 May, 1861
Place of birth: Calcutta, India
Famous as: Writer, Song Composer, Playwright, Essayist, Painter
Nationality: Indian
Notable works: Gitanjali, The Golden Boat, Chitrangada, The Post Office, Chandalika
Notable Awards: Nobel Prize in Literature
Died: 7 August, 1941
Answer:
Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861. He was a versatile genius. He was famous as a poet, short story writer, musician, educationist and philosopher. He wrote in Bengali and also in English. He reshaped Bengali literature. He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Some of his world – renowned works are “Gitanjali”, “The Golden Boat”, “Cabuliwalah”, “The Broken Nest” and his autobiographical work “My Boyhood Days”. He has the rare honour or being the author of the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. Tagore breathed his last in 1941.
Question 29.
Think-Tank believes himself to be the most powerful and intellectual creature in the whole Universe. Prepare a character sketch of Think-Tank.
Answer:
Not in the syllabus.
Question 30.
‘A man’s life is shaped by the surroundings in which he lives.’ Imagine you are asked to deliver a speech in the school assembly on this topic. Prepare the speech in the light of the story The Best Investment I Ever Made.’
Answer:
Respected Headmaster, teachers and my dear friends,
Good Morning to you all!
Today I am asked to talk to you on the topic, “A man’s life is shaped by the surroundings in which he lives.” There is no doubt that we are the products of the surroundings in which we live. I can make this very clear by telling you a story written by A. J. Cronin. The story is titled “The Best Investment I Ever Made”. The story is like this: There was a man named John. John lost his parents early in life and so his uncle got him an employment in a London Lawyer’s office.
As he was without friends and relatives, he soon fell into bad company and started living beyond his means. He bet on horses and lost all his savings. He borrowed money which also he lost. He decided to steal some money from his office and make a final gamble. That also he lost. Now he would be caught and jailed and so he decided to commit suicide. He went to his room and turned the gas on.
John was lucky. He did not die. The landlady and the sergeant called a doctor to help him. The doctor soon revived John. The sergeant asked him why he decided to kill himself. He said he stole 7 pounds and 10 shillings from the office safe. If that was not returned, he would be caught and jailed. In his helpless condition, the three present there – the doctor, the landlady and the sergeant – decided to help him.
The doctor gave him the money to be put back in the safe. The sergeant agreed not to report the case. The landlady agreed to give John freeboard for a month. These virtuous acts on the part of his benefactors transformed John. He studies hard and becomes a lawyer and then the director of a charitable organization working for the rehabilitation of maladjusted and delinquent youth.
We see John repaying generosity with generosity. Cronin, the doctor, had made the best investment he had ever made. It is such people that make this world a beautiful place to live in.
Question 31.
Adolf, the little rabbit creates a lot of problems in the narrator’s house. Write a paragraph describing the events that happened in the house.
Answer:
Not in the syllabus.
Question 32.
Complete the following conversation between Martha and Schmidt. (5)
Schmidt: You are getting the scholarship jacket this year, ………… (a) ………….. ?
Martha: Yes sir, I’m very happy to get it.
Schmidt: ……(b)……….?
Martha: Yes. The school board has changed the decision.
Schmidt: That’s good. If you had paid for the jacket, …………. (c) …………….
Marth: My grandpa also said so.
Schmidt: ……….. (d) …………?
Martha: Yes, I have informed this news to my grandpa. He was very happy to learn that.
Schmidt: You had better …………… (e) …………..
Marth: Sure. I’ll ask grandpa to come to the award ceremony.
Answer:
a) aren’t you?
b) Has the school board changed the decision?
c) it wouldn’t be a scholarship jacket.
d) Have you informed your grandpa this news?
e) invite him to the award ceremony.
Question 33.
Complete the following passage choosing the right words from those given in the bracket. (5)
We decided to carry Adolf back to / (a) wild woods. We were about / (b) cry when Father took Adolf / (c) his hands. But it didn’t show any feeling while going away J (d) home. Father told us / (e) it hopped away with utmost indifference. (to, from, the, with, in, that)
Answer:
a) the
b) to
c) in
d) from
e) that
Question 34.
Report the following dialogue.
Vanka: Where are we going?
Grandfather: We are going to Alyakhin, the shoemaker.
You may begin like this:
Vanka asked his grandfather ………….. (a) ……………
Grandfather replied that …………….. (b) ……………..
Answer:
a) where they were going.
b) they were going to Alyakhin, the shoemaker.
Question 35.
There are a few errors in the passage given below. They are underlined. Edit them.
Mr. Thorat had been worked
(a) in the company for many years. He was very strong and look
(b) like a Nepali. Ray tells
(c) him that he wanted a tiger. He was ready to providing
(d) a trained tiger for shooting the scene.
Answer:
a) had been working
b) looked
c) told
d) provide
Question 36.
Complete the following passage choosing appropriate phrasal verbs from the ones given below.
Vanka tried his level best to / (a) the torture his master had inflicted on him. But it was unbearable for him. He tried to / (b) this to other apprentices. But they made fun of him. Then he decided to write a letter to his grandfather hoping he would / (c) the letter and / (d) the troubles Vanka was facing. (go through, put up with, make out, put across)
Answer:
a) put up with
b) put across
c) go through
d) make out