CBSE Board Class 10 English Core Previous Year Question Papers 2005

ENGLISH CORE
PREVIOUS PAPER 2005
CLASS 10

Time allowed : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 100
General Instructions :
(i) This paper is divided into four Sections — A, B, C and D .
(ii) All questions are compulsory.
(iii) Marks are indicated against each question.
SECTION  A — (Reading) 15

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
The hyena is part cat, part dog. Its legs and feet are those of a dog. Other
parts of the body resemble the build of cats. The hyena is not a hunter. It is timid and
cowardly. It depends for its food on what is left of animals killed by the bigger cats,
such as the tigers or panthers. Because of this it has come to be known as the
scavenger of the animal world. The hyena sometimes attacks animals which cannot
either defend themselves or are sick or wounded. They are shy of man and usually
avoid him. But sometimes they are known to have carried away children. The hyena
does not roar or bark but laughs’. It produces a sound which, when heard at a
distance, seems like laughter.
(a) How is the hyena ‘part cat’ and ‘part dog’ ? 2
(b) Why has it been called ‘the scavenger of the animal world’ ? 2
(c) How does the sound produced by the hyena seem like to the human ear ? 1
(d) When does the hyena attack the animals ? 2
(e) Find the word, from the passage, which means ‘easily frightened’. 12

2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :
Anger is the most commonly experienced emotion. If not managed in the
correct way, it threatens to rule our lives in a hostile manner. It varies in intensity
from mild irritation to violent anger. When you get angry, your heart rate increases
and blood pressure rises, as do the levels of your energy hormones. Even when you
have angry thoughts, it results in an increase in the blood pressure and the heart rate.
Anger turned inward is an unexpressed anger. It can create its own set of problems. It
may cause depression. One may also get a paralytic attack or a heart attack. People
who are constantly putting others down, criticising everything haven’t learnt how to
express  their  anger  constructively. They aren’t likely to have many successful
relationships.
(a) How does your body react when you are angry ? 2
(b) What is anger ? 1
(c) Mention shortcomings of people who keep on criticising everything and everybody.         2
(d) What is an ‘anger turned inward’ ? 1
(e) Which word in the passage means ‘unfriendly/showing enmity’ ? 1

SECTION  B — (Writing) 20

3. The Arts  Club  of your  school  organized  a programme  on  ‘Delhi — an  ancient city’.
Mentioning   its   aim,   the   number   of   activities   held,   such   as   display   of  models,
photographs,  slide  shows,  lectures by  guest  speakers  etc., write  a  report  in about
40 words for your school magazine. You are Pushpendra/Pushpa, the convener of the
Arts Club. 4

4. Write a paragraph on any  one  of the following topics in about 80 words : 6
(a) How You Celebrated Your Birthday
(b) An Incident I Cannot Forget
(c) Smoking is Harmful to Health

5. You went on a holiday to Mount Abu with your family during the winter break. Write a
letter to your friend, Shweta at Jaipur sharing with her how you enjoyed your tour. You
are Umang/Lovish, living at A-11, Gobind Vihar, Delhi. 10
OR
There is no proper arrangement of clean drinking water in the school of your younger
sister. Write a letter to the Principal of Summer Spring Girls School, Vinod Garden,
Delhi complaining about this most urgent problem. You are Sarthak/Aaradhna living at
A-14, Sun City, Delhi.3

SECTION  C — (Grammar) 15

6. Read the following paragraph and fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs given
in the brackets : 3
On  Tuesday  evening  the  police _________ (recover) antique  idols  and  coins
worth crores. Four persons _________ (arrest). The Police _________ (say) that some
of the coins _________ (belong) to the Kushan era. The police _________ (lay) the
trap after they _________ (inform) by someone.

7. Combine the following pairs of sentences using the sentence connectors given in
brackets : 2
(a) The accessories of this car are very costly. I will not buy it. (because)
(b) Take bed rest. You are fully recovered. (till)

8. Fill in the blanks with non-finites : 2
Before the last Lok Sabha elections the President of India said that _________
(exercise) their franchise must become people’s priority activity. _________ (Call) it a
great opportunity _________ (elect) members who will be guiding the destiny of the
nation for five years, the President said that by _________ (vote) citizens could “sow
the seeds for the creation of a prosperous India, a safe India and above all, an India
with nobility”.

9. Fill in the blanks using suitable modals : 2
If we sit in an incorrect posture it _________ (may/shall) strain our back. As far
as possible this _________ (should/must) be avoided. If the posture becomes a part of
habit, a low back pain invariably develops. It _________ (should/can) be cured if we
become conscious of our postures. If the exercises are done regularly the back ache
_________ (may/can) certainly be cured.

10. Complete the following paragraph, using clauses given in the box : 3
where the doctors and nurses take care of, when an accident takes place,
which has a siren
__________ , injured persons are carried in an ambulance _________ to
make its way to the hospital _________ the injured immediately.

11. Change the following dialogue in the indirect form of narration : 3
Sheetu : When did your brother return from Kurukshetra ?
Gunjan : He came yesterday.4

SECTION  D — A  (Prose) 20

12. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
REUBEN : Ay,  trust a villain like him to use some dirty trick or other. I do fear the lad
will bleed to death. There’s a hole in his side big enough to put two fingers in.
Nothing Bridget can do seems to cure the wound.
DAN : Could you not send for a surgeon ?
REUBEN : I  would have done it long since, but my son, Samuel, is away at Windsor
with the only nag left to us.
(a) What is the fear in Reuben’s mind about the young stranger ? 1
(b) What is the reason for the fear ? 1
(c) Why did Reuben not send for a surgeon ? 2
(d) Which word in the passage means ‘heal/remedy’ ? 1

13. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :
The Millennium might have been no more than an accident of the calendar. But you,
the Governments and peoples of the world, have chosen to make it more than that —
an occasion for all humanity to celebrate, and to reflect.
If one word encapsulates the changes we are living through, it is ‘globalisation’. We live
in a world that is interconnected as never before ..............
(a) In what way is ‘The Millennium’ more than an accident of the calendar ? 2
(b) Which one word describes the changes of our times ? 1
(c) What, according to Kofi Annan, is ‘globalisation’ ? 1
(d) Which word in the passage means ‘think/meditate’ ? 1
14. Answer the following in about 100 words : 10
Describe the character of Lencho in the light of his faith and his attitude towards God
and Man.
OR
How did the black aeroplane rescue the first pilot ?

SECTION  D — B (Poetry) 10

15. Answer any  two  of the following questions in about 30 - 40 words each :
(a) What, according to the poet, are the wind, the clouds and the heart doing all the
time ?  (‘Nothing Will Die’) 3
(b) What is “the voice inside” ? Why does the poet pray for help to be less afraid ?
(‘Teach Me to Listen, Lord’) 3
(c) What example does the poet give to show the ‘quiet’ of days in May or June ?
(‘The Sea’) 35

16. Answer any  two of the following questions in about 30 - 40 words each :
(a) “What way does the Wind come ?  What way does he go ?
He rides over the water, and over the snow”
Which figure of speech has been used in the above lines ? (‘Address to a Child’) 2
(b) “When the Rock was hid by the surges’ swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothok.”
When did the mariners hear the warning bell ? How was the Rock ‘perilous’ ? 2
(The Inchcape Rock’)
(c) What is the rhyming scheme of the above stanza ? 2

SECTION  D — C (Supplementary Reader) 20

17. Answer the following in about 100 words : 8
Tricki was more a member of the family than a mere dog. Explain giving examples
from the text.
OR
What interesting incidents took place when the tiger entered the streets of the town ?

18. Answer any  two of the following questions in about 30 — 40 words each :
(a) Why was the narrator not worried over his failure to find Lutkins on his way back
to the city ? 3
(b) Why were the two boys in London surprised ? 3
(c) How did lunch become a ‘ceremonial occasion for Mr. Herriot and his partners’ ? 3

19. Answer any  two  of the following questions in about 30 - 40 words each :
(a) What story did Ausable frame about an imaginary balcony ? 3
(b) The tiger followed the children to school. Why did the tiger follow them ? 3
(c) What rules of army discipline does Joszef ask Laszlo to follow ? 3