CBSE Board Class 10 English Elective Previous Year Question Papers 2011

ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
CLASS 10
PREVIOUS YEAR PAPER 2011

Time allowed : 3 hours Maximum Marks: 100
General Instructions :
(i) This paper consists of four sections  —
Section A  —  Reading 20 marks
Section B  —  Writing 30 marks
Section C  —  Grammar 20 marks
Section D  —  Literature 30 marks
(ii) Attempt  all  questions.
(iii) Do  not  write anything in the question paper.
(iv) All the answers must be correctly numbered as in the question paper and written in
the answer sheet provided to you.
(v) Attempt all questions in each section before going on, to the next section.
(vi) Read each question carefully and follow the instructions.
(vii) Strictly adhere to the word limit given with each question. Marks will be deducted


SECTION A
—  (Reading) 20

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 12

1        Our house is filled with photos. They cover the walls of my kitchen, dining room and
den. I see our family’s entire history, starting with my wedding, continuing through
the births of both sons, buying a home, family gatherings and vacations. When my
sons were little, they loved to pose. They waved, danced, climbed trees, batted balls,
hung upside down from the jungle gym and did anything for a picture. But when
they   reached   adolescence,   picture-taking   changed   into   something   they   barely
tolerated. Their bodies were growing at haphazard speeds. Reluctantly they stood
with us or with their grandparents at birthday celebrations and smiled weakly at
the camera for as short a time as possible.

2 I am the chronicler of our photographs. I select those to be framed and arrange the
others in albums. The process is addictive, and as the shelves that hold our albums
become fuller and fuller, I wonder what will become of them. Will anyone look at
these photographs in future years ? If my sons look at them, what will they think of
us and of themselves ? One bright afternoon, I took some photographs of my father
with my husband as they fished on a lake near our vacation house. As my sons and
I  sat on the  shore  and watched them row away, I picked the  camera up and
photographed the beautiful lake surrounded by green trees. The two men I loved
gradually grew smaller until all I could see were my father’s red shirt, and the tan
and blue caps on their heads.

3 My father died a week later, and suddenly those photos became priceless to me. I
wept when I pasted them in our album. I wept again afterwards when I saw my
younger son looking at them. It was a few days before he went away to college. He
had taken all our albums down from the bookshelves in the den and spread them
out on the carpet. It had been a very long time since I had seen him doing this.
Once he stopped posing for pictures, he seemed to lose interest in looking at them.
But now he was on the verge of leaving home. This was his special time to look
ahead and look back. I stood for a moment in the hall by the den, and then tiptoed
away. I didn’t take a photo of my son that afternoon, but I will remember how he
looked for as long as I live. Some pictures, I learned, don’t have to be taken with a
camera.
1.1 Fill in the summary using a word only. 1×4=4
The author was (a) __________ about taking photographs and framing them.
But she always (b)__________ whether her sons would ever look at them.
She was full of (c) _________ when she pasted the pictures of her father’s
last days in the album. She learnt that some pictures always (d)____________ .
in one’s mind without a camera.
Complete the sentences given below.
1.2 The author’s sons enjoyed taking photographs while they ½×4=2
(a) ____________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________
1.3 Two instances to show that the author’s son was averse to taking photographs are 1×2=2
(e) ____________________________________________________________
(f) ____________________________________________________________
1.4 Give words that mean the same as 1×4=4
(a) not organized or planned para 1
(b) one who records events in order para 2
(c) very valuable para 3
(d) devoted to something para 21/1 4

2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 8

1 Set in the declining but still green Western Ghats in the South-West of Karnataka,
Coorg is the heart of India’s coffee country.   Coffee is the world’s most heavily
traded commodity after crude oil. Coorg boasts a land area four times larger than
Hong Kong and seven times the area of Singapore. Most of it is under tree cover
because unlike tea plants, the coffee bush requires shade.
2 India is acknowledged as the producer of the finest mild coffees. With their tropical
climate, high altitude, abundant rainfall and fertile soil, Coorg and the neighbouring
Chickmangalur districts in Karnataka have consistently produced and exported high
quality coffee for over 150 years. The coffee output of these two districts accounts for
70 percent of the total coffee produced in the country. Coorg coffee is valued for its
blue colour, clean beans and fine liquoring qualities and hence is in demand in the
international markets.

3 In March and April, the coffee blossom time in Coorg, when blossoms transform into
berries, the bushes  are cropped.  The cherry-red fruit is then pulped; the seeds
separated, dried and sent for curing. Coorg or Kodagu is the district which is one of
the largest producers of pepper, cardamom and honey in the world.

4 Not much is known about the early history of Coorg. Recorded history is available
only  from   1600  A.D.   onwards  when  Kodava   Rajas   ruled   over  the   region   and
established their capital at Mercara by constructing a mud-walled fort. The martial
Kodavas troubled Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan, who ruled the Mysore region
in the 18th     century, by way of sporadic rebellions. But in 1785, Tipu’s large army
marched into Kodagu and devastated the kingdom. Fourteen years later, with the
help  of the  British,   who  defeated  Tipu  Sultan  following  the  historic  siege  of
Srirangapatana in 1799, Coorg regained independence and under the leadership of
Raja Veerarajendra rebuilt the capital. Later in 1834, the British exiled its ruler
Chikkaveera  Rajendra  and  assumed  administrative  charge   of the   district.  The
British left India in 1947, leaving behind a legacy of coffee plantations, colonial
buildings and well-planned road networks.1/1 5 P.T.O.

2.1 Complete the following : 1×4=4
(a) The tea plants are unlike coffee plants as the latter _______________ .
(b) Coorg coffee is internationally acclaimed for its _______________________ .
(c) Coorg is famous not only for coffee but also for _____________________ .
(d) After crude oil, coffee is the ___________________ .
2.2 Complete the table given below. 1×4=4
              Year                 Events
(a) ___________________ Recorded history of Coorg
available from
        1785 A.D. (b) ___________________
(c) ___________________ Coorg regained independence
        1834 A.D. (d) ___________________1/1 6

SECTION B
—  (Writing) 30

3. You are Sumit/Sunita. You attended a science exhibition, ‘Self-sufficient India’. Write a
postcard to your friend, Amit, 21, D.H. Eoad, Chennai in not more than 50 words about
the exhibits and how you were benefited by them. Copy the format given below and
write the postcard in your answer sheet. 

4. The following is a telephonic conversation between Arun and Rakesh’s mother. As she
was leaving home she leaves a message for her son. Write the message in not more than
50 words. 5
Arun : Can I speak to Rakesh ?
Rakesh’s mother : Rakesh is not at home. He has gone for tuition and will be back only at
6 p.m.
Arun : Can I leave a message ?
Mother : Oh, sure.
Arun : Please inform him that he has to stay back after class tomorrow for his
science project. Ram, Raghav and I are staying back. My father will
pick us up at 6 p.m.
Mother : I’ll inform him. Thank you.

5. You are Sharat/Sharon living at 22, Dalton Ganj, Kanpur. The following excerpt from an
article made you aware of some of the problems faced by a modern city. 10
There are areas that need immediate attention if the city has to move
forward. The blueprint of a modern city should have transportation facilities,
mass housing projects, a scientific sewage system  ...
Taking ideas from the unit ‘Environment’ along with your own ideas, write a letter to
the Editor, ‘The Herald’ in about 150 words on the problems faced by metropolitan
cities and how the situation can be improved.

6. You are a member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in your locality.
The following Pie-chart reflects the attitude of the people towards animals. In response
to this, write an article to be published in the forthcoming issue of ‘The Week’ on how
animals are ill-treated and what can be done to prevent it. As Ramesh/Ranjini, write the
article in 150 - 200 words. 

SECTION C
—  (Grammar) 20

7. Look at the notes given below and complete the following paragraph suitably. Do not add
any new information. Write the answers against the correct blank numbers in your
answer sheet. 1×4=4
Cyclones - regular - nature - anger - Orissa devastated - 16,000 injured - four
days - 15 million survivors - hell on earth
Cyclones  appear  (a)_______________but  this   time  the  Bay  of Bengal
seems   to   be their favourite hunting ground. Nature turned her anger on Orissa on
29th   October,   1999   (b)   ______________   coastline   belt   with   a   super   cyclone.   It
reached the shore at a wind speed of 220 km/hr and a huge tidal wave of salt water.
It is estimated that over 25,000 people died and about 16,000 (c) _____________ .
But for the  15  million  people  who  (d) ____________________ , hell on earth had just
begun..

8. Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences. The first one
has been done for you as an example. Write the answers against the correct blank
numbers in your answer sheet. 1×4=4
in the / is swimming / with tremendous / one sport / potential / country /
One sport in the country with tremendous potential is swimming.
(a) our / is / full of/ talented swimmers / country /
(b) not / utilized / potential / fully / their / is /
(c) academic subjects / other activities / take precedence / over / in school /
(d) has done / the sport / the government / very little / to boost /

9. In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word
along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in your answer sheet
answer is underlined. The first one has been done for you as an example. ½×8=4
The small town was the e.g.     was   at  the
foot of the mountains. Most the (a)
people were farmers. There traders also (b)
in the town. Though not rich were (c)
happy contented. At one (d)
time the peace broken by (e)
several robberies. The people frightened. (f)
The Mayor the town called for (g)
a meeting discuss the matter. (h)

10. Given below are instructions to draw a circle. Use these to complete the paragraph that follows.
Write correct answers in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers.
Do not copy the whole sentences. 1×4=4
Take a compass and insert a pencil into the provided hole and tighten it.
Keep the pointed end of the compass on one end of a scale.
Extend the arm, having the pencil, to the required length to obtain the radius.
Then keep the pointed end of the compass at the required point.
Rotate the arm having the pencil about the pointed arm to obtain a circle.
A  compass  is  taken  and  a  pencil  is  inserted  into  the  provided  hole  and
tightened. The pointed end of the compass (a) _____________ . The arm having
(b)  _______________  to obt a in  the   r adius .  The  point ed  end of   the   compa s s
(c) _______________  . The arm having the pencil (d) _______________ about
the pointed arm to obtain a circle.

11. Read the conversation given below and complete the passage that follows.  Write the
answers against the correct blank numbers. Do not copy the whole sentences. 1×4=4
Customer : Can I have a small bottle of tomato sauce ?
Shopkeeper : Sorry, I have only big bottles.
Customer : When will it be available ?
Shopkeeper : I can give it to you tomorrow.
Customer : Thank you, then I will get it tomorrow.
The  customer  asked  the  shopkeeper  (a)  ____________________  of tomato
sauce. The shopkeeper said that he only had big bottles of tomato sauce. The customer
wanted to know (b)  _________________________ . The shopkeeper said that
(c) ___________________________ .  The  customer thanked him  and said that
(d) ___________________________ .1/1 

SECTION  D — (Literature) 30

12. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in
your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly.
It ate the food it ne’er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through !
(a) What is ‘it’ referred to here ? 1
(b) What difficulty did the mariners face before ‘it’ arrived ? 1
(c) How did the mariners’ fate change after ‘its’ appearance ? 2

13. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in
your answer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly.
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful -
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
(a) What does the expression ‘I swallow immediately’ mean ? 1
(b) Why is the mirror compared to a four-cornered god ? 2
(c) What other qualities does the mirror boast of ? 1

14. How  do the  superstitious  villagers  react when the  narrator’s  mother is  stung by  a
scorpion ? Write your answer in 75 -100 words. 5

15. Scrooge   had   everything   he   wanted  but   was always gloomy and bitter. Bob Crachit,
his   underpaid   clerk,   was   cheerful   and  happy.   Compare   and contrast the characters
of  Scrooge and Crachit as they appear in the play, “A Christmas Carol”. Answer in about
75 words. 

16. “When we arrived we were like him — my first-born brother and I.” Describe the
condition of the refugees in ‘The Ultimate Safari’ when they first arrived at the refugee
camp. Write your answer in 50 - 75 words. 4

17. Reaching home in Bhubaneshwar after the partition of the property, Babuli feels calm
and relieved. That night he makes a diary entry on his experiences in his village and
what prompted him to pay the tribute to his brother. As Babuli, write the diary entry in
150 - 175 words