CBSE Board Class 10 Functional English Previous Year Question Papers 2011

FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH
PREVIOUS PAPER 2011
CLASS 10

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 One day, driving down a busy road in my town, I noticed a new fence, being built
around a home, I’d always admired. The house, well over a hundred years old, faded
white with large front porch, had once sat back from a quiet road. Then the road
was widened, traffic lights went up, and the town began to look like a city. Now the
house had hardly any front yard at all. Still, that yard, was always swept clean, and
flowers burst forth from the hard ground.  I began to notice  a woman raking,
sweeping, tending the flowers,  cutting the grass.  She even picked up the litter
thrown by the countless cars that whizzed by. Each time I drove past the house, I
watched the rapid progress of the picket fence.  The elderly gardener added an
overhead rose trellis and a gazebo. He painted it all to snow-white, and then the
house to match.

2 One day I pulled off the road to stare long and hard at the fence. The carpenter had
done such a magnificent job. I blinked tears away. I couldn’t bring myself to leave.
I switched off the engine, walked over and touched the fence. It still smelt of fresh
paint. I heard the woman trying to crank a lawn mower at the back. “Hi!” I called,
waving. “Well hey”. She stood up straight and wiped her hands on her apron. “I - I
came to see your fence. It’s beautiful.” She smiled. “Come sit on the front porch, and
I’ll tell you about the fence.” “Sit on the rocking chair,” she said smilingly. I was
suddenly overjoyed that I was on the porch drinking iced tea with the marvellous
white picket fence surrounding me.

3 “The fence isn’t for me,” the woman explained matter-of-factly. “I live alone. But
since so many people come by here, I thought they’d enjoy seeing something real
pretty. People look at my fence and wave. A few, like you, even stop and sit on the
porch to talk.” “But didn’t you mind when this road was widened and there was so
much change ?” “Change is a part of life and the making of character, dear. When1/2/1 3 P.T.O.
things happen that you don’t like, you have two choices : you get bitter or better.”
When I left she called out : “Come back any time. And leave the gate open. It looks
friendlier.” I carefully left the gate ajar and drove off, feeling something deep inside
me. I didn’t know what to call it, but I could picture the hard brick wall around my
heart crumbling. And in its place this neat little white picket fence was being built.
I planned on leaving the gate open for whatever or whoever might come my way.

1.1 Complete the sentences given below : 1×3=3
(a) The house lost all its front yard when_______________________________ .
(b) The lady of the house made the fence_______________________________ .
(c) The lady made the author feel at home by ___________________________ .

1.2 Fill in the blanks : 1×5=5
The lady of the house kept her (a)_____________ spick and span. She made sure
that the fence looked (b)_____________ for the sake of others. This shows the
(c)____________ of the lady. She realised that being better was the best way to
(d)______________ with change. The meeting with the lady brought about a
welcome (e) __________________  in the narrator.
1.3 Find words from the passage that mean the same as the following : 1×4=4
(a) observed/paid attention to para 1
(b) rubbish/garbage para 1
(c) splendid/excellent para 2
(d) partly open para 31/2/1 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.1/2/1 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) ___________________1/2/1 6

SECTION B
—  (Writing) 30

3. You are Rashmi/Rahul, the President of the Social Service Club of Vidyamandir School.
You are organizing a visit to ‘Abhaya’, a nearby orphanage. Write a notice in not more
than 50 words for your school notice board inviting names of the students who want to
go and encouraging other students to make contributions. 5

4. You are Amrita/Amal, living at 14, Jagatpuri, Dhanbad. You missed the Amritsar Mail.
Send a telegram to your father, Mr. Ram Lal, 21, Mall Road, Amritsar informing him
that you are taking the train two days later.   Write   the   telegram   in   not more than
25 words. Copy the following format in your answer sheet. 5
INDIAN POST AND TELEGRAPH
NAME AND ADDRESS
OF THE ADDRESSEE
MESSAGE
SENDER’S NAME
(NOT TO BE TELEGRAPHED)
   SENDER’S ADDRESS

5. You are Rohit/Rhea, 15, Dilshad Garden, Delhi. You happened to overhear the following
conversation between two elderly people. 10
Mr. Sharma : The youngsters of today are prone to illness at a very
young age.
Mr. Varma : Their lifestyles are to be blamed. They are very career
conscious and often neglect their health.
Taking ideas from the unit on ‘Health and Medicine’ along with your own ideas, write
a letter to the editor of a newspaper in about 150 words on the need to be mentally
and physically fit to lead a happy life.

6. You are Nisha/Nishant. As Secretary of the Literary Club of your school, you have been
asked to deliver a speech on the importance of reading. The following histogram clearly
states how irrelevant reading has become for the present generation. Taking ideas from
the histogram along with your own ideas, write the speech in about 150 words. 10

SECTION C
—  (Grammar) 20

7. Look at the notes given below. Use the information to complete the paragraph by writing
suitable words or phrases in each space. Do not add any new information. Write only the
correct answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheet. 1×4=4
Corals - rain forests of seas - rise in temperature - damages them -
inability to gather nutrients - carbon in atmosphere - another danger -
marine life among reef - fallen
Coral  reefs  (a)___________________________________  .  They  are  damaged
(b) ______________________ .  So they are (c) ______________________ nutrients.
Carbon build-up is even more (d) ____________________ than rise in temperature.
This has led to the fall in marine life.

8. Complete the following passage with one word in each blank. Write the correct answers
against the correct blank numbers. Do not copy the whole sentences. ½×8=4
One  of the   most  significant  pilgrim   centres   (a)  __________________  the
country, Varanasi, (b) _______________________ famous for its temples and ghats. It
is located (c) _____________________ the river Ganges. The waterfront is decorated
(d) ________________ hundreds of lovely ghats, (e) ___________________ city houses
the famous Kasi Viswanath Temple. Pilgrims flock the ghats (f) _________________
the   ritual   bath.   A   popular   belief  is   that   (g)____________________   who   die   in
Varanasi are liberated (h) ___________________ the cycle of birth and death.1/2/1 9 P.T.O.

9. 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.

10. In the passage given below there is an error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the
correction against the correct blank number in your answer sheet. Underline the
word you have supplied. The first one has been done for you. ½×8=4
I still  cherished  the first           cherished -  cherish
six months on the organization (a)
where I began I career. I felt (b)
a sense to belonging there. I met (c)
different people who made our (d)
stay at a work-place memorable. (e)
That is the power of the good orientation (f)
programme. It educate employees (g)
on various importance issues. (h)1/2/1 10

11. 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 /

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.
I would ne’er have striven
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
(a) Explain the phrase, ‘my sore need’. 1
(b) Why was the poet in need of help ? 2
(c) What was the poet’s appeal to the West Wind ? 11/2/1 11 P.T.O.

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.
At length did cross an Albatross,
Through the fog it came,
As if it had been a ‘Christian soul’,
We hailed it in God’s name.
(a) What was the atmosphere around the ship when the albatross came ? 1
(b) Why has it been called a ‘Christian soul’ ? 2
(c) How did the mariners hail it ? 1

14. What explanation did Brutus give for murdering Caesar ? How was he able to win the
hearts of the Roman mob ? Answer in 75 - 100 words. 5

15. “You are wrong, Ebenezer. I am the ghost of Jacob Marley.” Why did the ghost appear
to Scrooge ? What advice did it give him ? Answer in about 75 words. 5

16. Babuli’s wife seems to be unperturbed by the partition. Write a brief character sketch of
Babuli’s wife as she appears in the lesson, ‘The Tribute’. Write your answer in 50 - 75
words. 4

17. You are Lakshmi Das. The night after you visit Ali’s grave you make a diary entry
about this extraordinary man and your relationship with him. Write it in 150 - 175
words.