West Bengal Board Class 10 English Core Sample Papers 2011

Class : X
English 
Time : 3 hrs. 15 mins. Full Marks : 90

1. Answer any one of the following questions : 12×1=12

a) "But I wasn't worth doing wrong for — nothing is in this world. Nothing is so good
as it seems beforehand—"
Who is the speaker ? Who is the person spoken to ? Narrate the events that occasion the remark. What light do the words throw on the speaker's character ? 2+6+4

b) "Thank you, ma'am — thank you, sir, for your offers — they're very great, and far
above my wish."
Who says this and to whom ? What has the person been offered ? What is the speaker's opinion about the offer ? Would you say that the speaker is justified in holding that opinion ? Give reasons for your answer. 2+2+4+4

c) "She thinks I did wrong by her mother as well as by her. She thinks me worse than
I am ... It's part of my punishment, Nancy, for my daughter to dislike me."
When does Godfrey say these words ? To which wrong does he allude ? What makes Godfrey regard his daughter's dislike of him as a 'punishment'? In the wake of his realization how does he reexamine his relationship with Nancy ? 2+3+4+3

2. Write short notes on any one of the following : 7×1=7
a) Dolly Winthrop
b) The coab-hole episode
c) Aaron Winthrop

3. Answer any one of the following questions : 12×1=12

a) "Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold
     And many goodly states and kingdoms seen ; "1 3
Which poem opens with these lines ? What is the poet conveying to us through these
lines ? Show how the sestet of the sonnet is effectively used by the poet to describe
his feeling at a particularly important moment of discovery. 1+4+7

b) "And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, ..."
What talent is the poet talking about ? Why was it lying useless ? Mention the biblical allusion used by the poet here. What did the poet 'fondly ask' and how did he draw his consolation ? 2+2+3+5
c) Describe, after Longfellow, the dream of the slave, working in the fields. How did he attain the freedom that he had yearned for ? 8+4

4. Annotate the following (any two) : 3×2=6
a) 'thou scorner of the ground'
b) 'to dumb Forgetfulness a prey'
c) 'the boast of heraldry'
d) 'the mill of the mind'
e) 'a richer dust concealed'

5. Explain with reference to the context any two of the following, taking one from each group :

Group A
7×1=7
a) 'Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought'.
b) 'I do not ask to see
The distant scene ; one step's enough for me.'
c) 'Milton ! thou should'st be living at this hour :
         England hath need of thee :'

Group B
6×1=6
d) "... now Silas met with open smiling faces and cheerful questioning, as a person whose
satisfactions and difficulties could be understood."1 4
e) ' "But why should you think the child would turn out ill ?" said Godfrey, in his
remonstrances.
"... Where can be the likelihood of her being a curse to anybody?" '
f) ' "The old place is all swep' away," ....'

6. Answer any one of the following questions : 10×1=10
a) Discuss the contents of Aloise's letter to her husband. How far was this letter responsible for the surrender of Montavril ? 4+6
b) Give an account of the developments that took place after Herbert left his wife and returned to his parents. How has Maugham explained Herbert's passion for flying kites? 6+4
c) Briefly describe the circumstances leading to Philip's temporary flight from home.How did he behave after he was brought back ? 6+4

7. Expand, in about TEN lines, the idea contained in  one of the following : 10
a) It is never too late to mend.
b) Where there is a will, there is a way.
c) Necessity is the mother of invention.
d) To err is human, to forgive, divine.
e) Waste not, want not.

8. Mr. Evans was a tall, thin, cross man with a loud voice, pale, staring, pop-eyes, and tufts of spiky hair sticking out from each nostril.He was a bully. He bullied his sister. He would have bullied the children too if he had thought they were frightened of him. But although Carrie was a little frightened, she didn't show it, and Nick, her younger brother, wasn't frightened at all. Perhaps this was because, back there in London, he had never had any reason to be until he met Mr. Evans.  He wasn't frightened of him also because Mr. Evans had false teeth which clicked when he talked. "You can't really be scared of somebody whose teeth might fall out," the child told Carrie. The possibility fascinated him from the beginning, from the moment Mr. Evans walked
into the kitchen while they were having their breakfast their first morning and bared those loose teeth in what he probably thought was a smile. It looked to the children more like the kind of grin a tiger might give before it pounced on its prey. They put
down their porridge spoons and stood up, politely and meekly. It seemed to please him. He said, "You've got a few manners, I see. That's something!" They didn't know what to say to this and he stood there, grinning. At least he said, "Sit down, then, finish your breakfast, what are you waiting for ? It's a wicked Sin to let good food get cold. You've fallen on your feet, let me tell you, you'll get good food in this house. But no whining round my sister for titbits when my back's turned. Particularly the boy. I know what boys are ! Walking stomachs !" Read the above passage carefully and answer the following questions in your
own language :
a) Describe Mr. Evans. 2
b) Though a bully, he didn't bully the brother and sister. Why ? 2
c) A particular possibility fascinated Nick. What was it ? 2
d) 'It seemed to please him.' What pleased Mr. Evans ? 2
e) Against what did Mr. Evans warn the children ? 2
f) What did Mr. Evans mean by the expression 'walking stomachs'? 2
g) Make sentences with : 1½×2=3
i) fascinated
ii) clicked

9. Refer to the passage in Question No. 8 and do the following as directed : 2
a) Break up into its component clauses the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 and identify them.
'He wasn't frightened of him also .... he talked.'
b) Use in a sentence of your own : 1
'show' as a noun
c) Change into indirect speech : 2
He said, "You've got a few manners, I see. That's something !"