CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 English Solved 2016 Set 9

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11  English Solved 2016 Set 9

Section – A Reading  [20 Marks]

1.Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. (8)
You may never want to fly kites to keep away evil spirits, as the Chinese have done for centuries, or to make rain, as the Tibetans did, but some more modern and Western uses may tempt you to try experimenting yourself along similar lines. The kite has been claimed as the invention of 5th century BC Chinese philosophers Mozi and Lu Ban. By 549 AD, paper kites were certainly being flown, as it was recorded that in that year a paper kite was used as a message for a rescue mission. The most widespread use of kites in modern times has been for meteorological investigations. Everybody knows about how Benjamin Franklin, the great American scholar and statesman, sent a kite, up in 1752 during a thunderstorm to prove that lightning was caused by electricity. He produced sparks at ground level from a key hung on the wet line as the current flowed down it. (Do not under any circumstances think of trying this yourself). A second investigator repeated Franklin’s experiment shortly afterwards and was killed. By sending up instruments on kites, it has been possible to make readings of air pressure, temperature, speed, direction and humidity. Although thermometers had been sent up long before, it was not until 1894 that a self-reading thermometer—a thermograph—was sent up by a kite. The army, navy and air force have used kites in various ways for decades. Another Korean version of the invention of the kite tells how a general used one to carry a line across a stream. This line then formed the basis of a bridge. Lines are still occasionally flown from point to point in this way using kites. At sea, kites have often been used to carry a line to distressed ships in rough weather. Kites—especially box and bow kites have been used as gunnery targets. They are easy to make and cheap to use and will stand quite a lot of punishment before they cease to fly. Apart from their use as targets, kites have been used by the army to fly flags, for aerial photography over enemy trenches, for suspending flares over targets during night-fighting, for carrying men over enemy lines, for dragging torpedos to a target area etc.
They have been used by both military and civil authorities for raising, transmitting and receiving aerials to obtain improved wireless reception. As a matter of fact, the first long distance short wave transmission of all made use of an aerial flown on a kite. When Marconi made the famous transatlantic transmission he raised his receiving aerial some 400 feet on a kite.
Never fly an aerial in stormy weather or when there are cumulus clouds about. During the last war the RAF developed ‘a kite flare’ as part of survival equipment for airmen forced down at sea. When airborne, the kite was attached to a special shock absorber which was fixed to the dinghy. It was stated that, provided there was a 6 m.p.h. wind, the kite would stay aloft indefinitely. Some of these kites were brought to Australia and sent to the 6th Australian Division in 1944 for trials to determine whether they were of use in jungle warfare, especially in defining locations. After experiments, the authorities decided that they were of no value for this purpose.
(a)On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it, in points only, using recognisable abbreviations (minimum four), wherever necessary. Use a format you consider suitable. Supply a suitable title to it.    (5)
(b)Make a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. (3)

2.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.(12)
An important difference between James and his mother is their method of dealing with the pain they experience. While James turns inward, his mother Ruth turns outward, starting a new relationship, moving to a different place or keeping herself busy. Ruth herself describes that, even as a young girl, she had an urge to run, to feel the freedom and the movement of her legs pumping as fast as they can. As an adult, Ruth still feels the urge to run. Following her second husband’s death, James points out that,
“While she weebled .wobbled and leaned, she did not fall. She responded with speed and motion. She would not stop moving”. As she hiked, walked, rode the bus all over the city, “she kept moving as if her life depended on it, which in some ways it did. She ran, as she had done most of her life, but this time she was running for her own sanity.” Ruth’s motion is a pattern of responding to the .tragedy in her life. As a girl, she did not sit and think about her abusive father and her trapped life in the Suffolk store. Instead she just left home, moved on, tried something different. She did not analyse the connections between pain and understanding, between action and response, even though she seems to understand them. As an adult, she continues this pattern, although her running is modified by her responsibilities to her children and home.
Although varying in length, each of the last seven sentences of the paragraph begins with the subject ‘She’ and an active verb such as ‘rode,’ ‘walked,’ ‘took’, grasp’ and ‘ran.’ The section is choppy, repetitive and yet clear, as if to reinforce Ruth’s unconscious insistence on movement as a means of coping with the difficulties of her life.
The image of running that McBride uses here and elsewhere supports his understanding of his mother as someone who does not stop and consider what is happening in her life, yet is able to move ahead. Movement provides the solution, although a temporary one, and preserves her sanity. Discrete moments of action preserve her sense of her own strength and offer her new alternatives for the future. Even McBride’s sentence structure in the paragraph about his mother’s running supports the effectiveness of her spurts of action without reflection.
(a)On the basis of your reading of the passage answer the following guestions by choosing the correct options. (1×6=6)
(i)During an experience of pain, …………………….
(a)James turns outward, Ruth turns inward
(b)Both turns inward
(c)Both turns outward
(d)James turns inward, Ruth turns outward
(ii)As a young girl, Ruth had urges to …………………………
(a)run (b) to feel the freedom
(c)Both (a) and (b) (d) None of these
(iii) After the death of her husband, Ruth…………………………
(a)felt so miserable                                            (b)    stood firm and responded well
(c)    became senseless                                     (d)    was neutral to it
(iv)What can you say about Ruth’s father from the information given in the passage?
(a)He was soothing and calm. (b)    He was supportive.
(c)    He was rude and crazy.  (d)    He was abusive.
(v)The role of movement in Ruth’s life was that…………………………
(a)it provided her solutions (c) it breached her sanity
(b)it hindered the future alternatives (d) None of these
(vi)Why did the sentences in the last paragraph begin with the subject ‘she’?
(a)It was for the use of repetition only.
(b)It shows Ruth’s activeness .
(c)It was Ruth’s way to cope with the difficulties.
(d)Both (b) and (c)
(b)Answer the following questions on the basis of your reading the passage.     (1×6=6)
(i)Differentiate between the methods of dealing with pain by Ruth and James.
(ii)Describe how keep on moving has been helpful in Ruth’s life.
(iii)Which word in the passage is the synonym of ‘changing’? .
(iv)Which word in the passage is the antonym of ‘permanent’?
(v)The word…………….. in the second paragraph means ‘moved unsteadily’.
(vi)The word ……………… in the third paragraph means ‘mental health’.

Section – B Writting and Grammar [30 marks]

3.You are Prateek/ Preetika, Cultural Secretary in SK Public School, Vidya Vihar.Write a notice for your school notice board informing the students about the Annual Fest in about 50 words.(4)
or
St Columbus School needs a PRT. Draft a suitable advertisement for the Situations Vacant column of a daily newspaper in about 50 words. Invent all the necessary details.                    (4)

4.Write a letter to the editor of a daily telling him about the traffic jam in your area caused due to falling of a tree on the road. Do not exceed 150 words. (6)
or                                                          ‘
Jatin Arora is a plastic chair manufacturer. He has received an order for 40 chairs from M/s Vidyut Electricals. On behalf of Jatin Arora, write a letter to M/s Vidyut Electricals confirming their order and informing the supply date. Word limit is 150.   (6)

5.Write an article within 200 words on “Need of entrance exams” with special attention on to some specific college courses. (1o)
or
Increasing amount of indoor games has been a great cause for no outdoor appearance of children. With this concern, write a speech to be delivered in the morning assembly. Word limit is 200. You are Parag / Pragati.   (10)

6.The following passage has not been edited. There is a missing word in each line.You are to find the missing word and write it in the blank provided along with the words before and after it.(1/2×8=4)

 Before             Missing             After

(a)When Gandhiji young, he used to …………      ………………….  ……………………
(b)go school. He had no interest in …………       ………………….  ……………………
(c)One day was cloudy                     …………           ……………….       ………………….
(d)Due to the overcast conditions, couldn’t ………….    ………………    ………………
(e)guess correct time and was late for ……………             ……………..         …………………
(f)his school. He was absent during exercise …………….            …………………            ……………
(g)and he was fined it. He explained the …………       …………………      ……………………
(h)reason the teacher, but he didn’t agree. …………     ………………..       ……………………

7.Rearrange the jumbled words so that the sentence becomes meaningful. (2×1 = 2)
(a)was/injured/accident/yesterday/a/in/Hema Malini/car/Dausa/near
(b)arrested/have/the/police/car driver/him/to/and/the/sent/jail

8.Read the following conversation and complete the dialogue (4×1 = 4)
Farmer Alas! I am ruined due to rain.
Stranger It seems the rain took away all your toil.
Farmer It just took away my life.
Stranger Don’t worry. God will set everything right.
The farmer expressed with sorrow that (a)…….. The stranger replied with a guess that….. (b)………. The farmer told him it (c)…….. To his remark, the stranger toldthe farmer (d)………  and God would set everything right.

Section -C  Literature and Long Reading Text[30 marks]

9.Read the extract carefully and answer the questions.   (1 x 3 =3)

“And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)”
(i)Who is T in the above lines?
(ii)Explain “I give back life to my own origin”.
(iii) Why are the last lines put in brackets?

10.Answer any three of the following questions. (3×3 = 9)
(i)Why was Andrew horrified after the delivery?
(ii)What were the principles of laissez iaire?
(iii) How did Mr Braun insult Albert?
(iv)Give the reason why the Shastri was angry with the narrator.

11.Answer the following in about 120-150 words.
Explain the term ‘Green Movement’. What changes have come in the thinking of human beings? Discuss in relation to the chapter, ‘The Ailing planet: the Green Movement’s Role.  (6)
or
Was Aram right in saying that he did not steal the horse? Do you think he was Mourad’s partner in crime? Discuss the situation in the story, ‘The summer of the Beautiful White House’.  (6)

Long Reading Text (Novel)

12.Why did Mr Otis wish to give the jewels back to Lord Canterville? (The Canterville Ghost)(6)
or  
What changes did Booker bring to initiate the process of industrial training? (Up From Slavery)   (6)

13.Give a brief character-sketch of Mrs Umney. (The Canterville Ghost) (6)
or
Write a character-sketch of Booker’s mother. (Up From Slavery) (6)    

(Download Questions PDF)
[gview file=”https://resultscareer.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/cbse-sample-papers-for-class-11-english-solved-2016-set-9-questions.pdf”]