HALF YEARLY EXAMINATION
ENGLISH
COMMUNICATIVE
- Class IX
SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER
Time allowed: 3 hours
Maximum Marks: 80
General Instructions:
(i) The Question paper is divided
into three sections:
Section A - Reading 20 marks
Section B - Writing and Grammar 30
marks
Section C - Literature 30 marks
(ii) All questions are compulsory.
(iii) You may attempt any section at
a time.
(iv) All questions of that particular
section must be attempted in the correct order.
Section A
Reading (20 Marks)
1. Read the passage carefully.
(8)
1. Mankind’s fascination with
gold is as old as civilization itself. The ancient Egyptians
esteemed gold, which had
religious significance to them and King Tutankhamun was buried
in a solid gold coffin 3500 years
ago. The wandering Israelites worshipped a golden calf and
the legendary king Midas asked
that everything he touched be turned into gold.
2. Not only is gold beautiful,
but it is virtually indestructible. It will not rust or corrode; gold
coins and products fabricated
from the metal have survived undamaged for centuries. Gold
is extremely easy to work with,
one ounce, which is about the size of a cube of sugar, can be
beaten into a sheet nearly 100
square feet in size, and becomes so thin that light passes
through it. An ounce of gold can
also be stretched into a wire 50 miles long. Gold conducts
electricity better than any other
substance except copper and silver and it is particularly
important in the modern
electronic industry.
3. People have always longed to
possess gold. Unfortunately, this longing has also brought
out the worst in the human
character. The Spanish conquistadores robbed palaces, temples
and graves and killed thousands
of lndians in their ruthless search for gold. Often the only
rule in young California during
the days of the gold rush was exercised by the mob with a rope. Even today, the
economic running of South Africa’s gold mines depends largely on the
employment of black labourers who
are paid about £ 40 a month, plus room and board and
who must work in conditions that
can only be described as cruel. About 400 miners are
killed in mine accidents in South
Africa each year, or one for every two tons of gold
produced.
4. Much of gold’s value lies in
its scarcity. Only about 80,000 tons have been mined in the
history of the world. All of it
could be stored in a vault 60 feet square or a super tanker.
5. Great Britain was the first
country to adopt the gold standard, when the Master of the
Mint, Sir Issac Newton,
established a fixed price for gold in 1717. But until the big discoveries
of gold in the last half of the
nineteenth century-starting in California in 1848 and later in
Australia and South Africa-there
simply wasn’t enough gold around for all the trading
nations to-ink their currencies
to the precious metal.
6. An out-of-work prospector
named George Harrison launched South Africa in to the gold
age in 1886 when he discovered
the metal on a farm near what is now Johannesburg.
Harrison was given a 12 pound
reward by the farmer. He then disappeared and reportedly
was eaten by a lion.
7. One of the big gold-mining
areas in the Soviet Union is the Kolyma River region, once in
famous for its prison camp. The
camp has gone, but in a way nothing has changed. Many
exprisoners have stayed on to
work in the mines and are supervised, by ex-guards.
8. Despite the current rush to
buy gold, 75 percent of the metal goes into jewellery. Italy is
the biggest user of gold for this
purpose and money Italian Jewellers even tear up their
wooden floors and burn them to
recover the tiny flecks of gold.
Answer the following questions
briefly:
(i) What are the two advantages
of gold?
(ii) “The fascination for gold is
as old as civilization”. How is it proved by the author?
(iii) Which country is first to
adopt the gold standard?
(iv) Where did George Harrison
discover gold?
(v) Why is Kolyama River region
famous?
(vi) How did the longing to
possess gold bring out the worst in the human character?
(vii) How is gold virtually
indestructible.
(viii) Which country is the
biggest user of gold for jewellery purpose?
2. Read the passage
carefully.(12)
1. Education is the beginning of
empowerment. It is a key to happy and satisfactory life for
the special children, who are
cruelly segregated from the society. In India, there are around
35 million disabled children but
less than one per cent have access to education. The most
pressing need is to bestow the
precious gift of education on them and let them be the bearer
of torch towards the path of
progress.
2. Special children, without
education, are a burden on their families as well as society. The
crude discrimination between
normal and abnormal children leads to severe psychological
disorders, giving birth to
frustration which we all know, is not healthy for any progressing
nation. Several NGOs are working
towards the upliftment and betterment of such children,
but again a grave problem that is
faced by the volunteers is lack of motivation in such
children and even their families.
Those who are from the well-to-do families may not find
themselves in this menace, but
those belonging to the lower economic section feel that the
effort to obtain education is
simply wastage of time and energy not to say anything about
money.
3. Another factor which is
hindering the path of education for such children is the lack of
opportunities or facilities
available in schools. Even if the parents do send such children to
school, the schools themselves
are sadly lacking the facilities to cater to their needs. The
government has started the
‘Integrated System of Education’ that enables the disabled to
study with normal children in
normal circumstances with few facilities for them. Yet again
we find psychological barriers
amongst impaired children that they cast themselves in a
hard mould. Special schools have
also been established by the government and NGOs to meet
specific needs of such children
but their number is pitiably low as compared to the normal
schools.
4. There is an urgent need to
strike at the roots of this neglect to enable the disabled.
-Kavita Goel (Offspring), The
Times of India
A. Answer the following questions
briefly:
(i) Who are special children?
(ii) Why is education important
for ‘special children’?
(iii) Why should the
discrimination between normal and ‘special’ children be avoided?
(iv) What is the hindrance on the
path of education for ‘special’ children?
B. Find a word in the passage
which conveys similar meaning as the following:
(i) separated
(ii) authorization
(iii) bias
(iv) with something absent or
lessened
Section B
Writing and Grammar(30 marks)
3. You decide to write an article
in the school magazine on how it is important to save
the planet, Earth. Write the
article in about 180 words.(5)
4. Writing story with the help of
the clues given below. Given a suitable title. (10)
Shantanu has to return home – he
waits for the train at the wrong station – misses his train –
spends whole night at railway
station – catches a train next morning – travels in the general
compartment – finally reaches
home.
5. Choose the best word from the
options given below and complete the following
passage.(3)
Nearly 100 million years ago (i)
___ the middle of what is now Mongolia, (ii) ___ was a
series of events including a
massive volcanic eruption. The ashes (iii) ___ scattered over
the wet soil of the land (iv) ___
sticky mud. Meat- eating dinosaurs and other creatures
in the area (v) ___ , for food
(vi) ___ an early and sudden death as they sank in the mud.
(i) (a) in (b)on (c) over (d) at
(ii) (a) their (b)there (c) here
(d) that
(iii) (a) those (b)that (c) which
(d) thus
(iv) (a) form (b)formed (c)
forming (d) forms
(v) (a) looking (b)looked (c)
looks (d) look
(vi) (a) meet (b)meeting (c)
meets (d) met
6. The following passages have
not been edited. There is an error in each of the lines
against which a blank is given.
Write the incorrect word and the correction in the space
provided. (4)
Incorrect correct
Folk tales offer lots of advice.
Much of them deliver the message (a)_______
quite clear. There is a story
about (b) _______
Birbal not being allowed to
attending (c) _______
the king’s free lunch. The
reasons was (d) _______
which he was not dressed
properly. (e)
_______
This happened in spite of the
high intellectual abilities (f) _______
The advice thus conveyed was: (g) _______
“Don’t judge the book by its
cover.” (h)_______
7. Rearrange the following to
form meaningful sentences. (3)
(a) should / water / be / before
/ boiled / drinking / filtered / and
(b) chew /food / your / you
/should /properly /swallowing /before
(c) Nitya /as /works /a /engineer
/software /Gurgaon /in
8. Look at the comic strip
and complete the passage given below. (5)
The child called out to his
mother to (a) ……………………… . The mother replied that (b) ……………………… . She asked her
son if (c) ……………………… . Her son replied in the affirmative. He added that (d)
……………………… . The mother then wanted to know what (e) ……………………… .
Section C
Literature and Long Reading Text (30 marks)
9. Read the extracts and answer the questions that follows: (3x2=6)
(i) ‘Those
who saw it said the dog knew instantly.’
(a) What does ‘it’ stand for?
(b) What do you mean by
‘instant’? What did the dog know instantly?
(c) Which characteristics of the
dog are highlighted in the above line?
(ii) “A voice so thrilling ne’er was heardIn
spring time from the cuckoo bird;
Breaking the silence of the
seas ………….Among the farthest Hebrides”
(a) Why does the poet compare the reaper’s voice to the song of the cuckoo
bird?
(b) Name the poet of the poem. (c) Name the literary device used in the third line.
10. Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words each. (2x5=10)
(a) Why did the grandmother think
of learning to read and write at the age of sixty-two?
(b) Describe Mr. Bramble as he
has been described in the story.
(c) Why did the poet leave the
first road?
(d) Why does the poet want the
passers-by to “stop here or gently pass”?
(e) Do you think Private Quelch learnt a
lesson when he was chosen for cookhouse duties?
11. What was the ‘next objective’
set by Chuck Hooper? How and with whose help did he hit the target?
(4)
OR
Describe the sound and music
created by the brook during its journey.
12. At first, Private Quelch was a hero in
the eyes of his fellow soldiers. Support this observation with suitable
examples from the story in about 100 words. (4)
OR
What is the theme or the message of the
poem ‘The Road Not Taken’?
13. After Duke’s death, Marcy was
asked to write an article for the local newspaper. She decides to write on the
topic – ‘A dog is a man’s best friend’. Write it for her in about 150 words.
OR
You are
Juliette. You feel duped and cheated by Gaston. You decide to take legal action
against him. Write a letter to your friend in about 150 words, sharing this
incident and the action you plan to take against him. (6
)