Class Ix: ENGLISH Paper - 1
Class Ix: ENGLISH Paper - 1
Class Ix: ENGLISH Paper - 1
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ENGLISH Paper – 1
(Two hours)
The time given at the head of this Paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
You are advised to spend not more than 30 minutes in answering Question 1 and 20 minutes in
answering Question 2.
Question 1
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
[20]
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:
(a) Write an original short story which clearly illustrates the friendship between
a boy and his dog.
(b) You mistakenly went to your school on a day which was a holiday. Everything
was closed and the school was empty. Write a description of what you saw
and heard. What were your feelings at the end of the visit?
(c) Your room has been very untidy for a long time and your parents have been
urging you to tidy it. Narrate your experience of cleaning and tidying your
room. What did this experience teach you?
Question 2 [10]
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select any one of the following:
(a) You have behaved very rudely to a friend. Write a letter to him / her
apologizing for the rude behavior. Explain what happened and tell him / her
what you plan to do to make amends.
(b) You are in charge of the Nature Club in your locality. Write a letter to the
Secretary of the Sports Club in the neighbourhood requesting permission to
hold a Nature Fest on the club grounds nearby. Give details of your plans for
the event.
Question 3
(a) Your school is hosting an Inter-school music competition. Write out a notice [5]
to be put up in your school informing students about the event and inviting
them to participate in the Inter-school music competition.
Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
With dry lips, parched throat, and ink-stained fingers, and exhaustion on one
side and exaltation on the other, Swaminathan strode out of the examination
hall on the last day.
Standing in the veranda, he turned back and looked into the hall and felt
slightly uneasy. He would have felt more comfortable if all the boys had given
their papers as he had done, twenty minutes before time. With his left
shoulder resting against the wall, Sankar was lost to the world. Rajam, sitting
under the second ventilator, between two third-form boys, had become a
writing-machine. Mani was still gazing at the rafters, scratching his chin with
the pen. The Pea was leaning back in his seat, revising his answers. One 10
supervisor was drowsing in his chair; another was pacing up and down with
an abstracted look in his eyes. The scratchy noise of active nibs, the rustle of
papers, and the clearing of the throats, came through the brooding silence of
the hall.
Swaminathan suddenly wished that he had not come out so soon. But how
could he have stayed in the hall longer? The Tamil paper was set to go on till
five o’clock. He had found himself writing the last line of the last question at
four-thirty. Out of the six questions set, he had answered the first question
to his satisfaction, the second was doubtful, the third was satisfactory, the
fourth he knew was clearly wrong (but then, he did not know the correct 20
answer).
The sixth answer was the best of the lot. It took only a minute to answer it.
He had found it hard to kill time. Why wasn’t the paper set for two and a half
hours instead of three? He had looked wistfully at the veranda outside. If
only he could pluck up enough courage to hand in the paper and go out – he
would have no more examinations for a long time to come – he could do what
he pleased – roam about the town in the evenings and afternoons and
mornings – throw away the books – command Granny to tell endless tales. 30
He had looked at the clock again, thinking that it must be nearly five now. It
was ten minutes past four-thirty. He saw two or three boys giving up their
papers and going out, and felt happy. He briskly folded the paper and wrote
40
his name.
The bell rang. In twos or threes the boys came out of the hall. It was a
thorough contrast to the preceding three hours. There was din of excited
chatter.
(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: [3]
One word answers or short phrases will be accepted.
(i) pacing (line 11)
(ii) wistfully (line 26)
(iii) din (line 42)
(i) Why did Swamy feel slightly uneasy as soon as he came out of the [2]
examination hall?
(ii) Why did he think he had answered the sixth question best of all? [1]
(iii) What did he plan to do with his books once the examination was over? [2]
(iv) Which word in the passage tells you that Swami used to bully his [2]
grandmother?
(v) Why do you think Swami drew an elaborate complicated pattern after [2]
his last answer?
(c) In not more than 50 words, describe what Swami’s classmates and [8]
supervisors were doing in the examination hall.
Question 5
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given [4]
in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the
word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example:
(0) looked
(ii) The children were told to return home ____________ it became dark.
(iv) We saw the bird fly high ____________ the tower and disappear.
(vi) The thief ran ____________ the staircase and out into the yard.
(vii) Mr. Roy jumped into his car and drove ____________ as fast as he
could.
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using [4]
and, but or so:
(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after [8]
each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the
meaning of each sentence.
(v) As soon as the election results were out, the victory procession started.
(Begin: No sooner…………………)
(vii) Anu does not study enough, but she still stands first.
(Begin: Despite…………………)