SAMPLE PAPER FINAL EXAM

Subject: ENGLISH CORE Max. Marks: 80

Grade: XI Time: 3 Hrs.
Name: Section: Roll No:
General Instructions:
 This question paper consists of 6 printed pages.
 All answers to be written in the answer sheet provided.

SECTION A: READING 20M

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 12

FIT TO FIGHT
1. Did you know that most of us have a few cancer cells floating around in our bodies at
some point of time or the other? They keep a lookout for a weak spot where they can start
their destruction. Our defence system begins to produce antibodies to destroy them. But
the moment this defence mechanism weakens, the cancer cells multiply rapidly and
damage major body organs.
2. If you’ve been eating sensibly, you may get rid of these cancer-causing cells and not even
know that your body had them. Scientists say that the difference between those who don’t
get cancer and those who do, is a strong immune system fortified with correct food habits,
intake of adequate vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The immune system doesn’t work
well in anyone who is undernourished.
3. Why does cancer happen? Cancer has always been a threat to our health for a long time,
and its incidence has increased in the industrial era, coinciding with our increasingly toxic
environment. The reasons, it has been found, range from genetics to lifestyle,
environment, and toxins. Of the five million registered chemicals in the world, we
encounter 70,000 of them on a regular basis. Of those, at least 20,000 are carcinogenic
(cancer causing).
4. As we grow older, we get exposed to toxins in the food that we eat, the water we drink,
and the air we breathe. Each of the 60 trillion cells in our body faces at least 1,000 ‘hits’
or carcinogen attacks every day. We wallow in our hi-tech wastes of industrial pollutants,
electromagnetic radiation, environmental toxins, chemicals, insect sprays, agricultural
pollutants, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, mental stress and internal toxins, all of which weaken
our immunity.
Page 1 of 7
 5. How nutrition can help- The human body is built from food and is also repaired by your
diet. Nutritional therapy tries to re-establish ‘balance’ in the body by helping it to
detoxify, correct its pH balance (acid base balance), build resistance and provide
nourishment to enable it to fight the regular toxins that it ingests. If you are eating
reasonably, a standard multi vitamin pill will be sufficient.
6. Avoid stress- Stress, say from work pressures, causes your immune system to shut down.
It is important to know that cancer cannot invade a healthy body. Keeping your body’s
defence mechanism in good shape is the only way to fight these terrorists within.

1.1 Based on your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best 6
of the given choices:

a. Why do most people not suffer from cancer even though cancer cells can be found in their
bodies?
i) Because some people take extra vitamins
ii) Because some people exercise regularly
iii) Because the body’s immune system destroys the cancer cells
iv) All of the above

b. How can we strengthen our body’s immune system?

i) By exercising in fresh air
ii) By eating sensibly
iii) By getting regular sleep
iv) None of the above

c. The reasons range from genetics to lifestyle. ‘Lifestyle’ here means………..

i) The style of our house and its contents, like furniture, cars etc.
ii) The style of our dressing, hair style, make -up etc
iii) The kind of neighbourhood we live in
iv) Our personal habits of eating, resting and exercising

d. ‘ Re-establish balance in the body’ includes……..

i) Controlling body weight
ii) Detoxification
iii) Balanced diet
iv) Regular exercise

e. ‘Stress’ in para 6 can be replaced without changing the meaning by……..

i) Tension
ii) Misery
iii) Frustration
iv) Disappointment

Page 2 of 7
 f. ‘Invade’ in para 6 means……….
i) Remain inside
ii) Get strong inside
iii) Enter by force
iv) Cause harm inside

1.2 Answer these questions briefly: 6

a. What are the possible causes for cancer?

b. Give examples of ‘hi-tech’ wastes.
c. How can stress harm our body?
d. Which factors weaken our immunity?
e. Find the word which means the same as ‘occurrence’ (para 3)
f. Find the word which means the same as ‘remove toxins’ (para 5)

2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 8M

There is a long tradition of private tutoring in India. Essentially, private tuition was given to
weak students for remedial purposes. However, high stake entrance tests to reputed
institutions such as IIMs, IITs and a plethora of competitive exams for entry into
government and public sector companies have changed this. Today, full-fledged ‘coaching
schools’ boasting prime commercial addresses with spacious classrooms capable of
accommodating hundreds of students have mushroomed across the country.

Their classrooms are now equipped with modern teaching aids and comfortable furniture.
Customized education packages, glossy brochures and complete marketing strategies are
the order of the day.

Their classrooms are now equipped with modern teaching aids and comfortable furniture.
Customized education packages, glossy brochures and complete marketing strategies are the
order of the day.

Little wonder that from being an activity centered on examinations, private tutoring is now a
year-round phenomenon. At the secondary school level, private tuitions are more prevalent,
with the majority either attending organized coaching classes or being tutored privately.

In a nationwide survey in 1999, two-thirds of respondents opined that coaching institutes

flourish because of poor quality of education. Moreover, nearly 90% said that the competition
to enter top grade educational institutions has become so severe, even the best students feel
the need for supplementary tuition. More significantly 90 per cent of urban middle class
parents indicated that they were prepared to pay high private tuition fees as they believe it is
an investment in their children’s future.

Page 3 of 7
 Of course, there is a downside to the growing private tuition phenomenon. It weakens
students’ self-directed learning capabilities, encourages low student engagement in
classroom teaching and imposes undue pressures, both financial and psychological, on
parents as well as students. Private tuitions also accentuate inequalities in the race for
admission into top level higher education institutions. Moreover, the tuition culture is making
education a uni-focal exam oriented activity. It force-feeds students with information to score
high marks while neglecting the development of their questioning, reasoning and analytical
abilities.
Against this backdrop, it is difficult to condemn tutoring as anti-social. In the short term,
growing dissatisfaction of parents with India’s crumbling and over-crowded formal school
system is likely to simulate rather than abate private tutoring.

a. Make notes on the above passage in the right format. Use recognizable abbreviations 5
wherever necessary and give the passage a title.

b. Write a summary of about 80 words based on your notes. 3

SECTION B: WRITING SKILLS AND GRAMMAR 30M

3. As the student leader of your school, you have been given the responsibility of organizing a 4
poster making competition on the occasion of the republic day. Draft a notice informing the
students about the details of this upcoming event.
OR
You are Suryashi/ Utkarsh living at M-48, Wajirpur, Delhi. You want to sell off your HTC
mobile phone. Draft an advertisement for the classifieds columns of a national daily giving
its details and the price expected.

4. You are Raksha/Rahul, resident of House no. 1503, H.T. Housing Complex, Panipat. You 6
are upset as some good schools are admitting as many as 45-50 students per class just to make
money, which is adversely affecting the academic standards. Write a letter to the Editor of a
National Daily highlighting this corrupt practice. Mention few measures to be taken to tackle
this situation. (word limit -150 words)
OR
You are Jenny/ Jithin , an aspiring singer. You wish to participate in a singing talent show
being organized by E-24 Channel, Mumbai. Write a letter to the Director, E-24 Channel,
Mumbai seeking more information about the eligibility criteria, date and place of audition,
etc. Invent all needed details. (word limit -150 words)

5. Many students of your school volunteered for a two day meditation camp. You feel 10
meditation can be extremely useful in modern times of stress and tension. Write an article for
your school magazine in 150-200 words .You may use the following hints.
Meditation means turning the mind inwards – help students improve concentration –
memory- helps in relaxing- controlling anger – meditation getting popular – special courses
are available
Page 4 of 7
 OR
We have advanced from the stone age to the age of computers. There is an explosion of
advancements in the field of technology. The world has become a small place with everything
within the reach of the fingertip. As a consequence people are more comfortable in their
virtual world distancing themselves from their fellow beings. The need of the hour is to
communicate , share, care and be REAL.
Write an article in 180 -200 words on the topic: ‘Lets Lead a Real life’ .

6. Complete the following sentences by filling in the correct form of the verb: 4

In the last hundred years, travelling (a) ________(become) much easier and very
comfortable. In the 19th century, it (b) ________(take) two or three months to cross North
America by a covered wagon. The trip(c) _________(be) very rough and often dangerous.
Things (d) _____________(change) a great deal in the last hundred and fifty years. Now you
can fly from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of hours.

7. In the passage given below, one word, has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word 4
along with the word that comes before and after the word. The first one is done as an example.

BEFORE WORD AFTER

Ten months I decided to leave(eg) months ago I
my native country and went the (a)
USA. When reached there (b)
I suddenly found labelled (c)
as foreign student. Gradually (d)
I discovered a foreign student (e)
had problems whether he was Japan (f)
like me or from other country. A (g)
foreign student had to work twice
as hard an American to succeed in college. (h)

8. Change the voice: 2

a) French is spoken in many parts of the world.

b) Am I not helping you?

SECTION C: LITERATURE AND LONG READING TEXT 30M

9. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt
She enters the thickness and a machine starts up
Of chitterings and a tremor of wings and trillings -
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
It is the engine of her family.
Page 5 of 7
 1. Who is ‘she’ and why is she compared to a lizard? 1
2. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet? 1
3. Pick out a poetic device from the above extract. 1
OR
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
They talked of love and preached of love,
But do not act so lovingly,
Was that the day?

1. Name the poem and the poet. 1

2. Who are ‘they’? 1
3. How is the poet’s observation about ‘their’ behavior significant? 1

10. Answer any three of the following in 40-50 words 3*3=9

1. What does the wonderful expression “the eye of the landscape”, as suggested by
Francois Cheng, mean?
2. Carter had to take a drastic decision regarding the mummy. What was it? How did
he justify it?
3. ‘When the people are pious and good, even nature mourns their death’. Justify with
reference to ‘The Portrait of a Lady’.
4. What opinion do you form about the king from the story?(Tale of melon city)

11. Answer any one of the following in 120 words: 6

How does Nani Palkhiwala justify his statement about the critical condition of our Ailing
Planet?
OR
“….You are the best daddy in the whole world – and the best captain”. What values made the
narrator deserve this compliment?

12. Answer any one of the following questions in 120 words: 6

Write a note on the theme of the play, Mother’s day. Do you approve of the method
adopted by Mrs. Fitzgerald? Elucidate.
OR
Mourad seems to have a way with animals, birds and farmers. What other qualities does he
have and what different values weave the fabric of his character?

13. Answer any one of the following questions in 120 words: 6

Page 6 of 7
Voice of the Rain" is a poem which celebrates the life of rain. Comment with reference to
Walt Whitman’s relationship with words which gives an added effect to this poem.
OR
“The Address” reveals the sordid side of the war. Elucidate

Page 7 of 7