CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 English Solved 2016 Set 8
Section -A Reading [20 Marks]
1.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. (8)
In democratic countries, any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. However, this freedom can be easily abused. Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we could equally enjoy reading ourselves. Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold sufferings to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government. The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 25000 inhabitants in South Dakota. As the parents had five children, life was a perceptual struggle against poverty. They were expecting their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems. If they had only one more child the fact would have passed unnoticed. They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity. But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives. The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers. The news was of national importance, for the couple had become the parents of the only quintuplets in USA. The rise to fame was swift. Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish their photographs. Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $100000 home. Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as the spokesmen of the family at press conference.
Businessmen of the city met to discuss the influx of tourists to Aberdeen. At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, the sale of quintuplet souvenirs was discussed, although the idea of running newspaper ads for them was deemed as “too commercial. It was suggested that the ads could indicate that the proceeds of the sale will go to the Fisher Foundation, but someone pointed out that there was no such foundation.
The event brought serious changes to the town itself. Plans were announced to build a huge new highway, as Aberdeen was now likely to attract thousands of tourists. Sign posts erected on the outskirts of the town directed tourists not to Aberdeen, but to ‘Quint-City, USA’, the local authorities discussed the possibility of erecting a ‘quint museum’ to satisfy the curiosity of the public and to protect the family from inquisitive tourists. While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, their parents were paying the price for fame. It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. They had become victims of commercialisation, for their names had acquired a market value. The town itself received so much attention that almost every one of the inhabitants was affected to a greater or less degree.
(a)On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and subheadings. Use recognisable abbreviations wherever necessary (minimum 4). Supply an appropriate title to it. (5)
(b)Write a summary of the above passage in about 80-100 words. (3)
2.Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. (12)
The facts about child care policy have also shifted dramatically over the past 25 years. The nation now has a family leave law, albeit one that is woefully inadequate by international standards. Expansions of Head Start and the establishment of Early Head Start, alongside the growth of state prekindergarten programmes, are promising developments. Federal and state expenditures on — and funding streams for — child care have also grown substantially, but with minimal restrictions on where dollars are spent. The federal government started this trend in 1990 with the passage of the Child Care and Development Block Grant. That programme prioritised access and a market-based (voucher) approach to child care for low-income families, with minimal attention to quality protections or improvements.
Yet the triad of pressing policy issues that we raised in 1990 — quality, affordability and caregiver working conditions — remains in urgent need of attention today. While there has been growing attention to the quality of early-childhood settings in the form of state Early Learning Standards and Quality and Improvement Rating Systems, there is still no assurance that any child in any early care and education setting in the United States will experience safe, developmentally supportive care and education. Wide variation in child care quality remains the norm both across and within different types of settings in different states. Tensions between access and quality are still severe.
Parent fees for child care have doubled since 1997; the share of family income subsumed by child care costs still shows a gaping disparity between non-poor (7.6%)
and poor (30.1%) families. Child care workers and teachers continue to earn wages that hover near the poverty line and fall well below those of elementary school teachers, even among comparably degreed teachers. Not surprisingly, child care staff face exceedingly high levels of economic distress and rely heavily on public health, food and income supports.
President Obama has made preschool education and child care quality national policy priorities for first time in more than 4 decades. The historical separation between child care (for working parents) and early education (for children’s development) is gradually eroding, as belied not only by growing reliance on “early care and education” as the term of art for this domain of research and policy, but also by recent policy developments that simultaneously address access and quality and encourage coordination across child care and early-education funding streams.
(a)On the basis of your reading of the above passage, answer the following guestions by choosing the correct option.(1×6=6)
(i)Growth in expenditure on child care in the USA started in the year…………………..
(a)1980 (b)1990 (c)1997 (d)Not given in the passage
(ii)Promising developments in the USA in the field of child care includes…..
(a)expansion of Head Start programme
(b)establishment of Early Head Start programme
(c)Growth of state kindergarten programmes
(d)All of the above
(iii)How much have the expenses of parents for child care increased after 1997?
(a)By 50% (b) By 100%
(c)By 200% (d) They have not increased
(iv)What have been made national policy priorities after more than forty years?
(a)Early care and education
(b)Child care and development
(c)Preschool education and child care quality
(d)None of the above
(v)The word……… in the first paragraph is a synonym of ‘encouraging’.
(a) establishment (b) propitious
(c) protections (d) promising
(vi)The word……… in the second paragraph is a synonym of ‘helpful’.
(a)supportive (b) pressing
(c) growing (d) safe
(b)On the basis of your reading of the given passage, answer the following questions briefly.(1×6=6)
(i)What did the Child Care and Development Block Grant programme do?
(ii)Why is there no guarantee that children in early care and education will get a safe and development oriented care? .
(iii)What is the difference in child care costs between rich and poor families?
(iv)What ‘historical separation’ is being bridged by recent government policy developments?
(v)The word……… in the second paragraph is an antonym of ‘reducing1.
(vi)The word………….. in the last paragraph is a synonym of ‘together’.
Section -B Writing and Grammar [30 Marks]
3.You are Mayank Mukta, the Head Boy / Girl of APS school. Write a notice in about 50 words informing the students about the upcoming cultural exchange trip to Nepal. (4)
or
Zoya International school requires an office boy. As the Admistrative Officer of the school, write a suitable advertisement for the columns of a daily. Do not exceed 50 words. (4)
4.A post of Receptionist is lying vacant in Atul Chemicals Pvt Ltd. Apply for the post as one of the candidates. You are Jayant / Jayati. Invent all the other details. Word limit 150 words. (6)
or
You are Saurabh / Surbhi. You have just cleared IIT – JEE and to celebrate this, you want to invite your friends. Write a letter to one of your friends mentioning the details. Keep the length of your letter between 120 andl50 words. (6)
5.Write a speech in 150 – 200 words on “Exam stress on students” to be delivered in the morning assembly. You are Rohan / Ruhi. (10)
or
You strongly feel that the country is not having an adequate number of good teachers. Education needs to be improved and good teachers are produced thereby. Write an article on the same in 150-200 words. (10)
6.The following passage has not been edited. There is an error in each line. Find that error and write the correct word in the blanks provided. (1/2×8 = 4)
Incorrect Correct
(a)In spite of all the honour that …………… ………….
(b)we heaped upon him, he remains …………… ………….
(c)simple by heart. Perhaps the imagery …………… ………….
(d)of pasteur’s boyhood days never leaves …………… ………….
(e)In truth he did became a …………… ………….
(f)greater artist. He put his whole soul …………… ………….
(g)and energy into his works. It was …………… ………….
(h)this very energy that wear him out …………… ………….
7.Rearrange the jumbled words to form a meaningful sentence. (2×1= 2)
(a)the sight / an indescribable extent / to / of / moved him / injured children / particularly
(b)perfect / the attitude / man / towards / men / science / of / make
8.Read the conversation given below and then complete the blanks of the passage.(4×1 = 4)
Ramu Are you planning a picnic?
Sonu No, I am not.
Ramu Why do you not come with me?
Sonu I can’t come with you as I have some work to do.
Ramu asked Sonu (a) …………… Sonu replied in negative and said (b) ………………..
Then, Ramu asked him (c)…………… Finally, Sonu replied that (d)…………………..
Section – C Literature and Long Reading Text [30 Marks]
9.Read the extract carefully and answer the questions.(1×3 = 3)
“Some twenty – thirty years later She’d laugh at the snapshot.
“See Betty and Dolly”, she’d say,” and look how they Dressed us for the beach.’The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter.
Both wry
With the laboured ease of loss.”
(i)Why did the mother laugh at the photograph years later?
(ii)Who are Betty and Dolly?
(iii)What did the sea holiday and her mother’s laughter do to the poet?
10.Answer any three of the following questions.(3×3 = 9)
(i)According to Jonathan, why was the narrator the best father and captain in the world?
(ii)Write a few lines on the Green Movement.
(iii)How was Mr Crocker – Harris different from other teachers?
(iv)What role do photographs play in our lives?
11.Answer the. following questions in about 120 – 150 words.
The poet’s life is surrounded by silence after the death of her mother. What kind of characteristics has the poet adopted in her life and how far is she correct in this? Discuss in light of the poem A Photograph’. (6)
Or
What values did the two boys Aram and Mourad adopt which are reflected in their character?
Long Reading Text (Novel)
12.What happened on the 19th September? Describe the experience of the Canterville Ghost on the day. (The Canterville Ghost) (6)
or
Explain Booker’s first encounter with numbers. (Up From Slavery) (6)
13. Give a character sketch of Mrs Otis. (The Canterville Ghost) (6)
or
Bring out the characteristic traits of Mrs Viola Ruffner. (Up From Slavery) (6)
