SET-B
VST- ENGLISH
Time - 3 Hours Full Marks - 100
The figures in the right-hand margin indicate marks.
Questions requiring short-answers must be answered serially.
Examinees are required to give their answers in their own words as far as practicable.
Answer all questions.
1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
In the land of Spain, in a village of La Mancha, lived a gentleman named
Alonzo Quixada. He was very tall, thin and bony, with long, bare face. Reading was
what he loved most, but he liked to read only books of a certain kind. These were
stories of the knights and heroes of olden times of their brave deeds and wonderful
adventures. At last his brain became quite crazed for this matter and he made up his
mind to become a knight like the knights of the olden times. Like them he wished to
right all wrongs, to help the weak and all those who were in trouble. The frst thing he
did was to find an old, rusty suit of armour, a spear, a sword, and a shield. He cleaned
the armour as well as he could. He had a good and hard-working beast, but as bony
and thin as his master. Yet Quixada thought him to be the most splendid horse that a
knight ever rode and he named him as Rosinante. Next he thought of a name for
himself, and at last he made up his mind that he would from that time be called Don
Quixote de La Mancha.
Questions 2×5
a) Describe the appearance of Don Quixote.
b) Describe the appearance of Don Quixote.
c) What kind of books did Don Quixote like the most?
d) Why did Don Quixote decide to be a knight?
e) How did Don Quixote prepare himself to be a knight?
2. A) Find the words in the passage in
Q.No. 1 which mean the following: 1×3
a) man raised to honourable military rank, serving as a heavily armed horseman
b) exciting or dangerous experience or undertaking
c) Protective metal covering for the body worn when fighting
B) Use the following expressions in sentences of your own 1×2
a) make up mind
b) craze for
3. A dictionary gives the following meanings for the word "blaze'. Match each
meaning with its corresponding sentence given below 1×5
Meanings:
I. bright flame or fire
II. sudden outburst of a violent feeling
III. shine brightly
IV. fire continuously with guns
V. suddenly become angry
Sentences:
a) Our guns kept blazing away at the enemy.
b) He blazed up without warning.
c) Dry wood makes a good blaze.
d) Bright lights blazed all along the street.
e) He left the place in a blaze of anger.
4. Make notes, in outline form, on the main ideas of the passage given below: 7
Floods are generally caused by excessive rainfall. The normal rain water
flows down the river to the sea. But when the rain is too heavy, the river overflows
the lands on either side. Sometimes a flood is caused by the sudden melting of large
masses of snow in the mountains. Occasionally the pressure of river-water breaks an
embankment and the water rushes into the land on the other side.
A flood causes great damage to life and property. Crops are destroyed, low-
lying mud and thatched houses tumble down. Domestic animals are swept away.
Some even take to tree-tops and stay on there until they are rescued.
The Govt., people and different organisations come forward to help the
flood victims. Those who have lost their homes are given shelter in the houses of
their fortunate fellowmen or in public places like schools and colleges. There they are
fed and clothed by charitable people, different philanthropic organisations and the
government. Help in the forms of loans and gift is given to build or repair the houses,
to purchase cattle, and to cultivate the fields anew.
5. Summarise the passage in Q.No. 4, using the notes you have made. 8
6. The following table shows the literacy rate in five states of the country. Write a
paragraph in about 100 words interpreting the information given in the table
Name of the state Literacy rate
Kerala 90.9
Mizoram 88.8
Lakshadeep 86.7
Goa 82.0
Pondicherry 81.2
Odisha 63.1
7. You have witnessed a train accident where the Puri-bound Purusottam Express
derailed. Write a report on it to be published in a national daily.
Or, As a newspaper reporter, write a report on the hardships experienced by the
people as a result of an unprecedented price rise
