Reviewing solved English Question Paper Class 10 Kerala Syllabus Set 5 helps in understanding answer patterns.
English Class 10 Kerala Syllabus Model Question Paper Set 5
Time: 2½ Hours
Score: 80 Marks
Instructions
- 15 minutes is given as cool – off time.
- This time is to be used for reading the question paper.
- Attempt the questions according to the instructions.
1 – 5. Read the extract from The Castaway and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries one score. (5 × 1 = 5)
A long bar of silence throbbed in the little attic when he concluded this halting confession. Then, gruffly, the sergeant asked how much he had stolen. Seven pounds ten shillings – the answer sounded pitiful. For this paltry sum he had almost thrown away his life. There was a pause. The three of us, the sergeant, the landlady and me, as the sole witnesses of the near tragedy, had the same unspoken thought in our minds. We decided to give the young man a fresh start.
Question 1.
Where did this context take place?
Answer:
In the little attic of the landlady’s old building.
Question 2.
‘he concluded this halting confession’. Who is ‘he’ referred to here and what was his confession?
Answer:
The young man, Mr. John is referred to here as ‘he’. He confessed that he had stolen a sum of seven pounds and ten shillings from his office safe.
Question 3.
What was the ‘near tragedy’ meant here?
Answer:
John’s suicide attempt.
Question 4.
How did they give the young man a fresh start?
Answer:
The sergeant didn’t report the suicide case. The landlady offered a month’s free board until he should regain his health. And the narrator gave him seven pounds and ten shillings to put back in the office safe.
Question 5.
What was that same unspoken thought in their minds?
Answer:
To save the young man from his pitiable condition.
6 – 10. Read the lines from the poem ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and answer the questions that follow. (5 × 1 = 5)
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannon
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Question 6.
What does the word ‘road’ suggest?
Answer:
Experiences in life.
Question 7.
Pick out the line from the poem which gives you the sense of ‘war.’
Answer:
Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly.
Question 8.
What does the poet mean when he says. The answer is blowin’ in the wind’?
Answer:
The answer is all around us but always moving and changing.
Question 9.
Pick out an instance of alliteration.
Answer:
must-man
Question 10.
Pick out the word from the stanza that means an official or legal prohibition’.
Answer:
Ban
Question 11.
Read the following lines from the poem ‘Mother to Son’ and prepare a note of appreciation focusing on the theme and imagery of the poem. (5)
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And tumin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps.
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now-
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
Answer:
Langston Hughes was a popular American poet, playwright and socialist. The poem “Mother to Son’ is a dramatic monologue in which a typical mother warns her son of the obstacles in life and inspires him how to overcome them. According to the mother life was never crystal stair for her. Her life stair had splinters and torn boards and she had to fight to win. She advises her son to climb on and on without turning back. Though he finds life hard she urges him not to fall back but go on fighting.
The poem is written in free verse. It is without any meter patterns, rhymes and other musical features. The poem is rich in visual imagery. Tacks, splinters, torn up boards- all reveal the hardships in life. The life is compared to a crystal stair and it is maintained through out the poem. This is an example of metaphor. In short the poem is a vivid portrayal of the African-American mother during the early 20th century.
12 – 16. Read the following passage and answer the questions given below. (5 × 1 = 5)
This extract tells us about a man who thought he had the right to do whatever he liked. One day he was walking along a busy street spinning his walking stick round and round in his hand. His inten- tion was to look important. A man walking behind him objected.”
“You ought not to spin your walking – stick round and round like that”. The man said:
“I’m free to do what I like with my walking stick, argued the man with the stick “Of course you are, said the other man “but you ought to rememer that your free dom ends where my nose begins.”
The story tells that we can enjoy the freedom only we don’t interfere with other people’s rights and freedom.
Question 12.
Why did the man spin the walking stick along the road?
Answer:
To look important.
Question 13.
Who objected this?
Answer:
The man walking behind.
Question 14.
What was the argument of the man with the stick?
Answer:
He said he had the freedom to do anything with his walking stick.
Question 15.
What message does the story give us?
Answer:
‘Our freedom ends where other people’s nose starts’.
Question 16.
Give a title to the story.
Answer:
The Boundary of Liberty
17 – 18. Answer any ONE of the follow- ing in about 120 words. (1 × 7 = 7)
Question 17.
‘The best investment A.J. Cronin had made in his life turned Mr. John into a charitable man. Prepare a write-up detailing the events that led to this change.
[Hints: The narrator meets a man on his way back from New York – he recounts an old incident – goes to attend one who had attempted sui- cide – young man’saved he later becomes a solicitor and a social activist – the meeting prompts the narrator to reflect on the best investment he had made]
Answer:
On the second day of his voyage from New York A.J. Cronin saw a man looking at him closely. He thought his co-passenger was importunate and avoided him. But soon he understood that the man was serious. Later he knew that this man and his wife were coming from a suburb of London. The man told Cronin that they were visiting the U.S for the first time. They visited settlement houses to study the methods employed in dealing with cases of maladjusted youth.
The couple were working in the field of youth welfare. Mr John was a solicitor by profession but in addition to his practice at the courts, found time to act as a director of a charitable organisation devoted to the care of boys and girls, mostly from city slums, who had fallen under the ban of the law. Cronin asked him what had directed his life into that channel. The man was surprised that the author still failed to recognize him. However soon Cronin remembered everything. Cronin was a fresh medical practitioner in a work- ing ‘class. district of London. On a foggy November night, towards one o’clock he was awakened by a loud banging on the door. It was a sergeant of police. He told him about a suicide case. He accompa- nied the sergeant to the upper floor of an old building, there stretched on a narrow bed, lay the body of a young man.
The doctor began the work of resuscita- tion. After much effort the young man got his breath back. Regaining his strength the young man told them his story. He was working as a clerk in a London solicitor’s office. He bet on horses and lost all his savings. In order to get back his lost amount he took a sum from the office for a final gamble. That too failed, terrified of the prosecution, that must follow, sick at heart, he closed the door of his room and turned on the gas to commit suicide
The sergeant, the landlady and the doctor decided to give the youngman a new start. The sergeant made no official report of the case, the landlady offered a month’s free board. The doctor contributed the money to put back in the office safe.
As the ship moved through the darkness of the night, Cronin realised that it was his best investment he had made in his life. It stood out against all the bad, investments he had made throughout the years- those foolish speculations for material gain, producing only anxiety, disappointment and frustration.
Question 18.
Your class has decided to stage the play ‘The Never Never Nest’. Prepare an announcement to be made just before the commencement of the play.
Answer:
Ladies and gentlemen, today is a red letter day in the history of our school. Today we are conducting the English Fest’ of our school. As part of the fest, so many creative English stage performances will be held. It’s the day we will unveil our creative talents on English. Today is the day we will speak in English, sing in English, act in English, think in English and breathe in English. As part of the English Fest we start with a sensational play. It’s nothing but “The Never ‘Never Nest”. We have studied the play in the X” Std. It has attracted us to the maximum as well. Today the class XA is going to present the play on the stage. As you all know it’s a sensational drama depicting a contemporary issue.
The hire purchase scheme has presently become so common. In order to materialise our dreams we become easy preys to he hire purchase scheme. This enables us to buy everything under the sun, how- ever costly it is. The three characters of the play Jack, Jill and Aunt Jane are so life- like and realistic that we see ourselves in them. Well, I don’t want to say more. It is a matter of experiencing. So here we go to The Never Never Nest’.
19 – 21. Answer any TWO of the following. (2 × 5 = 10)
Question 19.
Adichie wrote her diary after visiting Fide’s family. Prepare the likely diary entry of Adichie.
Answer:
Saturday
DIARY
21-11-2022
Today we visited Fide’s home. His mother showed us a beautiful patterned basket of used raffia that his brother had made. I was startled. How beautiful the basket is! I could not believe it. It had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Because all I had heard about them was they were very poor. My mother often had sent them food items and old clothes. Their poverty was my single story of them. Now I realise that a single story creates only stereotypes which are untrue and incomplete.
Question 20.
The Science Club in your school is organiz ing a cleanliness campaign in the school premises and in the surrounding areas in connection with the ‘Gandhi Jayanth Day’. Imagine that you are the Secretary of the Science Club and prepare a notice to be displayed on the school notice board.
Answer:
Cleanliness Campaign on Gandhi Jayanthi Day
Kottayam
Dear Friends,
25/09/2022
The Science Club of our school is organizing a cleanliness campaign in the school premises and in the surrounding areas on October 2nd in connection with ‘Gandhi Jayarthi Day’ (Sevanavaram). Our Grama Panchayat President has kindly consented to naugurate the campaign. Our Headmaster and teachers will participate in the function.
All are cordially invited to participate in the campaign.
Secretary
(Sd/-)
Question 21.
Imagine that you happened to meet the doctor in the story The Snake and the Mirror’. What will you talk about? Prepare the likely conversation between the doctor and you.
Answer:
I : I heard that you had changed your rented room. What is the reason?
Doctor : I had a frightful experience in that room.
I : What happened?
Doctor : A snake coiled around my arm.
I : Oh! What a terrible situation it was!
Doctor : Of course. I sat there like a stone image.
I : Did it harm you?
Doctor : No, it looked itself into the mirror and slowly slithered towards it.
I : Did it move out of the room?
Doctor : I don’t know. I quietly went out and ran for life.
22 – 26. Answer any THREE of the following. (3 × 6 = 18)
Question 22.
Write a short profile of Robert Frost using the hints given below.
Born : March 26, 1874. California, United States
Famous as : Nature poet
Major works : After Apple Picking, Mending Wall, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, The Road not Taken.
Honour : Honoured with four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry, The Con- gressional Gold Medal for poetical works (1960)
Died : January 29, 1963
Answer:
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
The fe nous nature poet Robert Frost was born in California in United States on March 26, 1874. After Apple Picking’, ‘Mending Wall’, ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’, ‘The Road not Taken are some of his major works: He was honoured with the Pulitzer Prize four times for poetry and the Congressional Gold Medal for his poetical works in 1960. He passed away on January 29, 1963.
Question 23.
Suppose Ali writes a letter to his friend Kazem at the night after he had lost his sister’s shoes: Write the likely letter of Ali.
Answer:
Cottage No: 26
North Tehran
Iran
25-10-2022
Kazem
Cottage No. 18
South Tehran
Iran
Dear friend
I got your letter in time. Sorry for the belated reply. Nowadays I was very busy with some domestic affairs, as usual the miserable situations of my family. Dad is not able to do the surgery of my mother, who is not well. And yesterday an unhappy thing hap- pened. I lost my sisters shoes somewhere in the market, after getting them repaired. Fearing, I didn’t tell about it to Dad. She has not another pair of shoes. So Zahra and I came to a decision. She can wear my sneakers to school when I come back. I pray and hope for a bright future.
What is up there? How are your studies going? Convey my regards to your parents.
Expecting your reply,
Yours loving friend
(Sd/-)
Ali Amir
Question 24.
The title ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ is apt to the story. Justify your answer in a paragraph.
Answer:
The title is very appropriate to the story. It explains how the author’s act of kindness transformed a man’s life. He gave the man seven pounds and ten shillings to put back in the office safe which he had stolen from there. The author’s kindness touched his heart.
Later he resolved to form an organisation to save the maladjusted and delinquent youth. The word investment gives different ideas to different people, and it is generally associated with money. But here, the narrators investment moulds a new man. He now sees the world with a positive, confident view.
Question 25.
Write a charactersketch of the boy in the story ‘The Aventures in a Banyan Tree’.
Answer:
The boy lives in the house of his grandfather. More than anything else the boy is a lover of nature. The trees, the animals, the flowers and everything in nature has attracted him to the maximum. He feels endless pleasure in living close to nature. The small grey squirrel in the tree was his first friend. They became so thick friends that the squirrel even took food from the boy’s hands. The nature appreciation of the boy is too clear when he sits in the banyan tree when it was full of small red figs and birds of all kinds in the spring. The boy gives an interesting account of the fight between the mongoose and the squirrel. Sitting at the middle of the banyan tree up on a platform the boy watches the fight with intense eyes.
Question 26.
In the Texas School the scholarship Jacket of 2022 was awarded to Martha. Prepare a newspaper report that may appear in the next day’s newspaper.
Answer:
Mexican Girl Wins Scholarship Jacket
Staff Reporter
California, October 31: In a function held in Texas School, Martha, student of eighth grade was awarded the prestigious scholarship jacket. It is the tradition of the Texas School to present a scholarship jacket to the class valedictorian. Martha is the student who has main- tained the highest grades for eight years. The scholarship jacket has a big gold ‘S’ on the left front side and the award winner’s name written in gold letters on the pocket. “It was my dream for quite some years,” said Martha. ‘I could hardly believe my ears, she added. The school management said that there was a tight competition this year and they were really satisfied that they were able to award the prize to the deserving candidate. It was the result of her hardwork. The award was given by the Principal Mr.Albert.
27 – 31. Look at the following table carefully. (5 × 1 = 5)
| Year | Percentage |
| 1901 | 0 % |
| 1951 | 13.31% |
| 1961 | 21.51% |
| 1971 | 24.80% |
Now answer the following questions.
Question 27.
In which year the population growth rate is very high?
Answer:
In 1971
Question 28.
What is the highest percentage of growth rate?
Answer:
24.80%
Question 29.
Whether the population growth rate is increasing or decreasing during 1951-1971?
Answer:
Increasing
Question 30.
In which year the growth rate becomes very low?
Answer:
In 1951
Question 31.
What is the growth rate percentage in 1961?
Answer:
21.51%
Question 32.
Complete the following dialogue between the sergeant and the landlady. (5 × 1 = 5)
Landlady : Sir, I need your help.
Sergeant : ……….(c)……..
Landlady : The young man in the upper storey of my building tried to commit suicide.
Sergeant : Oh, God! ………(b)………
Landlady : Yes, very serious.
Sergeant : ……………(c)…………….
Landlady : Yes, there is a doctor near to this building. You had …….(d)……………………….
Sergeant : ………..(ė)…………..
Answer:
(a) What can I do for you, Madam?
(b) Is he serious?
(c) is there any doctor nearby?
(d) better call him immediately
(e) Yes; I will go soon.
Question 33.
There are certain errors in the passage given below. They are underlined. Edit the passage. (4 × 1 = 4)
Mr. Thorat’s men had fix (a) a five foot iron rod to the ground, about thirty feet from the area whom (b) the tiger was supposed to take a walk. They took a thin, long wire and fixed one end to the collar maid (c). of tiger- skin that the tiger was already wearing. The other end were (d) tied firmly to the visible portion of the iron rod.
Answer:
(a) had fixed
(b) where
(c) made
(d) was
Question 34.
The following dialogue. (2 × 1 = 2)
Doctor : What are you doing?
Mr. John : I am a solicitor by profession.
a) What did the doctor ask Mr. John?
b) What did Mr. John reply?
Answer:
(a) The doctor asked Mr. John what he was doing.
(b). Mr. John replied that he was a solicitor by profession.
Question 35.
Complete the passage choosing the suit- able words given in the box. (5 × 1 = 5)
Meanwhile no one knew how….. (a)….. cloud of unexplained wilderness hovered….(b)… Nilkanta. He would thrash his devotees ….(c)….. no rea- son and kick his pet mongrel …..(d)…… smash the leaves and twigs harshly
Answer:
(a) a
(b) over
(c) for
(d) or
(e) with
Question 36.
Complete the passage choosing suitable phrasal verbs from the bracket. (4 × 1 = 4)
The thoughts about the scholarship jacket…..(a)….. disturbing Martha’s mind. She…… (b)…. her black coat and went outside. She was sad that she could not…..(c)….. his thoughts to the principal. She even thought that should…. (d)….from; the whole situation. (get away, put on, put açoss, went on)
Answer:
(a) went on
(b) put on
(c) put across
(d) get away
(c) for
(d) or
(e) with