Students can access the CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 English Education with Solutions and marking scheme Term 2 Set 5 will help students in understanding the difficulty level of the exam.
CBSE Sample Papers for Class 11 English Term 2 Set 5 for Practice
Time : 2 Hours
Maximum Marks : 40
General Instructions :
- The Question Paper contains THREE sections-READING, WRITING & GRAMMAR and LITERATURE.
- Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.
Section A
Reading
Question 1.
Read the passage given below :
Mehmood, the kite-maker, had in the prime of his life been well known throughout the city. Some of his more elaborate kites once sold for as much as three or four rupees each.
At the request of the Nawab, he had once made a very special kind of kite, unlike any that had been seen in the district. It consisted of a series of small, very light paper disks trailing on a thin bamboo frame. To the end of each disk, he fixed a sprig of grass, forming a balance on both sides.
The surface of the foremost disk was slightly convex, and a fantastic face was painted on it, having two eyes made of small mirrors. The disks, decreasing in size from head to tail, assumed an undulatory form and gave the kite the appearance of a crawling serpent. It required a great skill to raise this cumbersome device from the ground, and only Mehmood could manage it.
Everyone had heard of the ‘Dragon Kite’ that Mehmood had built, and word went round that it possessed supernatural powers. A large crowd assembled in the open to watch its first public launching in the presence of the Nawab.
At the first attempt, it refused to leave the ground. The disks made a plaintive, protesting sound, and the sun was trapped in the little mirrors, making the kite a living, complaining creature. Then the wind came from the right direction, and the Dragon Kite soared into the sky, wriggling its way higher and higher, the sun still glinting in its devil-eyes.
And when it went very high, it pulled fiercely on the twine, and Mehmood’s young sons had to help him with the reel. Still the kite pulled, determined to be free, to break loose, to live a life of its own. And eventually it did so. The twine snapped, the kite leaped away towards the sun, sailing on heavenward until it was lost to view.
It was never found’again, and Mehmood wondered afterwards if he made too vivid, too living a thing of the great kite. He did not make another like it. Instead, he presented to the Nawab a musical kite, one that made a sound like a violin when it rose in the air.
Those were more leisurely, more spacious days. But the Nawab had died years ago, and his descendants were almost as poor as Mehmood himself. Kite-makers, like poets, once had their patrons, but no one knew Mehmood, simply because there were too many people in the Gali, and they could not be bothered with their neighbors.
When Mehmood was younger and fell sick, everyone in the neighborhood came to ask about his health, but now, when his days were drawing to a close, no one visited him. Most of his old friends were dead and his sons had grown up: one was working in a local garage and the other, who was in Pakistan at the time of the partition, had not been able to rejoin his relatives.
The children, who had bought kites from him ten years ago, were now grown men, struggling for a living; they did not have time for the old man and his memories. They had grown up in a swiftly changing and competitive world, and they looked at the old kite-maker and the banyan tree with the same indifference.
Both were taken for granted-permanent fixtures that were of no concern to the raucous, sweating mass of humanity that surrounded them. No longer did people gather under the banyan tree to discuss their problems and their plans; only in the summer months did a few seek shelter from the fierce sun.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer ANY EIGHT questions from the nine given below. (1 x 8 = 8)
(i) Give one point of evidence that shows that Mehmood was a very good kite-maker
(ii) On whose request did Mehmood make the dragon kite?
(iii) What did the crowd believe the kite possessed?
(iv) The passage has drawn an analogy between two things. What are they?
(v) Rewrite the following sentence replacing the underlined words with a word or phrase from lines 20 to 30 in the passage.
Salman said that he needed a ball of strong string to tie the bundles.
(vi) What types of kite did Mehmood make?
(vii) Use a suitable word or phrase from lines 10-15 from the passage to complete this sentence.
The surface of the plains was not smooth; it was.
(viii)The author says, ‘Both were taken for granted Who or what is being spoken about in this sentence?
(ix) What happened to the dragon kite?
Question 2.
Read the following passage. (5)
(1) The tests of life are its plus factors. Overcoming illness and suffering molds character. Steel is iron plus fire, soil is rock plus heat. Sometimes the plus factor is more readily seen by the simple-hearted. Myers tells the story of a mother who brought into her home – as a companion to her own son- a little boy with a hunch back.
She had warned her son to be careful, not to refer to his disability. The boys were playing and after a few minutes, she overheard her son say to his companion “Do you know what you have got on your back?” The little boy was embarrassed, but before he could reply, his playmate continued, “It is the box in which your wings are, and some day God is going to cut it open and then you will fly away and be an angel.”
(2) Often it takes a third eye or a change in focus, to see the plus factor. Walking along the corridors of a hospital recently, where patients were struggling with fear of pain and tests, I was perturbed. What gave me a fresh perspective were the sayings put up everywhere, intended to uplift. One saying made me conscious of the beauty of the universe in the midst of pain, suffering and struggle. The other saying assured me that God was with me when I was in deep water and that no troubles would overwhelm me.
(3) The importance of those sayings also made me aware of the nethar springs that flow into people’s lives when they touch rock bottom or are lonely or guilt-ridden. The nethar springs make recovery possible, and they bring peace and patience in the midst of negative forces.
(4) The forces of death and destruction are more psychological than physical. When malice, hatred and hard-heartedness prevail, they get channelled as forces of destruction. Where openness, peace and good-heartedness prevail, the forces of life gush forth to regenerate hope and joy.
The life force is triumphant when love overcomes fear. Both fear and love are deep mysteries, but the effect of love is to build, whereas fear tends to destroy. Love is generally the plus factor that helps build character. It creates bonds and its reach is infinite.
(A) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make note on it using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum 4) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it. (3)
(B) Write a summary of the above passage in about 50 words. (2)
Section B
Writing and Grammar (12 Marks)
Question 3.
Design a poster for your School Fete. You may use slogans. Do not exceed 50 words. (3)
Question 4.
Attempt ANY ONE from (A) and (B) given below.
(A) Vishal/Veena, a student of class XI of 10 Green Park, New Delhi is interested in learning languages. He/ she sees an advertisement in the ‘Times of India’ issued by “The Institute of Foreign languages”, New Delhi about the certificate course in Japanese offered by them. He/she decides to write a letter to the Director of the Institute seeking more information about the course duration, working hours, fee structure, etc. Write the letter. (Word-Limit 120-150 words.) (5)
(B) A number of your classmates (especially those from science and commerce streams) bunk their classes in order to attend coaching classes. Write a debate in 150-200 words on ‘Tuition at coaching centres is not essential. (5)
Question 5.
Do as directed. (1 x 4 = 4)
(i) the class/at once/ordered/you/are/to leave (Rearrange the given words to make meaningful sentence.)
(ii) One man’s meat is another man’s poison. (Identify a determiner in the sentence.)
(iii) _______________ girls have not come for sports practice. (Fill a suitable determiner in the blank.)
(iv) _______________ your homework? (Fill in the blank with the correct tense form.)
Section C
Literature (15 Marks)
Question 6.
Answer the following questions within 30-40 words each.
(i) Give the central idea of the poem, The Voice of the Rain.
(ii) Why do people willingly undergo the trials of difficult journeys?
(iii) What happens when it rains after a long hot spell?
Question 7.
Answer the following questions within 70-80 words each. (3 x 3 = 9)
(i) Compare and contrast Andrew’s emotional, mental and physical state at the beginning of the story and at the end.
OR
What is the reaction of Doris and Cyril to the unusual behavior of their mother?
(ii) Why did the Headmaster summon Albert? What was the outcome?
(iii) Write a brief character sketch of Frank Hunter.
