D A V CENTENARY PUBLIC SCHOOL

SAMPLE PAPER

ENGLISH

VII

M.T. M.M.

SECTION A: READING

1. Read the following passage and answer the questions given: (10 Marks )

An Autobiography of Jawaharlal Nehru 1. In May 1905, when I was fifteen, we set sail for England.
Father, Mother and I all went together. On a May day towards the end of the month, we reached
London. While I was in the train from Dover to London, I read about the great sea victory at Tushima. I
was in high spirits because the very next day happened to be Derby Day and we went to see the race. I
remember meeting M.A. Ansari soon after our arrival at London. He was then a smart and clever young
man with a record of brilliant academic achievement behind him. He was a surgeon at that time in a
hospital in London.

2. I was a little fortunate in finding a vacancy at Harrow, for I was slightly above the usual age for entry,
being 15.My family returned to India after some months.

3. Never before had I been left among strangers all by myself and I felt lonely and homesick, but not for
long. I managed to fit myself to some extent in the life at school and work and play kept me busy. I was
never an exact fit. Always I had a feeling that I was not one of them, and the others must have felt the
same way about me. I was left a little to myself. But on the whole I took my full share in the games,
without in any way shining at them. I believe, it was recognized that I was no shirker.

4. To begin with, I was put in a lower grade because of my poor knowledge of Latin, but I was pushed
higher up soon. In many subjects probably, and especially in general knowledge I was ahead of those of
my age.

Now answer the following questions:

i) Fill in the blanks with appropriate answers. (6 Marks)

a)Nehru went from Dover to London by __________________.

b)Nehru was in high spirits on reaching London because ________________________.

c)Nehru considered himself fortunate in finding a vacancy at Harrow because ________

d)After his admission to Harrow, his family ______________________.

e)At Harrow he felt ____________________ and _______________________.

f)Nehru spent his time in school at _______________ and ____________________.

ii) Fill in the blanks with one word only. 4x1/2= (2 Marks)
In May 1905, Jawaharlal Nehru and his parents went from Dover to (a)________________. There they
met (b)___________, a surgeon in a London hospital. Jawaharlal Nehru got his admission in Harrow. He
felt lonely but work kept him (c)_______________________. He learnt Latin and was
(d)______________ of his peers in General Knowledge.

iii)Find words from the paragraphs given in the brackets that mean the following:(2 Marks)

a)One who does operations: (Para 1).

b)A person whom you do not know (Para 3).

2. Read the following passage and answer the questions given: (5 Marks ) In 1962, the
year I turned ten, my grandmother retired, upon the age of sixty. She had taught in Girls High School
since 1936. When she had first joined the school she had only fifty pupils and the premises had
consisted of two sheds with tin roofs. During the monsoons she had often to teach in ankle –deep
water-once, she claimed, it had been so bad that a girl had actually managed to spear a fish with a
compass during a geometry lesson. But over the next two decades the school had grown into a large,
successful institution and had acquired a big building near Deshpriya Park. For the last six years before
she retired, my grandmother had been its Headmistress. She had been looking forward to her
retirement although she had grown very attached to the school in the twenty seven years she had spent
there. But she no longer had the stomach for staff room problems and battles with the Board, she would
tell my parents; she was growing old, she had earned her rest. And besides, my father’s career was going
well, so she had no real worries left.

a) In the passage the writer tells us what

i)he saw at school ii)he read in a book

iii) he remembers about his grandmother iv)he was told by his father

b)The grandmother once had to stand in ankle-deep water because

i) the city was flooded by monsoon rain

ii) she enjoyed doing so

iii) the girls found it interesting

iv) the school had no proper classrooms

c)’over the next two decades’ means

i)forty years

ii) ten years

iii)twenty years

iv)two years

d) She was eager to retire because

i)she was growing old

ii) her son’s career was good

iii) she had no real worries

iv) all the above

e) As Headmistress, the grandmother found---------- unpleasant.

i) the staffroom problems

ii) the growing size of the school

iii) the big building near the park

iv) the indiscipline of the students

3)Read the following passage carefully : 5

So beautiful was she that when the young Fisherman saw her he was filled with wonder, and he put out
his hand and drew the net close to him, and leaning over the side he clasped her in his arms. And when
he touched her, she gave a cry like a startled seagull, and woke, and looked at him in terror with her
mauve amethyst eyes, and struggled that she might escape. But he held her tightly to him, and would
not suffer her to depart.
And when she saw that she could in no way escape from him, she began to weep, and said, T pray thee
let me go, for I am the only daughter of a King, and my father is aged and alone.’
But the young Fisherman answered, T will not let thee go save thou makest me a promise that whenever
I call thee, thou wilt come and sing to me, for the fish delight to listen to the song of the Sea-folk, and so
shall my nets be full.’
‘Wilt thou in very truth let me go, if I promise thee this ?’ cried the Mermaid.
‘In very truth I will let thee go,’ said the young Fisherman.
So she made him the promise he desired, and sware it by the oath of the Sea-folk. And he loosened his
arms from about her, and she sank down into the water, trembling with a strange fear.
Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and called to the Mermaid, and she rose out
of the water and sang to him. Round and round her swam the dolphins, and the wild gulls wheeled
above her head.
1.On the basis of your reading of the passage complete the following statements :
(a)The young fisherman pulled the Mermaid out____________________ .
(b)The Mermaid found herself too helpless ____________________ .
2.Answer the following questions.
(a)Where was the Mermaid found ?
(b)What promise did the Mermaid make ? Did she back out of it ?
3.Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘shaking.

SECTION B WRITING

4) Write a paragraph of about 10-12 lines on the topic given below using the hints: (5 Marks)

Importance of trees in protecting our environment

Hints:Great friend-check soil erosion-cause rain, control temperature and pollutionincrease fertility of
soil-provide us many useful things like food and shelter to people, animals ,birds—giving oxygen-taking
carbon dioxide-maintaining ecological balance— (any other point you can think of)

5.Indian woman is yet to be emancipated despite efforts made by social workers like Raja Ram Mohan
Roy. Her liberty and welfare continue to be plagued by endless problems. The society, law, media and
intelligentsia continue to be helpless spectators. Taking ideas from the visual, together with your own
ideas, write an article for your school magazine in minimum 100-120 words on the topic ’Woman Bears
and Others Stare’ 10

6.write a message for your sister based on following notes

Her friend got annual function pics -------------------reach her house at 5 to see ----------- she has to send
orders 5

Section c grammar

7.Choose the most appropriate options from the ones given below to complete the following
paragraph. This is surely (a)_______________ age of fast development and quick changes. We
(b)_______________to make necessary adjustments (c)___________________ live happily. 3
(a)(i) a (ii) an (iii) the (iv) some
(b)(i) need (ii) needed (iii) dare (iv) used
(c)(i) too (ii) in (iii) to (iv) of

8.Look at the following passage. There is one error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the correct
word against the correct blank number in your answer sheet. One example has been done for you. 4
In a country as vast of ours, keeping e.g. of………………. as
a eye on every child is a Herculean (a) …………………………
task. Many children are still employing (b) …………………………
in factories while its childhood goes unnoticed (c) ………………………………
They washed utensils when they should (d) …………………………
play with dolls and get married.

9.Look at the words and phrases given below. Rearrange them to form meaningful sentences : 4
(а)worshipped / people / saints / by / are / God-fearing
(b)them / of / are / deceitful / some / totally
(c)purpose / in life / to gain / their / is / name / fame / and
(d)move/very strong/that help it/it has/muscles

10 fill in the blanks with tenses 4

1.------you---(go)to market next week.
2.We hope that all fighting----(stop) by the end of this year.
3.I----(ride) a cycle for two hours.
4He ------(work)here since 1980.

11Underline clauses 3
1I wondered why the bell was ringing.
2What you are doing seems interesting.
3 do you remember where you left your purse?
12 fill in the blanks with linkers 4

1He is-------a fool----------a crazy person.

2 Joseph is fat--------------his brother is thin.

3 He behaved--------------he were a king.

4 You can not cheat him--------clever you may be.

literature

13 Answer the following questions 3x6

1.Who is a flatterer?Why should flatterers be avoided?

2.Where was Trishna going?why?

3.What were the three inbuilt principles in Ram singh system?

4.What all Ram singh could do?

5.Why is the spider praising fly so much?How does the fly react to the offer made by him?

6.What comments did various villagers make on the speciality of the stones?

14.Value based question

Tough times donot last but tough people do.How could the solider ensure that he was not disheartened
at all? 4

15.Imagine yourself to be Vishal.write an article describing your adventurous journey. 6