Exam 1 for seniors- question paper

Test paper (seniors)

Total marks= 80, time= 2 hours

Q1. Composition (20)

a) Choose any 1 topic and write a complete essay on it.

b) Write the introductions for all the topics as discussed in class. If you write climax introduction for topic (1), you cannot repeat climax dialogue with any other topic.

1. The most memorable day of my life
2. a robbery in a moving train
3. the day I met my favorite filmstar
4. lost in the jungle

(Essay- 14 marks, introductions- 2 marks each)

Q2. Comprehension (10)

My husband Pele and I were staying in a holiday house overlooking the beautiful, lush rainforests of Indonesia. The glass walls framed a fine view across the Bagon Valley to what had been the summer palace of President Suharto. The first morning we strolled hand in hand up a winding pathway, heading to the main building for breakfast. But once we arrived at the dinning room, I realized we’d forgotten our money, so I volunteered to run back to the house. Making my way down the path, I turned the last corner only to find a giant bird, similar to an emu, standing outside our front door. “Hey baby, what are you doing?” I cooed, moving slowly so as not to frighten it. Having a deep, abiding fascination with all creatures great and small, I wanted a closer look. This was my first mistake.

As I came within a few meters, he took a big breath and let out a nasty hiss, stopping me in my tracks.

“That’s not very friendly,” I said, clueless. He hissed again and I promptly made the second mistake of turning and running, instead of backing away slowly. As I rounded the corner I heard his razor-sharp claws scrabbling on the cobblestones.

“Oh!”

His steps sounded like a drum as they hit the ground, quickly coming too close for comfort. I suddenly changed direction and headed into the trees dodged in and out of the foliage. I hoped my tactic would fool him. A crash behind me indicated no such luck. Jumping over a small bush, I found myself out in the open and not far from the dining room. Picking up speed, I bolted over the plants and rockeries surrounding the perimeter and dashed through the gate. When I turned to close it, the bird was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t realize it and at the time, but I had just come face to face with a cassowary, a bird also found in Australia’s north Queensland rainforests. Cassowarys weigh kilos or more, stand about 180 centimeters tall and have saber-like toenails that can open a human from chin to groin like a zipper and kill humans.

“What’s wrong?” Pele asked as I stumbled back into the dinning room. 30

“A big bird chased me all the way from the house,” I replied.

“What?” he asked incredulously. “You’re scared of a bird?”

“It’s as big as me and very mean,” I said in a rather sulky voice.

“Oh, all right,” he laughed. “I’ll come with you.”

Much to Pele’s amusement, I stayed behind him on the path and held onto the back of his shirt as we approached the corner of the house.

“See! There it is. Look at the size of the thing!”

Pele chuckled at the hysteria in my voice. “It’s all right,” he soothed.

Calmly and confidently he walked toward the cassowary.

“Shoo! Go on, get out,” he said.

He made actions with his arms as if it were a pigeon on a window ledge. The response of the cassowary was the same as before: a big hiss and a step forward.

“Hmm,” said Pele and stopped, not so sure of himself. He tried again. “Go on.”

The cassowary then ran a few paces at us, hissing aggressively, so we quickly retreated around a corner of the house. Pele picked up a rock the size of his hand and threw it hard, hitting the bird squarely in the chest. It didn’t budge.

“What are we going to do?” I pleaded. This time, Pele picked up a cane chair.

“Stay behind and I’ll keep him back. When we get to the door, open it.”

Again I held on to the back of his shirt and we started towards the door. This greatly displeased the already annoyed cassowary. Charging at us he ripped at the chair with those lethal claws. Pele stopped to steady the chair – and possibly his resolve.

Pele threw the chair at the bird and slammed the door shut.

Ducking the flying cane, the bird ran straight at the glass wall, only to bounce off.

But it didn’t slow down at all. Pecking and scratching at the glass, it continued the

assault with a sickening ferocity. It was another 15 minutes before the bird weakened and slowed its attack. Thirty minutes later, we quietly opened the door and crept back to the main building.

(a) find a word in the passage that means the following:

(i) to walk leisurely

(ii) to be interested or stunned by something

(iii) a thicket of trees and bushes [3]

(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

(i) What was Pele’s wife’s first mistake when she saw the bird? [2]

(ii) How did the bird react to the lady’s third mistake? [2]

(iii) What did she do after this reaction of the bird? [2]

(iv) Describe the Cassowary. [2]

(v) Why did Pele find the situation amusing at first? Why did he

change his attitude? [2]

(vi) Use the word ‘framed’ (line 2) in a sentence of your own such that

it has a meaning different from that used in the passage. [2]

Q3. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate answers (15)

1. Ria is very _________. Therefore all the teachers like her. (savvy, polite, pompous)
2. Viraj’s ________ behavior annoys the class teacher. (open minded, eager, silly)
3. “Raj is a ________ boy,” the teacher complained. (naughty, lenient, resourceful)
4. She will accept the new idea because she is _____________. (skeptical, brashly, open-minded)
5. John is very ______ so no one wants to be in his team. (bossy, charming, clever)
6. Charlie keeps losing his things. He is very ___________. (determined, careless, imaginative)
7. Sheela did not face any problems while moving to a new place and a new school because she is very __________. (adaptable, silly, analytical)
8. The new girl in class likes to stay ______ so she has not made many friends. (rigid, aloof, irresponsible)
9. Even though Rohit got a 95% in his exams, his mother is ___________. (Resourceful, unsatisfied, perceptive)
10. Monica is as __________ as a fox. (silly, cunning, miserly)
11. Mr. Ambani is a _________ businessman so he keeps good relations with all the politicians. (Sincere, enthusiastic, shrewd)
12. Tracy is _________ to come first in the competition so she practices very hard. (determined, enterprising, calculating)
13. He is such a ___________. He asks everyone to be truthful whereas he himself lied about his job. (hypocrite, outspoken, silly)
14. Jaya is so ___________ that she won’t get up to even get herself a glass of water when she is thirsty. (coward, impulsive, indolent)
15. Sunidhi Chauhan is a ________ singer. She can sing both, high scale and low scale. (adaptable, versatile, enterprising)

Q4 Bad Qualities (5)

Make sentences with the following bad qualities

1. Quarrelsome

2. eccentric

3. restless

4. indecisive

5. stubborn

Q5 Good Qualities (5)

Make sentences with the following good qualities:

1. inquisitive
2. eloquent
3. reliable
4. expressive
5. enthusiastic

Q7 Basic Vocabulary (25)

1. Fill in the blanks with ‘beautiful’ words

(fascinated, charming, spectacular, gripping, delightful)

1. The Taj Mahal looks absolutely ___________.
2. That lady in the red sari looks ____________.
3. I had a _________ time at the circus.
4. The height of the Eiffel Tower __________ me.
5. The story was very __________.

2. Fill in the blanks with ‘angry’ words

(outraged, infuriated, enraged, threatened, glared)

1. Father ______ at me when I came home late.
2. Rohan was ________ when I broke his toy.
3. Karan _________ the teacher by making so much noise.
4. “Don’t enter my room,” Rita ____________me.
5. Mother was _________ with my bad marks.

3. Fill in the blanks with ‘happy’ words

(ecstatic, cloud nine, merry-cricket, shrieked, high pitched whoop of joy)

1. Jay was as _________ as a _________ when he stood first.
2. The children let out a _________________ when school was over.
3. I was on __________________ when I got a new car
4. Priyank was ___________ on winning the competition
5. Dave _________ with joy when he found his phone.

4. Make sentences with:

1. grief stricken

2. stopped dead in my tracks

3. left speechless

4. could not believe my eyes

5. depressed

6. face went white

7. shaking from head to toe

8. taken aback

9. astonished

10. gloomy

Exam 1- question paper

Test paper (Juniors)

Total marks= 80, time= 2 hours

Q1. Composition (20)

a) Choose any 1 topic and write a complete essay on it.

b) Write the introductions for all the topics as discussed in class. If you write climax introduction for topic (1), you cannot repeat climax dialogue with any other topic.

1. The most memorable day of my life
2. a helicopter ride
3. The day I met my favorite filmstar
4. a fight in school

(Essay- 14 marks, introductions- 2 marks each)

Q2. Comprehension (10)

African Elephants

African elephants are the largest mammals that live on land. They grow all of their lives. Male African elephants can get to be thirteen feet tall if measured from the ground to the top of their shoulder. They can weigh up to 14,000 pounds. African elephants have ears that can be five feet long and are shaped like the continent of Africa. Elephants can flap their ears. The big ears help keep the elephants cool. Elephants eat all day long. They eat vegetables, such as grass, leaves, and other plants. They also eat fruit, like bananas. Elephants use their trunks to grab food and put it in their mouth. They can also suck water into their trunks and squirt the water into their mouths. Elephants sometimes drink up to forty gallons of water a day! Elephants use their trunks to pick up things and to hold things. They can pick up something as small as a marble, or as big as a tree. They also breathe through their trunks. Elephants have two tusks, which are made of ivory. The tusks grow to the right and the left sides of their trunks. Elephants can use their tusks to fight and to dig. People used to hunt elephants so that they could get their tusks. Ivory was used to make beautiful jewelry and statues. It is against the law to hunt elephants now, because hunting them made them endangered animals.

Answer the following questions:

1. What do African elephants eat? (2)
2. What does an African elephant look like? (3)
3. How do they drink water? How much water can they drink? (2)
4. What do elephants use their tusks for? (1)
5. Why are elephants hunted? What is ivory used for? (2)

Q3. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate answers (15)

1. Ria is very _________. Therefore all the teachers like her. (savvy, polite, pompous)
2. Raj wont even get himself a glass of water because he is so _______ (perceptive, versatile, indolent)
3. Viraj’s ________ behavior annoys the class teacher. (open minded, eager, silly)
4. I am very __________ towards my baby sister and love spending time with her. (enthusiastic, manipulative, affectionate)
5. Tracy is _________ to come first in the competition so she practices very hard. (determined, enterprising, calculating)
6. The new girl in class likes to stay ______ so she has not made many friends. (rigid, aloof, irresponsible)
7. I am very__________ for my birthday to arrive. (impatient, realistic, eager)
8. “Raj is a ________ boy,” the teacher complained. (naughty, lenient, resourceful)
9. She is a very _____________ students so she scored full marks . (communicative, dedicated, aloof)
10. John is very ______ so no one wants to be in his team. (bossy, charming, clever)
11. Charlie keeps losing his things. He is very ___________. (determined, careless, imaginative)
12. Sheela did not face any problems while moving to a new place and a new school because she is very __________. (adaptable, silly, analytical)
13. She is very ___________ because she wants me to finish the vacations homework before the vacations began. (pushy, demanding, interfering)
14. He thinks so highly of himself. He is so _________. (vain, timid, stimulating)
15. Monica is as __________ as a fox. (silly, cunning, miserly)

Q4 Bad Qualities (5)

Make sentences with the following bad qualities

1. Coward

2. Unsatisfied

3. miserly

4. stubborn

5. impatient

Q5 Good Qualities (5)

1. sincere
2. dedicated
3. expressive
4. eager
5. affectionate

Q7 Basic Vocabulary (25)

1. Fill in the blanks with ‘beautiful’ words

(fascinated, charming, spectacular, gripping, delightful)

1. The Taj Mahal looks absolutely ___________.
2. That lady in the red sari looks ____________.
3. I had a _________ time at the circus.
4. The height of the Eiffel Tower __________ me.
5. The story was very __________.

2. Fill in the blanks with ‘angry’ words

(outraged, infuriated, enraged, threatened, glared)

1. Father ______ at me when I came home late.
2. Rohan was ________ when I broke his toy.
3. Karan _________ the teacher by making so much noise.
4. “Don’t enter my room,” Rita ____________me.
5. Mother was _________ with my bad marks.

3. Fill in the blanks with ‘happy’ words

(ecstatic, cloud nine, merry-cricket, shrieked, high pitched whoop of joy)

1. Jay was as _________ as a _________ when he stood first.
2. The children let out a _________________ when school was over.
3. I was on __________________ when I got a new car
4. Priyank was ___________ on winning the competition
5. Dave _________ with joy when he found his phone.

4. Make sentences with:

1. grief stricken

2. stopped dead in my tracks

3. left speechless

4. could not believe my eyes

5. depressed

6. face went white

7. shaking from head to toe

8. taken aback

9. astonished

10. gloomy

Mountains

As the sun rises from the horizon and the soft, morning breeze blows over the peaks, one can realize that there is no place as soothing as the mountains in the early hours of the morning…

Covered with a blanket of lush green vegetation, mountains are source to innumerable holy rivers and are major tourist attractions. In the winters, when the peaks are covered with snow, there is so much of mist that it is almost impossible to see beyond 5 metres!

The picturesque winding and unwinding roads are fringed with towering deodars and conifers or sometimes with rocky cliffs. On the contrary to the beautiful landscapes, the other side of the roads are deep valleys that can be horrifying at times.

It’s the ultimate place for nature lovers away from all the pollution and the exhausting lifestyle of the cities. They also provide yogis and meditators with the tranquility they need. Staying in the mountains can actually help achieve bliss!

Abode to various rare species, mountains are a perfect landscape to paint: clouds swirling down to touch the peaks, white water gushing down and greenery everywhere! What more will an artist want?? Photographers, too, have a great opportunity to capture the scenes.

The sunset in the mountains are, once again, a breath-taking sight. There is a beautiful interplay of colours. Just as night falls and it starts getting dark, the snow takes a ghastly hue and as the moon rises, it turns a glittery silver. Come early morning, the snow becomes a delicate pink which turns to yellow and then a dazzling gold!

So now you know that if you want to distress yourself and relish the beauties of nature, all you have to do is pack your bags and take a trip to the mountains!

-Arpita Bhabhera

Time the writing skills are tested

An sample exam was conducted at MP Shah School in which almost 150 students appeared. After the 3 hour exam, they were rewarded with a Munch to munch on. Our reward was the smile on their lips proof enough that they have written well. we heaved a sigh of relief and are gearing up to check their papers. thank you students :)

Our well wishers- thank you for your support :)

Tejal Mehta's creative writing classes

Its almost 9 months since continuous efforts have been put in by us to enhance the writing skills of our students through worksheets, explanations and discussions. we were keen to know if these efforts bore any fruit and so it was time the writing skills were tested...

Joint Families

In the modern times, joint family system has lost its significance. For or against views.

“I dedicate this achievement to my grandfather.” This is the dialogue that we often hear from all successful people with joy and delight beaming on their faces appreciating their family.

I believe that the significance of a joint family is still there as blood is always thicker than water. Many times, people are betrayed by others but hardly ever betrayed by a family member.

Always, in a joint family, a person, whether a grandparent or a little baby is always surrounded in the surfeit of love. There is affection within the family .This would never cause any depression and hence not lead to suicides and other harms. As there is so much affection and stream of love among the family members, the problems would hardly occur and if they do then the family members can trust each other and deal with the problems.

Also if a child or baby is always surrounded with other family members, their parents can be indifferent even when they are too far. Even when they want to go abroad, they can leave their child with other members.

Then there is no chance of the child being spoilt as in a joint family all people mould a child’s personality for their future. They teach him/ her good values, principles, habits, good behavior, etc. The grandparents always follow a perfect and daily routine, by which others get influenced and they also follow it.

In a joint family, if there is no united family business and if one is under any loss, the others can help them to sort their financial issues.

Because of all these reasons I am strongly against the disintegration of the joint families into nuclear families.

-Raj Sheth

Poisonous Smoking

POISONOUS SMOKING
‘You smoke , we choke’ is a usual poster put up on public places with a man dieing due to another man who was smoking and was depressed and glum for smoking.
Cigarette smoking is an unwanted gift of the modern times which is very harmful and toxic and has led to death in most cases. Nowadays, this dirty habit is too fashionable and common among many adults.
The material used in the making of this awful cigarette is Nicotine. When studied in medical laboratory, it has been proven that nicotine highly increases the incidence of heart attacks and cancer in smokers and even passive smoking. Many other dreadful diseases are also caused because of tobacco and it is proved to be too fatal to the environment.
I always wanted to ask the smokers that why do they smoke? It is the same question that even science asks them. This is because there is no benefit in smoking but instead, it has many disadvantages. Did you know, that 15% of the environment is affected because of smoking?
Smoking is one of the major causes of the pollution of the environment. Yet, smokers are not understanding this and are continuing this bad habit.
Smoking is leading to not only the deaths of the smokers but also of the others near them. For these reasons, many countries in abroad have banned smoking. This has eventually reduced the heart attacks by 34% .So, even I feel that smoking in India should be banned to save atleast some Indian smokers as it is really difficult or impossible to stop smoking.

-Raj Sheth

Bank Robbery

"Smit lets go to the bank to make a savings account for you!"exclaimed my mother . I gave a high pitched whoop of joy. I was as pleased as a punch on hearing my mother.
A fortnight had passed since Christmas. There were lush green trees covered with snow. The chirping of birds filled me with peace.
It was a Sunday morning and my mother welcomed me with a cup of hot coffee. My eyes lit up on hearing that we were going to make a new savings account for me.
We went to the bank and waited for our turn to come till a man entered with a black mask and a revolver in his hand. He shot a bullet in the air to warn the people. He went to the cash counter and asked the cashier to give him all the money present in the bank.
The bank manager had already got the news from the silent alarm pressed by the lady at the counter. he immediately called up the cops.
The sight of the robber made my flesh creep. My face turned white.I did not know whether I would be saved or killed but just kept standing by the wall.
While the lady at the counter gave all the money there was to the robber, he was not satisfied with that amount and asked for more. The lady called the manager for the keys of the locker. As soon as she opened the door the cops arrived and shot the robber on his leg.
This gave me a sigh of relief and my heartbeat turned normal. As the sight turned normal my mother quickly made my savings account and we rushed for home before any other incident would take place.

-Smit Patani

Killer-Litter

KILLER – LITTER
“Ah!” I screamed loudly when I saw that something was falling down from the building window. I stopped dead in my spine.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I was feeling very bored and there was no one to play with me. My mother asked me to buy some vegetables from the market. So I went with my grandmother to the supermarket to buy some vegetables.
We took our vegetables, and we were coming back from the supermarket to go to our house. IT was our usual routine to pass the beneath a block of flats.
As we were passing by, suddenly a loud noise came like something was going to fall. So we looked up and we saw that a pigeon was plucking the flowers but he could not manage it. The pigeon started pecking at the flower pot with its beak. The flower pot was at the edge of the window. As the pigeon continued pecking it, it lost its balance. So the flowerpot was falling down. The flowerpot accelerated on its downward fall towards me and my grandmother. I was hurt very badly. I was lying on the ground, crying. The fragment of the shattered flowerpot was all around me. I was overcome with shock at the sudden impact and was shivering in fear. A chill ran down my spine.
By this time, a small crowd had gathered. Some of them were heard condemning the owner of the potted plant for placing it on the ledge of the window. A resident of the area even went upstairs to knock on the door of the owner who had potted the plants on the ledge of the window. But nobody answered the door. So we went back.
Following that incident, my grandmother and I always walked along the void deck when we had to pass by a block of flats.

-Nidhi Patel (thursday batch)

A Hiking Trip

“Wow! It’s so beautiful”, I exclaimed loudly to my companions. I was left speechless and I was gaping with wonder when I saw the lovely scenery outside.
Our Christmas vacation had started and we had about two weeks vacation. Thus my parents decided to go for a adventurous trip to Sahyadri Hills for two days. We all were very excited.

The next day we disembarked from our house at noon. The sun was at its height, shining down on us. Soon we were at the entrance of the dense forest. We could hear the birds chirping an the trees swaying to and fro merrily. As we proceeded further we had many challenges like the unfavorable weather conditions. After a little while we had to trudge through a rocky path. All of them waded gingerly in a single file across the knee-deep muddy water. We held our bag packs above our heads to keep the contents inside our bag dry. When everyone made it safely across the river we decided to go further. My brother was very tired and so we decided to take rest. My mother had carried dry snacks and juice in her bag. Then after taking rest we again started our journey. Soon we came to a small hill. We all got on fours and began to crawl up the steep terrain. It was a little difficult but at last we made our way to the top of the hill. My mother declared the top of the hill as their campsite that night. Each family had his own tent. We all changed ourselves and got fresh. After a little while we gathered around a campfire. We played games and shared jokes with each other. Then we had a hearty dinner. After the dinner it was time for us to tuck in for the night.
The next day it was time to go back to our house I had lots of fun with my parents and friends. It was a memorial trip for me.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

In the early 18 hundreds, in the U.S. there was a family who lived in happiness. They were neither poor nor very rich, they were middle class people.
In the family there were 5 people, the grandmother (Linda,) the grandfather (Charlie,) the father (Tom,) the mother (Liz,) and the child (Nick.)
All the members of the family were form different cultures. In spite of their differences they lived together happily and peacefully. Tom worked in a factory. Nick went to one of the best public schools in the town. The town’s name was Alstan. The family lived in a condo. The condo had 3 bedrooms; one for the grandparents, one for the parents and one for Nick. That time the Revolution war between the United States and England was going on. Those times were tough times for the new and week American community. The British forces sent a lot of soldiers right to war immediately after their training. The U.S. also started to form an army. Of the 12 states, The British took over some of them. The places that British took over had very poor living conditions. The British used to just come in the town and start living there.
Sending secret messages to the General of the U.S. army would be hard because the British soldiers used to patrol almost all the roads. Even for the normal people life with the British soldiers was hard. If somebody wanted to buy a loaf of bread they had to pass the soldiers who used to torture the people.

In the family the grandfather was African and the soldiers used to take the African as slaves to work for them. The family went through a lot of struggle to save the grandfather from being taken slave. They could not even go out of the house on the war days. In due course of time, the British soldiers came in their house and started living there. With those solders living in the house, the family could not even talk about freedom from them. If they did the soldiers would kill them. They had to go through all this trouble for a long time.
This family survived the terror of the war by supporting each other. They had faith that the British forces would lose one day and we will achieve freedom. After the war they lived happily ever after.

And that is the end of it.


Nikhil Jain, Friday, 5:30