ENGLISH P.T. 1

P.T. 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

FULL MARKS : 40

1. Read the passage given below :  [8 marks]

Tourists to Jammu and Kashmir have another attraction – a floating post office on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, the first in the country. ‘Floating Post Office, Dal Lake’ – claimed to be the only one such post office in the world – is built on an intricately carved maroon houseboat, fastened on the western edge of the Dal Lake.

This post office lets you avail of all the regular postal services available in the country while being afloat. The seal used on everything posted from Floating Post Office is unique – along with the date and address, it bears the design of a boatman rowing a shikara on the Dal Lake. The special feature of this post office is that letters posted from here carry a special design which has the picturesque scenery of Dal Lake and Srinagar city. These pictures reach wherever these letters are posted to and hence promote Kashmir as a tourist destination across the world. 

This is actually a heritage post office that has existed since British times. It was called Nehru Park Post Office before 2011. But then the chief postmaster John Samuel renamed it as ‘Floating Post Office’.

The post office’s houseboat has two small rooms – one serves as the office and the other a small museum that traces the philatelic history of the state postal department. It has a shop that sells postage stamps and other products.

But for the locals, Floating Post office is more than an object of fascination. ₹ 1-2 crore is deposited per month in Floating Post Office by communities living in and around the Dal Lake. The lake has several islets that are home to more than 50,000 people. 

The greatest fear is the recurrence of 2014 like floods in which the houseboat had gone for a toss uncontrollably pushed by the flood. Rescue teams had to anchor it using special  mechanism in a nearby highland. Then it was brought back on the Dal after the water receded. The biggest boon is that at no time of the year do you need a fan in this post-office !

Attempt any eight of the following questions on the basis of the passage you have read: [1 * 8 = 8]

(i) What is the location of the Floating Post Office in Srinagar ? 

(ii) What is special about the seal used in the post office ?

(iii) How is the post office helpful in promoting tourism ?

(iv) Who renamed the post office as ‘Floating Post Office’ ?

(v) What are the two rooms of the post office used for ?

(vi) How is the post office beneficial to the locals ?

(vii) What is the greatest fear that the post office has ?

(viii) How is the post office a big boon to the people ?

(ix) Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘attraction’.

 

2. Complete the story in 150-200 words which begins as the following : [10 MARKS]  

There was a joint family of six members including grandparents. It was the 75th birthday of the grandmother and the family planned to celebrate … … … 

OR

Write a story in 150-200 words with the help of the following outline : 

Tortoise and hare – good friends – tortoise – known for his slow speed – hare has fast speed – makes fun of tortoise – challenges him – referee selected – race starts – hare overconfident – takes a nap – tortoise wins.

 

3. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is an error in each line. Write the error as well as the correction as shown in the example. Do any four. [1 * 4 = 4]  

		Error	Correction
In the prisoner’s room a candle is	e.g.	is	was
burning dimly. A prisoner himself	(a)	…………………	………………….
sat by the table. Only him back,	(b)	……………………	……………….
the hair by his head, and his	(c)	…………………..	………………..
hands are visible from outside	(d)	………………..	……………….
through any window.	(e)	…………………	………………….

 

4. Rearrange the following words/phrases to form meaningful sentences. Do any four. [1 * 4 = 4]

(i) work and play / things / different / parents see / as two 

(ii) is a / of time / they / waste / think / that playing 

(iii) important / games / studies / are / as / as

(iv) a student / to both / proper / should / attention / pay

(v) can / life / only / succeed / he / in / then 

 

5. Fill in any four of the blanks in the paragraph given below with the help of options that follow : [1 * 4 = 4]

The modern student (a) ……………. the importance (b) …………… physical exercise. He spends one to two hours in open air (c) …………… he takes part in different sports. However, care should (d) …………….. not to overstrain (e) …………… body.

(a) (i) understood (ii) understand (iii) have understand (iv) understands

(b) (i) of (ii) by (iii) from (iv) with

(c) (i) how (ii) which (iii) where (iv) why

(d) (i) be taken (ii) took (iii) takes (iv) has taken

(e) (i) a (ii) an (iii) the (iv) some

6. Answer the any five of the following questions. [2*5=10]

a. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?

b. Why is 10th May 1994 important for South Africa?

c. What is the central idea of the poem ‘Dust of Snow’?

d. Write down the two different views about the end of the world?

e. How does Dr Herriot treat Tricky?

f. How did Hari Singh steal the money that Anil got from selling his book to a publisher?

 

Good luck