CBSE Sample Papers for Class 9 SA2 English Communicative Solved 2016 Set 4
SECTION-A
(Reading) (20 Marks)
1.(a) Read the passage carefully and complete the sentences that follow :
The beaver had made a dam about two hundred yards long, and it had formed out of the quickly flowing stream, a wide stretch of water about twelve feet deep. The dam was so firm and broad that it was easy for me to walk along it. After a hundred and fifty yards I came to a ‘beaver’s castle’, a great heap of logs, skilfully fitted together, the lower part covered with earth and plants. The upper logs were put loosely together, so that the air could pass through to the interior.
In the late autumn, before land and water are covered with snow and ice, the beaver has to make its dwelling frost-proof. It collects young trees and gnaws the stems in a double cone until the tree falls. Then the long stems are gnawed into small sections, the thin twigs bitten off, and the logs are dragged to the dwelling. There the timber is piled on the ‘castle’, sometimes to a height of ten or a dozen feet. Mud is brought up from the bottom of the lake and packed between the logs with the animal’s clever forepaws. The interior is lined with the finest wood shavings. In this tall shelter the beaver remains high and dry, and protected from frost throughout the winter.
The only access to the dwelling is under the water, and even the forest wolves are unable to pull the firm building apart.
The water is the beaver’s element. On land it moves slowly and awakwardly. Thus it is vital for the beaver to have water in which it can swim, and where Nature has not provided this condition for it, it creates it with its dam.
(a)The beaver has the ability to build_________ .
(b) The beaver’s ‘castle’ has to be made before________ .
(c) The inner part of the beaver’s nest is_________ .
(d) The access to the nest which is under the water keeps the bird_________
(e) The beaver is fond of water as it_________ .
(b) Read the following passage carefully : (5)
1. We are a free and sovereign people today and we have rid ourselves of the burden of the past. We look at the world with clear and friendly eyes and at the future with faith and confidence. The burden of foreign domination is done away with, but freedom brings its own responsibilities and burdens, and they can only be shouldered in the spirit of a free people, self-disciplined and determined to preserve and enlarge that freedom.
2. We have achieved much; we have to achieve much more. Let us then address ourselves to our new tasks with the determination and adherence to high principles which our great leader has taught us. Gandhiji is fortunately with us to guide and inspire and ever to point to us the path of high endeavour. He taught us long ago that ideals and objectives can never be divorced from the methods adopted to realise them; that worthy ends can only be achieved through worthy means. If we aim at the big things of life, if we dream of India as a great nation giving her age-old message of peace and freedom to others, then we have to be big ourselves and be worthy children of Mother India. The eyes of the world are upon us watching this birth of freedom in the East and wondering what it means.
1. On the basis of your reading of the passage complete the following statements :
(a) We have done away with_________ .
(b) Gandhiji taught us never to separate__________ .
2. Answer the following questions.
(a) What should we do to achieve our goals ?
(b) What tells you that the writer is inspiring his countrymen ?
3. Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘extend’ (para 1).
2.Read the passage carefully and on the basis of your study of the passage answer the questions given below : (OTBA)(10)
Early automobiles were sometimes only ‘horseless carriages’ powered by gasoline or steam engines. Some of them were so noisy that cities often made laws forbidding their use because they frightened horses.
Many countries helped to develop the automobile. The internal combustion engine was invented in Austria, and France was an early leader in automobile manufacturing. But it was in the United States after 1900 that the automobile was improved most rapidly. As a large and growing country, the United States needed cars and trucks to provide transportation in places not served by trains.
Two brilliant ideas made possible the mass production of automobiles. An American inventor named Eli Whitney thought of one of them, which is known as ‘standardization of parts’. In an effort to speed up production in his gun factory, Whitney decided that each part of a gun could be made by machines so that it could be exactly like all the others of its kind.
Another American, Henry Ford, developed the idea of the assembly line. Before Ford introduced the assembly line, each car was built by hand. Such a process was, of course, very slow. As a result, automobiles were so expensive that only rich people could afford them. Ford proposed a system in which each worker would have only a portion of the wheels. Another would place the wheels on the car. And still another would insert the bolts that held the wheels to the car. Each worker needed to learn only one or two routine tasks. But the really important part of Ford’s idea was to bring the work to the worker. An automobile frame, which looks like a steel skeleton, was put on a moving platform. When the car reached the end of the line, it was completely assembled. Oil gasoline and water were added and the car was ready to be driven away. With the increased production made possible by the assembly line, automobiles became much cheaper and more and more people were able to afford them.
Today, it can be said that wheels run America. The four rubber tyres of the automobile move America through work and play.
Even though the majority of Americans would find it hard to imagine what life would be like without a car, some have begun to realize that the automobile is a mixed blessing. Traffic accidents are increasing steadily and large cities and plagued by traffic congestion. Worst of all, perhaps, is the air pollution caused by the internal combustion engine. Every car engine burns hundreds of gallons of fuel each year and pumps hundreds of pounds of carbon monoxide and other gases into the air. These gases are one source of the smog that hangs over large cities. Some of these gases are poisonous and dangerous to health, especially for someone with a weak heart or a respiratory disease.
One answer to the problem of air pollution is to build a car that does not pollute. That’s what several major automobile manufactures are trying to do. But building a clean car is easier said than done. So far progress has been slow. Another solution is to eliminate car fumes altogether by getting rid of the internal combustion engine. Inventors are now working on turbine powered cars, as well as cars powered by steam and electricity. But most of us won’t be driving cars run on batteries or boiling water for a while yet. Many auto
makers believe that it will take years to develop practical models that are powered by electricity or steam.
To rid the world of pollution – pollution caused not just by cars, but by all of modern industrial life – many people believe we must make some fundamental changes in the way many of us live. Americans may, for example, have to cut down on the number of privately owned cars and depend more on public mass transit systems. Certainly the extensive use of new transit systems could cut down in traffic congestion and air pollution. But these changes sometimes clash head-on with other urgent problems. For example, if a factory closes down because it cannot meet government pollution standards, a large number of workers suddenly find themselves without jobs. Questioning the quality of air they breathe becomes less important than worrying about the next pay cheque. Drastic action must be taken if we are to reduce traffic accidents, traffic congestion and air pollution. While wheels have brought better and more convenient transportation, they have also brought new and unforeseen problems. Progress, it turns out, has more than one face.
(a) Air pollution is now a big problem ? How can we check it ?
(b) The craze for cars in India is undiminishing ? What are the dire consequences of this craze ? Discuss.
SECTION-B
(Writing & Grammar) (25 Marks)
3.Good values can be inculcated in childhood. Taking ideas from the MCB unit ‘Children’ together with your own ideas, write an article on the topic ‘Good Values and Children’ in 100-120 words. (5)
Hints :
- good values to be inculcated in childhood
- civic sense, honesty, sincerity, diligence
- parents and teachers’ role
- difficult to cultivate in later stage
4.Complete the story that begins with the following statement in not more than 150-200 words. (10)
Last month I received a parcel from a stranger. No one wanted to open it, thinking it might contain something undesirable…
5.Choose the most appropriate options from the ones given below to
complete the following paragraph. (3)
Most of us are quite lazy. We waste (a)_____________ time to get up early or
reach somewhere (b)____________ time. Consequently, we lag behind others
and (c)___________ begin to repent.
(a) (i)lots of (ii)a lot of (iii) many (iv)quite
(b) (i)on (ii)in (iii) of (iv)with
(c) (i)than (ii)then (iii) to (iv)so
6.In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and after it, in your answer sheet against the correct blank number. Underline your answer :(4)
Man’s efficiency increases hard work. e.g.,Increases after hard
If he does work hard, his practice suffers. (a) ……………. …………..
The lawyer is judged by cases that (b) …………. …………..
he wins. The writer examined (c) …………… ………….
by the of readers he has. (d) ……………. ………….
7. Rearrange the following words and phrases to form meaningful sentences: (3)
(a) an / flattery / which / can be / is / art / mastered / easily
(b) this art / always / is / a master / subtle / of
(c) everybody / excel / at flattery / not / can
SECTION-C
(Literature Textbook & Long Reading Text) (25 Marks)
8. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow : (3)
The voice of thunder declares my arrival :
The rainbow announces my departure.
I am like earthly life which begins at The feet of the mad elements and ends Under the upraised wings of death.
What happens when the rain comes ?
- When does the rain disappear ?
- What does the poet compare the cycle of rain’s life, growth and death to ?
Or
“Listen to this”, said he. “Trevelyan is sitting with the Princess Alwyna at the back end of the tulip-garden.”
(а) Who are Trevelyan and Princess Alwyna referred to ?
(б) Who is ‘he’ in this extract ?
(c) What is the subject of discussion ?
9.Answer these questions in 30-40 words each : (2×4=8)
- Describe in brief the seven stages in man’s life. (The Seven Ages)
- Describe Corporal Turnbull.(The Man Who Knew Too Much)
- Before leaving, the convict asks the Bishop to bless him. What brought about this change in him ? (The Bishop’s Candlesticks)
- What was going to end all the anxieties of the Brambles ?
(Keeping It From Harold)
10. ‘The only drawback was that his very ’perfection’ had made necessary a series of evasions and deliberate falsehoods on the part of herself and her husband, highly distasteful to both”.
Whose perfection does the extract point out ? Write a paragraph on the value of ‘truthfulness’ ? (4)
Value Points :
- sincerity and truth desirable
- falsehood painful at a later stage
- tactfulness and skill required
Or
“If you got a tooth, you got a friend”
What is the importance of having sound bright teeth in life ? Should the children not be asked to take more and more care of their teeth ?
Value Points :
- good taste only with healthy teeth
- neglect of teeth harmful
- parents to inculcate good habit of keeping teeth clean
11. Describe the activities going on in the grand academy of projectors in
Lagado. (10)
Or
What do you think of Munodi as a person ? Is he retrogressive ?
Or
Describe the incident at the lock at Hampton Court.
Or
George, Harris and the narrator are moody and whimsical. Substantiate your answer.
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