CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature Paper 2

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature Paper 2 are part of CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature. Here we have given CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature Paper 2.

Board	CBSE
Class	X
Subject	English Language and Literature
Sample Paper Set	Paper 2
Category	CBSE Sample Papers

Time: 3 Hours
Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions

1. The paper consists of 3 sections: A, B, C.
2. Attempt all the questions.
3. Don’t write anything on the question paper.
4. Read each question carefully and follow the given instructions.
5. All the answers must be correctly numbered and written in the answer sheet provided to you.
6. Strictly adhere to the word limit given in the question paper. Marks will be deducted for exceeding the word limit.
7. Ensure that questions of each section are answered together.

SECTION-A
(Reading – 20 Marks)

Question 1.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow
1. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kanton Wednesday said the government needs to exit infrastructure projects and even look at handing over schools and colleges to the private sector as is the case in Canada and Australia. He was, however, critical of India’s private sector, saying it has created a crisis in the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The idea of PPP in education is not a new one; over the years, thanks to the dipping quality of education in government-run schools in India, there has been a demand for private intervention. But in India, the experience of PPP in education has been a mixed one. Two years ago, the Rajasthan government unveiled a PPP model to hand over more than 70,000 state-run schools to the private sector but had to be scrapped after 3.5 lakh teachers resisted the move.

2. At the international level, the mood, however, is towards private-public partnership. The Sustainable Development Goals 2030 also talks about the PPP model, but mostly in the infrastructure sector. However, PPPs cannot be a panacea in any sector unless there is a robust institutional framework to oversee its implementation. A UN report — PPPs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — stresses that for PPPs to become successful, it is necessary that countries have in place “the institutional capacity to create, manage, and evaluate them”.

3. The goal number 4 of SDGs says that by 2030, governments will have to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4-effective learning outcomes. If India wants to reach this goal via the PPP route, then it is imperative that the government systems are upgraded to keep a hawk eye on the progress of such partnerships. But present India does not seem to be ready and equipped for such an overhaul.

Question 1.1.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any eight of the following questions in brief

1. According to Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant, what should be done for the better system of schools and colleges? ‘
2. Name the two countries that have been exemplified.
3. What does PPP stand for?
4. Where can PPP be the perfect solution?
5. What does the Goal number 4 of SDGs say?
6. What India have to do to reach this goal?
7. Who unveiled the idea of PPP?
8. What is the position of India today?
9. Find a word in para 1 similar in meaning to ’divulged’.

Question 2.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow
1. Albert Einstein was one of the greatest scientists the world has ever known. He was truly a fascinating man. Once this great physicist was caught in a downpour. He took off his hat and held it under his coat. When he was asked, he explained with admirable logic that the rain would damage the hat but his hair would be none the worse for its wetting.

2. Once he was given a magnetic compass by his father when he was four and sick in bed. Albert practiced turning the compass every way, soon became fascinated by the new toy. No matter which way he turned it, the needle would always point in the same direction much in the way Einstein’s genius and fascination with nature pointed him towards a life of scientific discovery.

3. Einstein’s mother introduced him to music and he became a fine violinist. He also excelled in mathematics.

4. At eleven, he studied physics of the university level. But he was an independent thinker and hated the regimentation of the German School system. Schools were like barracks and teachers were like military commanders for Albert. When he was sixteen, he renounced his citizenship in order to avoid joining the German army and moved to Switzerland. He spent four years studying maths and physics at the renowned Zurich Polytechnic.

5. In 1933, while he was in the USA, Hilter came to power in Germany. That same year, Einstein accepted a permanent appointment at the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, and in 1941, he became a citizen of the United States of America.

6. Einstein surrendered his lifelong pacifism in 1939 when he wrote a letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, encouraging the President to begin atomic weapon research. He felt uneasy about the rise in power of Nazi Germany and was told that German Physicist had split the uranium atom.

Question 2.1.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any four of the following questions in brief

1. Why did Albert Einstein take off his hat in a downpour?
2. What did Albert Einstein notice, when he was given a compass?
3. In order to avoid the German Army, what did Einstein do?
4. Why did Einstein feel uneasy?
5. What did Albert consider schools and teachers?

Question 2.2.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any four of the following

SECTION – B
(Writing & Grammar — 30 Marks)

Question 3.
Write a letter to the Manager, Vikas Book Ltd. Meerut, complaining about the delay
in the supply of Class X textbooks for the current year, giving necessary details. Write about the inconvenience caused. You are Monu/Meena, Bookshop, Vivekanand Public School, Delhi.

OR

Write a letter to the Manager, National Disaster Management Association requesting him to conduct a safety drill for an earthquake so that students can be aware of the safety measures to be taken in such situations. You can use the following clues.

1. Drill in morning Assembly
2. Beneficial for students as well as teachers
3. Primary students escape first.

Question 4.
Complete the story with the help of hints given below:
Hints: A bird named Kakul/strange/has two necks and two heads/found one delicious fruit/ shared by the first/second one got hurt/one day found poisonous fruit/second one ate…

OR

Develop a story with the help of the following opening line
Inder was the son of a rich landlord. His father left him a large tract of land

Question 5.
Fill in any four gaps by choosing the most appropriate words from the options given below.
Life (a)……….. our planet earth began with the sea; it is the birthplace of life on the earth. The earth is the only planet of (b)…………….. solar system so far is known which contains plenty (c)……………… water and this water has made our earth colorful, pulsating (d)…………….. life of a vast variety. Earth is the planet (e)………………the Sun.

Question 6.
The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the correction against any four lines of the passage.

The room in which the boys were feed
was a large stone hall with a copper in
one end: out of what the master, dressed
in the apron for the purpose and assisted
by one or two women ladled the gruel on meal times.
Oliver is brought up with little food.

Question 7.
Rearrange any four of the following groups of words and phrases to form meaningful sentences

1. backbone/are/a/youth/nation/the/of
2. they/well/fiiture/the/meaning/of/change/courageous/society/behaviour/with/the/can/their/ and
3. casual/careless/but/more/become/today/they/and/have
4. energy/pursuits/they/youthful/meaningless/waste their/in
5. our/they/makers/policy/future/are

SECTION – C
(Literature : Textbook & Long Reading Text — 30 Marks)

Question 8.
Read the following extract carefully and answer the questions that follow
Never shall a young man,
Thrown into despair By these great honey-colored Ramparts at your ear.
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair

1. Name the poem and the poet.
2. Who is talking to whom?
3. What does the ‘honey-colored ramparts’ here mean?
4. Why does a young man love a young woman, according to the poet?

OR

Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Week! which is giggling for a mouse
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age.
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

1. Name the poem and the poet.
2. Why did all giggle?
3. Why did Ink and Mustard ask Custard his age?
4. Why did Custard ask for a cage?

Question 9.
Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each

1. How did Wanda’s father’s letter affect Peggy and Maddie?
2. The tiger never brushed his teeth why does the author say so?
3. How did the dog react to the doctor’s treatment?
4. Horace Danby was a skilled and careful thief but the lady-in-red was smarter than him. How?
5. What did the appearance of a baker show about his profession?

Question 10.
Answer any one of the following questions in about 100-120 words
Maxwell takes good care of the other. Similarly, other human beings should take of animals. Based on the reading write a paragraph on ‘Save Wildlife’.

OR

What moral lesson does the story ‘The Necklace’ teach us?

Question 11.
Answer any one of the following questions in about 200-250 words
What was the thing that upset Anne, outside the Annexe?

OR

What dream did Anne see about Lies?

OR

Before the arrival of Sullivan, what were the characteristic traits of Helen?

OR

Helen liked her experience at Oceanside. Describe.

Answers

Answer 1.1.

1. According to Niti Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant the government needs to exit infrastructure projects and even look at handing over schools and colleges.
2. Canada and Australia.
3. PPP stands for Public-Private Partnership.
4. PPP can be the perfect solution where there is the robust institutional framework to oversee its implementation.
5. The Goal number 4 of SDGs says that by 2030 government will have to ensure that all boys and girls complete a free, equitable and quality education.
6. The government systems are upgraded to keep a hawk eye on the progress of partnerships.
7. The Rajasthan government.
8. India doesn’t seem to be readily equipped for such an overhaul.
9. Unveiled.

Answer 2.1.

1. In a downpour, Albert Einstein took off his hat and held under his coat. According to him, rain would damage the hat but his hair would be none the worse for its wetting.
2. When Albert was given a compass he turned the compass every way, no matter which way he turned it, the needle would always point in the same direction.
3. When he was sixteen he renounced his citizenship in order to avoid joining the German army and moved to Switzerland. He spent four years studying maths and Physics at the renowned Zurich Polytechnic.
4. Einstein felt uneasy about the rise in power of Nazi Germany and was told that German physicists had split the uranium atom.
5. Albert considered schools as barracks and teachers as military commanders.

Answer 2.2.
(a) (ii) 11 years
(b) (ii) Germany
(c) (iii) fascinate
(d) (ii) downpour
(e) (iv) renounced

SECTION – B

Answer 3.
Bookshop
Vivekanand Public School
Delhi
27th July, 20xx
The Manager
Vikas Books Ltd.
Meerut
Sub: Delay in the supply of books
Dear Sir,
We had placed an order with you for class X textbooks for the current academic year on 5th July, 20xx.
This is to state with regret that we have not yet received the consignment. It is already two weeks since we placed the order. The current academic session is in full swing and the delay in the delivery of the textbooks is causing a lot of problems to the students of class X who cannot carry on with their studies and thus losing on a lot of time.
Please send the following textbooks of class X at your earliest.
1. Workbook English
2. English Literature
3. Main Course Book
4. Economics

Thanking you
Yours truly
Monu
(Manager, Book Store)

OR

The Army Public School
Ridge Road, Daula Kuan
New Delhi-110002
17th August, 20xx

The Manager
National Disaster Management Association
Safdar Jung Enclave
New Delhi
Sub: Conducting of Earthquake Safety Drill

Sir,
This is to request you to conduct a mock drill on earthquake safety for the benefit of our staff and students. The drill would help us to be aware of the steps to be taken during such situations. The drill would ensure students how to avoid creating panic at the time of emergency. Also, students should know that they should not run blindly, but instead let primary students escape first. They should avoid spreading rumors and follow the instructions properly. The drill will also help teachers tackle the huge, confused crowd of students.
Your team can conduct the drill during morning assembly (6:45 am – 7:15 am) on any day convenient to you except Saturday and Sunday.
Please inform us the date in advance.
Thanking you

Yours sincerely
Rita Mathur
(Principal)

Answer 4.
Once upon a time, there lived a great bird named Kakul on the banks of a lake. It was strange because he had two necks with two heads but shared the common body. One day, as the bird was wandering it found a delicious looking red-green fruit. One of the heads mumbled, ‘Oh, what a delicious looking fruit.

I am lucky to have found it. I am sure the fruit is sent from the heavens only for me”. On saying so, it started eating the fruit with utmost pleasure. Hearing and seeing all this, the other head requested, “Oh dear, please allow me also to taste the fruit.” The first head refused to say, “We share the same stomach, whoever amongst us eats the fruit, it goes to the same stomach. This selfishness of the first head hurt him very much.

A few days later as they were wandering, the second head found some fruits. The fruits were from a poisonous tree. He told the first head, “you are a deceitful person. The other day you had insulted me by not sharing the delicious fruit. Now I am going to eat this fruit and avenge your insult.” The first head pleaded, “If you eat it, we both will suffer.” Knowing what would happen, the first head began to cry. The second head ate the poisonous fruit with caring the first head’s requests. As a consequence, the bird severely suffered.

OR

Inder was the son of a rich landlord. His father left him a large tract of land when he died. But he didn’t spend even one day for looking after this land. The reason being a funny idea that there exists a magic potion which, if touched to any object, turns it into gold. He spent all his time in search of this potion. People cheated him of often promising to tell him about it. One day a famous sage called Siddh Maharaj came to their village. To his surprise, the sage told him that he could tell him how that potion could be made. He said, “you have to plant a banana tree and water it regularly.

In winter you have to collect five litres of dew that settle on the leaves of the banana tree.” The sage warned to collect the dew with his own hands. Inder went home and told her everything. After this they started clearing the large fields which had been lying empty all these years. Then he planted rows of banana trees. In winter he collected the dew formed on them with great care. His wife Suman helped him too. Over years she gathered the banana crop, took it to the market and got a good price for it. At the end of six years he finally had his five litres of dew. The sage muttered a mantra over the water. When Inder sprinkled the water on a copper vessel, nothing happened.

The sage saw Inder’s annoying reaction, and called Suman. Suman came with a big box when she opened it inside were piles and piles of gold coins. The sage told Inder that he worked hard on his land and created that plantation. It was his hard word that created this wealth not magic.
Inder understood the wisdom behind these words and worked even harder on his plantation from that day on.

Answer 5.
(a) (i) on
(b) (ii) our
(c) (iii) of
(d) (iv) with
(e) (v) from

Answer 6.

Answer 7.

1. Youth is the backbone of a nation.
2. They can change the future of society with their well-meaning and courageous behavior.
3. But today they have become more casual and careless.
4. They waste their youthful energy in meaningless pursuits.
5. They are our future policymakers.

SECTION – C

Answer 8.

1. Poem – For Anne Gregory Poet – William Butler Yeats
2. A young man is talking to a young woman.
3. The ‘honey coloured ramparts’ here refers to the woman’s yellow hair.
4. A young man loves a young woman for her physical beauty

OR

1. Poem – The Tale of Custard the Dragon Poet – Ogden Nash
2. All giggled because Custard asked for a nice safe cage.
3. Ink and Mustard asked Custard his age because they wanted to know the reason of his cowardice.
4. Custard asked for a cage to settle in safely.

Answer 9.

1. Peggy felt bad but she could take it easy. But Maddie felt guilty. She found herself a coward
   for not stopping the ill-treatment to Wanda. She wanted to say sorry to Wanda as she found herself equally responsible for Wanda’s leaving the school.
2. The children are as free as the tiger in the jungle. They do not care about brushing their teeth or washing their mouths. They start thing as soon as they wake up. The author presents their carefree attitude by supporting it with the example of a tiger.
3. The dog reacted positively. For the first two days he continued to be lethargic but towards the end of the second, he began showing some interest in the surrounding. On the third day, he joined the other dogs for food and play.
4. Horace Danby planned and executed his robberies once-a-year only. He never left any fingerprints anywhere. But the lady-in-red was smarter than him. She robbed without even touching anything. She also tricked Horace and was responsible for getting him arrested.
5. The appearance of a baker was healthy and strong. The baker and his family never starved. They always looked happy and in good condition. So his appearance showed that baking was a profitable business.

Answer 10.
Wildlife is an important thing in this world. It helps in maintaining ecological balance, recreational value, economic value, etc. Man shares this planet with millions of other species. But his greed has been destroying wildlife. The number of wild animals is gradually decreasing. Mass killings of wild animals for their skin, bones, meat, fur, teeth are going on throughout the world. So all the living creatures are to be looked after and carefully conserved. The species which are on the verge of extinction should be carefully preserved.

OR

The ‘Necklace’ is a story that teaches us to be fair and honest in our dealings. A person should accept his/her financial and physical status and stage. He/She should not compare with others to an extent that it harms himself or herself. Matilda was not true to herself. The borrowing of necklace brought all those sufferings to her. Had she told her friend about the lose of the necklace, maybe she would not have suffered so much. On the other hand, one can say a single act of negligence, sometimes, can destroy our life. Matilda’s one act of negligence or one small error led to the complete ruin of their happy and bright life. They suffered poverty for ten years for replacing the false necklace with the genuine necklace.

Answer 11.
Anne felt very bad about everything that was happening outside the Annexe—people were . being dragged from their houses with nothing but a ransack and very little money. On the way, these possessions were being forcibly taken away from them. Children, returned to their homes, found their parents missing, women found their families missing when they returned from shopping. The Dutch were worried as their young sons were being forcibly enlisted in the army and being sent to Germany. Planes carrying bombs flew over Holland en route to Germany.

It seemed that the whole world was at war, but the end was nowhere in sight. Anne felt that they were fortunate and luckier than millions of people as it was quiet and safe, in the secret Annexe. But still the residents were troubled by the thought of the immense damage and ruin that was being caused by the war.

OR

Anne saw a horrible dream about her friend Lies, in which she saw her friend was reproaching her for having abandoned her. She saw that Lies was pleading her to rescue her from hell. Lies was dressed in rags, her face was thin and tired. Her eyes were very big and she looked sadly and disapprovingly at Anne who was unable to help her. Anne was reminded of their younger days when they were close friends. When Lies got a new friend, she had misjudged Anne thinking that she wanted to take her new friend away. Anne realised that it was disgusting for her to treat Lies as she had done.

She now looked at her helplessly with her pale face and imploring eyes. Anne sincerely hoped that she could live till the end of the war and could meet Lies and do something to make up for all the wrong she had done to her. Anne felt incredibly remorseful. She decided that she would never forget her and would always prey for her.

OR

Before the arrival of Sullivan, Helen, when she was four or five, felt the need to communicate with others. Helen learnt how to make simple signs to make herself understood and she also learnt how to distinguish between people leaving or coming into the house. Helen noticed that other people did not use signs when they communicated. Although she tried to move her lips, no sound came out of her mouth. In frustration she often threw tantrums. Her nurse Ella was often on the receiving end of her violent tantrums but Helen’s sense of regret did not last long.

She was only interested in getting what she wanted. Everybody let her have her own way. Helen mistreated her dolls especially Nancy. Due to her mischievous and contrary nature, she locked up her mother in the pantry. Helen displayed no regret for her actions. Her behaviour was bad due to her repressed intelligence and genius which was looking for an outlet. She gradually calmed down soon after her teacher Miss Sullivan came into the picture.

OR

Helen would spend time at Brewster on Cape Cod with her friend, Mrs. Hopkins. It was decided for the summer break at the Perkins Institution. Helen was greatly excited for she had heard many delightful stories about the sea. The only knowledge she had at the sea was from reading a big book called Our World. The description of the ocean filled her with wonder and she had a strong desire to be near the sea and touch and smell it, and hear its mighty roar.

When she came to know that her dream was to come true, her joy was limitless. When she reached the beach, she changed, her dress into swimming suit and got into cool water. But suddenly her joy changed into terror for her toe struck a rock and she fell into the sea. Helen struggled and finally a big wave threw her back on the shore where her teacher immediately caught her and consoled her. She did not remain afraid, she made several visits to the sea where she sat on a rock and felt the waves crashing upon it.

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