CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature Paper 1

CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English Language and Literature Paper 1 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 1.

Board	CBSE
Class	X
Subject	English Language and Literature
Sample Paper Set	Paper 1
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.

SECTION-A
(Reading 20 Marks)

Question 1.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. It is said that everyone lives by selling something. What you can understand by this statement is that teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers live by selling wisdom and priests eam their living by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in term of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us.

2.There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely the same service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.

3.Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. He may never be sure where his next meal is coming from, but he is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even, in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom.

4. We often speak with contempt for tramps and put them in the same class as beggars. But how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from any care in the world?

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

1. What does the author mean by the statement ‘Everyone has something to sell’?
2. What is the difference between a beggar and a tramp?
3. How are tramps closer to nature than normal people?
4. Why should we feel jealous of a tramp?
5. What is the advantage of being a tramp?
6. What can he do to keep himself alive?
7. For what a tramp may never be sure?
8. Give two examples of selling from the passage.
9. Find a word in para 2 which is antonym of’material’.

Question 2.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Right from the early Vedic period people have been celebrating the birth of a son, but in those days daughters bom into a family were not neglected but were educated properly. This changed during the later Vedic Age and daughters were considered a social burden. Only girls belonging to upper-class families enjoyed the right of education and got proper nourishment.

2. In the medieval period the conditions deteriorated for the females and, even in royal families, girls could not get the same status as boys. In Muslim households, they were taught at their homes while Hindu girls privileged by getting primary education along with boys in schools. The practice of child marriage was excessively observed. However, in the nineteenth century, many social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Annie Besant, MG Ranade, Jyotiba Phule, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, etc came forward for the emancipation of women in India. Especially Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated female education.

3. Since then, there has been tremendous progress in every field but unfortunately, girls are still neglected. In most of the families birth of girl child is not desired, and if accepted, they are considered as inferior to boys and their education is not considered important because it seems a wastage of money of most of the parents. They think it unreasonable because afterward they would be compelled to spend a heavy amount on their dowry. So, the female literacy rate is unsatisfactory and has a direct impact upon the overall development and growth of the nation.

4. If India wants to be a developed nation, it must concentrate on female education because if we educate a man, we educate an individual, but if we educate a woman, we educate an entire family. Again the root cause of all problems facing women is lack of education. If all women are educated, then all problems like female infanticide, dowry, female suicides, domestic battering, malnutrition of women, child marriage and other related atrocities would vanish from India. Education provides an essential qualification to fulfill certain economic, political and cultural functions and improves women’s socio-economic status. It brings reduction in inequalities. If their standard of living is improved, it will indirectly uplift the level of society. If they are financially strong, they will take proper care of their children and provide them with good education.

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

1. In the later vedic age, how were only the girls of upper class families privileged?
2. How does financial independence of women help them?
3. Why did people consider education of girls a sheer wastage of money?
4. What is the root cause of atrocities against women?
5. Name the reformers who came forward for the emancipation of women.

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

1. During the early Vedic period, daughters were…………. .
   (i) neglected
   (ii) considered a burden
   (iii) educated properly
   (iv) considered an asset
2. In the Medieval period, girls were taught at homes of……………
   (i) Sikh
   (ii) Muslim
   (iii) Hindu
   (iv) Christian
3. The word in para 2 which means ‘worsened’ is……………
   (i) constructed
   (ii) deteriorated
   (iii) ruined
   (iv) decorated
4. Find the word in para 3 which is synonym of obliged’……………
   (i) appealed
   (ii) compelled
   (iii) accused
   (iv) appreciated
5. In para 4, the synonym of ‘brutalities’ is……….. .
   (i) helpful
   (ii) amiable
   (iii) atrocities
   (iv) generous

SECTION – B
(Writing & Grammar-30 marks)

Question 3.
As Subhash Maggo, E-4, Krishna Nagar, you had employed the services of Rajan Packers, 15-D Block, Connaught Place, New Delhi to pack and transport your household goods and car to Chennai. Your household goods reached Chennai too late and the car was found in damaged condition. Complain the manager for late delivery of goods and damage caused.

OR

You are Arun/Aruna living in East Delhi. Your grand father is very old and sick. You need some healthcare products on rent and also services of a 24 hour elderly care male nurse. Write a letter to Manager, Patel Medicare Services, Vikas Marg branch inquiring about your specific requirements.

Question 4.
Write a story in about 150-200 words with the following outline.
Hints: Daksh/like monsoon season/to enjoy rain/stay back at home/found a street dog/Tini drenched in rain with her puppies/her shelter damaged/managed to help/showed her affection to Daksh

OR

Develop a story with the help of the following opening line. Atul and Himanshu revised the chemistry formulae in front of them……

Question 5.
Fill in any four gaps by choosing the most appropriate words from the options given below.
South India is known (a)……….. its music and rich literature. Chennai can be called (b)……….. cultural capital and the soul of Mother India. Earlier this city was known as Madras, (c)……….. 17th July 1996, the city was officially renamed Channai in line (d)………… what was then a nationwide trend to use less Anglicised names. Channai is the second leading exporter (e)……….. information technology.

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.

In a northern part of India,
Summer are very hot.
June and July are the hot months.
The Sun shine brightly
for these months.

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

1. worked/Charley/at the office/one/late/night
2. to get/was in/to his apartment/a hurry/he
3. the sub-way/so he/grand central take/from/decided to
4. into/doorway/he/an arched/ducked
5. challenge/was/any/to/Charley/ready/face

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

Question 8.
Read the extract and answer the following questions.
These meadows are not worth much to me. They only come to find dessiatins and are worth perhaps 300 roubles but I can’t stand unfairness. Say what you will, I can’t stand unfairness.

1. Who is the speaker?
2. Who is the listener?
3. How much are the meadows worth?
4. What is the trait the speaker cannot stand?

OR

I wonders where they get those tokens
Did I pass that way huge times ago
and negligently drop them?

1. According to the speaker what have they retained?
2. Why has, according to the speaker, man lost his basic goodness?
3. According to the author when did man lose his virtues?
4. What has made man drop his ‘tokens’?

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

1. How did James R. Wong help Elbright?
2. What is the twist at the end of the lesson ‘The Necklace’?
3. What was the ‘single-hope’ Lencho and his family had? What does it show?
4. Does Ramlal love Bholi? Give a reasoned answer on the basis of the story ‘Bholi’?
5. What was the plan of Martians? Did they succeed in their attempt?

Question 10.
Answer any one of the following questions in about 100-120 words
What moral value did Kisa Gotami learn after the death of her child?

OR

“Never mind” she said, “I can get on by myself’. “You don’t have to help me” said Valli to the conductor. She shows extraordinary courage in making the bus journey all above. After learning about Valli write a paragraph on ‘Risk is essential to fulfill one’s dream.’

Question 11.
Answer any one of the following questions in about 200-250 words
What do you think of dating in Anne’s time? Compare it to the present day.

OR

Describe the traumatic phases that were experienced by Jews.

OR

What difficulties were faced by Helen Keller at Cambridge School?

OR

How did Mr. Keith contribute to the intellectual enrichment of Helen?

Answers

Answer 1.1.

1. The author means to say that both goods and services are sold‘by people in various professions, like shopkeepers sell goods, teachers sell wisdom and priests sell spiritual comfort.
2. The difference is that white beggar virtually sells himself as a human being to arouse the pity of the people and thus sacrifice his human dignity, a tramp may ask you for money but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him, thus remain dignified.
3. Tramps are closer to nature as they normally sleep in the open.
4. We should feel jealous of a tramp because he leads a simple life without any worries at all.
5. The advantage of being a tramp is that you are free from the worries which burden normal persons.
6. He may hunt, beg or steal occasionally.
7. that where his next meal is coming from.
8. Teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers live by selling wisdom.
9. Spiritual

Answer 2.1.

1. In the later Vedic Age, only the girls of upper class families were privileged by enjoying the right of education and getting proper nourishment.
2. Financial independence of women helps them in taking care of their children and providing them with a good education.
3. People considered education of girls a sheer wastage of money because afterwards they were compelled to spend a large amount of money on dowry also to get the girls married.
4. The root cause of atrocities against women is their illiteracy, as education provides women an essential qualification to fulfill certain economic, political and cultural functions and improves their socio economic status.
5. Raja Ram Mohan Roy Jyotiba Phule Annie Besant MG Ranade.

Answer 2.2.

1. (iii) educated properly
2. (ii) Muslim
3. (ii) deteriorated
4. (ii) compelled
5. (iii) atrocities

SECTION – B

Answer 3.
E-4, Krishna Nagar
Delhi
24th July, 20xx
The Manager
Rajan Packers
15-D, Connaught Place
New Delhi

Sub: Complaint regarding late delivery and damage of goods

Dear Sir,
This is to bring to your kind notice that I shifted my household goods and car to Chennai and had asked for your services to pack and transport the goods. However I regret to inform you that the package of goods has been delivered to Chennai seven days after they were sent from . here. Only the car has been delivered and that too in a damaged condition. One front door of the car has been severely damaged. It is extremely distressing to obserye this inefficiency of your company.

I want to claim compensation for the damage to the car; I request you to kindly look into the matter and find out where my goods are and inform me about the status of my goods. I hope to receive an early response from your end.

Thanking you

Yours faithfully
Subhash Maggo

OR

Aruna
42, Ramzan Apartments
Near Mother Dairy
East Delhi
21st August, 20xx
The Manager
Patel Medicare Services
B-290, Vikas Enclave
Delhi

Sub: Healthcare Services and Products

Sir
I came to know about your healthcare services through a friend of mine. We are a small nuclear family were both me and my husband are working. Our old grandfather lives with us. He is very old and sick and needs constant attention.
We are looking for a reliable and trusted agency which can help us with equipment and qualified nurses for care taking. I came to know that you provide services in both these areas I would be very grateful if you could tell me the rates for the following.

1. Rates for qualified nurse for 12 hours during day time.
2. Rates for renting a hospital bed per month.
3. Collapsible bed table for food.
4. Adjustable bed rest.
5. Bed pan for males.

I would be grateful if you could furnish the above information at the earliest so that I can take a decision and place order for the above. Let me know if there are any other formalities for me to complete. You may contact me on 789*****99 or write to me on my e-mail which is Ar.Gu@g.mail.com.
Thanking you

Yours truly
Aruna

Answer 4.
Daksh liked the Monsoon Season. Rain drops, puddles and the cloudy sky gave him an excuse to stay back home, miss tuitions and be with his cousins. But that evening all his planning and calculation went wrong when he saw Tini, Tini was getting drenched in the rain and looked at Daksh with longing eyes. Her puppies too were standing close to her as they were scarced to see their first rain. Daksh just could not escape without aiding this helpless animal.

Tini was a street dog, that was loved by all their society members. He discovered that the roof of her shelter had got damaged because of the heavy rain. First, he opened and kept his umbrella on the ground and guided Tini and her puppies under it. Next, he ran to the parking area where he knew there was a thrown away wooden board. It was quite heavy and difficult for him to carry, yet he somehow managed to drag it to the dog’s shelter. He placed it over the shelter as a temporary roof and kept bricks over it. Tini looked at him with gratified eyes and showed her affection by rubbing her head against his feet that little gesture gave him immense contentment.

OR

Atul and Himanshu revised the Chemistry formulae in front of them. Their school had organised a competition and the winner would go to Japan for a week to interact with international students from various countries.
Atul and Himanshu were both aces at chemistry, but while Himanshu was passionate about chemistry Atul’s first love was photography Atul came from a rich family and every few months brought back pictures taken at exotic foreign locations. Himanshu’s parents worked in a bank nd only last week Himanshu’s father had applied for a passport for his son. The boys shut their books, saying the last formula together—Silver permanganate and raced to the competition.

They breezed through the questions and smiled at the last one—the formula or Silver permanganate. Two weeks later the teacher announced the winner, “And the winner is Himanshu, Atul came very close but he made a mistake in the formula of Silver permanganate”. Himanshu stared at his friend, while Atul winked and clicked a snap.

Answer 5.

1. (i) for
2. (ii) the
3. (iii) On
4. (iii) with
5. (iv) of

Answer 6.

Answer 7.

1. One night Charley worked late at the office. ‘
2. He was in a hurry to get to his apartment.
3. So he decided to take the sub-way from Grand Central.
4. He ducked into an arched doorway.
5. Charley was ready to face any challenge.

SECTION – C

Answer 8.

1. The speaker is Natalya Stepanovna.
2. She is speaking to Ivan Vassilevitch Lomov.
3. The meadows are worth 300 roubles.
4. The speaker cannot stand unfairness.

OR

1. According to the speaker the animals have retained the basic simplicity and honesty dropped by man.
2. Man has lost his basic goodness because of his negligence.
3. Man lost his virtues long time ago.
4. Man has always been greedy and selfish. He wants to succeed at the cost of honesty and peace. So he dropped his ‘tokens’ a long time ago.

Answer 9.

1. James R. Wong was Ebright’s college roommate. He worked as an assissant to Elbright. He helped him in drawing pictures, making models, constructing plastic models of molecules and devices.
2. Madame Forestier met Matilda after ten years. She could not recognise her for the beauty queen Matilda had changed into a hard rough woman with shabby and unkempt hair. The story took a twist as Mrs. Forestier told her that necklace was of fake diamonds worth of only 500 francs. Poor Loisel had wasted their ten years of their precious youth.
3. The only hope that Lencho and his family had was ‘help from God’ whose eyes are on everything even what is deep in one’s conscience. This shows Lencho’s deep faith in God.
4. Ramlal had been as loving, caring and attentive to Bholi as towards his other children. He was more worried about her. He raised objections to Bishamber’s proposal. He was happy to see her great wedding.
5. The Martians planned to capture and invade the earth in 2040. No, they could not succeed. This was because a single book stopped the invasion of the earth.

Answer 10.
After the death of her son, Kisa Gotami was grief stricken. Her grief had blinded her to the truth of life and death. Buddha wanted Kisa Gotami to understand that the life of mortals in this world is troubled, brief and full of pain. So Buddha asked her to go and beg for a handful of mustard seeds from a house where no one had died. She could find none. It was then that she understood the depth of Buddha’s sermon about life and death.

The realisation that life of all human beings is like the flickering of lights which illuminate for some time and then get extinguised to light up again. Death and decay does not spare any mortal so lamenting for the dead serves no purpose.

OR

A courageous person can take risk and move towards the achievement of one’s goals steadily. Courage is the quality of overcoming one’s fears. A fearless person can achieve his aim in life if he has the ability to perform under difficult situations. Many great leaders could only get success just because of being courageous like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and many more, they wanted to make India independent country from the clutches of Britishers non-violently. Anyone who has control over emotions and can face any situation fearlessly, will surely be able to accomplish his/her dreams.

Answer 11.
We leam a lot about dating among the Jews from Anne’s diary. Even at the young age of thirteen she was allowed to “date”, that is go out with boys and have boy friends. Anne called having admirable, “as a vice rampart in her school.” If a boy offered to accompany her on bicycle to her home, nine times out of ten he had become attracted to her. But sometimes some boys offered “to ask father’s permission” or pick up her school bag, she had to switch off the conversation to another topic. This clearly shows that Jewish society did not mind friendship between boys and girls but certain rules or norms of behaviour had to be followed. This is brought out clearly in her friendship with Hellow Silberberg. He became a friend, visited her family, took her out, talked about his former girl friend.

He even told Anne that his grandmother thought she was too young to be his friend. Anne began to think he was in love with her and her mother and sister teased her about him. Certain rules about dating become clear. A boy and a girl went out only when the boy met the girl’s parents and asked their permission. There was a time limit to staying out. Anne’s father was furious when Hello bought Anne home at ten past eight and not before eight p.m. Parents of both the boy and girl knew that they were dating!

OR

The Jews were the victims of the Nazi tyranny. To escape Hitler’s restrictions on the Jews in the Germany they were forced to go into hiding. The condition of the Jewish community was worsening as their freedom was strictly limited. The impact of the anti-Jewish laws had a direct effect on their psyche. They were cruelly humiliated as they were required to wear a yellow star, forbidden to drive their own cars, shop within the restricted timing in Jewish shops and attend Jewish schools only. Besides this, they were also forbidden to participate in public sports and visit places of entertainment.

Horrific I crimes were committed by the Nazi regime. The Jews lost their businesses and unemployment if reached unprecedented levels and they were imprisoned in several types of camps. The Jews could not think of going out as they were afraid to be captured by the Germans.

Their thoughts and actions (while in the Annexe) were governed by the fear of being discovered and its inevitable results could be the gas chamber on the concentration camp. But in spite of their feelings of uncertainty and fear, they tried to take the most of their restricted existence and were optimistic about the war to end. They proved to be the role models for the world.

OR

Helen went to Cambridge School in order to prepare for Radcliffe College. Cambridge was an all girl’s school with no prior accommodation for deaf and blind students. Though Ms Sullivan accompanied Helen at the school. There were too many words for her to be spelt into Helen’s hand. Moreover it was very difficult to get textbooks embossed in time for Helen to use at school. There were many prescribed books, so finger spellings were difficult. Helen could not take class notes instead she types everything on her typewriter. It was very exhausting, for Ms. Sullivan to spell everything into Helen’s hand. The drawbacks were too many to her progress in Cambridge. Exams caused a lot of stress as Helen was well versed in literary Braille but not in signs of Algebra, Geometry and Maths and hence difficulty arose.

She was sorely perplexed and felt discouraged. Moreover she could not follow with eyes the geometrical figures drawn on the blackboard. She had to make them on her cushion with strings and curved wires which had to be bent and pointed. Sometimes she lost courage and vent out her frustration on Ms. Sullivan. At one point Mr. Gillman thought Helen was working too hard so he reduced the number of recitations for her, the result was that she could not take her final exam with her class. Differences between Mr. Gillman and Ms. Sullivan resulted in the withdrawal of Helen and Mildred from Cambridge.

OR

Helen continued her studies under a tutor, Mr. Merton S. Keith of Cambridge. Mr. Keith came twice a week and taught Algebra, Geometry, Greek and Latin and Miss Sullivan interpreted all that for her. Mr. Keith delightly gave lessons five times a week and also explained the previous lessons along with correcting Greek assignments of Helen. Mr. Keith contributed a lot to the intellectual encrichment of Helen. He came in Helen’s life at a very crucial point of time. Mr. Gillman felt that Helen would require at least two years more than the normal girls to qualify for Radcliffe. However Anne Sullivan and Helen’s mom did not agree with him. Finally Helen was taken away from Cambridge School.

They went to live with their friends at Wrenthan. Here Mr. Keith was appointed to give Helen and her sister tuitions. Mr. Keith helped prepare for the examination to get admission in the Radcliffe college. Helen understood that for her learning individually was much easier than learning in a group. He made her learning joyful. He helped her improve her logical and analytical faculties. He also gave her tests to rectify her errors. He trained her and helped her pass the examination for Radcliffe. He was a sincere and devoted teacher.

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