CBSE Sample Question Papers for Class 10 English

Time Allowed: 2 Hours
Maximum Marks: 40

 

SECTION – A
Reading [10 marks]

Question 1.
Read the passage given below.
Have you ever failed at something so miserably that the thought of attempting to do it again was the last thing on your mind?
If your answer is yes, then you should understand that you are not a robot. Unlike robots, we human beings have feelings, emotions, and dreams. We are all meant to grow despite our circumstances and limitations. Flourishing and trying to make our dreams come true feels great when life goes our way. But what happens when it does not? What happens when you fail despite all your hard work? Do you stay down and accept defeat or do you get up again? If you tend to persevere and keep going, you have what experts call grit’.

 Falling down or failing is one of the most agonising, embarrassing, and scary human experiences. But it is also one of the most educational, empowering, and essential parts of living a successful and fulfilling life. Did you know that perseverance (grit) is one of the seven qualities that has been described as the key to personal success and betterment in society? The other six are curiosity, gratitude, optimism, self-control, social intelligence, and zest.

 Thomas Edison is an example of grit for trying more than 1,000 times to invent the light bulb. If you are reading this with the lights on in your room, you will realise the importance of his success. When asked why he kept going despite hundreds of failures, he merely stated that they had not been failures, they were hundreds of attempts towards creating the light bulb. This statement not only revealed his grit but also his optimism for looking at the bright side.

Grit can be learnt to help you become more successful. One of the techniques that help is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a practice that makes an individual stay at the moment by bringing awareness of his or her experience without judgement. This practice has been used to quieten the noise of fears and doubts. Through this simple practice of mindfulness, individuals have the ability to stop the self¬sabotaging downward spiral of hopelessness, despair, and frustration.What did you do to overcome the negative and self-sabotaging feelings of failure? Reflect on what you did, and try to use those same powerful resources to help you today..
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY FIVE questions from the six given below. 
(A) What does the writer mean by saying that it feels great when ‘life goes our way’?
Answer:
By the given phrase, the writer means that a human feels great when his life goes according to his plans and expectations.

(B) Rewrite the following sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with a word that means the same from lines (20-25).
Amit’s behavior of preventing himself from reaching his goals purposely, will make him regret in future.
Answer:
Amit’s behaviour of self-sabotaging, will make him regret in future.

(C) State the meaning of ‘social intelligence’ as implied in the passage.
Answer:
In the passage, ‘social intelligence’ means knowing oneself and others. It includes an individual’s ability to understand, and act on, the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of other people in the society.

(D) How does mindfulness helps in ‘quietening the noise of fears and doubts’? 
Answer:
Mindfulness focuses one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. This way it helps in ‘quietening the noise of fears and doubts’ in one’s mind.

(E) List two reasons as to why humans are ‘unlike robots’. 
Answer:
Humans are ‘unlike robots’ as humans have emotions and they have their own thought-process which robots do not possess.

(F) How does the writer justify ‘failure’ in a positive light? 
Answer:
The writer justifies ‘failure’ in a positive Light by saying that failure is the road to success. It makes a person full of grit to work upon himself in order to achieve success in life.

 

Question 2.
Read the following excerpt from a case study titled ‘The Rising Obesity’.
An epidemic of obesity or being overweight is affecting many countries in the world; more than 300 million people are obese or overweight. Obesity could be for a particular reason. In India, some people tend to be overweight because of their high calorie diet and lack of physical activities. In the United States, obesity is more prevalent in lower income groups. Obesity is now well recognised as a disease in its own right.

Though obesity commonly means being overweight, it is defined as an excess amount of body weight that includes muscles, bones, fat and water. Obesity’ specifically refers to an excess amount of body fat. A certain amount of body fat is needed to store energy, keep warm and absorb the shocks. Usually men with more than 25% body fat and women with more than 3.5% body fat are regarded as obese. Obesity tends to run in families suggesting a genetic cause. Environmental factors include lifestyle behavior such as, what a person eats and his or her level of physical activity. So, one should choose more nutritious food which is low in fat, and helps us to become more active.

There are psychological factors like negative emotions such as boredom, sadness and anger which act as the main culprits. Then there is also ‘binge eating’, i.e. when people eat large amounts of food thinking that it is beyond their control how much they eat. A study was collected through a questionnaire of 5 questions shared with 120 respondents, show that those with the most severe binge eating problem are also likely to have more
symptoms of depression and low self-esteem. The responses were tabulated (Table 1), for analysis of Obesity in people.

 Obesity is a health hazard giving rise to many serious medical conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Obesity is also linked to a higher rate of certain types of cancer. There are many ways of losing weight but exercise is the best way to do this as it is free from any type of harmful side effects.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer ANY FIVE questions from the six given below. 
(A) Why does the writer call obesity an ‘epidemic’? 
Answer:
The writer calls obesity an ‘epidemic’ as it is spreading in many countries of the world at a fast pace, affecting millions of people.

(B) Comment on the significance of physical activity’ in the lines 9-11. 
Answer:
‘Physical activity’ is a crucial environ-mental factor that makes a person more active and less likely to turn obese.

(C) Justify the writer’s recommendation of choosing exercise over other means of losing weight in the lines 15-18.
Answer:
The writer has fushfied his recommendation by calling it free of any harmful side-effects which other forms of weight loss might show.

(D) Why does the writer feel that psychological factors are the main culprit for giving birth to ‘obesity’?
Answer:
The writer feels so because psychological factors like anger, sadness and boredom lead a person to opt for eating more in order to satisfy or ignore these bad feelings. It’s in itself a psychological phenomenon.

(E) Often people with obesity believe that they are not in control of their desire to eat. How does evidence from Table 1 support this statement?
Answer:
In Table 1, we can see that the number of people saying ’no’ when asked if they can controL their cravings to eat are more, proves that majority of them feel that they can’t control their desire to eat.

(F) What purpose does the ‘Can’t Say’ column serve in Q5 of the questionnaire (Table 1)?
Answer:
The ‘Can’t Say’ column is for the people who don’t know how exactly do they feel or what is the right name for the feeling that they have on mind.

 

Section – B
Writing And Grammar (10 marks)

 

Question 3.
Attempt ANY ONE from (A) and (B).
(A) Study the concept chart from the HIS Market Analysis of the number of Americans travelling for the thanksgiving holiday in the years 2020 and 2022 and their comparison.

Write a paragraph in not more than 120 words, analysing the given information. 
Answer:
Given the topsy-turvy times of the Covid-19 . pandemic, the number of Americans who are planning to travel home for Thanksgiving has been reduced to 5% in the year 2021, in comparison to the year 2020 where the number was 16%. There is a sharp decline in using other modes of travel in the year 2021 as well due to the safety reasons. Despite the pandemic, airplane travel in 2020 was still 50 per cent lower than pre-pandemic. Moreover, Americans are more likely to feel safe and comfortable driving during the pandemic than take public transportation. By far, car travel—the most popular mode of travel during Thanksgiving—was the least affected in the year 2020 and 2021. The fear of COVID-19 continues to linger even after two years. Therefore, it is advised to attend gatherings only with vaccinated friends and family, follow proper hygiene protocols and wear masks when in a crowded indoor setting too.

(B) You are Secretary of Delhi Public school, Preet Vihar, New Delhi. You come across the following information on an advertisement.

You need some sports material for the Sports Club of your school. Write a letter to the Manager of Arena Sports Goods, in about 120 words, placing an order for the same. Provide and enquire about all required details.
Answer:

Delhi Public School
PreetVihar
New Delhi

18th March 2022
The Manager
Arena Sports Good
Darya Ganj
New Delhi

Subject: Ordering for sports goods Dear Sir/Ma’am
We are in need of some sports items for the Sports Club of our school. Kindly send the following items at the earliest.

Item Name	Quantity
Cricket balls	10
Badminton rackets	20
Footballs	10
Tennis Balls	15
Cricket bats	10
Skipping ropes	20

Please check that all the items should be of good quaLity, fine condition, well-packed and delivered soon. The payment will be mode by cash once we receive the items. We hope to get the goods as per our specifications mentioned in the mail.
Yours sincerely
Amalu

 

Question 4.
The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Identify the error and write its correction against the correct blank number. Remember to underline the correction. The first one has been done for you.

I can’t never forget my P. T. teacher who had for the healthy habit of daily morning walk. He should get up early and shall go out for a brisk walk.
Even when he wouldn’t be fit, nothing can stop him from going fot it.

Answer:

Error	Correction
(a) should	would
(b) shall	would
(c) can	could

(a) Explanation: ‘should’ represents what is to be done while ‘would’ represents what was done. Hence, this is the right answer.
(b) Explanation: As the person is describing the teachers past routine, would will be used. Hence. this is the right answer.
(c) Explanation: Since the sentence is in the past tense, this is the right answer.

 

Question 5.
Read the conversation between a teacher and student and domplete the passage that follows.
Grandpa: Do you know that our ancestors were not much different from us? ALSO, learning from first-hand experience such as visiting a historical site or a museum helps one gain more information.
Salma: Oh yes Grandpa! I can easily recall facts aboutthe things that I learnt at the City History Museum.
Salim: We were shocked by looking at the actual size of a Mammoth there!
Salim and Salma were talking to their grandfather. He was telling them about their ancestors. He told them that they were not different from them.
He (a) ……………..learning from first-hand experience like visiting a historical site or a Museum helps one gain more information. To this, Salima
(b) …………….what she learnt about the City History Museum. 
Answer:
(a) also told them that
(b) added that she remembers

 

Section -C
Literature (20 marks)

 

Question 6.
Answer ANY SIX questions in 30-40 words each.
(A) What is the significance of the line that a baker enjoys in a Goan village? 
Answer:
A baker or a pader is of great significance in a Goan village as no important occasion or festival is complete without the use of bread or cakes from the baker.

(B) Justify the message for the parents that the poet is trying to convey through the poem ‘Amanda’. 
Answer:
The poet conveys a very important message to the parents through ‘Amanda’. The way Amanda is being constantly nagged, she feels that her freedom has been curtailed. Children must be allowed more liberty by parents. Excessive nagging makes them defiant and they turn a deaf ear to the instructions of the elders.

(C) Comment on the tone of Belinda when she cried, “Help! Help!”.
Answer:
The tone of Belinda when she cried was anticipation. She was anticipating for help because she was afraid of the pirate and there was none around to help her as they ran away.

(D) Animals are greedy in nature, unlike humans. Using evidence from the poem, explain how this quality is represented in ‘Animals’.
Answer:
In the poem, ‘Animals’, the poet says that not one animal is demented with ‘the mania of owning things’. This means that animals are not dissatisfied like humans who are greedy and materialistic in nature.

(E) How did Buddha teach Kisa Gotami the truth of life? 
Answer:
Buddha asked Kisa Gotami to bring a handful of mustard seeds on a condition that the seeds must be from a house where people had not lost a loved one to death. Kisa Gotami’s futile search made her realise the bitter truth that losses and sorrows are par-t and parcel of life and one can attain peace only by acceptance.

(F) Briefly state why did the lawyer ‘hate’ his work. 
Answer:
The lawyer hated his work as he was offered the unpleasant job of serving the summons to criminals who used to live in the dirty and shadowy corners of the city. He would even get beaten up sometimes on his job.

(G) Matilda’s expectation of a rich ife made her suffer incessantly. Comment. 
Answer:
Matilda believed that she deserved a better life. She expected to have her life filled with all delicacies and luxuries. But, in reality, she suffered from poverty and lived in a house with shabby walls and worn chairs that made her’ angry and suffer incessantly.

 

Question 7.
Answer ANY TWO of the following in about 120 words each.
(A) The concept of ‘marriage of convenience’ is still practised in different parts of world. Critically examine the relation between Lomov and Natalya, highlighting their stance on it. 
Answer:
A ‘marriage or convenience’ is a marriage where two people come into a relationship out of a specific reason and circumstances. They do not base their relation on any bond of love or courtesy. Under such marriages, people have a planned motive that could be anything like a political move, economic move or others. In such marriages, the demerits of the partners are overlooked. The relation between Lomov and Natalya was also a ‘marriage of convenience’. Even though both of them hated each other, they were ready to get married to each other only because of their prevailing circumstances. Lomov was a mature man of thirty-five years who had several ailments. He decided to compromise by marrying Natalya. Natalya, on the other hand, was a twenty-five year old lady who desperately wanted to get married to anybody. Hence, both decided to go for this ‘marriage of convenience.

(B) Rajvir was so excited with his first-ever experience of visiting Assam. As his brother could not accompany him on the trip, Rajvir shares his experience to his brother. Develop a conversation where Rajvir shares the details to his brother about his holidays with Pranjol in Assam, on returning home, based on your reading of the chapter, ‘Tea from Assam’.
Answer:

• Rajvir: Oh dear, what a fun-filled trip it was! Although I had researched a lot about tea and its consumption before going to Assam but I learned even more about it when I saw it with my own eyes.
• Rajvir’s Brother: Brother, tell me some facts about tea.
• Rajvir: Sure! Do you know that the world’s largest concentration of tea plantations is in Assam? One can see tea gardens everywhere there. Also, the best yield of tea is in the second-flush or sprouting season, i.e. between May and July.
• Rajvir’s Brother: That’s wonderful!
• Rajvir: Certainly. It’s an art. I’m glad I took the decision to join Pranjol and his family for this trip.
• Rajvir’s Sister: Yes, but next time, take me along with you too.
• Rajvir: Okay

(C) “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life
is about creating yourself.” Reflecting on George Bernard Shaw’s message as given above, evaluate on how the story of ‘Bholi’ highlights the condition of girls across the country and gives out a strong message.
Answer:
Bholi is a shy and timid girl who faces ridicule on account of her looks. Her parents consider her a burden as they feel her looks will make it difficult for them to find a suitable match for her. Her parents don’t send her to school as they think she is dumb and hence, call her ‘Bholi’, which means stupid. However, Bholi proves everyone wrong and blossoms under the nurturing of her teacher. Her parents still follow the old traditions and fix her marriage with a lame old man. True to the hypocritical practice of the society, the old man asks for dowry as Bholi is not pretty. The same is seen in our society on a regular basis. Girls are married off without consent or tortured for not bringing sufficient dowry. Bholi stands up for herself and refuses to marry the old man, giving the strong message that girls must become independent and self-reliant. Thus, she rises above the material and social conditions of the society she inhabited and created a unique identity for herself by believing in the value of self-reliance.