SSLC മോഡൽ പരീക്ഷ ചോദ്യപേപ്പർ-2022

PART I
A. Questions 1 – 6: Read the excerpt from ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ and answer any
FOUR questions that follow. Each question carries one score. (4 x 1 = 4)

I was a young doctor at the time and had just set up a practice in a working-class district of
London. On a foggy November night, towards one o’clock, I was awakened by a loud banging on the door. Hurriedly, I threw on some clothes and went downstairs. It was a sergeant of police, in dripping helmet and cape, mistily outlined on the doorstep. A suicide case, he told me abruptly, in the lodgings around the corner-and I had better come at once.
We walked the short distance in silence, even our footsteps muffled by the fog, and turned
into the narrow entrance of an old building. As we mounted the creaking staircase, my nostrils
were stung by the sick-sweet odour of illuminating gas. On the upper storey the agitated landlady showed us to a bare little attic where, stretched on a narrow bed, lay the body of a young man. Although apparently lifeless, there remained the barest chance that the youth was not quite beyond recall. With the sergeant’s help, I began the work of resuscitation.
1. What was the narrator doing when the sergeant came?
2. How was the narrator awakened?
3. Why did the sergeant call the narrator?
4. Which expression in the passage suggests that the youth was not dead?
5. Pick out an expression from the passage to support that the building was old.
6. Pick out the word from the passage which means anxious and nervous.

B. Questions 7 – 10: Read the following lines from the poem ‘Poetry’ and answer the questions
given below. Each question carries one score. (4 x 1 = 4)

and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.

7. What does the poet mean when he says ‘I saw the heavens unfastened and open’?
8. What is referred to as ‘fire’ and ‘flowers’ in the lines given above?
9. Why does the poet say that the first line was a faint one?
10. Pick out two examples for alliteration from the above lines.

 

PART II

A. Questions 11 – 15: Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer any
THREE questions that follow. Each question carries two scores. (3 x2 = 6)

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

11. What does the poet mean by the expression ‘a thousand blended notes’?
12. Why did the pleasant thoughts bring sad thoughts to the poet’s mind?
13. Pick out an example of auditory image from the given lines.
14. Identify the lines that tell us Nature is linked to the soul of human beings.
15. What was the poet doing when he heard a thousand blended notes?

B. Questions 16- 18 : Read the excerpt from ‘The Castaway’ and answer any TWO questions
that follow. Each question carries two scores. (2 x 2 = 4)

He showed the first signs of adulthood when he hesitated to be a lady companion to Kiran and to
play the earlier feminine roles he had played. But his role as an acolyte to Kiran defended anything
that came against him in the house. He had nothing to think about other than entertaining Kiran with
his diverse performances.
Kiran’s efforts to inculcate some scholastic elements in him turned into ashes as the destitute
youth figured out that even the alphabets were dancing in the mist in front of his eyes. But he
developed the skill of casting his eyes blank on a page in the book for hours as if reading it. He
would read it aloud when a hint of human presence is somewhere around him. Even though it
sounded perfect with full of trifling alliteration, the feeblest meaning was beyond his
comprehension.

16. What was the effect of Kiran’s efforts to inculcate some scholastic elements in Nilkanta?
17. What kind of a skill did Nilkanta develop?
18. How did Nilkanta show the first signs of adulthood?

 

PART III

A. Questions 19 – 23: Answer any THREE. Each carries four scores (3 x 4 = 12)

19. Complete the following passage choosing appropriate phrasal verbs from the ones given
below.

While Doctor Cronin was walking on the deck, he ……..(a)……… a young man. The man wanted
to ……..(b)……. something to Cronin. Usually the doctor doesn’t …….(c)……. ship board contacts. So he deliberately ……..(d)……..from the young man.
(turned away, came across, went through, put across, put up with)

20. Complete the following conversation between Martha and Mr Schmidt.
Martha : Good morning sir.
Mr Schmidt : Oh! Martha, here you are. You are happy now, …………..(a)………….?
Martha : Yes, of course sir. ………………….(b)………………….?
Mr Schmidt : The principal changed the decision.
Martha : It’s a great surprise.
Mr Schmidt : No Martha, it’s because of your hardwork. …………….(c)………………?
Martha : No, I haven’t informed my grandpa.
Mr Schmidt : If the principal had not changed the decision, ……………….(d)……………..
Martha : Thank you so much for your support sir.
Mr Schmidt : You are welcome my child.

21. There are certain errors in the passage given below. They are underlined. Edit them.
He was ask (a) to bring his birds, and he arrived with almost a hundred trained raven (b).
Admittedly their training had not went (c) very bad. That is to say, they could not do anything that
might be seen extraordinarily. (d)

22. Complete the following passage choosing the right words from those given in brackets.
All my characters were white ……(a)…… blue-eyed, they played ……(b)….. the snow, they ate apples,
and they talked a lot …….(c)……. the weather, how lovely it was ……(d)…… the sun had come out.
(that, with, in, and, about)

23. Read the following sentences and identify the Noun Phrase in the subject position and
verb phrase.

a. My slightest movement would provoke the snake.
b. Some thief had removed most of my things.
B. Questions 24 – 25: Answer any ONE. Each carries 4 scores. (1 x 4 = 4)

24. Read the newspaper headlines given below and answer the questions that follow.
a. MAN RESCUED FROM ABDUCTORS
b. CYCLE RALLY CONVEYS A GREEN MESSAGE
c. BOOK THROWS LIGHT ON DYING FOLK ARTS
d. DAY OF MIXED FORTUNES FOR INDIAN TEAMS
e. SURGE IN INDIAN GOLD DEMAND
a. Pick out the headline that comes under the category ‘literary review’.
b. Which headline tells you about a successful police operation?
c. Identify the headline that can be categorized as a piece of business news.
d. Which is the only headline that represents sports?

25. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions.

Emperor Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to his courtiers. He often
asked questions which were strange and witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions.
Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers were dumbfounded by his question. Akbar
glanced at his courtiers. As he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of an
answer. It was at this moment that Birbal entered the court. Birbal who knew the nature of the
emperor quickly grasped the situation and asked. ‘May I know question so that I can try for an
answer’. Akbar said, ‘How many crows are there in this city?’ without even a moment of thought
Birbal said, ‘There are fifty thousand five hundred and eighty nine crows my lord’. ‘How can you
be so sure?’ asked Akbar. Birbal said, ‘Make your men count. If you find more crows it means that some have come to visit their relatives here. if you find less it means some have gone to visit their relative elsewhere’. Akbar was pleased very much by Birbal’s wit.

a. What sort of questions did Akbar put to his courtiers?
b. What was the strange question raised by Akbar?
c. Why did Birbal give the answer without even a moment’s thought?
d. How did Akbar respond to Birbal’s answer?

PART IV

A. Questions 26 – 29: Answer any THREE. Each carries 6 scores. (3 x 6 = 18)

26. The principal in the story ‘The Scholarship Jacket’ was not able to accept the suggestion by the
Board to charge fifteen dollars for the scholarship Jacket. He decided to write a letter to the
Chairman of the Board expressing his dissent. Draft the likely letter.

27. The grandfather in the story ‘Adventures in a Banyan Tree’ was really happy when he came to
know that the mongoose had won in the fight with the cobra. He penned down his emotions in his
diary before going to bed on that day. Draft the likely diary entry.

28. Imagine that you are getting a chance to meet Satyajit Ray after his shooting with the tiger for
the movie ‘Goopi Gyne Bagha Byne’. Prepare a set of 6 questions to be asked.

29. Read the following lines from the poem ‘The Ballad of Father Giligan’ and prepare a brief note
of appreciation focussing on its theme, imagery and poetic devices.

‘He Who hath made the night of stars
For souls who tire and bleed,
Sent one of this great angels down,
To help me in my need.
‘He Who is wrapped in purple robes
With planets in His care
Had pity on the least of things
Asleep upon a chair.’

B. Questions 30 – 32: Answer any two. Each carries 6 scores. (2 x 6 = 12)

30. The English Club of your school has decided to organize a film festival. Draft a notice giving
details to be circulated among the members
31. Imagine that the junk collector finds the packet of shoes and takes them back to Akbar the next day. Prepare the likely conversation between the two.
32. Prepare a brief profile of Anton Checkov using the hints given below. Use linkers wherever
necessary.

Birth : 29 January, 1860
Place of Birth : Taganrog, Russia
Occupation : Playwright and short story writer
Notable works: Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, The Lady with the Dog
Award : Pushkin Prize
Death : 15 July 1904
Resting place : Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow

PART V

A. Questions 33 – 35: Answer any two. Each carries 8 scores. (2 x 8 = 16)

33. Basheer is an exceptional literary genius on account of his unconventional style of language and
unparalleled use of wit. Analyse this statement on the basis of ‘The Snake and the Mirror’ and
Prepare a write – up.

34. Imagine that after spending the summer vacation with his grandparents, the boy in the story
‘Adventures in a Banyan Tree’ reaches his home and meets a friend in his neighbourhood. He
shares his experiences at his grandfather’s house. Prepare the likely narrative.

35. Imagine that the activities initiated by Mr John in the story ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ to the society were well noticed by a leading journalist and he had an interview with Mr John. He decided to prepare a detailed news report to be published in his newspaper. Draft the likely news
report.

Courtesy:
Libin K. Kurian
HST English
Sacred Heart HSS Payyavoor, Kannur