Section-A (Reading)
1. Read the composition carefully.
Swaminathan suddenly wished that he had not come out so soon. But how could he have stayed in the hall longer?
The Tamil paper was set to go on till five o’ clock. He had found himself writing the last line of the last question at four thirty. Out of the six questions set, he had answered the first question to his satisfaction, the second was doubtful , the third was satisfactory, the fourth , he knew, was clearly wrong (but then , he did not know the correct answer).
He had found it hard to kill time. Why wasn’t the paper set for two and a half hours instead of three? He had looked wistfully at the veranda outside. If only he could pluck up enough courage to hand in the paper and go out he would have no more examinations for a long time to come- he could do what he pleased- roam about the town in the evenings and afternoons and mornings- throw away the books- command granny to tell endless tales. He had seen a supervisor observing him, and had at once pretended to be busy with the answer sheet. He thought that while he was about it, he might as well do a little revision. He read a few lines of the first question and was bored. He turned over the leaves and kept gazing at the last answer. He had to pretend that he was revising. He kept gazing at the moral of the tiger story till it lost all its meaning. He set his pen to work. He went on improving the little dash under the last line indicating the end, till it became an elaborate complicated pattern.
He had looked at the clock again, thinking that it must be nearly five now. It was only ten minutes past four-thirty. He saw two or three boys giving up their papers and going out, and felt happy. He briskly folded the paper and wrote on the flap the elaborate inscription:
Tamil Tamil
W.S swaminathan
Ist form A secion
Albert Mission School
Malgudi, South India
Asia
The bell rang. In twos and threes, the boys came out of the hall. It was a thorough contrast to the preceding three hours. There was the din of excited chatter.
A. On the basis of the reading of the passage , complete the sentences briefly. (0.5x4=2)
(i) Swaminathan could not stay any longer in the examination hall because ______________ .
(ii) Two things that Swaminathan hoped to do after examination were: ___________ and _________-________________ .
(iii)Swaminathan felt happy to see two or three boys giving their papers because ______________ .
B. Answer the following questions:
(i) Do you think Swaminathan was happy with his performance in the examination? Give reasons in support of your answer. (1)
(ii) Why do you think the supervisor began observing Swaminathan? (1) .
(iii) List two things that Swaminathan did to kill time. (1)
(iv) How did the scene change at the end of the paper? (1)
(v) .Find words from the passage which mean the same: (0.5x2=1)
a. looking fixedly at something for a long time
b. difficult
(vi) Mention any two phrases used in the passage. (1)
(2) Read the passage given below and do as directed:
In India, the invaluable importance of physical fitness has been emphasised right from the beginning by our ancient sages and learned scholars who were totally unequivocal in asserting the supreme necessity of physical fitness in human life and who themselves always remained physically and mentally fit . They always took extra pains to ensure that they remained physically fit under all circumstances. This explains that how they used to lead a normal active life even after crossing the age of hundred. We all must learn some lessons from our worthy ancestors who always remained fit . We too can follow their example if we lead a disciplined life like them and absolutely refrain from doing all such things that adversely affect our health.
There is no room for doubt about the fact that if a person is not fit, he is leading a meaningless life, unnecessarily inviting trouble for himself and can fall vicious prey to any disease at any time. So, we must all realise and accept the basic fact of life that if we really want to enjoy life we have no option but to keep ourselves fit in the long run. There is an age old dictum that “Health is wealth”. I would go one step further and say that health is much more superior to wealth because if we have good health,
we can earn wealth but by wealth alone, we cannot earn good health. This explains why Emerson had said that,” The first wealth is health”. Health and sound state of body are above all gold . In our daily life also, we can see so many cases where people have no dearth of wealth but still they can’t enjoy it because of lack of physical fitness and are totally dependent on others for survival. We all must understand this basic indispensable fact of life. The earlier we realise it, the better it shall be for us for good.
Most of us in our daily life often tend to ignore the adverse impact which we impose on our body by neglecting our fitness which we think is secondary and wake up only when are either sick or suffer some infirmity. We should never forget that physical fitness is a must for each one of us . While we must do our job with sincerity, at the same time we should leave no stone unturned to ensure that we are fit. Eat a balanced diet, avoid things which are injurious to health, have a minimum of eight hours
sound sleep and devote at least one hour to fitness doing some exercises in the morning or evening regularly.
A. Answer the following questions: (1.5x6=9)
i. In India, what has been emphasised since beginning?
ii. How did the sages and scholars keep themselves physically fit?
iii. Explain the age old dictum “Health is wealth’.
iv. In general, when do people realise the importance of health?
v. Give a Suitable heading to the paragraph.
vi. What efforts should be made to keep oneself physically fit?
B. Find words from the passage which mean the same: (0.5x4=2)
(i) harmful (iii) essential
(ii) sickness (iv) abstain, avoid doing
C. Find the antonyms of the given word from the passage: (0.5x2=1)
(i) disordered (ii) favourable
