202110717-PERFORM-STUDENT-WORKBOOK-ENGLISH-G09-FY_Optimized

practice workbook english Grade 9 Name: Roll No: Section: School Name:

by classklap IMAX is India’s only customised content and educational assessment m. 610+ Published Books Team of IITians & PhDs IMAX Program has authored about 610+ Content development and automation are publications which are used by more than led by a team of IITians, data scientists and 4,50,000+ students. education experts Workshops Lakh Assessments IMAX Program has conducted IMAX Program has conducted more than teacher training workshops for more 85,00,000+ assessments across 17 states in the last 10 years. than 15,000+ teachers. Copyright © 2020 BGM Policy Innovations Pvt Ltd) All rights reserved. No part of this publication, including but not limited to, the content, the presentation layout, session plans, themes, key type of sums, mind maps and illustrations, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior, written permission of the copyright owner of this book. This book is meant for educational and learning purposes. The author(s) of the book has/ have taken all reasonable care to ensure that the contents of the book do not violate any copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person in any manner whatsoever. In the event the author(s) has/have been unable to track any source and if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed, please notify the publisher in writing for any corrective action. Some of the images used in the books have been taken from the following sources www.freepik.com, www.vecteezy.com, www.clipartpanda.com Creative Commons Attribution This book is part of a package of books and is not meant to be sold separately. For MRP, please refer to the package price.

This practice book is designed to support you in your journey of learning English for class 9. The contents and topics of this book are entirely in alignment with the NCERT syllabus. For each chapter, a concept map, expected objectives and practice sheets are made available. Questions in practice sheets address different skill buckets and different question types, practicing these sheets will help you gain mastery over the lesson. The practice sheets can be solved with the teacher’s assistance. There is a self-evaluation sheet at the end of every lesson, this will help you in assessing your learning gap. iii



TABLE OF CONTENT • Assessment Pattern: 40 Marks • Assessment Pattern: 80 Marks • Syllabus & Timeline for Assessment Page 1: Unit 1: 1.1 The Fun They Had Page 2: Unit 1: 1.2 The Road Not Taken Page 5: Unit 2: 2.1 The Sound Of Music Page 6: Unit 2: 2.2 Wind Page 9: Unit 3: 3.1 The Little Girl Page 10: Unit 3: 3.2 Rain On The Roof Page 13: Unit 4: 4.1 A Truly Beautiful Mind Page 14: Unit 4: 4.2 The Lake Isle of Innisfree Page 17: Unit 5: 5.1 The Snake And The Mirror Page 18: Unit 5: 5.2 A Legend Of The Northland Page 21: Unit 6: 6.1 My Childhood Page 22: Unit 6: 6.2 No Men Are Foreign Page 25: Unit 7: 7.1 Packing Page 26: Unit 7: 7.2 The Duck and The Kangaroo Page 29: Unit 8: 8.1 Reach For The Top Page 30: Unit 8: 8.2 On Killing A Tree Page 33: Unit 9: 9.1 The Bond Of Love Page 34: Unit 9: 9.2 The Snake Trying Page 37: Unit 10: 10.1 Kathmandu Page 38: Unit 10: 10.2 A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal Page 41: Unit 11: 11.1 If I Were You Page 44: 1. Determiners Page 48: 2. Modals Page 50: 3. Prepositions Page 53: 4. Subject-Verb Concord Page 55: 5. Clauses Page 58: 6. Tenses Page 61: 7. Voice Page 64: 8. Reported Speech Page 68: 9. Article Writing Page 70: 10. Story Writing Page 72: 11. Diary Entry Page 74: 12. Factual Description





AASSSSEESSSSMMEENNTTPPAATTTTEERRNN MMaarrkkss:: 4400 GrGadraed9e/9E/ngElnisghlish Beginner Paper: (Easy: 50%, Medium: 40%, Difficult:10%) Proficient Paper:(Easy: 40%, Medium: 40%, Difficult: 20%) Easy Question: Remembering questions directly from the text or from the given exercises. (Mostly from content of book or end of chapter exercise). Medium Difficulty Question: In-depth understanding of questions, not necessarily from the text. (Slightly modified concepts or end of chapter questions). Difficult Question: Question involving creativity like story writing, analysis question like character analysis, justification of title or extracts (mostly requires creative and thinking skills).

AASSSSEESSSSMMEENNTTPPAATTTTEERRNN MMaarrkkss::8800 GGrraaddee99// EEnnggllisishh ASSESSMENT PATTERN Marks: 80 Grade 9 / English ASSESSMENT PATTERN Marks: 80 Grade 9 / English Beginner Paper: (Easy: 50%, Medium: 40%, Difficult:10%) BPreogfiincnieenrtPPaappeerr::((EEaassyy:: 5400%%,, MMeeddiiuumm:: 4400%%,, DDiiffffiiccuulltt::1200%%)) PBPEE(MaarreooossgfifiyysintccQQlnyiieeuuefnneerrottssPmttPPaiiooaapcnnppoe::eenrRRrr:t::ee(((EnEEmmataaeesossmmyyyf:::bbb544oee000orr%%%iiknn,,,ggoMMMrqqeeeeuudddneeiiiduuussmttmmoiioof:::nnc444hss000a%dd%%piirr,,,teeDeDDccriiittffffffellyyiiixccceffuuurrrloollctttmm:i::1s22e0tt00)%hh.%%ee)))tteexxtt or from the given exercises. or from the given exercises. M((E(MMMSaeelooisddgyssiihttuuQlltyymmluyfferrmDDoosiimmtoffffidoiiccccinfioouu:ennllRdtttteeyycnnmQQottneuuoocmeeffessbbbpttooeiitoooosrinnkkon::rgooIIerrnnqnee--udddnneeeddospptfootticohhffhnccuuahhsnnpaadddtppieertterreesscqrrtttaaueelynnexxeesfddrtrriioiccnnomiiggssneesoot)))hff...eqquuteeexsstttiiooornnfssr,,onnmoottthnneeeccgeeivssessaanrreiillxyyeffrrrcooimmsestt.hhee ((MDDcSShiiellffffaiidggriiccihhauuuttcmlllltyyttemmrQQDaiuuooffneeddiassciififittluyiieeoolsddtinnyscc::,QoojQQunnuuuscceteeeeisssfipptttcittiioooassnnntooi:orriinnIneenvvnn-oodddfllevvtoopiinntfftlggcchehhccouaarrrneeppedaattxeetttrriirvvsqqaiitttauucyytneesllssdiikk(ttimiieenoogssonnttsssooot))frrl..yyqruwweerrqsiiutttiiiinnorggens,,saa,cnnnreoaaatllyytnissveiiessceqqasuunseedassrtttihiilooyinnnfkrlloiinkkmgee text. text. the text. skills). cDhiffaricaucltterQauneastlyiosins:, jQuusteisfitcioantioinnvoflvtintlge correeaxttirvaitcytslik(me sotsotrly rwerqiutiinrges, acnreaalytisvies qaunedstthioinnklinkge skills). character analysis, justification of title or extracts (mostly requires creative and thinking skills).

SYLLABUS FOR ASSESSMENT Grade 9 / English CHAPTERS PT-1 TE-1 PT-2 MOCK 1. 1.1 The Fun They Had ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1.2 The Road Not Taken ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 2. 2.1 The Sound Of Music ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 2.2 Wind ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ N.D ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1. The Lost child ✓ ✓ 2. The Adventures of Toto ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Grammar ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 1. Determiners ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 2. Modals ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 3. Prepositions ✓ ✓ 4. Subject-Verb Concord ✓ ✓ 3. 3.1 The Little girl ✓ ✓ 3.2 Rain on the Roof ✓ ✓ 4. 4.1 A Truly Beautiful Mind ✓ ✓ 4.2 The Lake Isle of Innisfree ✓ ✓ 5. 5.1 The Snake And The Mirror ✓ 5.2 A Legend Of The Northland ✓ ✓ N.D ✓ ✓ 3. Iswaran the Storyteller ✓ ✓ 4. In The Kingdom Of Fools 5. The Happy Prince ✓ ✓ Grammar ✓ 5. Clauses ✓ 6. Tenses ✓ 11. Diary Entry ✓ 6. 6.1 My Childhood ✓ 6.2 No Men Are Foreign ✓ 7. 7.1 Packing ✓ 7.2 The Duck and The Kangaroo ✓ 8. 8.1 Reach For The Top 8.2 On Killing A Tree ✓ N.D ✓ 6. Weathering the Storm in Ersama ✓ 7. The Last Leaf 8. A House is not a Home ✓ Grammar ✓ 7. Voice ✓ 8. Reported Speech ✓ 9. Article Writing ✓ 9. 9.1 The Bond Of Love ✓ 9.2 The Snake Trying ✓ 10. 10.1 Kathmandu ✓ 10.2 A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal 11. 11.1 If I Were You

SYLLABUS FOR ASSESSMENT Grade 9 / English CHAPTERS PT-1 TE-1 PT-2 MOCK N.D ✓ 9. The Accidental Tourist ✓ 10. The Beggar ✓ Grammar ✓ 10. Story Writing ✓ 12. Factual Description Periodic Test-1 Assessment Timeline Term 1 Exam 1st July to 31st July Periodic Test-2 23rd September to 21st October Term 2 Exam 16th December to 13th January 17th February to 9st March



LESSON WISE PRACTICE SHEETS (This section has a set of practice questions grouped into different sheets based on different concepts. By answering these questions you will strengthen your subject knowledge. A self-evaluation sheet is provided at the end of every lesson.)



1.1 The Fun They Had Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right, and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly, with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part Margie hated most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time. 1. Who does ‘he’ in the passage refer to? 2. What had Margie hoped? 3. What was ‘he’ able to do? 4. What was not so bad for Margie? 5. What did Margie hate the most and why? 6. How did she write out her tests and homework? 7. What did she learn when she was six years old? 8. What was the mechanical teacher’s work? 9. Find in the passage a word that means ‘a narrow opening through which something can be put’. Extract 2: Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours. The screen was lit up, and it said, ‘Today’s arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.’ 1. Where was Margie’s school room located? 2. Where was the mechanical teacher? 3. What was the mechanical teacher doing? 4. What were the mechanical teacher’s workdays? 5. What did Margie’s mother say about learning? 6. Which was the screen that was lit up? 7. What was the day’s lesson that Margie was going to learn? 8. What did the screen ask Margie to do? 9. Which word in the passage means ‘not including’? 1

1.2 The Road Not Taken Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh! kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. 1. What were the two roads covered with? 2. How was it evident that neither of the two roads had been used that morning? 3. What did the poet decide with the first road? 4. What did the poet doubt and why? 5. Which word in the passage means crushed or trampled? 2

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the passage carefully (Factual passage – a Senators wore brown shoes with four black passage based on true facts) leather straps wound around the lower leg. Shoes Consuls or legal officers wore white shoes and Shoes—we wear them nearly every day. We soldiers wore heavy leather sandals that were walk, run, jump, climb and stand in them more like boots—but with bare toes! for hours on end. Yet we hardly think about Meanwhile, people who lived in cold northern them because they are such an ordinary part climates were making their shoes from the of our daily lives. Shoes were not always an hides of furry animals, such as polar bears important part of people’s wardrobes. The and yaks. The soles and tops of these shoes ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Persians made were made from pieces of soft leather sewn and wore sandals, but actually went barefoot together. This type of shoe—whether or not it most of the time. These people lived in regions used fur—was called a moccasin. Some Native where the weather was temperate and shoes American groups made and wore moccasins were not needed to keep their feet warm. for thousands of years. Some moccasins Archaeologists have found shoes in the ruins were plain, and others were adorned with of these civilizations, but they seem to have beadwork. been worn mainly by royalty, who could afford Answer the following questions. to employ tailors and shoemakers. a. Why did the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Shoes in Early Civilizations the Persians go barefoot in spite of making As shoes became more common in ancient shoes? Egypt, the first ones were simple sandals b. What was the purpose of the first shoe? created mainly to protect the soles of the c. Which civilization was the first to wear shoes feet from rough surfaces. The easiest way to make a fashion statement? to make shoes in these ancient times was d. What are rushes? to use materials that were readily available, e. What did the colours of the sandals made by including tree bark, leaves and grasses. In the Romans represent? ancient Egypt, sandals were made of rushes, f. What is a moccasin? which are grassy plants with hollow stalks. g. Find a word from the passage which means Rushes are the same plants used today to the same as ‘in working condition’. [para 3] make chair bottoms, mats and baskets. h. Find a word from the passage which means Among the ancient Greeks, sandals were woven the opposite of ‘foreign’. [para 5] of similar plant materials, but the Greeks also II. Write a story beginning with the given lines. varied the process by tying small pieces of Ravi was a porter. One day an old foreigner wood together with dried grass. In later years, hired him to carry his luggage to the taxi they made sandals with leather from the hides stand. On reaching the taxi stand…………. of animals. The first Greek shoes were purely functional, but over time most were dyed and 3 decorated to make fashion statements. Women began to wear soft, enclosed leather shoes and these grew increasingly fancy in the later years of the Greek civilization. The Romans wore sandals much like the Greeks did, but used more pieces of leather to make them. Some Roman sandals had straps that wrapped around the ankles. Shoemakers often dyed these sandals in bright colors that represented the different jobs held by the people wearing them. The patricians, or privileged classes wore red sandals with moon-shaped ornaments on the back.

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in each 4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. line. Edit the given paragraph. ______________________________ The solitary reaper is a poem dominated Have you ever wondered why certain children [a] _____ one central figure, a highland girl bubble in energy? This energy is [a] standing [b] _____ a field harvesting grain. The reflected in their enthusiasm to learning [b] song [c] _____ the girl is incomprehensible and excel at new things. So super active [c] [d] _____ the poet. He compares her voice kids score on two counts over there [e] _____ a nightingale. This poem gives a counterparts.[d] vivid picture [f] _____ nature [g] _____ rural settings. One likes it [h] _____ the feeling of 2. In the following passage one word has been bliss it inspires. omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. Festivals gifting go hand in hand. While [a] 5. Read the following passage and fill in the it’s fun be inundated with beautiful gifts, [b] blanks with the most suitable word given in the giving to others equally satisfying, and more[c] brackets. so when gifts are appropriate and useful. [d] Butterflies are some of the world’s [a] _____ [much/many/most/more] beautiful insects. 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form They grow [b] _____ [from/with/to/by] meaningful sentences. egg to adult in four stages. Unfortunately, a. the/in/nineteenth century AD/indian press/ their life span [c]_____ [is/was/are/were] the/grew very short. Children enjoy [d] _____ [chase/ b. reformers/some/newspapers/started/and/ chased/chasing/chases] them and sometimes journals manage to catch them. A child’s intention c. i t/a/became/their/regarding/views/ usually [e] _____ [was/were/is/are] to touch freedom/to express/medium and feel this pretty insect and not harm it. d. many/languages/were/newspapers/ Butterflies escape harm [f] _____ [with/from/ regional/in/printed by/to] merging [g] _____ [with/from/ at/on] their surroundings. Sometimes their bright coloured wings repel [h] _____ [its/their/them/ his] enemies. 4

2.1 The Sound Of Music Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: One day she noticed a girl playing a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. ‘Don’t listen through your ears,’ he would say, ‘try to sense it some other way.’ says Evelyn, ‘Sud- denly I realised I could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower one from the waist down.’ 1. Who does ‘she’ in the first sentence refer to? 2. What did she see the girl doing? 3. Why did the teachers discourage her? 4. Who was Ron Forbes? 5. What did Ron Forbes see in the girl? 6. What did he do for her? 7. What was his advice to her about listening to music? 8. What did Evelyn realise? 9. Who is a percussionist? Extract 2: A barber of a family of professional musicians, who had access to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal quality of the pungi. He chose a pipe with a natural hollow stem that was longer and broader than the pungi and made seven holes on the body of the pipe. When he played on it, closing and opening some of these holes, soft and melodious sounds were produced. He played the instrument before royalty and everyone was impressed. 1. What family did the barber belong to? 2. Who had access to the royal family? 3. What did the barber decide to do? 4. How did he make a new musical instrument? 5. How did he play on it? 6. What kind of sounds did it make? 7. Where did he play it and with what effect did it have? 8. Find a word in the passage which means ‘the opportunity or right to see somebody’. 5

2.2 Wind Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: You tore the pages of the books. You brought rain again. You’re very clever at poking fin: at weaklings. Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters, crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives, crumbling hearts — the wind god winnows and crushes them all 1. What had the wind done to the books? 2. What had the wind brought again? 3. What is the wind clever at? 6

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the passage carefully. (Discursive passage played an important role in bringing education – opinionated) to rural areas. Educational television One of the important changes in education programmes that do not require the learners in the last century is the effort that many to be able to read or write are broadcast countries and communities are making to using satellite transmission. The programmes educate adults and other learners who did are about how to have better health, how not get the education they wanted or needed to improve farming, and how to make small when they were in school, or who did not have business work better. Adults in rural areas the opportunity to go to school at all. watch these programmes and discuss them Governments are starting programmes to with an educational advisor who travels from teach adults how to read and write, how to town to town. do their jobs better, how to farm, and how Adults have some advantages in education, to be healthier and take care of the health of however adult learners often know what their families. Programmes are also being knowledge will be useful to them and what started to help adults finish high school. Adult will not. If they cannot read or write, they education programmes are under way in will experience the problems that illiteracy Europe, Asia, Africa and in South and North can cause. If they cannot do their jobs well, America. they will experience loss of income or job The basic belief behind adult education opportunities that lack of vocational training programmes is that a country will be can cause. Adults have usually accumulated economically and politically stronger if its a wealth of experience of life in general that people are able to read, write and do useful can help them in learning. They have more work. Germany worries about Germans who practical, everyday experience that can help cannot read or write and cannot understand them understand what they learn in school. the news or participate in political life. These people will not be represented in the Answer the following questions. government. In the United States of America, it a. What was the major change noticed in the was recently estimated that almost 20% of the field of education in the last century? adults have some difficulty in reading and the b. What has been the main focus of the cost of this lack of education is as much as 225 government programmes? billion dollars. c. What is the basic thought behind adult Brazil worries about farmers who do not know education programmes? enough about modern farming techniques to d. On whom does the government of Brazil use technology effectively. Without the help of focus and why? these farmers, Brazil’s agricultural income will e. Mention any two problems that adult be low. education faces. Adult education faces many obstacles, f. What role has television played in bringing however, adults are not accustomed to adult education to the rural areas? returning to school and sitting for long hours g. What has helped the adults in their learning listening to teachers and reading books. process? Also, many adults are ashamed to go back to h. Find a word from the passage which means school. They often think that they will appear the same as ‘to be used to something’ [para to be unintelligent or that they will fail. Adults 5] often have little time for education. They have jobs and families and cannot take four or six or II. You are Lakshay/Lakshmi. You have been eight or more hours every day to go to school. selected to participate in the student exchange Due to all these problems, adults often cannot programme to be held in Germany later this go to school, so the school must go to the year. Write a diary in about 100-150 words adults. expressing your feelings on being selected for Education can be taken to adults in different the programme. ways. In India, for example, television has 7

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in 5. Read the conversation given below and each line. Edit the given paragraph. complete the passage. Beryl: Are you leaving now? More and most people are [a] Bianca: Yes, I’m planning to shop at the changing careers, no matter when [b] Instore. their age is. Some feels trapped [c] Beryl: Can you drop me at Curzon street? at the wrong jobs; some want [d] Bianca: Sorry, I’m already late. better prospects; other just want to [e] Beryl asked Bianca [a] __________. Bianca break in and do something [f] replied that [b] __________ Instore. Beryl new. Aiding them was resurgent India [g] wanted to know [c] __________ Curzon that is provides them ample opportunities.[h street. Bianca [d] _________ and said that [e] __________. 2. In the following passage one word has been omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. 8 Sophie’s face faded into grey winter light [a] of the sitting room. She dozed the armchair [b] that Joe had brought for her their 40th [c] anniversary. The room was warm quiet. [d] Outside it snowing lightly. At quarter [e] past one mailman turned around [f] the corner Alleer Street. He was late [g] not because of the snow it was Valentine’s Day.[h] 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form meaningful sentences. a. c ontains/coconut/water/fruit/the/it/ inside/kernel/and b. fibrous covering/its/in a/outer/is/hard shell/ enclosed c. tender coconut/the/highly/the water/in/ nutritious/is d. the heat/it helps/to/of/body/the/keep down 4. Choose the appropriate words and fill in the blanks. When wet waste is mixed [a] _____ [in/on/ into/with] dry waste, it is called garbage. For zero garbage, the two [b] _____ [could/ would/should/shall] be kept separate. Dry waste can be recycled. Wet waste can be [c] _____ [make/turned/mixed/stirred] into compost and used [d] _____ [from/into/for/ in] gardening in place of fertilizer. To make compost [e] _____ [in/on/at/from] home, you need a bin. Keep it at the [f] _____ [waste/ wasting/waist/wasted] level. Fill the bin with your wet waste-vegetable peelings, fruit waste, tea bags and plant [g] _____ [prunes/ pruning/pruned/prune]. You can add [h] _____ [offers/offerings/offered/will offer] made at temples, such as fruits and flowers, which commonly end up polluting water.

3.1 The Little Girl Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: But the same old nightmare came — the butcher with a knife and a rope, who came nearer and nearer, smiling that dreadful smile, while she could not move, could only stand still, crying out, “Grandma! Grandma!” She woke shivering to see father beside her bed, a candle in his hand. “What’s the matter?” he said. “Oh, a butcher — a knife — I want Grannie.” He blew out the candle, bent down and caught up the child in his arms, carrying her along the passage to the big bedroom. A newspaper was on the bed — a half-smoked cigar was near his reading lamp. He put away the paper, threw the cigar into the fireplace, then carefully tucked up the child. He lay down beside her. Half asleep still, still with the butcher’s smile all about her, it seemed. She crept close to him, snuggled her head under his arm, held tightly to his shirt. 1. What was Kezia’s nightmare? 2. How often did Kezia have the nightmare? 3. What did Kezia’s father do when she had the nightmare? 4. Was Kezia’s father indifferent towards her or did he love her? Extract 2: To the little girl he was a figure to be feared and avoided. Every morning before going to work he came into her room and gave her a casual kiss, to which she responded with “Goodbye, Father”. And oh, the glad sense of relief when she heard the noise of the carriage growing fainter and fainter down the long road! In the evening when he came home, she stood near the staircase and heard his loud voice in the hall. “Bring my tea into the drawing room. Hasn’t the paper come yet? Mother, go and see if my paper’s out there and bring me my slippers.” “Kezia,” mother would call to her, “if you’re a good girl you can come down and take off father’s boots.” Slowly the girl would slip down the stairs, more slowly still, across the hall, and push open the drawing- room door. By that time, he had his spectacles on and looked at her over them in a way that was terrifying to the little girl. 1. How did the girl feel when her father went to work each day? 2. How did the girl respond when the father kissed her? 3. Where did she stand when her father came home in the evening? 4. What did the father ask for after coming from office? 9

3.2 Rain On The Roof Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: Now in memory comes my mother, As she used in years agone, To regard the darling dreamers Ere she left them till the dawn O! I felt her fond look on me As I list to this refrain Which is played upon the shingles By the patter of the rain. 1. Where is the poet? Is he sitting or lying? 2. Whose memory comes to him? 3. Do you think the poet’s mother is still alive? 4. What is the picture of the mother that comes to the poet’s mind? 5. How can you say the mother loved her children? 6. How does the poet feel when he has the memory of his mother? 7. What is the poet listening to? 8. How does the poet describe the falling of rain? 10

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the passage carefully. (Discursive passage is both true and unexpected. - opinionated) My devotion to reading has never made me The habit of reading is one of the greatest resources of mankind, and we enjoy reading a recluse. How could it be? Books are of books that belong to us much more than if the people, by the people, for the people. they are borrowed. A borrowed book is like Literature is the immortal part of history; a guest in the house; it must be treated with it is the best and most enduring part of punctiliousness, with a certain considerate personality. But book-friends have this formality. You must see that it sustains no advantage over living friends; you can enjoy damage; it must not suffer while under your the most truly aristocratic society in the roof. You cannot leave it carelessly, you cannot world whenever you want it. The great dead mark it, you cannot turn down the pages, you are beyond our physical reach, and the great cannot use it familiarly. And then, someday, living is usually almost the inaccessible; as for although this is seldom done, you really ought our personal friends and acquaintances, we to return it. cannot always see them. Perchance they are But your own books belong to you; you treat asleep, or away on a journey. But in a private them with that affectionate intimacy that library, you can at any moment converse with annihilates formality. Books are for use, not Socrates or Shakespeare or Carlyle or Dumas for show; you should own no book that you or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy. are afraid to mark up, or afraid to place on the A. Answer the following questions. table, wide open and face down. A good reason i. How should one take care of a borrowed for marking favourite passages in books is that book? this practice enables you to remember more ii. Explain the statement ‘it’s like visiting forest easily the significant sayings, to refer to them where you once blazed a trail’. quickly, and then in later years, it is like visiting iii. Why have books been called the best of a forest where you once blazed a trail. You have mural decorations? the pleasure of going over the old ground, and iv. ‘Reading never makes a person recluse’ recalling both the intellectual scenery and your Justify. own earlier self. B. Complete the statements. Everyone should begin collecting a private i. We enjoy reading books __________________ library in youth; the instinct of private ________________. property, which is fundamental in human ii. When bookworms say that they have read beings, can here be cultivated with every some books from their collection twice, the advantage. One should have one’s own statement is _________________________. bookshelves, which should not have doors, C. Find words from the passage which mean the glass windows, or keys; they should be free same as: and accessible to the hand as well as to a. root out [para 2] the eye. The best of mural decorations are b. a person whom one knows slightly [para 4] books; they are more varied in ‘colour and appearance’ than any wallpaper, they are 11 more attractive in design, and they have the prime advantage of being separate personalities so that if you sit alone in the room in the firelight, you are surrounded with intimate friends. The knowledge that they are there in plain view is both stimulating and refreshing. You do not have to read them all. Most of my indoor life is spent in a room containing six thousand books, and I have a stock answer to the invariable question that comes from strangers. “Have you read all of these books? “Some of them twice”. This reply

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) II. Using the notes given below, write a short paragraph on ‘Kashmir – The Paradise of India’, in about 100 – 120 words. a. • Lies in north India b. • Surrounded by mountains, snow covered peaks, c. beautiful lakes and gardens d. • Cold weather e. • Visited by tourists throughout the year f. • Dal lake – famous – houseboats g. • Wicker work, Kashmiri embroidery, walnut work – h. chief handicrafts of the people i. • People – helpful, enjoy delicious food j. • Kashmir – heaven created by God on earth. PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) 3. In the given paragraph, there is an error in each line. Edit the given paragraph. Grammar: We can balancing the summer heat [a] 1. Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the by consuming food items who have a [b] verbs given in the brackets. cooling effect on your body. We should take [c] Once Martin Luther King [a] _____ [address] care of our nutritious in peak summer. [d] public meeting. Suddenly someone [b] _____ [throw] a shoe at him. But King [c] _____ 4. In the following passage one word has been [not lose] his cool. He [d] _____ [pick] up the omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. shoe and told the gathering that some kind gentleman, knowing that he could not afford There was once a boy who would never [a] shoes [e] _____ [throw] one for him. He [f] devote any attention his studies. [b] _____ [request] the gentleman to throw him His parents sent to school, [c] the other one too. but he took playing on the road [d] and did not care the opinion [e] 2. Fill in the blanks with appropriate modals. of even those friends helped him [f] On the Annual Day, the Director delivered a in danger. In end he found himself [g] lecture, “Good evening children, you all [a] all alone and a job. He had no option [h] _____ be the future policy makers, hence you but to get himself employed a servant. [b] _____ obey your teachers. You [c] _____ always try to win over the confidence of your 5. Rearrange the jumbled words to form superiors. You must not leave any stone meaningful sentences. unturned and you [d] _____ not worry about a. are/nature/of/gift/a/great/humanity/trees/ the result. Take a pledge that you [e] _____ to obey and respect your elders. You [f] _____ b. become/has/cities/in/big/a /quite/driving/ take whatever stream you like but excel in the job/tough chosen path. c. every/hours/four/fast/the/liquids/take/ during d. routine/your/tension/changing/reduce/ helps 12

4.1 A Truly Beautiful Mind Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: At the urging of a colleague, Einstein wrote a letter to the American President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on August 2, 1939, in which he warned : ‘A single bomb of this type ... exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.’ His words did not fail to have an effect. The Americans developed the atomic bomb in a secret project of their own and dropped it on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. 1. Who was Roosevelt? 2. What did a colleague urge Einstein to do? 3. When did Einstein write a letter to Roosevelt? 4. What did he convey in his letter? 5. Did Einstein’s letter have any effect? 6. What did the Americans do in secrecy? 7. Where did the Americans drop their atom bomb? 8. Find in the passage a word which means inn area of land. Extract 2: But Albert Einstein was not a bad pupil. He went to a high school in Munich, where Einstein’s family had moved when he was 15 months old and scored good marks in almost every subject. Einstein hated the school’s regimentation, and often clashed with his teachers. At the age of 15, Einstein felt so stifled there that he left the school for good. 1. Was Albert a bad pupil? Why or why not? 2. Where was Albert sent for school education? 3. How was his performance? 4. What did Albert hate about his school? 5. Who did he often clash with? 6. What did he do when he was fifteen? 7. Why did he leave the school in Munich? 8. What does the word regimentation mean? 13

4.2 The Lake Isle of Innisfree Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow And evenings frill of the linnet’s wings. 1. What place is the poet referring to? 2. What does he hope to get there? 3. What will he hear in the morning? 4. What is meant by ‘veils of the morning’? 5. What glimmer will there be at midnight? 6. How will he enjoy his evenings? 14

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. (Factual after summer vacations, I heard Miss Jean had passage) got married and was going to Australia. I felt stupid, being made to stand on the desk Many years went by. I graduated in while the other kids were bent over their engineering, then in management, got a job, notebooks. I couldn’t understand my new married and had kids. One day I found myself school or my new classmates, or their alien thinking of Miss Jean. Soon afterwards I found language – English- and the fact that they myself in Sydney, Australia, on an official trip. could do sums in their head, while I struggled I tried looking up my teacher in the phone with a paper and pencil. For me, at age six, the book. But it was of no help as I did not know good times had ended. Life seemed a far cry even her surname. I will always remember from those days in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, her for the tact and patience with which she all thanks to my grandfather’s reflected glory. taught me. He was a military doctor, a great man, and A. Answer the following questions. I lived with him. Even the policemen gave i. When did the good times end for the author me affectionate salaams, which I learned to and why? acknowledge with a nod. I’d simply lay my ii. Why does the author call himself a pampered head down on the desk and sleep in class, if little prince? bored. I was a pampered little prince. iii. How did Ms. Jean handle the author in his In early 1971, my parents decided it was time new school? I moved to Bombay where my father worked. iv. Which was the moment the author cherished My first few days were a disaster. No one spoke the most with Ms. Jean? Tamil or Telegu, the only languages I knew. I couldn’t keep pace with their writing or B. Find words from the passage which mean the reading. Then one day a slight plump lady with same as: large spectacles, wearing trousers walked into i. unknown [para 1] the classroom. “Hello,” she said, “My name ii. called [para 2] is Miss Jean. I am your new class teacher.” She’d done her homework. Spotting me in a C. Find words from the passage which mean the back corner, she beckoned me to the front. My opposite of the given words: almost empty notebooks must have given Miss i. deteriorate [para 3] Jean a clue that I needed the extra attention. ii. ignore [para 1] If the class had to write a page, I’d be made to write two. Even during PT, I had to stay back II. It is a known fact that animals are being and write. When I was caught sneaking to exploited for the selfish greed of humans. As the window to watch the others playing, Miss a conscious citizen who realizes the need for Jean put me in the middle row, far from the harmony with nature, write an article using the window. following inputs along with your own ideas on I made some progress and Miss Jean made ‘Kindness to Animals’. it a point to praise every little achievement. If I did my work wrong, she’d call me to her animals – an important part of the ecosystem desk, hug me and show me how to correct habitat encroached by man my errors. Mistakes were only human in her animals exploited for cosmetics, entertainment and fun eyes, but neglecting homework was a crime- take care of animals – show love there’d be a terse comment in my diary for a torturing or hunting animals – an offence mother to see. And I would be grounded that adopt animals evening. Meanwhile I was getting possessive follow the policy of ‘live and let live and did not like if another child got more hugs. By Christmas, I stood fifth in class. “I am very proud of Srikant,” she told the class after reading out the marks. I related that moment to mother again and again. When I returned 15

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. Read the following passage and fill in the 4. Below you can see a set of instructions blanks with the most suitable word. for making cottage cheese. Complete the African elephants [a] _____ slightly bigger in paragraph which describes how cottage cheese size and dark [b] _____ colour than the Asian is made. elephants. They [c] _____ more prominent ears also. Being herbivorous, they depend [d] Take one litre of milk and juice of a lemon. _____ plants in the forest [e] _____ fulfill their Pour the milk into a pan and bring it slowly to boil. food demand. It is an intelligent animal and [f] While stirring milk continuously, add lemon juice. _____ be trained easily. Continue to stir gently till the milk gets curdled. Set it aside to cool. 2. There is an error in each line in the given When it gets cool, strain the curdled milk through a sieve paragraph. Find the error and write the correct of muslin. word. Squeeze out the liquid whey, press the cheese under a flat weight. From time to time an school principal [a] would get complements that the children [b] One litre of milk and the juice of one lemon [a] are becoming rowdier day by day. [c] __________. The milk [b] __________ into a He speak to the teachers [d] pan and slowly brought to boil. [c] __________ to unsolved the problem. All of them [e] while it is being stirred continuously. Stirring volunteered to cooperate from him. [f] is continued till the milk gets curdled and then Alone the principal should have had [g] [d] _________ . When the curdled milk gets a tough time for tackle the issue. [h] cool, [e] __________ of muslin. Then the liquid whey [f] _______ and [g] __________ weight. 3. Fill in the blanks with the suitable forms of the After an hour it is cut into desirable pieces and verbs given in the brackets. it is ready to use. Robin Hood helped the poor. He [a] _____ [come] to know what the Sheriff [b] _____ 5. In the given passage one word has been [say] about him. He [c] _____ [take] this as a omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. challenge. He smiled and told his followers, “The Sheriff [d] _____ [look] for a chance to Birbal summoned the servants gave [a] catch me. The poor man [e] _____ [wait] for them wooden stick each. He told [b] a long time. I [f] _____ [go] to the town and them keep it with them for the [c] give him an opportunity to meet me.” So he [g] night and return it to in the [d] _____ [start] for the town. On the way he saw a morning. The sticks, he said, magical [e] butcher who [h] ____ [take] some meat to sell and would increase their length three inches. at the town market. [f] 16

5.1 The Snake And The Mirror Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: I took a close look at my face in the mirror. I made an important decision. I would shave daily and grow a thin moustache to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor! I looked into the mirror and smiled. It was an attractive smile. I made another earth-shaking decision. I would always keep that attractive smile on my face .... to look more handsome. I was after all a bachelor, and a doctor too on top of it! 1. Who does ‘I’ in the passage refer to? 2. What did he look at in the mirror? 3. Was the narrator married? 4. What was his profession? 5. What was the first important decision he made? 6. How did he feel about his smile? 7. What did he decide to do to look more handsome? 8. Why do you think he wanted to look handsome? 9. Which word or phrase in the passage means of ‘great importance’? Extract 2: I took off my black coat, white shirt and not-so-white vest and hung them up. I opened the two windows in the room. It was an outer room with one wall facing the open yard. It had a tiled roof with long supporting gables that rested on the beam over the wall. There was no ceiling. There was a regular traffic of rats to and from the beam. I made my bed and pulled it closer to the wall. I lay down but I could not sleep. I got up and went out to the veranda for a little air, but the Wind God seemed to have taken time off. 1. What clothes did the narrator take off? 2. What did he do with the clothes that he had taken off? 3. How does he describe his vest? 4. How many windows were there in the room? 5. What kind of roof did the room have? 6. How were the gables supported? 7. What ‘regular’ traffic does the narrator talk of? 8. Where did he put his bed? 9. Why do you think he could not sleep? 10. Why did he go out to the veranda? 11. Was it airy outside? 17

5.2 A Legend Of The Northland Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: Then up she went through the chimney, Never speaking a worth And out of the top flew a woodpecker, For she was changed to a bird. She had a scarlet cap on her head, And that was left the same: But all the rest of her clothes were burned Black as a coal in the flame. 1. Who does ‘she’ here refer to? 2. Could she say anything? 3. Where did she go? 4. What happened to her? 5. What did she have on her head? 6. Describe her clothes. 18

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. offences under the child marriage restrained (Discursive) Act should be made cognizable and special Child marriages are rampant in North India. officers be appointed to enforce the law. The The curse continues to blight the lives of Government, however, did not pay heed to it people even as the country stands at the while raising the minimum age of marriage. At threshold of the 21st century. Children bound the same time, there is no follproof system of by marriage are victims of blind customs and registering births and thus, there is no legally superstitions prevalent in rural areas and in enforceable method for establishing the age of certain urban concentrations as well among a male or a female. the weaker socio-economic groups. Nothing seems to stop this anti-social practice despite Answer the following questions. the Child Marriage Act passed as early as in a. What are the reasons for child marriages in 1929, which makes child marriage a grave India? offence. b. Under what circumstances can child Why do child marriages take place at all and marriages not take place? what could be done to wean the people off c. What is the significance of ‘Akhha Teeja’? from the practice? The evil thrives because of d. How can the provisions in the legislation be illiteracy and other related causes – the most rigorously practiced? important of which is the anxiety of parents to e. In which social groups are the child marry off their daughters as early as possible. marriages rampant? In many states where illiteracy is high like in f. Why is it not possible to establish the age of a Rajasthan, the practice of child marriage is in child? vogue. ‘Akhha Teeja’ is the D-day for parents of g. Which word in the first paragraph means the minor girls, for on that day, they seek their ‘widespread’? salvation from the anxiety of girls growing up h. Which phrase in the second paragraph is the in their midst. opposite of ‘stick to’? A child marriage is less likely to take place if the parents are literate or at least, the father II. Given below are a few details of Mr. Rajshekhar, is. He is then aware of the legal minimum age your school librarian. Briefly describe and health hazards his daughter will face by Mr. Rajshekhar using the information given an early marriage. If the mother, otherwise below. literate, has been exposed to family planning message, she is also less likely to solemnize Age – 35 years her daughter’s wedding at an age below the Height/weight – 170 cm/70kg, plump, pleasant looking legal minimum. Education – MA [English] Delhi University, B.Lib Sc – Among other factors causing parents to IGNOU give away young daughters in marriage is Experience – 10 years the need felt by families having more than Duties – purchasing books, displaying new arrivals, one daughter, to keep wedding expenses maintaining cleanliness of the library, issuing books, down. By marrying two daughters at the advising students about the different books to read, same time parents save on the expenses. holding book exhibitions Parental anxiety about grown up [14 years and Character traits – kind and helpful, a good guide, well- above] daughters going astray forces the less informed, soft spoken and friendly educated to give away daughters in marriage. The present law was amended in 1978 raising the minimum age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 years and for boys from 18 to 21 years. The committee on the status of women in its report in 1974 had recommended that all 19

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. Complete the passage given below choosing the baby to show him that they love him. [h] correct alternatives. On 20th May 1818, the British explorer sir 3. In the given passage one word has been Stamford raffles, reported the [a] _____ [find/ omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. finds/finding/found] of a giant flower [b] _____ [at/on/by/in] Sumatra. It was named All animals need to protect themselves. Rafflesia [c] _____ [on/for/after/by] him. Some have clear ways of escaping their [a] Measuring almost a metre across and [d] ____ enemies. [weighed/weighs/ weighing/weight] up tp Many animals are fierce that they are hardly[b] eleven kilograms, the Rafflesia is [e] _____ [a/ ever attacked. But there many peaceful [c] an/these/the] world’s largest flower. It is also creatures called the ‘Stinking Lily’ [f] _____ [because/ which need armour protect themselves. [d] as/since/for] of the unpleasant smell it emits. Pangolins, for example, ‘jointed armour’. [e] Those people [g] _____ [whose/whom/which/ They move quite easily and when [f] who] have been fortunate to see it, inform that they are in danger, they can roll up a ball. [g] they were overcome [h] _____ [with/by/from/ It is very difficult to unroll a pangolin in for] its beauty. position[h] as the scales have very sharp edges. 2. There is an error in each line in the given 4. Complete the following news reports paragraph. Find the error and write the correct accompanying the given headlines. word. a. BAN ON SMOKING Smoking ____________________ in all Scientific research, generated to determine public places. the specific benefits of ‘Touch Therapy’ b. 12 INJURED AS TWO BUSES COLLIDE by a University of Miami school of [a] About ____________________ at the CPD Medicine, proves the touch has a direct [b] junction here today. co-relation on a baby’s immune system. [c] c. DRIVE AGAINST LIQUOR MAFIA LAUNCHED Touch helps to suppressing stress hormones The police ____________________ [d] engaged in smuggling of liquor to the state. called catacholamines where in turn [e] d. CHINA DEVELOPS MEDICAL ROBOT produce adrenal hormones and natural A polytechnic university in China protective cells, that helped the baby cope [f] ____________________ that can conduct with surgeries. disease. It also helps your baby to fight infections to [g] improves your baby’s circulation. Touch the 5. Rearrange the jumbled words to form meaningful sentences. a. a four year old/a diving/to his death/to dive/ advertisement/prompted b. advertisement aiming/in Africa/below 12 years/and/America/is not/permitted/at children/of age c. of children/code/Doordarshan’s/that endanger/advertisements/bans/the safety d. stunts/them/carry/to copy/a warning/not dangerous/watchers/must/advertising 20

6.1 My Childhood Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: One day, he invited me to his home for a meal. His wife was horrified at the idea of a Muslim boy being invited to dine in her ritually pure kitchen. She refused to serve me in her kitchen. Sivasubramania lyer was not perturbed, nor did he get angry with his wife, but instead, served me with his own hands and sat down beside me to eat his meal. His wife watched us from behind the kitchen door. 1. Who does ‘he’ in the passage refer to? 2. Who was the Muslim boy? 3. Who had invited the Muslim boy? 4. Who refused to serve the Muslim boy? 5. Who was Sivasubramania lyer? 6. Did he get angry with his wife? 7. Who served the Muslim boy his meal? 8. What did the wife do while her husband and the Muslim boy were having their meal? 9. Which word in the passage means ‘worried’ or ‘disturbed’? Extract 2: I was one of many children — a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally. 1. Was the writer the only child of his parents? 2. How did the writer say describe physical looks as a child? 3. What does the writer say about the physical looks of his parents? 4. Where was the writer’s house situated? 5. Describe the writer’s house. 6. What does the writer say about his father? 7. How can you say that the writer’s father was an austere person? 8. How was the writer’s childhood? 9. Find in the passage a word that means ‘unnecessary’. 21

6.2 No Men Are Foreign Extract 1: Let us remember, whenever we are told To hate our brothers, it is ourselves That we shall dispossess, betrays condemn. Remember, we who take arms against each other, It is the human earth that we defile, Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence Of air that is everywhere our own. Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange. 1. Who have been called ‘our brothers’? 2. Who and why should we not hate? 3. What shall happen if we take up arms against each other? 4. What is meant by the following? (a) hells of fire and dust (b) the innocence of air. 5. What is there everywhere and is our own? 6. What message does the poet want to convey in these lines? 22

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. [factual] all the animals call – the cuckoo sings to find Strange are the ways of the animal world. its mate, doves coo, male crickets chirp to Animal languages don’t have names and we warn about the rival males and predators. can’t tell what they are saying, but we do Mammals in the ocean, like whales and know that dolphins whistle, hyenas laugh, dolphins, ‘speak’ at ultrasonic frequencies wolves howl, lions roar, elephants trumpet, to communicate over long distances, since birds whistle, tweet and chirp, frogs croak - to visibility is poor in water. send messages across. They use a dictionary of non-verbal means. Answer the following questions. COLOUR – The male koel has a shiny coat, the a. What do you understand by concealed peacock is a vision when it spreads its wings. colouration. Give two examples. Leaf insects sit on the green leaves, stick insects b. Why should elephants not be kept alone? look like dry sticks. Brightly coloured butterflies c. How do birds communicate while flying? are poisonous. Big cats merge beautifully with d. How do mammals relay communication? the tall, dry grass. The fennec fox that lives in deserts has a coat in the colour of sand. Using Complete the statements. the colour of the background to hide is called a. Animals use a __________________________ ‘concealing colouration’. __________ to communicate. TOUCH – Chimpanzees greet each other b. Pheronomes are ________________________ by holding hands, monkeys groom each ________________________. other by picking off dead skin. Pets and domestic animals lick to show affection. Find words from the passage which mean the But elephants would be the best examples same as those given below: for communicating through touch. They deliberately touch one another with their a. hiding [para 2] - trunk, tusks, feet, tail and sometimes through b. bifurcated [para 4] – their entire body – to play, explore, protect and fight. Elephants greet each other with a II. Your grandparents celebrated their 50th raised trunk, push a calf to join the queue. So wedding anniversary last week. The entire it is a crime to keep elephants alone. family gathered on this momentous occasion. CHEMICAL MARKING – The dog sniffs and Write a short paragraph describing the event. pees from time to time on the sidewalk to mark its territory. This chemical marking is mostly through pheronomes [substances released to convey a message] and through body fluids. Chemical signals can be air- borne or waterborne. Snakes can ‘taste’ their enemies from a distance by using their forked tongues and the roof of their mouth to collect pheronomes. MOVEMENT – Bees send signals through movement. When looking for food, forager bees in the swarm move up and down informing others of the distance and location of a food source. The birds flying in formation change positions smoothly when they are tired to let others take their positions in front. AUDITORY – Animal cries signifying danger or distress are now understood well by humans. Sound travels long distances and becomes an effective medium of communication. Almost 23

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in c. legs/her/pass/vibrations/feet/through/up/ each line. Edit the given paragraph. her/the d. fingertips/her/into/stick/the/up/passing/ Vegetarian restaurants are to been found in [a] sound/the/sense/can/she various parts of London. One day I tired himself [b] walking around the National Gallery look at [c] 4. Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate pictures. It was near 1o’clock and I was feeling option. Sarla said that she didn’t know [a] _____ [why/ [d] what/when which] she had done wrong. She extremely hunger. So I made my way slowly to was talking to [b] _____ [her/him/me/it] as I was taking the stethoscope from my bag. [e] She was a woman of grace in [c] _____ [him/ an restaurant which was not far from there in me/us/her] late thirties who [d] _____ [has/ have/had/hadn’t] come to see me [e] _____ [f] Martin’s Lane. 2. In the following passage, one word has been [about/on/for/over] anxiety and depression. omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. In discussing the stress she faced, it was clear TiIthdieosypnnrheoivactaevtsceasylsak trrmyic.yt sinesrtvrauncttsioenxscetpotinwvhaedne my [[ab]] [tgd[fhria]ov]u_iu_ng_b_gh_l_]i_tn_eh__gre[]w[rttkhsraioildsseu/e[rtbgiphgl]leahe_stts_/osft_rmhno_ei_emgs/[hetghr/tioestvh.ureSobc/hsghleeaeild]vdhh/ehate/rodgrooitubvdeebee.nelne/na/age unless they are sent for. Such small matters getting a 5. Read the given conversation and complete the [c] paragraph. glass water, or putting on the shoes, or lighting Tarun: Where is your grammar notebook? the [d] Varun: I don’t know where I have kept it. lamp, I prefer to do myself rather send for them. Tarun: I saw you taking it from the teacher [e] yesterday. It gives me a feeling of independence Varun: Later I gave it to Mohan and I have no idea self-reliance. [f] where I left it. Tarun: In case you don’t find it, take my 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form notebook and copy the notes. meaningful sentences. Tarun asked Varun [a] _____ . Varun replied that [b] _____. Tarun mentioned that [c] a. in/part/her/pours/music/every/body/of _____. Varun said that [d] _____ and also b. it/hair/tingles/her/in/in/even/skin/and/her/ added [e] _____. Tarun told Varun to take his notebook and copy the notes [f] _____ . cheekbones 24

7.1 Packing Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: I rather pride on my packing. Packing is one of those many things that I feel I know more about than any other person living. (It surprises me myself, sometimes, how many such things there are.) I impressed the fact upon George and Harris and told them that they had better leave the whole matter entirely to me. They fell into the suggestion with a readiness that had something uncanny about it. George put on a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair, and Harris cocked his legs on the table and lit a cigar. 1. What is the writer proud of? 2. What did he tell George and Harris? 3. How did George and Harris react to the writer’s suggestion? 4. Which word in the passage means ‘strange’? Extract 2: My tooth-brush is a thing that haunts me when I’m travelling, and makes my life a misery. I dream that 1 haven’t packed it, and wake up in a cold perspiration, and get out of bed and hunt for it. And, in the morning, I pack it before I have used it, and have to unpack again to get it, and it is always the last thing I turn out of the bag; and then I repack and forget it, and have to rush upstairs for it at the last moment and carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in my pocket handkerchief. 1. Name the story and the writer. 2. What does the narrator dream and what does he do about it? 3. What does he do in the morning? 4. Which word in the passage means ‘keeps disturbing’? 25

7.2 The Duck and The Kangaroo Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: Said the Duck, As I sat on the rocks, I have thought over that completely And I bought four pairs of wonted socks Which fit my web feet neatly. And to keep out the cold I’ve bought a cloak, And every day a cigar I’ll smoke, All to follow my own dear true Love of a Kangaroo!’ 1. Who is the Duck speaking to? 2. Where had he been sitting? 3. What had he thought over? 4. What things had he bought? 5. What did he say he would do every day? 6. What kind of feet did the Duck have? 7. Why did he bring wonted socks? 8. Why did he do all that for? 26

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. times, scored no better than those who saw [discursive] it once. The researchers found evidence for Watching YouTube Videos, Instagram this phenomenon in other domains, including demos and Facebook tutorials may boost doing the moonwalk, playing a digital your confidence in performing a task but computer game and juggling. it probably would not make you an expert “Anyone who goes online to look up tips before overnight, suggests new research. attempting a skill – from cooking techniques Social media platforms have made it easy to DIY [do it yourself] home repairs to X Games to record, share and access instructional Tricks – would benefit from knowing that they videos, but merely watching them without might be overconfident in their own abilities practicing the demonstrated skills may not after watching, and should exercise caution actually improve our ability to perform them, before attempting similar skills themselves,” according to the findings published in the Kardas added. journal ‘Psychological science’. Answer the following questions. “The more that people watched others, the a. What does the new research suggest? more they felt they could perform the same b. What is mentioned in the journal skill too – even when their abilities hadn’t ‘Psychological Science’? actually changed for the better,” said study c. What is meant by ‘tablecloth trick’? author Michael Kardas of The University of d. Which category of people seemed more Chicago Booth School of Business in the US. confident with the ‘tablecloth trick’? “Our findings suggest that merely watching e. What was the prediction made by the high others could cause people to attempt skills exposure group? that they might not be ready or able to f. What was the ultimate reality of the perform themselves,” Kardas said. situation? In one online experiment, the researchers g. What should anyone who goes online to look assigned 100 participants to watch a video, for tips be wary of? read step-by- step instructions, or merely think h. Find a word from paragraph 4 which means about performing the ‘tablecloth trick’ which the same as ‘the ability to do something involves pulling a table cloth off a table without successfully or efficiently’. disturbing the place settings on top. People II. Look at the picture given below. who watched the five second video 20 times, were much more confident of their ability to On the basis of the given picture, write an pull off the trick than were those who watched article on ‘The problem of Child Labour’. the video once. However, people who simply read or thought about the trick for an extended period of time did not show this confidence boost. These results provided initial evidence that repeated viewing may lead people to an inflated sense of competence. To find out whether this perception is borne out by actual performance, the researchers tested a group of 200 participants on their dart-throwing abilities. Those who watched a demo video 20 times estimated that they would score more points than those who saw the video only once – this high-exposure group also predicted that they would be more likely to hit the bull’s eye and reported that they had learned more technique and improved more after watching the video. But these perceptions did not line up with reality – people who watched the video many 27

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in each promises line. Edit the given paragraph. d. and/his/word/thoughtful/keeps/is/always/ It was late at the afternoon and I was talking [a] to the landlord with some packed lunch that [b] gentleman/true/a I needed the next day – I was plan a short [c] excursion, by myself on a group of caves nearby. 4. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. [d] Sleep [a] _____ very important as that is when The landlord is in a hurry, arranging things [e] the body releases stress [b] _____ energy to for a new guest that had booked a room [f] get recuperated. To [c] _____ extent, sleep [d] for the season or was supposed to be moving [g] _____ care of the fatigue. But [e] _____ of the in every moment – arriving by the Mail train. [h] time, stress remains in the system. For tackling different [f] _____ of stress, there are techniques 2. In the following passage, one word has been of meditation [g] _____ focus on the rhythm [h] omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. _____ breath that is linked to the state of mind. Though we met from time time, [a} 5. Expand the given newspaper headlines. I never knew what [b] a. KSRTC TO REPLACE EXISTING FLEET WITH VOLVO Manu really did. I ask her directly. [c] LUXURY BUSES Once she casually [d] The existing fleet of buses __________ with said that she painted and that she [e] modern Volvo luxury buses before the end of the come to England [f] year. to learn painting. I thought one really [g] b. FOUR CHILDREN DIE: SWINE FLU SUSPECTED wanted to learn [h] At least four children __________ to have died of painting one go to Paris or to an Italian city. swine flu in the last three months. England hardly the place. I didn’t c. THEATRES SCREENING THE CONTROVERSIAL wish to contradict FILM ON THE THIRD GENDER ATTACKED her. She confused life the real world so Theatres in Mumbai and Pune screening the readily life in her imagination that controversial film on the third gender__________ one could not rely by a group of protestors. on any of her statements. d. DAVIS FOUND GUILTY OF THEFT IN THE MUSEUM Davis, the crook __________ of stealing the most 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form famous painting in the museum by the New York meaningful sentences. police today. a. Panipat/a/pause/the/brief/had/train/at b. faces/train/muffled/boarded/men/the/five/ with c. disappointment/to/lead/broken/and/sorrow/ 28

8.1 Reach For The Top Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: The only woman in the world who has conquered Mt. Everest twice was born in a society where the birth of a son was regarded as a blessing, and a daughter, though not considered a curse, was not generally welcome. When her mother was expecting Santosh, a travelling ‘holy man’, giving her his blessing, assumed that she wanted a son. But, to everyone’s surprise, the unborn child’s grandmother, who was standing close by, told him that they did not want a son. The ‘holy man’ was also surprised! 1. Which woman is being referred to in these lines? 2. What remarkable thing has she done? 3. What kind of society was she born in? 4. What did the holy man assume? Extract 2: Santosh’s parents were affluent landowners who could afford to send their children to the best schools, even to the country’s capital Delhi, which was quite close by. But, in line with the prevailing custom in the family, Santosh had to make do with the local village school. So, she decided to fight the system in her own quiet way when the right moment arrived. And the right moment came when she turned sixteen. At sixteen, most of the girls in her village used to get married. Santosh was also under pressure from her parents to do the same. 1. Why was Santosh sent to the local village school? 2. Why didn’t Santosh object to it? 3. What did Santosh decide to do? 4. When did the right moment come? 29

8.2 On Killing A Tree Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: Out from the earth-cave, And the strength of the tree exposed, The source, white and wet, The most sensitive, hidden For years inside the earth. 1. What did the root form underground? 2. How is the strength of the tree exposed? 3. What is the most sensitive part of a tree? 4. Where does the root remain hidden for years? 30

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. [factual] department has also distributed fire crackers, With the deaths of over a hundred elephants in kerosene oil and torches among villagers to a year due to unnatural reasons like being hit assist in the anti-depredation activities. by trains and electrocution, followed by death Answer the questions given below. of close to another hundred human beings a. What has led to the death of elephants in in conflict with elephants in a year, Assam is Assam? seemingly looking at a jumbo problem with no b. According to the minister, what steps have immediate solution in sight. While the Assam been taken to reduce or lessen the damage forest department has claimed to have taken caused by the elephants to the villagers? several steps including formation of local co- c. Which area of Assam has been the worst ordination committees in districts to monitor affected by the elephants? the movement of wild elephants, and created d. How are the anti-depredation squads elephant depredation squads, a solution is working to lessen the problem? seemingly far from sight. Find words from the passage which mean the Giving details of the steps taken by the same as the ones given below: department to stop the human and elephant a. observe to check progress [para 1] deaths, the minister said that while the b. hurdle [para 2] department is making efforts to use modern c. hunt illegally [para 3] technologies like use of sensor-based barriers d. thorough [para 4] on the railway tracks, efforts are also on to II. You enjoy watching the game of cricket very develop a mobile app for use by villagers much. You ensure that you do not miss a single as well as the forest officials in each district match while it is telecast on TV. Recently so that information about the movement of you happened to watch an IPL match live in elephant herds could be shared. Solar power the stadium with your friends, as your uncle electric fencing has also been created at some gifted you VIP passes. Write a diary entry on places to avoid damage to life and property by your experience and how you felt later after these elephants. watching the match. A staggering 463 human beings have been killed by wild animals from 2013 to 2017 31 across the state. The maximum incidents occurred in Udalgiri district, which recorded the death of 86 humans in the six-year period. Similarly 374 persons, including women and children, have been injured due to raids by wild elephants on human habitation between 2013 and 2017. According to the statistics maintained by the forest department, close to a hundred elephants are being killed due to different incidents across Assam every year. The statistics, maintained by the wildlife NGOs however, did not match and said that more elephants are killed every year due to poaching, speeding trains, poisoning and electrocution. “We have also created elephant anti- depredation squads to lessen the conflict in the districts. Local villagers are also being sensitized by organizing awareness programmes and intensive patrolling is being carried out in areas where the problem is greater,” the minister said, adding that the

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in each In fact, some their innovations are line. Edit the given paragraph. priced at as much [d] Cawnhhdooocaaonrrleeaesctn,eo omdtipoaamf rmoeduncdohsnwisthoaercttwhu.eaDlllli-yakmnboroownwndnswdhiaitme ond[[ bas]] efihaWteysahwwesheosiusnnruunlvsrrddegegwrneneeoitioddoennserdss.ootdfavodreitonrelgadla dLrsoazsaeibknr,ostahuderg.reiDcra.lBinasntarjui ments[[e.f]] are produced [c] of mines. The best know diamond mines are in 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form [d] meaningful sentences Australia, South Africa and Russia. a. important/is/to/it/observe/rules/traffic The larger diamond b. not/children/below/of/the age/ must/drive/ [e] eighteen years mine was discovered on 1976 in the desert of [f] c. protection/our/must/we/helmets/own/wear/ Australia near a little creek named Lake Argyle. for Diamonds are creative under very d. phones/while/must/used/not/mobile/be/ extreme conditions driving [g] 4. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of verbs. in pressure and high temperature. [h] Jimmy [a] _____ [to be] an explorer. He [b] _____ [to travel] to nearly every country in 2. In the following passage, one word has been the world. Once while he [c] _____ [to go] omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. throughthe forests of Sunderbans, he [d] Necessity the mother of invention. Indian doctor _____ [to see] some white tigers moving [a] slowly. He [e] _____ [want] to stay there for have quite creative when hamstrung some more time and study these majestic by few or no tools [b] animals. During his stay he [f] _____ [to to perform specific surgeries. They simply design become] very friendly with the natives. Now it after many years he [g] _____ [to decide] to go themselves one-fourth the price they are back to the Sunderbans again. He is sure that sold abroad. [c] the natives [h] _____ [to welcome] him with the same warmth. 5. Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions. Some people are lucky enough never to fall sick, but most [a] _____ us have to go [b] _____ a doctor occasionally [c] _____ examination and treatment. Except in emergencies, it is better to fix an appointment [d] _____ arriving at a doctor’s clinic. When a patient visits a doctor [e] _____ the first time, he/she is asked a number of questions [f] _____ the doctor’s assistant, so that the doctor can have a complete medical history. 32

9.1 The Bond Of Love Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: As we watched the fallen animal we were surprised to see that the black fur on its back moved and left the prostrate body. Then we saw it was a baby bear that had been riding on its mother’s back when the sudden shot had killed her. The little creature ran around its prostrate parent making a pitiful noise. I ran up to it to attempt a capture. It scooted into the sugarcane field. Following it with my companions, I was at last able to grab it by the scruff of its neck while it snapped and tried to scratch me with its long, hooked claws. 1. How had the animal fallen? 2. What surprised the writer and his companions? 3. What did the baby bear do after leaving its mother’s back? 4. What did the writer try to do? Extract 2: For the next three hours she would not leave that cage. She gave him tea, lemonade, cakes, ice-cream and what not. Then ‘closing time’ came and we had to leave. My wife cried bitterly; Baba cried bitterly; even the hardened curator and the keepers felt depressed. As for me, I had reconciled myself to what I knew was going to happen next. `Oh please, sir,’ she asked the curator, ‘may I have my Baba back?’ 1. What does ‘closing time’ refer to in the passage? 2. What did the writer’s wife and Baba do when it was closing time? 3. What did the writer know was going to happen? 4. Give the antonym of the word ‘depressed’. 33

9.2 The Snake Trying Reading Comprehension Extracts Extract 1: The make trying to escape the pursuing stick, with sudden cravings of thin long body How beautiful and graceful are his shapes! He glides through the water away from the stroke. 1. Name the poem and the poet. 2. What did the snake try to do? 3. What is it trying to escape from? 4. How is it trying to escape? 5. How does the poet describe the shape of snake? 6. Where does the snake go and why? 34

PRACTICE SHEET - 1 (PS-1) Reading Comprehension (Unseen Passage) I. Read the following passage carefully. product designer is involved in every step [discursive] of the product from the initial sketching to For a product to stand out amongst the putting it on the shelf. plethora available today and to connect Challenges – One of the biggest challenges with the consumers, its ‘design’ is crucial. A in the design field is that one always needs product designed to be aesthetically pleasing to be abreast of the latest technology and and functionally appealing will not only trends. Technology in the field changes capture the attention of the consumers but every two years and so to remain relevant also benefit the company offering it. Not one needs to constantly upgrade one’s surprisingly, product design is an exciting, knowledge. So learning and evolving never popular and growing career choice. stops. Another challenge is to come up with What is product design? – It implies creation new ideas that will have a mass appeal. Unlike of objects of functional value to people. It art, the objective of product design is mass involves conceiving a product, tailoring it to production. Being good at drawing, sketching meet consumer needs, manufacturing and and other creative fields do not make a good packaging. The term holds under its umbrella product designer. A product designer needs everything from home décor and electronics logical thinking and imagination. to sporting goods and fast-moving consumer Answer the questions given below. goods. To be successful, product designers a. What is important for a product to stand out need to be strong in design thinking, in in the current times? understanding consumer behavior, in learning b. What is the advantage of a well- designed from the past, and be imaginative. product? Types – Product design includes Form design c. What does product design involve? and Functional design. Form design means d. Mention the different types of product the shape and appearance of the product. designs. Functional design means the working of the e. Why has the demand for product designers in product. It is very important because the India increased? product will sell only if it works as expected. f. Mention the responsibilities of the product It also includes packaging design. An eye- designer. catching package lures customers to try out g. What, according to the passage, is the the product; this increases sales. biggest challenge for product designers? Scope – The consumer market in India h. List the qualities of a good product designer. is blossoming with both national and II. Write a short story based on the given outline. international brands wooing customers with month of July – heavy rains – greenery all attractive products and packages. Brands are around – new creatures all around – visit to engaged in a competition with each other a village – one night – loud sound of people to come up with better designed products. heard – noise of crackers – shouting of forest Demand for product designers in India has guards – herd of elephants in the village – increased over the years. scared – out of wits – villagers, scared but Roles and responsibilities – Once a person prepared – realize nature cannot be taken for starts work as a product designer, the granted – respect for nature and other things marketing departments of the company will in nature give a brief of the expected product. Following that, the designers conduct research to find 35 out user requirements and come up with ideas accordingly. They have to work with the engineering team to create prototypes and mockups of the products and see it through to manufacturing. Often, a product designer also designs its packaging but some companies might have a separate team to handle it. The

PRACTICE SHEET - 2 (PS-2) Grammar: 1. In the given paragraph, there is an error in each 4. Read the given instructions and complete the line. Edit the given paragraph. paragraph that follows. • Clean and peel a ripe mango and cut into Health insecurity is in an all-time high. [a] small chunks. In a time when thousands of people loose [b] • You can also use store bought fruit puree. there health insurance every day, when [c] • Take 3/4th cup of cold milk, one teaspoon of health care is becoming elusive to even sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla ice-cream and well-to-do American, and when any person [d] ice cubes. is just one pink slip about from becoming [e] • Blend the fruit with all the ingredients until uninsured, it becomes cleared that health [f] smooth and creamy and serve cold. care for all is not just important to achieve, A ripe mango is taken and cut into small and imperative. At its root, the lack of health [g] chunks. Store- bought fruit puree [a] _____ care for all in America is a moral issues. [h] if fresh fruit is not available. 3/4th cup of cold milk, one tablespoon of sugar. One teaspoon 2. In the following passage, one word has been of vanilla ice-cream and ice cubes [b] _____. omitted in each line. Supply the missing word. All the ingredients [c] _____ until smooth and creamy. The shake [d] _____ cold. I went the hospital yesterday evening at about [a] 6pm to see uncle who was admitted there. 5. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. [b] He was happy and contented [a] _____ he was Last week he sustained injury in his leg [c] poor. He never showed signs of frustration, [b] caused tripping over a water pipe. He was rushed _____ his friends who were rich, were always [d] in distress. Although he had many problems, to the hospital. I asked him he was feeling [e] he remained [c] _____ and composed. [d] and he told me he was feeling much better. [f] _____ people liked his company. [e] _____ he went he spread happiness and cheer. I don’t 3. Rearrange the jumbled sentences to form know [f] _____ he could be so happy. meaningful sentences. a. very hard life/human beings/in the primitive times/lived a b. other animals/they had to/for their survival/ compete with c. is much/that the earth/younger than/has suggested/previously thought/a new study d. the planet/other material/together to form/ clumped/gas, dust and 36