QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
SECOND TERMINAL EXAMINATION
2014- 2015
SUBJECT: English
Total no. of pages : 10
NAME:______________________
CLASS/DIV :8 F G
ROLL NO.:__________________
MAX. MARKS :60
DATE :.:__________________
DURATION :2 hrs
Q. No.
Q1
Marks
Seen Comprehension:
Read the passage and answer the questions below:
Boys generally have excellent appetites. Oliver Twist and his
companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months;
at last they got so voracious and wild with hunger that a council was
held; lots were cast who should walk up to the master after supper
that evening and ask for more; and it fell to Oliver Twist.
The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master in his
cook’s uniform stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants
ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out, and a long
grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the
boys whispered to each other and winked at Oliver, while his next
neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with
advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said, somewhat
alarmed at his own temerity:
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
Marks
alarmed at his own temerity:
‘Please, sir, I want some more.’
The master was a fat, healthy man, but he turned very pale,
and clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed
with wonder, the boys with fear.
‘What!’ said the master at length, in a faint voice.
‘Please, sir,’ replied Oliver, ‘I want some more.’
The master aimed a blow at Oliver’s head with a ladle,
pinioned him in his arms, and shrieked aloud for the beadle.
The board were sitting in solemn conclave when Mr. Bumble rushed
into the room in great excitement, and addressing the gentleman in
the high chair said: ‘Mr. Limbkins, I beg your pardon, sir! Oliver Twist
has asked for more!’
There was a general start. Horror was depicted on every
countenance.
1
2
Why did the boys hold a council?
1
How did the master and the assistants react when Oliver asked for
1
more?
3
What does the author want to imply through the reactions of the
1
master and the board to Oliver’s request?
4
a) Make Nouns:
i) excellent -____________
1
ii) please -__________________
b) Make verbs
i)assistant -__________
1
ii)starvation -_____________
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
5
Marks
Grammar:
‘Oliver, bow to the board,’ said Mr Bumble. ( change to
i)
1
indirect speech)
ii)
The master was a fat, healthy man. ( add a question tag)
6
What punishment was Oliver given for requesting additional gruel?
Q2
Unseen Prose comprehension:
1
2
Read The Passage Below And Answer The Questions That Follow:
Timothy, the tiger- cub, was discovered by Grandfather on a
hunting expedition in the Terai jungle near Dehra.
Grandfather was no shikari, but as he knew the forests of the Siwalik
hills better than most people, he was persuaded to accompany the
party—it consisted of several Very Important Persons from Delhi—to
advise on the terrain and the direction the beaters should take once a
tiger had been spotted.
The camp itself was sumptuous—seven large tents (one for each
shikari), a dining-tent, and a number of servants' tents. The dinner
was very good, as Grandfather admitted afterwards; it was not often
that one saw hot-water plates, finger-glasses, and seven or eight
courses, in a tent in the jungle! But that was how things were done in
the days of the Viceroys.... There were also some fifteen elephants,
four of them with howdahs for the shikaris, and the others specially
trained for taking part in the beat.
The sportsmen never saw a tiger, nor did they shoot anything else,
though they saw a number of deer, peacock, and wild boar. They
were giving up all hope of finding a tiger, and were beginning to
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
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shoot at jackals, when Grandfather, strolling down the forest path at
some distance from the rest of the party, discovered a little tiger about
eighteen inches long, hiding among the intricate roots of a banyan
tree. Grandfather picked him up, and brought him home after the
camp had broken up. He had the distinction of being the only member
of the party to have bagged any game, dead or alive.
At first the tiger cub, who was named Timothy by Grandmother, was
brought up entirely on milk given to him in a feeding-bottle by our
cook, Mahmoud. But the milk proved too rich for him, and he was put
on a diet of raw mutton and cod liver oil, to be followed later by a more
tempting diet of pigeons and rabbits.
Timothy was provided with two companions—Toto the monkey, who
was bold enough to pull the young tiger by the tail, and then climb up
the curtains if Timothy lost his temper; and a small mongrel puppy,
found on the road by Grandfather.
1
2
3
What had Grandmother named the tiger-cub?
1
Who were the companions of the tiger-cub?
1
4
Give one word from the passage that means:
1
a)Walking leisurely or in a relaxed manner -
2
Why was Grandfather asked to accompany the party?
__________________________
b) something splendid and costly - ______________________
5
Grammar:
a)Grandfather discovered a little tiger about eighteen inches long.
1
( change to passive voice)
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
6
Marks
b) The dinner was very good. ( rewrite as a negative sentence)
1
What did the cook feed the tiger-cub, when he realised that milk was
2
unsuitable for him? Why?
Q3
SEEN POETRY COMPREHENSION:
Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow:
The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
It is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes :
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Therein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
1
2
3
Marks
What is mercy compared with?
1
Why is mercy called ‘twice blessed’
1
Why is the quality of mercy more suitable to the king than his own
1
crown?
4
Name and explain the figure of speech :
1
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes
5
Give antonyms of :
1
Gentle x _______________
Beneath x ______________
Q4
Rapid Reader :
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever get to taste
a bit of chocolate. The whole family saved up their money for that
special occasion, and when the great day arrived, Charlie was always
presented with one small chocolate bar to eat all by himself. And each
time he received it, on those marvellous birthday mornings, he would
place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and treasure it
as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for the next few days, he
would allow himself only to look at it, but never to touch it. Then at
last, when he could stand it no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of
the paper wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate and
then he would take a tiny nibble – just enough to allow the lovely
sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue. The next day he
would take another tiny nibble and so on, and so on. And in this way,
Charlie would make his six penny bar of birthday chocolate last him
for more than a month.
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
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But I haven’t yet told you about the one awful thing that tortured little
Charlie, the lover of chocolate more than anything else. This thing, for
him, was far, far worse than seeing slabs of chocolate in the shop
windows or watching other children munching bars of creamy
chocolate right in front of him.
1
What was Charlie’s gifted on his birthday?
2
How did Charlie treat his birthday gift?
3
How much did the chocolate cost?
4
What did Charlie find worse than watching other children munching
1
1
1
1
bars of creamy chocolate?
5
Give antonyms of
1
Worse x ____________
Tiny x ______________
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
Q5
Marks
Grammar :
Do as Directed
1
India’s glory can never fade. ( change to Interrogative)
2
It was a very horrible dream ( make exclamatory)
3
Is this the way a student should behave? (make assertive)
4
This is all I could tell you. ( rewrite as negative)
5
He is too proud to beg. (remove too)
6
This is one of the hottest districts in India. (change the degree)
7
Phrases: Pick out the phrases and identify them
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
a) His sudden departure is a mystery.
b) My neighbour is a man with strange habits.
c) He lived in Chennai once upon a time.
8
Clauses : Identify the main clause, subordinate clause, its type and
3
function :
a) He could not come because he was sick.
b) . He says that it will not work.
c) I remember the letter that she wrote to me
Q6
A
Composition
5
Letter
You have chosen cycling as your subject for the P.E class; however
you would like to change to Football .Write an application letter to your
principal requesting her to change your subject from cycling to
football.
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
B
Marks
Interview:
5
You recently attended a book fair and had the opportunity to meet Ms
J. K Rowling, who is a famous writer. She has written the famous
‘Harry Potter’ series of books. Her books are usually read by children
and have been made into movies.
Write an interview with Ms J. K Rowling.
C
Expansion of Ideas:
5
Expand any one of these ideas
1
2
3
To err is human but to forgive is divine
Slow and steady wins the race
Where there is a will there is a way
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QUESTION PAPER : CLASS : 8
Q. No.
D
Marks
Information transfer:
5
Look at the table given below and expand the information given in it
into a paragraph of about 150 words. Give it a title.
Name: Ruskin Bond
Age 80 years
Date of Birth: 9 May 1934
Father’s name:Aubrey Bond
Mother’s name : Edith Clerke
Education: The Bishop Cotton School , Shimla
Early Childhood:in Vijayanagar (Gujarat) and Shimla
Graduation: In 1952, after winning several writing competitions in the
school like the Irwin Divinity Prize and the Hailey Literature Prize from
Shimla.
Occupation: Writer
Nationality :Indian
Lives in : Mussorie
First novel: The room on the roof
Books made into films: ‘Susanna's Seven Husbands’,’ The Flight of
Pigeons’ and ‘The blue umbrella’.
Names of his famous works: Our trees still grow in Dehra, Dust on
the Mountain, A Season of Ghosts, Tigers Forever
____________________________
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