SECTION A

 Creative Writing  Reading And Comprehension Sample Test Paper 20 marks

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow: 8 marks

Beyond their sensuous delight, the forms and colours of Nature have a new charm for us in our perception, that not one ornament was added for ornament, but is a sign of some better health, or more excellent action. Elegance of form in bird or beast, or in the human figure, marks some excellence of structure: or beauty is only an invitation from what belongs to us.‘Tis a law of botany, that in plants, the same virtues follow the same forms. It is onsmustfurnisha* rule of largest application, true in a plant, true in a loaf of bread, that in the construction of any fabric or organism, any real increase of fitness to its end, is an increase of beauty.

The lesson taught by the study of Greek and of Gothic art, of antique and of Pre-Raphaelite painting, was worth all the research, -namely, that all beauty must be organic; that outside embellishment is deformity. It is the soundness of the bones that ultimates itself in a peachbloom complexion: health of constitution that makes the sparkle and the power of the eye.‘Tis the adjustment of the size and of the joining of the sockets of the skeleton, that gives grace of outline and the finer grace of movement. The cat and the deer cannot move or sit inelegantly. The dancing-master can never teach a badly built man to walk well. The tint of the flower proceeds from its root, and the lustres of the sea-shell begin with its existence. Hence our taste in building rejects paint, and all shifts, and shows the original gain of the wood: refuses pilasters and columns that support nothing, and allows the real supporters of the house honestly to show themselves. Every necessary or organic action pleases the beholder. A man leading a horse to water, a farmer sowing seed, the labors of haymakers in the field, the carpenter building a ship, the smith at his forge, or, whatever useful labor, is becoming to the wise eye. But if it is done to be seen, it is mean. How beautiful are ships on the sea! but ships in the theatre, — or ships kept for picturesque effect on Virginia Water, by George IV., and men hired to stand in fitting costumes at a penny an hour! - What a difference in effect between a battalion of troops marching to action, and one of our independent companies on a holiday! In the midst of a military show, and a festal rocession
gay with banners, I saw a boy seize an old tin pan that lay rusting under a wall, and poising it on the top of a stick, he set onsmustfurnishit turning, and made it describe the most elegant imaginable curves, and drew away attention from the decorated procession by this startting beauty.
(From Beauty by Ralph Waldo Emerson)

i. Read the first and last lines of the first paragraph and say what the writer is talking about.
Answer in a phrase or a sentence. 1
ii. What has the writer associated beauty with? 1
iii. To what does the writer attribute beauty, charm and grace in the human form? 1
iv. Which do you find more attractive: a painted piece of woodwork or one with the original grains of the wood? Why? 2
v. Pick the two words in line 3 of the second paragraph that are contradictory to each other. 1
vi. What style has the writer used in this text? 2

2. Read this excerpt from a play and answer the questions that follow: 6 marks
VISWAS: I didn’t like that one.
JAIRAJ: You didn’t like Jayadeva’s Geeta Govindam?
VISWAS: Oh no!
JAIRAJ: No?
VISWAS: Oh no! No! I mean I don’t have anything against him.
JAIRAJ: Then what was it you didn’t like?
VISWAS: Well, nothing....Well, on second thoughts, I quite liked it.
JAIRAJ: (to LATA) Your friend didn’t like the Ashtapadi. Ask him what was wrong with it.
LATA: (reading the reviews). Huh?
VISWAS: I didn’t say I didn’t like the Ashtapadi.
JAIRAJ: You did.
VISWAS: No, I didn’t.
JAIRAJ: You mean I am hearing things. I’m growing old. Is that what you want to say?
VISWAS: No! I loved the Ashtapadi. How can I hate something when I don’t even know what it means?
LATA: But you can love it, I notice.
VISWAS: Well, it was tenderly intense and intensely tender and all that. But...
JAIRAJ: But what? You didn’t like her interpretation? What did you want her to do? Talk to her parrot while she is waiting?
VISWAS: No, I didn’t mean that.
LATA: Vishy, you’re being wishy-washy again.
JAIRAJ: Speak up, son.
VISWAS: It was too erotic.

[Silence.]
JAIRAJ: My wife danced that same item thirty years ago.
VISWAS: I admire her courage.
LATA: So- you feel it shouldn’t be done?
VISWAS: (uncomfortable). I really can’t say. I don’t know much about these things.
JAIRAJ: But you think you know enough to pass judgment.
VISWAS: I’m not passing judgment. I simply gave my opinion, that’s all.
JAIRAJ: I’m glad you have an opinion. You are welcome to it for whatever it is worth.
VISWAS: Look, I know I’m not very knowledgeable on the subject. I merely said that because it was Lata who was dancing and...
JAIRAJ: Finish what you were saying. (VISWAS remains silent.) So now we are getting closer to your opinions. You don’t want Lata dancing erotic numbers.
LATA: Daddy, you make it sound so crude. ‘Erotic numbers’?
JAIRAJ: There’s nothing crude about it. I danced the same item. For the army. A friend of ours
arranged a programme and the money was good. Your mother was too scared and they only wanted a woman. So I wore your mother’s costume, a wig and -whatever else was necessary to make me look like a woman, and danced. They loved it. They loved it even more when they found out I was a man. Of course, knowing the army that may not be very surprising, (to VISWAS) What do you say to that?
VISWAS: I admire her courage. Look, I don’t mean I object to her dancing. It is her passion and it wouldn’t be fair for me to....All I’m saying is that.... What am I saying? (Thinks.) Yes! That it really isn’t necessary to make it so...you know. At least I don’t think so. Of course, you may think so, but I don’t. And I don’t know what she thinks about it so... .(He shrugs his shoulders and laughs nervously.)
(From Mahesh Duttani’s Dance Like a Man)
Questions:
i. What are the characters talking about? 1
ii. What is Viswas unhappy about? 1
iii. What is the relationship between Lata and Viswas? 1
iv. How is Jairaj’s viewpoint on the Ashtapadi different from that of Viswas? 2
Would you call Viswas a prude?
v. Do you think this event might affect their relationship? Why/why not? 1



3. Read the poem and answer the questions. 6 marks
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay.
Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
(From Birches by Robert Frost)
i. What happens to them after an ice storm? 1
ii. What is the effect of the sun on the ice-laden birch trees? 1
iii. Pick two words that denote or evoke the sense of sound in the above lines? 2
iv. To what has the poet compared the dome of heaven? 1
v. Pick the line that uses alliteration to the maximum. 1


Section B - Writing
PART I - CREATIVE WRITING

4. Recent research reports point towards a loss of habitat and the extinction of various species of birds. This process is further acclerated due to rampant deforestation and consequent climate change. Write a report for a leading national daily on ‘Endangered Earth’. You are Alka/Angad. (150-200 words).5 marks




5. You had a peculiar experience today. A person whom you always believed to be a no-goodperson does you a good turn and that too unselfishly. Write a diary entry recounting the incident and your feelings at the end of the day. Mention any learning you may have had. (150-200 words).5 marks

6. Using the details given in the travel guide write a travelogue of about 400-500 words on Chaukori in Uttarakhand. 5 Marks
Travel Guide                 
Making tracks
Chaukori is 480 km from Delhi and 183 km from Nainital. The closest railhead is at Kathgodam,214 km, from where buses and tourist taxis are available. Naini Saini at Pithoragarh, 114 km, is the nearest airstrip. The most convenient way to get here is to drive from Delhi, via Nainital.
Best time to go
March to June and mid-September to November are the best months to be here, though Chaukori has a bracing climate throughout the year. Light woollens are fine for summer, but carry heavy clothing if visiting in the winter months.
Room with a view
The KMVN Tourist Bungalow is the only accommodation available at Chaukori. Contact the District Information Office at Pithoragarh, Tel 05964-22549.
Other details:
Charming hill station-peaceful sleepy hamlet-untouched by development-free from active tourism-visible peaks Nanda Devi, Nanda Kot and the famous five of Panchulisimple one-horse road-joys of laidback holiday-basking in sunshine and breathing fresh mountain air-sunset and sunrise glorious view-forest-pine, oak, rhododendron-mosses underfoot-tea gardens on slopes-fruit orchards and cornfields-great mountain holiday.