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Question Paper Code
1/1/1
SECTION A-(READING
UNFAMILIAR PASSAGE AND NOTE-MAKING)
Q 1.Read the following passage
carefully and answer the questions that follow:
People travelling long distances
frequently have to decide whether they would prefer to go by land,
sea or air. Hardly anyone can positively enjoy sitting in a train
for more than a few hours. Train compartments soon get cramped and
stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind off the journey.
Reading is only a partial solution, for the monotonous rhythm of the
wheels clicking on the rails soon lulls you to sleep. During the
day, sleep comes in snatches. At night when you really wish to go to
sleep, you rarely manage to do so. If you are lucky enough to get a
couchette, you spend half the night staring at the small blue light
in the ceiling, or fumbling to find your passport when you cross a
frontier. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost
exhausted.
Long car journeys are even less pleasant,
for it is quite impossible even to read. On motor-ways you can at
least travel fairly safely at high speeds, but more often than not,
the greater part of the journey is spent on narrow, bumpy roads
which are crowded with traffic . By comparison, trips by sea offer a
great variety of civilized comforts. You can stretch your legs on
the spacious decks, play games, swim, meet interesting people and
enjoy good food-always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm. If
it is not, and you are likely to get sea-sick, no form of transport
could be worse. Even if you travel in ideal weather, sea-journeys
take a long time. Relatively few people are prepared to sacrifice up
to a third of their holidays for the pleasure of travelling on a
ship.
Aeroplanes have the reputation of being
dangerous and even hardened travellers are intimidated by them. They
also have the grave disadvantage of being the most expensive form of
transport. But nothing can match them for speed and comfort.
Travelling at a height of 30,000 feet, far above the clouds, and at
over 500 miles an hour is an exhilarating experience. You do not
have to devise ways of taking your mind off the journey, for an
aeroplane gets you to your destination rapidly. For a few hours, you
settle back in a deep armchair to enjoy the flight. The real
escapist can watch a free film show and sip a hot or cold drink on
some services. But even when such refreshments are not available,
there is plenty to keep you occupied. An aeroplane offers you an
unusual breath taking view of the world. You soar effortlessly over
high mountains and deep valleys. You really see the shape of the
land. If the landscape is hidden from view, you can enjoy the
extraordinary sight of unbroken clouds, plains that stretch out for
miles before you, while the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky.
The journey is so smooth that there is nothing to prevent you from
reading or sleeping. However you decide to spend your time, one
thing is certain: you will arrive at your destination fresh and
uncrumpled. You will not have to spend the next few days recovering
from a long and arduous journey.
Q(a) Answer the
following questions briefly in your own words as far as
possible:
(i) Why is it difficult to
read on a train in long distance journeys? Give two Reasons. (2
marks)
(ii) What are the two disadvantages of
travelling by sea? (2 marks)
(iii) What are the two
disadvantages of travelling by air? (2 marks)
(iv) What
are the pleasures of air-flight, according to the writer? (2 marks)
(v) Why does the writer dislike long car journeys?
(1 mark)
Q(b) Find words in the above
passage which convey a similar meaning as the following:
(i) Pieces (1 mark)
(ii) feel around
(1 mark)
(iii) causing excitement (1 mark)
Q 2. Read the following passage
carefully and answer the questions that follow:
How you can best improve your English
depends on where you live and particularly on whether or not you
live in an English speaking community. If you hear English spoken
every day and mix freely with English speaking people, that is on
the whole an advantage. On the other hand, it is often confusing to
have the whole language, poured over you at once. Ideally, a
step-by-step course should accompany or lead up to this experience.
It will also help a great deal if you can easily get the sort of
english books in which you are interested
To read a lot is essential. It is stupid
not to venture outside the examination `set books' or the text books
you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books' in English
as you can, not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not choose the most
difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as
many new words as possible; choose what is likely to interest you
and be sure in advance that it is not too hard. You should not have
to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that
deadens interest and checks real learning. Look up a word here and
there, but as a general policy try to push ahead, guessing what
words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive
reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra-reading
and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which
extensive reading gives of having some command of the language. As
you read you will become more and more familiar with words and
sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and
better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may
differ only slightly from others.
Some people say that we cannot learn to
speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe this is
to believe that the spoken language and the written language are
quite different things. This is not so. There is a very great deal
in common between the two . In learning the patterns and vocabulary
of the written form we are learning to a considerable extent those
of the spoken form too. We are, in fact, learning the language and
not merely one form of the language.
Q a) On the basis of your
reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and
sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever
necessary-minimum 4) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply
an appropriate title to it.( 5 marks)
Q b) Write a summary of the above passage. (3 marks)
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