FIRST PRE BOARD EXAMINATION- 2024-25

SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE

(ENGLISH PAPER-1)

GRADE: X Max. Marks: 80

Duration: 2 hrs
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You will not be allowed to write during the first 10 minutes.
This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
The time given at the head of this Paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.
Attempt all five questions.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets. [ ]
You are advised not to spend more than 30 minutes in answering Question 1 and
20 minutes in answering Question 2.
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Question 1
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 – 350 words) on any one of the following: [20]
(i) Write an original story beginning with the following words: I promised my parents
that I would never give up.
(ii) You have done something you never thought would be possible for you to do.
Narrate what you did and how you felt. How has this experience left an impact on you
and your life?
(iii) “Marks scored by students in the exams reflect their knowledge”. Express your views
either for or against the statement.
(iv) You went on a monsoon trek with your friends to a hilly area. Suddenly there was
heavy downpour and landslides. You were confined there for three days. Describe what
you experienced.
(v) Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an account of what it
suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the picture or you may
take suggestions from it; however, there must be clear connection between the picture
and your composition.

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Question 2
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.) [10]
Select any one of the following:
(i) Write a letter to the Principal of your school, requesting him/her to extend the time for
the Games period from the present 40 minutes to one hour. Give reasons for your request.
(ii) Recently you went to a restaurant for dinner and there you saw your favourite sports
star. You had an opportunity of spending some moments with him/her. Write a letter to
your friend giving a brief account of your memorable meeting with the sports star.

Question 3
(i) Your school is organizing an Inter-School Story Writing Competition. Write a notice [5]
to be put up in your school informing the students of Grades IX and X to participate
in the competition.

(ii) Write an e-mail to the Principal of a neighbouring school, requesting him/her to send a [5]
team of students from their school to participate in the competition.

Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Being a ghost is not all fun, especially when you are only a young one. There is so much to
learn, and it is easy to make mistakes.

I suppose I started off badly, so it is my own fault that I have not yet got my ghost’s licence. As a
tiny child, I used to drink my tea from a saucer while other ghosts used cups. My parents said this
was a bad sign-almost human, they said. Somehow things grew worse for me. I failed my entrance
examination to the witches’ college but stayed on at school for another eighty years. Meanwhile I
had a few small successes, but they are nothing to boast about really. Something always seemed to
go wrong in the end. I changed into a mouse one day and frightened two small girls, but their
brother came in and nearly knocked my head off with a broom. Of course, I go to the local ghost-
school and my teacher tells me that things have changed. Life is harder for ghosts and their future is
poor. Sometimes he tells us of the good old days when he could frighten practically anyone.

The worst lesson for me is the one on changing shape. Most ghosts find this quite easy, but it has
always been hard for me. I cannot always pronounce the magic words and sometimes I forget them
altogether. In our last examination I had to go out and frighten a small girl who lives nearby. I
intended to change into a headless chicken, but something went wrong, and I found I was a kitten.
The little girl picked me up and started to cuddle me until I managed to vanish. This was most
embarrassing, and I failed my test completely. The other pupils in my class saw all this and just
laughed at me. Not long after that I had to frighten the dog in the house next to ours. I was going to
change into a tiger, but something went wrong again. I turned into a rat and the
dog snapped off half my tail before I could escape. For that mistake I was expelled from the youth
section of the ghosts’ Magic Circle.

Last night I felt more confident and thought I would try out my powers again. I woke up in the
night and found it was too hot to go to sleep. Without bothering to change properly, I slipped on a
shirt and a pair of shoes and went down to the river. There I waited by a lonely path for at least an
hour. I was hoping that an old man might come along but I was disappointed. Two schoolboys
passed by on their way home from town. I changed myself into the shape of a forest spirit and leapt
out behind them. Unfortunately, the boys were eating fruit at the time. When they saw me, they

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 stared at my legs and they roared with laughter. I glanced down and I saw that I still had my
pyjamas on. I felt a fool. I must admit that a forest spirit in pyjamas is a little unlikely. The boys
were not at all worried. One of them even threw something at me and it hit me right in the ear. It
was a banana, and it was over-ripe. It made quite a mess.

As I said before, being a ghost is not all fun.

(i) For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the passage) from
the options provided: [2]
1. licence (line 3)

(a) authority (b) allow

(b) permission (d) permit

2. saucer (line 4)

(a) a shallow dish (b) plate

(b) a deep plate (d) tray

(ii) Which word in the passage means the opposite of the word ‘welcomed’? [1]

(a) snapped (b) embarassed

(b) intended (d) expelled

(iii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

(a) What reason did the ghost give for not having a ghost’s licence? [2]
(b) Why did the ghost consider changing shapes as a difficult task? [2]
(c) What happened when the ghost tried to change into a headless chicken? [1]
(d) What were the two consequences when the ghost tried to change into a tiger? [2]
(e) Why were the boys not scared on seeing the ghost? What did they do? [2]

(iv) In not more than fifty words, explain the life of the ghost as a child. [8]

Question 5
(i) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not
copy the passage but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank
space. [4]

Example:
(0) Suraj _____________(look) out of the door.

Answer: looked

He ___________ (1) (catch) the sight of the board ______________ (2) (bear) the station’s
name. He was so _________________ (3) (astonish) that he almost __________ (4) (fall)
out of the compartment. He was back in his home town! After _____________ (5) (travel)
for forty or fifty kilometers, here he ________ (6) (is) home again. He _________ (7) (can)
not understand it. He ____________ (8) (climb) out of the compartment slowly to read the
name.

(ii) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. [4]

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 (a) The police officer is ____________ the station.
(b) The scientist looked _______________ the microscope.
(c) There is a rift _____________these two kids.
(d) The soldiers are ________ war.
(e) Maharaj fought _____________ every kind of oppression.
(f) How did these things come _______________?
(g) He knows French and German _____________ Russian.
(h) Did the boys turn _________ for football practice?

(iii) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but [4]
or so. Choose the correct option.

1. She writes well. She speaks better.

(a) She writes well as well as speaks better.
(b) She writes well yet speaks better.
(c) She writes well and speaks better.
(d) Though she writes well, she speaks better.

2. The thief ran away. I do not know how.

(a) I do not know why the thief ran away.
(b) I do not know how the thief ran away.
(c) I do not know why the thief ran away.
(d) I didn’t know how the thief run away.

3. He tells his niece strange things. She believes them all.

(a) His niece believes whatever he tells her.
(b) His niece believed all the strange things he told her.
(c) His niece believes all the strange things told by him.
(d) His niece believes all the strange things he tells her.

4. I have rented this house. It belongs to my uncle.

(a) I have rented a house that belonged to my uncle.
(b) This house which belongs to my uncle is rented by me.
(c) I have rented this house that belongs to my uncle.
(d) I have rented a house that belongs to my uncle to her.

(iv) Choose the correct option to rewrite the following according to the instructions given
after each sentence. [8]

1. People say that the old house in the corner is haunted. (Begin with: “The old house…..)
(a) The old house in the corner is haunted as people say so.
(b) “The old house is haunted, in the corner,” said the people.
(c) The old house in the corner is haunted, say the people.
(d) “The old house in the corner is haunted,” say the people.

2. I found a few boys in the class. (Begin with: Many boys …..)
(a) Many boys were not present in the class.
(b) Many boys were not found in the class by me.

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 (c) Many boys were not there in the class.
(d) Many boys were not missing in the class.

3. We cannot ask him for money in any condition. (Begin: Under …..)
(a) Under any condition we cannot ask him for money.
(b) Under no condition we can ask for money.
(c) Under any condition we cannot ask for money.
(d) Under any condition money cannot be asked for him.

4. He was punished because he ran away from home. (Begin: Had he …..)
(a) Had he run away from home, he would have been punished.
(b) Had he not ran away from home, he would have not been punished.
(c) Had he not run away from home, he would not have been punished.
(d) Had he not run away from home, he couldn’t have been punished.

5. As soon as the vacation begins, my neighbour rushes to the seaside. (Begin: No sooner …..)
(a) No sooner did the vacation begin when my neighbour rushed to the seaside.
(b) No sooner did my vacation begin then my neighbour rushed to the seaside.
(c) No sooner does the vacation begin than my neighbour rushes to the seaside.
(d) No sooner does the vacation begin when my neighbour rushes to the seaside.

6. He escaped by night to avoid being seen by anyone. (Use: lest)

(a) He escaped by night lest he was seen by anyone.
(b) He escaped by night lest he would be seen by anyone.
(c) He escaped by night lest he should be seen by anyone.
(d) He escaped by night lest he be seen by anyone.

7. He was not punished because he apologized. (Begin: If …..)

(a) If he hadn’t apologized, he would have been punished.
(b) If he hadn’t apologized, he wouldn’t have been punished.
(c) If he did not apologise he would be punished.
(d) If he will not apologise he will be punished.

8. John did not get the job, though he had the necessary qualification. (Begin: Despite….)
(a) Despite having the necessary qualification, John did not get the job.
(b) Despite of having the necessary qualification, John did not get the job.
(c) Despite the necessary qualification, John did not get the job.
(d) Despite John’s qualification, John failed to get the job.

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