The Queen's Language

 If you can keep your head when all about you        Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,     But make allowance for their doubting too;    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,     Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,     And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;        If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster     And treat those two impostors just the same;    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken     Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,     And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings     And risk it o...

  (a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets.  Example: My guide (0) ………. (tell) me if I wanted to meet these people I would have to walk two miles. Answer: told. We finally (1) ……….. (reach) a village where I (2) ………… (meet) a lady whose age I (3) ………… (can) not immediately make out. My translator (4) ……….. (find) it difficult to interpret the lady’s words because her dialect was quite different. She (5) ………. (is) a dark-skinned and dark-haired lady. She must have been around seventy years old but there was no grey in her hair. She obviously could not afford to dye her hair. So what was her secret? Nobody (6) ……….. (know). It must have been a ‘secret’ common to all for not one person in that whole village (7) ………… (has) a trace of grey hair! I (8) ………. (think) about it for a long time. (b) Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word:                 [4] He was touched ……….. pity when...

  (a) Write an original short story that begins with the words: It wasn’t going to be easy she knew. She took a deep breath and walked into the room....... (b) “Money causes more harm than good.” Express your view either for or against this statement. (c) People play a very important role in our lives. Describe in vivid detail, any one person and show how the person has been a very special influence in your life. (d) Modes of Communication are continually changing. What are some of these changes? Say which one change you like best and why? OR (a) Many areas near your school have been affected by floods. You are the President of your school social service club. Write a letter to the Mayor of your town/city telling him! her what you plan to do for the relief of the victims, Suggest ways in which you can combine with other organizations to bring about a better distribution of relief items. (b) You were taken by your school to visit a place of historical interest. Write a letter to you...

 (a) 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) A woman …….. (wait) at an airport one night, with several long hours before her flight. Answer: was waiting. She (1) ……… (hunt) for a book in the airport shops, (2) ……….. (buy) a bag of cookies and found a place to sit. She (3) ………. (engross) in her book but happened to see that the man sitting beside her, bold as could be, grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between, which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene. So she (4) ………. (munch) the cookies and watched the clock, as the gutsy thief diminished her stock. She (5) ………. (get) more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I (6) ………. (black) his eye.” With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he would do. With a smile on his face and a nervo...

  (a) Write an original short story that begins with the words: “It's not my fault”, he shouted………” (b) ‘Working women make better mothers than women who stay at home. Express your views either for or against this statement. (c) Describe an early morning walk through your city or town in winter. Give details of the smells, sights, sounds and feelings you experienced. (d) Think of a time when you found yourself in an embarrassing situation. Narrate how you got into that situation, how you dealt with it and the lesson you learnt from it. OR (a) Write an original short story that begins with the words: “In the background, I could hear an awful commotion, men’s voices raised and women screaming.” (b) Boarding schools are far better than day schools for the all-around education of a child. Express your view either for or against this statement. (c) You were on a school trip and were on your way back to the hotel late one night when your school bus, full of children, broke down in a lone...

  (a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Example: (0) One morning I (0) ……. (see) the python curled up on the dressing table. Answer: saw. It was (1) ……. (gaze) at its own reflection in the mirror. I (2) ……… (go) for grandfather but by the time we (3) ……… (return) to the room, the python (4) …….. (move) on. He was seen in the garden and once the cook saw him (5) ……… (crawl) up the ladder to the roof. Then we (6) …….. (find) him on the dressing table again (7) (admire) himself in the mirror. “He’s faying to look better for Aunt Mabel” I said. I (8) ……. (regret) this remark immediately because grandmother overheard and held up my pocket money for the rest of the week!   (b) Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word:                         [4] He found the key just …….. the front door. I could not accompany my cousin …….. the trip because I had fever. The nois...

  Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: Lying in bed, Swami realized with a shudder that it was Monday morning. It looked as though only a moment ago it had been the last period on Friday; already Monday was here. He hoped that an earthquake would reduce the school building to dust, but that was a good building—Albert Mission School—had withstood similar prayers for over a hundred years now. At nine O’clock Swaminathan wailed, “I have a headache.” His mother said, “Why don’t you go to school in a bullock cart?” “So that I may be completely dead at the other end? Have you any idea what it is. means to be jolted in a cart?” “Have you any important lessons today?” “Important! Bah! That geography teacher has been teaching the same lesson for over a year now. And we have arithmetic, which means for a whole period we are going to be beaten by the teacher Important lessons!” And Mother generously suggested that Swami might stay at home. At 9:30, when h...