You are Nainai/Nachaobi Kom, Headboy/Headgirl of Loktak High School, Manipur. Your school wishes to honour an old student of your school, the famous boxer Mary Kom for all her numerous achievements by inviting her to the school Annual Day as the Chief Guest. Write a formal invite in not more than 50 words to be sent to Mary Kom requesting her presence on the occasion.

OR

You are Vinayak/Revati from the Green School, Thoothukudi. You read an article about the proposed garbage segregation programme in the

neighbourhood, which is set to begin from next week. You decide to make a poster telling your neighbourhood about the programme and the value of garbage segregation. Draft the poster to be put up in your neighbourhood. (50 words)

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. ‘‘But have you been to Nimtita? Have you been to the palace there?’’ asked the old man in the tea-shop, with the thatched roof. We were in the village of Lalgola, one hundred and fifty miles from Kolkata, and we had just seen our thirteenth nobleman’s palace and found it unsuitable.

2. ‘‘Nimtita? Where is that?’’ we asked without much interest. We had never heard of the place. ‘‘It is sixty miles to the North of here. You drive up the highway. Then you come to a river which you have to cross. A ferry will take your car across. Then up the highway again for

twenty miles. A sign tells you where to branch off... It’s on the river Padma, on the eastern bank. It’s the palace of the Choudharys. I’ve

been listening to your talk, and I feel you ought to see this one before you give up.’’

3. We were not very hopeful. We had had enough trouble taking free advice from people who had no idea of our needs. Anyway, the question was: do we or do we not undertake this last trip? If we did not like the palace, it might mean either giving up making this film altogether, or seriously changing its nature. We tossed a coin to decide whether to go or not. The coin said, ‘Go!’, and we set out on our sixty-mile journey.

4. It was when I was in bed with my right leg in plaster that I had decided the film on Tarasankar Banerji’s famous short story, ‘The

Music Room’ (Jalsaghar). A nasty fall on the stone steps at Banaras had brought about a serious knee injury. I lay in bed and read all the

Bengali books I could lay my hands on. Just then, the film distributors were not too keen to take my film for distribution, and may be this was one of the things that made me choose ‘The Music Room’.

5. Here was a dramatic story which could naturally bring in music and dancing, and distributors loved music and dancing. But here, too, was

a story full of feelings. So, it would be satisfying for me as an artist. I would cast Chabi Biswas, our greatest actor, in the leading role of the

zamindar — the zamindar whose love of the big musical entertainments brings about his ruin. But the most important thing

was to find a palace. As we had a low budget, there was no question of having studio-built sets. I knew that, if we had the money, my art

director could easily build a set which looked like our old palace with the right style. But we just didn’t have the money for it.

6. Nimtita turned out to be everything that the old man had claimed — and more. No one could have described in words the feeling of utter sadness that surrounded the palace. The river Padma had changed its course over the years, so that now there were endless stretches of sand where once had been villages. The palace itself — Greek pillars and all — was a perfect realization of my dream

image. It stood looking out over the stretches of sand with a sad dignity. It had somehow escaped being totally destroyed when the river

changed its course. The river had reached within ten yards of the front of the palace — having swallowed the garden — and then stopped.

Ganendra Narayan Choudhary, who is seventy and owns a British title and the palace, told us how it happened: ‘‘We were having breakfast

one morning when we heard a low rumble. We went out to the verandah and saw a big chunk of our estate — almost a square mile of

it — going under water, disappearing forever. It all happened in a few seconds. Padma’s appetite is legendary.’’

7. ‘‘But aren’t you afraid that the river might encroach further ?’’

8. ‘‘Oh, yes, the rains bring with them the usual fears.’’

9. On returning from our first trip to Nimtita, I telephoned the author, Mr. Banerji. He had been just as anxious about the location as we were.

10. ‘‘We’ve found our palace at last, Mr. Banerji,’’ I said.

11 ‘‘Have you? And where is it?’’

12. ‘‘At a little-known place called Nimtita.’’

13. ‘‘Nimtita? There was a note of recognition in his voice.’’ You don’t mean the palace of the Choudharys, do you?’’

14. ‘‘That’s the one.’’

15. ‘‘But that’s extraordinary! I haven’t been to Nimtita myself, but I have read about the Choudharys in a history of Bengal zamindars, and it was the music-loving Upendra Narayan Choudhary who served as the model for my rajah.’’

1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer each of the questions given below by choosing the most appropriate option.

(a) The writer of the passage is a ________ by profession.

(i) painter

(ii) filmmaker

(iii) photographer

(iv) journalist

(b) What helped the author and his friends to decide whether or not to go to Nimtita?

(i) the suggestion made by the old man at the tea-shop

(ii) their own intuitive feeling

(iii) description of the palace in a travel book

(iv) tossing of a coin

(c) Why was the idea of building a set for shooting given up?

(i) Shooting at a set would not give a real-life effect.

(ii) They didn’t have money for a set.

(iii) Building a set is very time consuming.

(iv) Shooting at the actual palace would be more authentic.

(d) Who is the central character in the story, ‘The Music Room’?

(i) A local raja

(ii) A zamindar

(iii) A British official

(iv) An artist

(e) What did the author like most about the palace?

(i) facilities for the visitors

(ii) wood carvings at the ceiling

(iii) its huge central hall

(iv) its Greeks pillars

1.2 Answer the following questions briefly:

(a) What suggestion did the old man at the tea-shop make to the author and his friends?

(b) Why did the author not like the idea of taking free advice?

(e) Who was Ganendra Narayan Choudhary?

(f) How did Mr. Banerji react to the information about the palace?

(d) What brought about the ruin of the zamindar in the story, ‘The Music Room’?

(c) How did the author sustain a serious injury?

1.3 Answer any three of the following questions in 25 – 30 words each:

(a) Why did the author choose the story, ‘The Music Room’ for his film?

(b) How do you know that reaching Nimtita was not easy?

(c) What havoc did the river Padma cause when it changed its course?

(d) How had the palace escaped being totally destroyed?

1.4 Find words/phrases from the passage which are similar in meaning to each of the following:

(a) main (para 5)

(b) nobility (para 6)

(c) concerned (para 9)

Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. Physical education which is commonly part of the curriculum at school level includes training in the development and care of the

human body and maintaining physical fitness. Physical education is also, about sharpening overall cognitive abilities and motor skills via

athletics, exercise and various other physical activities like martial arts and dance.

2. Physical education promotes the importance of inclusion of a regular fitness activity in the routine. This helps the students to maintain

their fitness, develop their muscular strength, increase their stamina and thus stretch their physical abilities to an optimum level. Physical fitness helps them to inculcate the importance of maintaining a healthy body, which in turn keeps them happy and energized.

3. Participating in sports, be it team sports or dual and individual sports, leads to a major boost in self-confidence. The ability to go on

the field and perform instills a sense of self-confidence, which is very important for the development of a person’s character. Every victory achieved on the field, helps to boost a person’s self-confidence. Moreover, the ability to accept defeat on the field and yet believe in

your capabilities bring a sense of positive attitude as well.

4. Physical education classes are about participating in the physical fitness and recreation activities, but they are also about learning the

overall aspects of physical health. For example, in today’s world the problems of obesity, or anaemia and bulimia are common amongst

teenagers. Physical education provides an excellent opportunity for teachers to promote the benefits of healthy and nutritious food and

warn against the ill effects of junk food. Promoting sound eating practices and guidelines for nutrition are some of the very valuable

lessons that can be taught through physical education classes at school level.

5. Participation in team sports and even dual sports helps to imbibe a sense of team spirit amongst the students. While participating in

team sports, the children have to function as an entire team, and hence, they learn how to organize themselves and function together.

This process of team building hones a person’s overall communication skills and the ability to get along with different people.

6. Participation in sports and physical education activities helps to sharpen the reflexes of the students. It also brings order and discipline to the body movements and helps in development of a sound body posture. The hand-eye coordination improves as well.

7. Physical education classes also include lessons about the importance of personal hygiene and importance of cleanliness. Thus, these

classes help the students to know the important hygiene practices that must be practised in order to maintain health and wellness throughout life.

8. Physical education classes help to enhance the overall cognitive abilities of the students, since they get a knowledge of the different kinds of sports and physical activities that they participate in. For example, a person who is participating in a specific type of martial arts class, will also gain knowledge of the origins of the martial arts, and the other practices and historical significance associated with it.

2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary – minimum four) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.

2.2 Write a summary of the above passage in about 100 words.

You are Rodrigues/Maria, Principal of Sea View Senior Secondary School, Vasco da Gama. Your school needs to formulate and submit an evacuation plan by the end of the month. You are clueless about how this is to be done. You write a letter in 120 – 150 words to the State Disaster Management Authority, Goa asking them for advice and help on how to formulate a disaster evacuation drill for 1500 students.

OR

The Gandhi Foundation is recruiting graduates for an intensive leadership-training programme during the summer, in villages across India. You are Anjana/Benji from 21, Ratnapur Village, Bilaspur. You are very excited to see the advertisement and decide to apply for the same. Draft a letter in 120 – 150 words applying for the advertised programme. Include a biodata showing how suitable you are for the training.

The recent killing of Avni, the tigress which had two 10-month-old cubs has disturbed you. You realize that human encroachment and the greed of land grabbing companies are the cause of this. Write an article in 150 – 200 words to be published in ‘The National Times’ about your concern and the need to take urgent action to stop the decline in the number of tigers in India. You are Amit/Ambika Shukla.

OR

You are Veer/Priti. You are a resident of Chandigarh. You are very concerned about the deteriorating air quality in the northern part of India.

You realize that the rising amount of construction work, burning of leaves and garbage, and the lack of both wind and rain are major causes of this state. Write a speech in 150 – 200 words which you will deliver at the school assembly on the occasion of Diwali, in which you voice your concern about the situation.