Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Don’t excite yourself, my precious one. Allow me. Your Guess certainly has his good points. He’s purebred, firm on his feet, has well-sprung ribs, and all that. But, my dear man, if you want to know the truth, that dog has two defects; he’s old and he’s short in the muzzle.

(a) Who is the speaker here? Who is he speaking to?

(b) According to the speaker what is the truth about Guess?

(c) What is the adjectival form of ‘truth’?

Do as directed:

(a) He is so honest that he will not accept a bribe. (Rewrite the sentence using ‘too’ without changing the meaning)

(b) She did not sing a song. (Change the voice)

(c) I finished the work. I went home. (Combine the sentences into one sentence beginning with ‘Having.’)

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Marriage gifts are meaningless without the sweet bread known as the bol, just as a party or a feast loses its charm without bread. Not enough can be said to show how important a baker can be for a village. The lady of the house must prepare sandwiches on the occasion of the daughter's engagement. Cakes and bolinhas are a must for Christmas as well as other festivals. Thus, the presence of the baker’s furnace in the village is absolutely essential.

(a) Why is the baker's furnace essential for the Goan people?

(b) On which occasions are the cakes and bolinhas necessary?

(c) Which word in the passage is the opposite in meaning of ‘absence’?

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“I heard an old religious man

But yesternight declare

That he had found a text to prove

That only God, my dear,

Could love you for yourself alone

And not your yellow hair.”

(a) What does I refer to here?

(b) How is God’s love different from the love of the young lovers?

(c) Which word in the extract means ‘a religious book'?

Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each.

(a) Why was Rajbir excited to see the tea-garden?

(b) Give examples from the text to show that Valli was a meticulous planner.

(c) What happened when Maxwell took Mijbil to the bathroom?

(d) How did Richard’s mother help him to become a scientist?

(e) Why did Matilda change her life style after the ball?

(f) Give examples from the text to show that Bholi was a neglected child?