Q4 of 12 Page 1

Write a short story on the basis of the hints provided in about 150- 200 words:

Enjoyed going for long walks– visit Dehradun—huge forest - taking a shortcut through the woods, a tree toppled pinning me underneath. Then……


Begin the story with: I have always enjoyed taking long walks among the forests………..


OR


loved reading about life on other planets----One day --walking in the school. Suddenly heard a noise-----strange man, no creature –an alien saying something---- then more came---abducted me…….


Begin the story with:


I loved reading about life on other planets……

A Trip to Dehradun

I have always enjoyed taking long walks among the forests. The birds chirping on the tree and the canopy in the forest and all the bounty in the dark forest that thaws my idea of urbanization. It was my second day in Dehradun and I was clicked by the idea of going on a long walk. I walked for a few minutes towards the woods and kept turning back in a while to check that I hadn’t come too far. Suddenly I heard a sound from the bush. I went towards it to see what was there. It was a rabbit who was stuck in the bush. I shook the bush and made way for her. I felt contempt in doing so not only because I had helped an animal but because I had always had a fascination for rabbits and I decided that as soon as I would go back home I would buy a rabbit for myself.


Wandering through the woods I had come too far away from the camp and now it was out of sight for me. I tried figuring out which way had I come and after an argument with myself concluded to move in a way. I thought I found a short way back. When I was on the way back, I clutched on loose tree bark and held on. It wasn’t rooted, just placed in the ground when I pulled my hand back, the tree toppled over and it fell over my back. I cried out loud enough but it seemed as if the camp didn’t get it. I struggled to take out a rope from my backpack and tied it to the tree and threw the other end towards another tree. I thought it was tied there and tried to remove the tree. Nothing happened, next I pulled out my phone but being a huge forest there was no network. I felt unconscious.


I didn’t have any clue of what was happening but after a while I gained consciousness and found myself surrounded by my campmates. They told me that a forest officer while passing by saw me lying and brought me to them. I thanked the forest officer. I had a few injuries and spent the rest of the days in Dehradun resting on the bed.


OR


Life on Moon


I loved reading about life on other planets. One day after staying up for hours at night reading the new book ‘Life on Moon’ I fell asleep with the book on my face. I was woken up by a loud bang, bewildered I sat up quickly in my bed looking for the source of the sound.


When I looked outside my window, my heart almost stopped after seeing a featureless face on my window. I dived under my covers shaking with fear and hoping all this would stop. I moved one part of the cover to see if the creature was still there. I saw nothing and looked around twice to check. I slowly moved out of my covers and looked around in the room and found a trace of no one being around. I was alone at home that day since my parents had gone to my aunt’s house since she wasn’t well. I tried to sleep reassuring myself that there was nothing around. As I closed my eyes I felt a vibration in my bed. I couldn’t move my body; I was paralysed with fear of what was going to happen next. I decided not to move and again after a while heard a noise from beneath my bed. I started crying out of fear and moved towards one end of the bed to see what it was I bent down and saw an alien. I started crying even more loudly, whereas the alien also started making weird noises. I tried to calm down and understood that he was trying to convey something to me. I couldn’t understand whatever he was trying to say.


The alien started blowing up like a balloon and finally burst with a loud bang. I found myself back in my bed with a book about life on the moon open beside me. I thought about all that had just happened and concluded to blame it on my overactive imagination.


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2

Read the following passage carefully:

1. Maybe you’re bored of bananas, apples and grapes and need a fresh produce pick? A nutrient-rich serving of kiwifruit may be just what you need. A serving of kiwifruit (2 kiwis) has twice the vitamin C of an orange, as much potassium as a banana and the fiber of a bowl of whole grain cereal–all for less than 100 calories!


2. The fuzzy fruit is sky-high in both soluble and insoluble fiber, both of which are essential for promoting heart health, regulating digestion, and lowering cholesterol levels—that’s a winning trifecta. Kiwi fruit has also been considered a “nutritional all-star,” as Rutgers University researchers found that kiwifruit has the best nutrient density of 21 commonly consumed fruits.


3. Along with vitamin C, kiwi fruit are rich in many bioactive compounds that have antioxidant capacity to help to protect against free radicals, harmful by-products produced in the body. If you want clean energy, think of kiwifruit because they’re rich in magnesium, a nutrient essential to convert food into energy.


4. A kiwi fruit also doubles as a peeper-keeper by supplying your eyes with protective lutein, a carotenoid that’s concentrated in eye tissues and helps protect against harmful free radicals. Kiwifruit is also packed with blood pressure-lowering potassium. In fact, a 100gram serving of kiwifruit—that’s about one large kiwi—provides 15% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of potassium.


5. Kiwi fruit has been growing in New Zealand for over 100 years. Once the fruit gained in popularity, other countries started to grow them including Italy, France, Chile, Japan, South Korea and Spain. At first, kiwis were referred to as ‘Yang Tao’ or ‘Chinese Gooseberry,’ but the name was ultimately changed to kiwifruit so that everyone would know where the fruit came from.


6. A ripe kiwi fruit will be plump and smooth-skinned, and free of wrinkles, bruise, and punctures. If you find that your kiwi is a little too firm after buying it, simply let it ripen at room temperature for three to five days. The firmer the fruit, the more tart it will taste. To speed up the ripening process, you can also place kiwis in a paper bag with an apple or banana. If you want to store the fruit longer, you should keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.


2.1 Answer the following questions briefly:


(a) What does a serving of kiwi offer?


(b) Why has kiwi been considered a “nutritional all-star”?


(c) How is kiwi fruit helpful for the eyes?


(d) How can you make a kiwi fruit ripen?


2.2 Do as directed:


(a) The word ‘compound’ means:


(i)calcium (ii)mixture (iii)texture (iv)vitamin


(b) The word ‘concentrated’ means’:


(i) strong (ii) liquid (iii) large (iv) replace


(c) The word ‘ bruises’ means:


(i) roughness (ii) desolation (iii) popularity (iv) discoloured


(d) The word ‘tart’ means:


(i) sweet (ii) salty (iii) bitter (iv) nutty

 3

Tourism being one of the biggest and fastest growing industries globally, affects the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and educational resources of nations. Improving tourism industry in India would thus lead to national development in many spheres. As Ankit/Ankita, write a letter to the Editor of The Times of India expressing your views on the same. You may like to take ideas from the unit- Travel and Tourism besides your own ideas. (about 100 -120 words )

OR


Disposal of electronic goods , commonly termed as e-waste, in landfills lead to toxic substances such as lead, mercury etc. contaminating the land , air and water. It’s high time that countries take. A stock of the situation and protect the environment. Write an article discussing the same. Also, suggest some solutions. You are Neha / Nitin from XYZ School. You may use ideas from the unit- Environment besides your own ideas ( 100- 120 words )

 5

Complete the following passage by filling in one or two words each:

Most of us fail in our efforts (a) __________self improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time (b) ________ carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolution to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slipback (c) __________ our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted (d) _________ keep my resolution to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions, to do physical exercise every morning and to read more (e) ________ the evening. An overnight party on New year’s eve provided me with a good excuse (f) _________ not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.

 6

In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in your answer sheet. Ensure that the word that forms your answer is underlined. The first one has been done as an example for you: