CBSE  Sample  Paper

Time – 3 Hours Maximum Marks – 50

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
I. The question paper is divided into three sections :
SECTION A : Reading 20 MARKS
SECTION B : Writing and Grammar 30 MARKS
SECTION C : Literature (Not Attempted) 30 MARKS
II. All questions are compulsory.
III. You may attempt any section at a time.
IV. All questions of that particular section must be attempted in the correct order.

Section A – Reading  (20 Marks)

1 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow. (8 Marks)
1. Cricket is a global passion, played everywhere from Test match arenas to village greens, tropical beaches and dusty
back lots. Cricket is the world’s second most popular spectator sport after football.
2. The origin of cricket is somewhere in the Dark Ages. All research concedes that the game derived from a very old,
widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece of wood or a
ball, and another hit it with a suitably fashioned club. Cricket was first recorded in 16th-century England, and it was
played in grammar schools, farm communities and everywhere in between. But things really took off when 18th-
century nobles realised it was a great sport.
3. The oldest surviving set of cricket laws date from 1744 – printed on a handkerchief, naturally. It’s now in the MCC
Museum at Lord’s in London. The oldest permanent fixture is the annual Eton v Harrow match, played since 1805.
A young Lord Byron turned out for Harrow in the first match, though history doesn’t record how poetic – or “mad,
bad and dangerous” – his bowling was.
4. The first international match was in 1877 when Australia beat England in Melbourne. The match was dubbed a
“Test”, since the gruelling nature of playing over five days was deemed the ultimate “test” for any side. But it was
Australia’s first win on English soil – in 1882 at The Oval in London – that led to matches between the two nations
being christened the Ashes. Following the defeat, newspapers published an obituary mourning “the death of
English cricket”, adding that “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.
5. A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international
status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, usually 50. The Cricket World Cup is played in this format.
The international one-day game is a late twentieth-century development. The first ODI was played on 5 January
1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
 (344 words)
(Abridged from :http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/239757.html,   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/only-in-britain/
odi-cricket/very-brief-history-of-cricket/)

1.1 Attempt any eight of the following questions on the basis of the passage you have read. (1 × 8 = 8 Marks)
i. According to the passage, how did the game of Cricket originate?
ii. Where can we find the oldest sets of Cricket laws?
iii. Which match did Lord Byron play?
iv. When was the first international match played?
v. Which countries played that match?
vi. Why were the matches between Australia and England titled “The Ashes”?
vii. In which format is the Cricket world cup played?
viii. When did the ODIs begin?
ix. Which word in paragraph no.5 means the same as ‘exhausting’?

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 2 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow. (12 Marks)
1. Politeness has been well defined as benevolence in trifles. It is the desire to put those whom we meet perfectly at
their ease, and save them from every kind of petty discomfort and annoyance. The limited part of benevolence
called politeness requires only an inclination to make them happy temporarily, while they are in our presence, and
when this can be done without any sacrifice on our part or only with a slight sacrifice of personal comfort.
2. Politeness is said to be one of the important characteristics of civilised person. Politeness is the art of choosing
among your thoughts. It must be implemented in every walk of life. When we deal with people elder to us we are
polite. But, an honest polite person is polite with everyone, people of lower status, workers and even children. Not
only with humans but also with animals we must be polite as they are our helpers.
3. Politeness is a skill. Like any other skill, you can master it with practice. The greatest enemy of politeness is ego.
To be a polite person, you have to sacrifice your ego. It is difficult for an egoist to be polite. You have to imply
politeness in your thinking, speech and actions. Actions work more than words. Polite actions will give fine results.
Politeness will reduce your stress and boost you to be productive. Apart from your present benefits, you protect
your future. Being polite makes you mentally healthy. In our daily life we come across many incidents with people
nearby and ourselves.
4. Different rules of behaviour have to be observed, accordingly as we are in the street or in the drawing-room, at
home or at school, in the company of friends or of strangers. There is also to be considered the great diversity of
social etiquette which distinguishes one country from another.
5. Politeness, besides being a duty that we owe to others, is a valuable possession for ourselves. It costs nothing,
and yet may in many cases bring much profit. The great advantage of this excellence of conduct was very clearly
expressed by Dr. Johnson, when he said that the difference between a well-bred and an ill- bred man is that one
immediately attracts your liking, the other your dislike. (378 words)

(Abridged from:http://www.shareyouressays.com/3444/563-words-short-essay-on-politeness
and http://syedasrarahmed.blogspot.in/2012/02/importance-of-politeness.html)

2.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any four of the following questions in about 30–40
words each: (2 × 4 = 8 Marks)
i. Why is politeness called a limited part of benevolence?
ii. List some of the persons we should be polite to?
iii. Why is it difficult for an egoist to be polite?
iv. What are the benefits of being polite?
v. Which rules of behaviour are to be observed?
2.2 On the basis of your reading of the passage, fill in any two of the following blanks with appropriate
words/phrases. (1 × 2 = 2 Marks)
i. Politeness is an art of choosing ………………………………… .
ii. An honest polite person is polite with ………………………………… .
iii. To others, we ………………………………… .
2.3 Attempt any two of the following. Find out the words that mean the same as under: (1 × 2 = 2 Marks)
i. ‘insignificant’ (Paragraph 1)
ii. ‘manners’ (Paragraph 4)
iii. ‘civil’ (Paragraph 5)

Section B – Writing and Grammar  (30 Marks)

3 (a) You are Sonal/ Samkit of Vidyanjali Public School, Lucknow. You have seen an advertisement in ‘The Times
of India’ related to new batches of ‘Astronomy Club’ initiated by National Science Centre, Lucknow starting
from the coming fortnight. You wish to join the Club. Write a letter to the Director, enquiring about the
venue, duration, fee-structure, activities, transportation etc. Invent other necessary details.
 (100–120 words) (8 Marks)
OR

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 (b) You are the In-charge of the Medical Section of Gyanodaya Public School, Nehru Vihar, Alwar. Your stock of
medicines is about to finish. Write a letter to the Director of Jambo Medicare, Delhi, ordering medical items
like glucose, crocin, bandages, tincture, pain-healers, ointments etc. Ask for discount on bulk order. Invent
other necessary details. (100–120 words) (8 Marks)

4 Write a short story, in about 200–250 words, with any one set of the cues given in the boxes below. Give a
suitable title to the story. (10 Marks)

Jasmine, Ali and two other friends decided to go on a picnic to a beach. They packed their bags and were quite excited.
They reached the picnic spot and came across a small child who was crying …
OR
On October 4, we all were decorating our house to celebrate the most long awaited festival, Diwali. My heart was filled
with excitement to meet my father after a long gap of six years. But a call from the army headquarter left us stunned …

5 Fill in any four of the following blanks choosing the most appropriate option from the ones given below. Write
the answers in your answer–sheet against the correct blank numbers. (4 Marks)
A.  Sanitation and hygiene are also important (a) ………………………………… the well-being of society and
biodiversity conservation.
B. The government has (b) ………………………………… a programme.
C. It aims to develop (c) ………………………………… riverfronts.
D. It will solve the problem of pollution (d) ………………………………… the rivers.
E. The need has been (e) ………………………………… for a long time.
a. i. by ii. from iii. for iv. into
b. i. initiates ii. initiated iii. initiate iv. initiating
c. i. an ii. a iii. in iv. the
d. i. in ii. on iii. onto iv. by
e. i. feeling ii. feel iii. felt iv. have felt
6 I n the following passage, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word, in any four sentences
of the given paragraph, along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in the
space provided. (4 Marks)

Before Missing Word After

Himachal Pradesh a good place for Eco Camp Eg. Pradesh is a
Pine Hill Eco Camp one of the ecotourism resorts (a) _____________ _____________ _____________
near Barog Himachal Pradesh. Ecotourism is (b) _____________ _____________ _____________
gaining popularity each passing day as more (c) _____________ _____________ _____________
and more people want get away from the (d) _____________ _____________ _____________
hectic schedules. This become a favourite tourist spot. (e) _____________ _____________ _____________

7 Rearrange any four of the following word clusters to make meaningful sentences. (1 × 4 = 4 Marks)
a. rainwater / flooding / helps / harvesting / in / chances of / reducing
b. storm / helps / also / better / water / it / water management / in
c. plant growth / in / storing / rainwater / can / help / improving
d. is / from / stored / natural and / pollutants / rainwater / free / man-made
e. out / the / street / earthquake / another / on / people / came / fearing

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 Answers to CBSE Sample Paper
Section A: Reading

Answer 1.1
i. According to the passage, the game of cricket originated from a very old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime in
which one player served up an object, like a small piece of wood or ball, and the other player hit it with a suitable object
resembling a club.
ii. The oldest sets of Cricket laws date from 1774 and can be found printed on a handkerchief, which is now in the MCC
Museum at Lord’s in London.
iii. Lord Byron played the annual Eton v Harrow match.
iv. The first international match was played in 1877 in Melbourne.
v. The match was played between Australia and England.
vi. After England lost the matches that were played in their country against Australia, the newspapers published an obituary
lamenting ‘the defeat of English cricket’, further adding that ‘the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.’
This is how the matches between Australia and England were title ‘The Ashes’.
vii. The cricket world cup is played in the format of One Day International (ODI).
viii. The ODI’s began on 5 January 1971 between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
ix. gruelling

Answer 2.1
i. Politeness is called a limited part of benevolence because being polite requires only an inclination to make people happy
while they are in our presence, and this can be achieved without any sacrifice on our part or only with a slight sacrifice
of personal comfort.
ii. Some of the persons we can be polite to include elders, people of higher status, people of lower status, workers, children
and also animals.
iii. In order to be polite, we have to sacrifice our ego and hence it is difficult for an egoist to be polite.
iv. Politeness helps to reduce stress, boosts us to be productive, and makes us mentally healthy. Apart from present benefits,
it also protects our future. These are the benefits of being polite.
v. Different rules of behaviour have to be observed depending on whether we are in the street or in the drawing-room, at
home or at school, in the company of friends or of strangers.
Answer 2.2
i. Politeness is the art of choosing among your own thoughts.
ii. An honest polite person is polite with everyone, people of lower status, workers and even children.
iii. To others, we owe politeness as duty.

Answer 2.3
i. petty ii. etiquette iii. well-bred

Section B: Writing and Grammar

Answer 3 (a)
Vidyanjali Public School
Lucknow
12 March 20XX
The Director
National Science Centre
Lucknow

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Subject: Enquiry about Astronomy Club
Dear Sir/Ma’am
Having read your advertisement in The Times of India dated 10 March 20XX about new batches of Astronomy Club, I feel
interested in learning a few more details about the Club advertised by you. I am a student of X class of a prestigious school.
I would be grateful to you if you could please enlighten me regarding the following points:
i. Venue
ii. Duration
iii. Timings
iv. Fees to be deposited
v. Activities
vi. Mode of transport
In case there is some brochure and prospectus containing detailed information, please send it by post to the address
given above.
I would be thankful to you for this act of kindness.
Yours faithfully
Sonal Sharma

Answer 3 (b)

Gyanodaya Public School

Nehru Vihar
Alvar
11 April, 20XX
The Director
Jambo Medicare
Delhi
Subject: Placing an Order for Medical Supplies
Dear Sir/Ma’am
We would like to place an order for medicines urgently required for our school.
Following are the specifications of the order:

i.
Glucose 15 bottles
ii. Crocin Advance 500 mg Tablet 60

iii.
Crepe Bandage 15

iv.
Tincture 5 bottles
v. Moov Pain Relief Spray (80 gm) 5
vi. Burnol Ointment/Cream (20 gm) 5 tubes
vii. Band-Aid 10 packs
We would like to avail the 20% discount that was given in the previous order. The medicines must be supplied within a
fortnight as our stock is about to finish. Payment will be made by cheque after the inspection of supplies on delivery.
We hope to get a prompt response from you.
Yours sincerely
Sakshi Sharma
(In-charge Medical Section)

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Answer 4 (a)

At the Beach
Jasmine, Ali and two other friends decided to go on a picnic to a beach. They packed their bags and were quite excited. They
reached the picnic spot and came across a small child who was crying. They asked him what the matter was and if he was
lost. He replied that he lived in a tiny cottage not very far from the beach with this parents who were artists. They learnt that
his name was Adil. He said that whenever he was lonely, he would walk down to the beach with his puppy, Noodles, and play
with him for an hour. However, today morning when he got up, Noodles had disappeared. In his despair, he had wandered
onto the beach hoping to find him there.
Jasmine and his friends tried to cheer him up. They told him to join them in making sandcastles, which he reluctantly agreed.
They also offered him the goodies that their mother had packed for them. When Adil was walking on the beach with them,
gathering seashells, in a distance, they cited the silhouette of an old man. As he drew closer, they saw him holding a small
puppy in his arms. The man, Adil’s neighbour, exclaimed that he found the puppy in his garden, chasing butterflies. Noodles
jumped from the man’s arms and started sniffing around. When Adil held him up, he gave out a small bark and licked his
face. Everyone exclaimed that the puppy had the cutest little bark ever.

Answer 4 (b)
The Homecoming
On October, 4, we all were decorating our house to celebrate the most awaited festival, Diwali. My heart was filled with
excitement to meet my father after a long gap of six years. But a call from the army headquarters left us stunned. It informed
us that Father, who was a surgeon in the Indian Army, would not be able to join us for the festivities since he had to operate
on casualties that were injured in a bomb blast near Jammu. Nevertheless.
Mother tried to cheer me up. She told me that the news should not dampen my spirits; that I needed to be brave and have
faith in God. I wiped my tears, called my younger sister, Mehgna, and went inside the garden shed where we were making
recycled candles and diyas. We indulged in the activity for some time and then decided to go to the market to buy colours
for making rangoli.
After we had selected a design which we all liked, Meghna, Mother and I created a beautiful rangoli with flowers, flower
petals and rangoli powder. The diyas were lit, the marigold flowers and mango leaves were hung on entrance door, sweets
were prepared, and incense sticks were burnt. Donned in silk lehengas, we all sat in the garden, hoping against hope. Just as
the people of Ayodhaya waited eagerly for the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom after an exile of 14 years, we all awaited
Father’s arrival. Suddenly, we heard the garden gate creak. A tall man, in an army tunic, walked towards us with a beaming
smile on his face. ‘Father!’ we all exclaimed joyfully.
Answer 5
A. iii. for B. ii. initiated C. iv. the D. i. in E. iii. felt

Answer 6
Before Missing Word After
Camp is one
Barog in Himachal
popularity with each
want to get
This has become

Answer 7
a. Harvesting rainwater helps in reducing chances of flooding.
b. It also helps in better storm water management.
c. Storing rainwater can help in improving plant growth.
d. Stored rainwater is free from natural and man-made pollutants.
e. People came out on the street fearing another earthquake.

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