Class 10 Marks 40

Section A
ATTEMPT ANY ONE COMPREHENSION PASSAGE
Q1 Read the passage given below : (10)
Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to
the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He is the only athlete to win gold in 400 metres at the Asian
Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.
He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and
the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo) He was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian
honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements
The race for which Singh is best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the 400 metres final at the 1960
Olympic Games. He led the race till the 200 m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him. Singh’s
fourth-place time of 45.73 seconds was the Indian national record for almost 40 years.
From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the partition of India, Singh became a sporting
icon in the country. In 2008, journalist Rohit Baijnath described Singh as “the finest athlete India has ever
produced”.
He was disappointed with his debut performance at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. *1 returned to India,
chastened by my poor performance in Melbourne. I had been so excited by the prospects of being part of the
Indian Olympics team, but, hadn’t realized how strong and professional the competition would be. My success
in India had filled me with a false sense of pride and it was only when I was on the track that I saw how
inconsequential my talents were when pitted against superbly fit and seasoned athletes. It was then that I
understood what competition actually meant, and that if I wanted to succeed on the international arena, I must
be prepared to test my mettle against the best athletes in the world.”
Then he decided to make sprinting the sole focus of his life. “Running had thus become my God, my religion
and my beloved”. My life during those two years was governed by strict rules and regulations and a self-
imposed penance. Every morning I would rise at the crack of dawn, get into my sports kit and dash off to the
track, where I would run two or three miles cross-country in the company of my coach.”
On how he pushed himself through the tough days of vigorous training. “I practiced so strenuously that often I
was drained of all energy, and there were times when I would increase my speed to such an extent that after
my rounds, I would vomit blood or drop-down down unconscious through sheer exercise. My doctors and
coaches warned me, asked me to slow down to maintain my health and equilibrium but my determination was
too strong to give up. My only focus was to become the best athlete in the world. But then images of a
packed stadium filled with cheering spectators, wildly applauding me as I crossed the finishing line,
would flash across my mind and I would start again, encouraged by visions of victory.”
Based on your reading answer any FIVE questions from the six given below:
(i) What is Milka Singh known as? What realization did Milkha Singh have when he was on the track during
the Melbourne Olympics?
(ii) List any two of Milkha Singh’s achievements.
(iii) What strict rules and regulations did Milkha Singh follow?
(iv) State two consequences of his hard and strenuous practice.
(v) What motivated Milkha Singh to become the best athlete in the world?
(vi) Explain the phrase ‘I would start again’ in the last sentence.
Q2 Read the following and answer the questions (10)
J.K. Rowling – A Journey.
The story of Joanne Kathleen Rowling’s near magical rise to fame is almost as well known as the characters
she creates.
Rowling was constantly writing and telling stories to her younger sister Dianne. “The first story I ever wrote
down was about a rabbit called Rabbit.” Rowling said in an interview. “He got the measles and was visited by
his friends including a giant bee called Miss Bee. And ever since Rabbit and Miss Bee, I have always wanted
to be a writer, though I rarely told anyone so.
However, my parents, both of whom come from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to
college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a
mortgage or secure a pension.
A writer from the age of six, with two unpublished novels in the * drawer, she was stuck on a train when
Harry walked into her mind fully formed. She spent the next five years constructing the plots of seven books,
one for every year of his secondary school life.
Rowling says she started writing the first book, Harry’ Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, in Portugal, where she
was teaching English.
At first nobody wanted to publish Harry Potter. She was told that plot was too complex. Refusing to
compromise, she found a publisher.
n 1997 Rowling received her first royalty cheque. By book three, she had sky rocketed to the top of the
publishing world. A row of zeroes appeared on the author’s bank balance and her life was turned upside
down. Day and night she had journalists knocking on the unanswered door of her flat.
Rowling’s quality control has become legendary, as her obsession with accuracy. She’s thrilled with Stephen
Fry’s taped version of the books and outraged that an Italian dust jacket showed Harry minus his glasses.
“Don’t they understand that the glasses are the clue to his vulnerability.”
Annual earnings of J.K. Rowling from 2010 to 2019

On the basis of your understandingof the passage answer any FIVE of the six questions given below.
(i) Explain J.K. Rowling’s ‘near magical rise to fame’.
(ii) What reason did the publishers give for rejecting Rowling’s book?
(iii) What was the drawback of achieving fame?
(iv) Why was Rowling outraged with the Italian dust jacket?
(v) Find a word in the last para that means the same as ‘insecure/helpless.
(vi) According to the graph, how many years did it take Rowling to become very successful?
Section B
Q3 You recently visited the 24th Crafts Mela at Suraj Kund, Faridabad. It was Mini India assembled at one
place. Using the hints, make a diary entry of what you saw and experienced there. (5)
Hints: • More than 20 states of India represented • Rajasthan—the theme state • Participation of foreign
countries • cultural programmes, dances at ‘Chaupal’ and ‘Rangmanch’ • Food courts catering all kinds of
foods • arts and handicrafts from the awarded artisans.

Q 4 Begin your story with the given line and give a suitable title in 200–250 words. (7)
How foolish I was to have believed that young woman……

Q 5 You are Ashok / Ashita of Sitapur, Lucknow. You have got a foreign assignment and would be going
abroad soon. You have a television set and refrigerator to sell. Draft a suitable advertisement to be published
in the classified columns of ‘The Indian Express’ Ahmedabad. (4)

Q 6 You are the Head boy/Head girl of your school. Prepare a notice to be displayed on the school notice
board announcing Interclass Garba Competition to be held in your school. (4)
 Section C.
Q7 A. Change the following sentences from Affirmative to Negative. (1x10=10)
1. He is too weak to speak.
1. He is so weak that he cannot speak.
2. He is so weak than he cannot speak.
3. He is so weak so he cannot speak.
4. He is so weak he cannot speak.
B. Change the following sentences from Affirmative to Negative.
No sooner did Mohan see the thief than he ran away.
1. As soon as Mohan sees the thief, he ran away.
2. As soon as Mohan saw the thief, he run away.
3. As soon as Mohan saw the thief than he ran away.
4. As soon as Mohan saw the thief, he ran away.
C. It is very pleasant weather. (Assertive to exclamatory)
1. What a pleasant weather it was!
2. What a pleasant weather it is!
3. Alas! What a pleasant weather it is.
4. What a pleasant weather it is?
D. How delicious the mangoes are! (Change to assertive)
1) The mango is very delicious.
2) The mangoes is very delicious.
3) The mango are very delicious.
4) The mangoes are very delicious.
E. My uncle is very old. (Change into a negative sentence)
a. My uncle is not very young.
b. My uncle is not very old
c. My uncle is very young.
d. None of these
F. Please open the window. (Change to interrogative)
a) You are requested to open the window?
b) Will you please open the window?
c) Open the window.
d) None of these
G. Tag the sentence
There are some problems, ...............................?
a) are there
b) aren't there?
c) don't there
d) All of the above
H. Transformation from positive to superlative.
No other poet is as great as Kalidas.
1. Kalidas is the greatest poet.
2. kalidas is greater than any other poet
3. Kalidas is a great poet
4. kalidas is greatest than any other poet
I. Change the following sentences from Affirmative to Negative
Few people would like him.
a) All people wouldnt like him.
b) some people would like him.
 c) Not many people would like him.
d) All of the above
J. Tag the sentence
You don’t know her, ___?
a. have you
b. are you
c. do you
d. none