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CBSE Class 10 English Question Paper 2018 (Delhi & Outside Delhi) with Solutions
Time allowed: 3 hours
Maximum marks: 80
General Instructions:
Read the instructions very carefully and strictly follow them:
The Question Paper is divided into three Sections:
Section A – Reading Skills 20 Marks
Section B – Writing Skills with Grammar 30 Marks
Section C – Literature Textbook and Supplementary Reading Text 30 Marks
General Instructions:
- All questions are compulsory.
- You may attempt any Section at a time.
- All questions of that particular Section must be attempted in the correct order.
Section A – Reading 20 Marks
Question 1.
Read the passage given below carefully :
1. It is an indisputable fact that the world has gone too far with the innovation of new technologies such as mobile phones, the internet and so on, due to which people are able to tour the cosmos virtually sitting at one place using their smart devices or other technological gadgets. Though mobile internet access is oftentimes hurried and short, it can still provide common internet features like alerts, weather data, emails, search engines, instant messages, and game and music downloading.
2. Due to the easy access of smart phones, communication has been very effective and instant. People are able to convey their message all around the globe to their loved ones without spending hefty sums of money. Adults are always fond of such gadgets and they always welcome and adopt such new technology readily. Further, young people have been able to broaden their minds and improve their skills by doing research on the Internet. For instance, they use smart phones to look up any new word they come across. As we know that most of the universities have online teaching provision and smart phones assist the students to complete their assignments on time.
3. The mobile phone has been a lifesaver for a lot of people in case of an emergency. Likewise, use of smart phones can be of vital importance in preventing crimes in the society by providing information to the security forces in time.
4. Nonetheless, for the young the use of mobile phone can be like an addiction and they can misuse it. Young people are also prone to getting involved in undesirable activities on the Internet. This might have adverse effect on their academic performance. Therefore, young people should always be monitored and made aware of its bad outcomes.
5. Also a major contributor to its popularity is the availability of prepaid or pay as you go services from a phone shop or an online store. This allows subscribers to load text or airtime credits to their handsets by the use of their credit cards, debit cards or by buying a prepaid card from the network they subscribe to. This plan also doesn’t commit a particular customer to a contract. If prepaid card is not that appealing to you, then you can opt to subscribe using the pay by month plan.
1.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any four of the following questions briefly: 2 × 4 = 8 briefly
(a) How are smart phones helpful in communication?
Answer:
Easy access of smart phones has made communication very effective and instant. People are able to convey their message all around the globe to their loved ones without spending hefty sums of money.
(b) What are the benefits of mobile phones for the young generation?
Answer:
The young generation has been able to broaden their minds and improve their skills by using their mobile phones to do research on the internet. They use smart phones to look up any new word they come across. Smart phones assist the students to complete their assignments on time.
(c) How can mobile phones be considered ‘lifesavers’?
Answer:
The mobile phone has been a lifesaver for a lot of people in case of an emergency. Also, the use of smart phones can be of vital importance in preventing crimes in the society by providing information to the security forces in time.
(d) Mention any two demerits of mobile phones.
Two demerits of mobile phones are that –
(i) For the young the use of mobile phone becomes like an addiction and they can misuse it.
(ii) Young people are also prone to getting involved in undersirable activities on the internet which might have an adverse effect on their academic performance.
(e) How is a prepaid card useful to mobile phone users?
Answer:
A prepaid card allows subscribers to load text or airtime credits to their handsets by the use of their credit cards, debit cards or by buying a prepaid card from the network they subscribe to. This also doesn’t commit a particular customer to a contract.
1.2 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer any four of the following: 1 × 4 = 4
(a) In para 1, synonym of ‘innovation’ is ………….. .
(i) production
(ii) sincerity
(iii) invention
(iv) prevention
Answer:
(iii) invention
(b) Mobile internet can provide access to:
(i) telegram
(ii) emails
(iii) schools
(iv) university
Answer:
(ii) emails
(c) Grown-ups should ………… the use of new technology by the young people.
(i) reject
(ii) criticize
(iii) monitor
(iv) accept
Answer:
(iii) monitor
(d) Meaning of the word ‘adverse’ in para 4 is:
(i) positive
(ii) negative
(iii) admirable
(iv) unguided
Answer:
(ii) negative
(e) According to the passage, one can opt for …………….. plan if prepaid plan doesn’t suit.
(i) yearly
(ii) weekly
(iii) monthly
(iv) daily
Answer:
(iii) monthly
Question 2.
Read the passage given below:
1. Every one is concerned with one or the other type of activity to earn money for wealth to meet their wants. An economic activity means that activity which is based on or related to the use of scarce resources for the satisfaction of human wants. Economic activities are classified as under:
2. Production: Production is that economic activity which is concerned with increasing the utility or value of goods and services. Manufacturing shirt with the help of cloth (raw material) and tailoring (labour) etc. is an act of production. Transporting sand from river bank to town, where it is needed, is also an act of production. Here utility is created through transportation of goods to the person who needs it.
3. Consumption: Consumption is that economic activity which is concerned with the use of goods and services for the direct satisfaction of individual and collective wants. Consumption activity is the base of all production activities. There would have been no production if there would have been no consumption. For example, eating bread, drinking water or milk, wearing shirt, services of lawyer or doctor etc. are consumption activities.
4. Investment: Investment is that economic activity which is concerned with production of capital goods for further production of goods and services. Investment indirectly satisfies human wants. For example, the production of printing press machines to print newspapers, books, magazines etc. or investment in computers to provide internet, banking and related services.
5. Exchange: Exchange is that economic activity which is concerned with sale and purchase of commodities. This buying and selling is mostly done in terms of money or price. So, it is also called “Product Pricing” which is related to determination of the price of the product under different conditions of the market, viz., perfect competition, imperfect competition, monopoly etc.
6. Distribution: Distribution is that economic activity which deals with determination of price of factors of production (land, labour, capital and enterprise). This is known as the ‘Factor Pricing ‘,/or example, price of land is rent, that of labour is wage, that of capital is interest and price of entrepreneur is profit. Distribution is the study to know how the national income or total income arising from what has been produced in the country (called Gross Domestic Product or GDP) is distributed through salaries, wages, profits and interest. Source: N.M. Shah
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any eight questions from the twelve that follow. 1 × 8 = 8
(a) Economic activity refers to:
(i) use of natural resources to satisfy human wants.
(ii) use of scanty resources to satisfy human greed.
(iii) use of scanty resources to satisfy human wants.
(iv) use of scarce human resources.
Answer:
(iii) use of scanty resources to satisfy human wants.
(b) Production is concerned with:
(i) increasing value of goods.
(ii) increasing value of goods and services.
(iii) increase in the services of goods.
(iv) increase in value of services.
Answer:
(ii) increasing value of goods and services.
(c) Act of production includes:
(i) Labour
(ii) Material
(iii) Transportation
(iv) All the above
Answer:
(iv) All the above
(d) Consumption activity forms the …………… of all production activities.
(i) Provision
(ii) Basis
(iii) Relation
(iv) Factor
Answer:
(ii) Basis
(e) What does consumption activity NOT include:
(i) Professional services
(ii) Drinking
(iii) Eating
(iv) Marketing
Answer:
(iv) Marketing
(f) Choose the option that lists the statement that is NOT true:
(i) Investment satisfies human wants directly.
(ii) No production is possible without consumption.
(in) Exchange is concerned with buying and selling commodities.
(iv) Manufacturing shirt is an act of production.
Answer:
(i) Investment satisfies human wants directly.
(g) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the options that are true.
| 1. Consumption relates to use of goods and services | 2. Exchange is concerned with buying goods |
| 3. Distribution deals with capital and enterprise | 4. The buying and selling is done in terms of sale |
(i) Option 1 and 2
(ii) Option 2 and 4
(iii) Option 1 and 3
(iv) Option 1 and 4
Answer:
(iv) Option 1 and 4
(h) ‘Product pricing’ relates to:
(i) imperfect competition
(ii) purchase of commodities
(iii) human wants
(iv) investment
Answer:
(i) imperfect competition
(i) Distribution deals with:
(i) Competition
(ii) Consumption
(iii) Capital
(iv) Monopoly
Answer:
(iii) Capital
(j) Which word in the passage, Para 6, means the same as ‘salary’:
(i) Rent
(ii) Capital
(iii) Interest
(iv) Wage
Answer:
(iv) Wage
(k) Gross Domestic Product is:
(i) national income of the country.
(ii) capital merest.
(iii) total income from what is produced in the country.
(iv) money distributed in the country.
Answer:
(iii) total income from what is produced in the country.
(l) What does the word ‘utility’ in Para 2 mean:
(i) usefulness
(ii) substitute
(iii) want
(iv) service
Answer:
(i) usefulness
Section B – Writing Skills with Grammar 30 Marks
Question 3.
You are Shubham/Surabhi, a resident of ‘R’ Block, Shivaji Nagar, Mumbai. For the past few days you have been noticing that garbage is not being removed from your area. People cannot bear the stinking smell and unhygienic condition caused by this garbage. Write a letter in 100 – 120 words to the editor of a newspaper to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to take necessary action. 10
Or
Question 3.
Write a letter to the Manager, Haldirams, Nagpur requesting him to supply 60 lunch packets for your excursion party which would be travelling by G.T.Express from Delhi to Chennai. Your train would reach Nagpur at 12.15 p.m. Mention your coach number and the other relevant details. You are Reena/Rumi, Co-ordinator of the Excursion Party of Birla Vidya Bhawan, Delhi. 10
Answer:
‘R’Block
Shivaji Nagar
Mumbai
18 th August, 20xx
The Editor
The Daily Times
Mumbai
Subject: Unhygienic conditions caused by garbage
Sir
Through the medium of your esteemed newspaper I wish to draw the attention of the concerned authorities towards the unhygienic conditions caused by garbage in our area. For the past few days the garbage has not been removed from our area. It has been found that no sweeper has visited our area for the last one week. This has resulted in heaps of rubbish attracting flies and providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Also a few drains have choked. The stench of the garbage is unbearable and the mountain of rubbish is swarming with flies. This has created the most horrific image. The sanitary condition of the locality has been deteriorating.
The concerned authorities need to look into the matter urgently by making arrangements to dispose the garbage. A better monitoring system is urgently required wherein routine inspection of the sanitary condition in our area can be carried out.
I hope you will publish my letter in your newspaper so that the concerned authorities can initiate the necessary sanitary arrangements immediately.
Yours sincerely
Shubhum/Surabhi
Or
BirlaVidya Bhawan
Delhi
1
st
December, 20xx
The Manager
Haldirams
Nagpur
Subject: Request for supply of sixty lunch packets
Dear Sir
We are a group of fifty students and six teachers going on an excursion to Chennai. We will be travelling by G.T. Express and will leave Delhi on the 13th of December at 10.30 p.m. Our train will be reaching Nagpur on the 14th of December at 12.15 p.m. We would like to request you to have sixty lunch packets delivered at Nagpur station at 12.15 p.m. on the 14th of December. Our coach number is SI and our bogie number is A2. I am enclosing herewith a Demand Draft of ?5,000 as advance payment and will make the final payment on delivery of the lunch packets. I request you to be punctual as the train halts at Nagpur station for fifteen minutes only. I would be grateful if you confirm acceptance of our order at the earliest.
Awaiting your early response.
Yours sincerely
Reena/Rumi
Co-ordinator, Excursion Party
Question 4.
Attempt ANY ONE of the following in 100 – 120 words.
[A] The bar graph below provides information regarding the division of household tasks by gender in Great Britain. Write a paragraph analyzing the given data. 8
Or
[B] Read the following excerpt from an article that appeared in a local daily.
The policy of reservation of seats for admission to the professional courses is good for the deprived sections of society.
Write a paragraph to analyse the given argument.
You could think about what alternative explanations might weaken the given conclusion and include rational evidence that would strengthen/ counter the given argument. 8
Answer:
[A] The bar graph gives information regarding the division of household tasks in Great Britain. As is evident from the graph a majority of the inhouse tasks are carried out mainly by women. A woman spends more than seventy four minutes per day doing chores like cooking, baking and washing, while a man spends just about thirty minutes on the same chores.
The job of cleaning and tidying is also a woman oriented one wherein she spends fifty eight minutes per day in comparison to the thirteen minutes that’a man spends on it. Gardening and pet care is a man dominated task on which he spends fifty minutes as compared to a woman who spends twenty one minutes on this task. Taking care of their children and playing with them is again mainly a woman’s job and she spends forty five minutes as opposed to the twenty minutes that a man spends on it. A man dominates the maintenance and odd jobs but makes negligible contribution in clothes washing, ironing and sewing.
Or
[B] Policies involving reservation of seats for the marginalised sections of society have been existing in our country since a very long period of time. But these policies pervade the provisions of the Constitution of India wherein the main aim of the founders was to create an egalitarian society.
The government should change its approach towards the system of reservation. Most of the seats in reputed professional courses are occupied by the reserved candidates. Most worthy and qualified candidates do not get a chance to enter good educational institutions because of these reservations. Actually most of the reserved candidates are hail from good economic backgrounds and do not need the reservation quota. Moreover reservation promotes the concept of Caste which is quite absurd in today’s society.
The policy of reservation should be safely based on the right qualifications and merit and not on the economic background or caste of a person.
Question 5.
Fill in any four of the blanks in the paragraph given below with the help of options that follow: 1 × 4 = 4
The modern student (a) ……………… the importance (b) …………….. physical exercise. He spends one to two hours in open air (c) ……………. he takes part in different sports. However, care should (d) …………… not to overstrain (e) …………….. body.
Answer:
(a) (iv) understands
(b) (i) of
(c) (ii) where
(d) (i) be taken
(e) (iii) the
Question 6.
The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the error and its correction as shown in the example. Do any four. 1 × 4 = 4
Answer:
(a) A … The
(b) him … his
(c) by … on
(d) are … were
(e) any… the
Question 7.
Rearrange the following words / phrases to form meaningful sentences. Do any four. 1 × 4 = 4
(a) work and play / things / different / parents see / as two
(b) is a / of time / they / waste / think / that playing
(c) important / games / studies /are as / as
(d) a student / to both / proper / should / attention / pay
(e) can / life / only / succeed / he / in / then
Answer:
(a) Parents see work and play as two different things.
(b) They think that playing is a waste of time.
(c) Games are as important as studies.
(d) A student should pay proper attention to both.
(e) Only then he can succeed in life. Or, Only then can he succeed in life.
Section C – Literature Text & Supplementary Reading Text 30 Marks
Question 8.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: 1 × 4 = 4
“But, please, Stephen Stepanovitch, how can they be yours? Do be a reasonable man! My aunt’s grandmother gave the Meadows for the temporary and free use of your grandfather’s peasants. The peasants used the land for forty years and got accustomed to it as if it was their own, when it happened that ….. .
(a) Who is the speaker of the above lines?
Answer:
The speaker of the above lines is Lomov.
(b) Why did his aunt’s grandmother give the meadows?
Answer:
Lomov’s aunt’s grandmother gave Oxen meadows for the temporary and free use of Chubukov’s grandfather’s peasants, in return for which they were to make bricks for her.
(c) Why did the peasants treat the land as their own?
Answer:
The peasants treated the land as their own as they had used the land for forty years and got accustomed to it as if it was their own.
(d) What light do these lines throw on the speaker’s character?
Answer:
The above lines show that Lomov tries to control his anger by being polite and respectful to Stephen Stepanovitch. He tries to reasonably argue his point.
Or
Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.
(a) Who was tickled by Belinda?
Answer:
Custard, the dragon was tickled by Belinda.
(b) Why did she tickle ‘him’?
Answer:
Belinda tickled Custard because it was very scared and cried for a safe cage. This was her way of teasing and making fun of the cowardly dragon.
(c) Who are Ink, Blink and Mustard?
Answer:
Ink, the little black kitten, Blink a little grey mouse and Mustard, a little yellow dog were all Belinda’s pets.
(d) Why did they all laugh at ‘him’?
Answer:
All the animals laughed at Custard’s cowardliness.
Question 9.
Answer the following questions in 30 – 40 words each. 2 × 5 = 10
(a) What excited Rajvir? Why did Pranjol not share his excitement?
Answer:
The beautiful scenery of the tea gardens excited Rajvir. He was extremely fascinated as he had never seen so much greenery before. The soft green paddy fields, tea- bushes, the densely wooded hills all excited Rajvir. Pranjol, who had been born and brought up on a plantation did not share Rajvir’s excitement.
(b) ‘He senses first responsibility’ – What responsibility is referred to here? (The Ball Poem)
Answer:
The responsibility referred to here is of losing a ball by a little boy and how he learns to grow up. The ball is a much loved possession and the boy experiences grief at the loss of his ball which personifies his young and happy innocent days. The losing of the ball is losing his innocence and he is forced to grow up, and become responsible.
(c) What does courage mean to Mandela? How did he learn the meaning of courage?
Answer:
Mandela has learnt the true meaning of courage from the struggle of the people of his country. Time and again he has seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea. He has seen men stand up to attack and torture without breaking, showing a strength and the ability to deal with any kind of hardship that defies imagination. He also learnt that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
(d) What was Horace Danby’s hobby? How did he manage to fulfil it?
Answer:
Horace Danby had the hobby of collecting rare and expensive books. He managed to fulfill it by robbing a safe every year. Each year he planned carefully just what he would do to steal enough to last for twelve months, and secretly bought the books he loved through an agent.
(e) In which queer way did Anil make a living? (The Thief’s Story)
Answer:
The queer way in which Anil made a living was by writing for magazines. Also, his money management skills were really odd. One week he would be borrowing money and the next week he would be lending money to others. He thus made money by fits and starts.
Question 10.
Answer the following questions in about 100 – 150 words. 8
Why was Mrs. Hall convinced that the room was haunted by spirits?
Or
The Buddha said, “The world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world.” Do you think the statement is appropriate even for today’s life? Write your views in the context of the above statement.
Answer:
Mrs. Hall took the opportunity of investigating the scientist’s room when she found nobody there. But all of a sudden she heard a sniff close to her ear. A little later the hat on the bedpost leapt up and dashed itself on her face. Then the bedroom chair became alive. Springing into the air it charged at her. As she and her husband turned away in fear, the extraordinary chair pushed them both out of the room and shut the door after them. Mrs. Hall fell down the stairs, convinced that the room was haunted by spirits and the stranger has caused them to enter into her furniture.
Or
This statement is as appropriate in today’s life as it was thousands of years ago. If we do not abandon sorrow, we simply undergo more suffering. By weeping and grieving we do not get peace of mind. In fact to grieve is in vain. Life is difficult and brief and there is no means by which those who are born will not die. This is the natural course of all living beings. Centuries have come and gone by but this harsh reality of life cannot change. So this statement will hold good at all times and all ages. The old and the young, the rich and the poor are all stopped short by the power of death.
Question 11.
Answer the following questions in about 100 – 150 words. 8
Science is a good servant but a bad master. How is this applicable to Griffin’s scientific discovery? Give examples from the text.
Or
“One little act of negligence or one small error can lead to the entire ruin.” How far is it applicable to the lives of Matilda and her husband?
Answer:
Griffin’s scientific discovery was misused by him. Being a lawless person he used his discovery to trouble other people. When his landlord in London tried to eject him he set fire to the landlord’s house in revenge and then he became invisible so that he could get away without being seen. He never used his discovery for a constructive purpose but always misused it to escape after committing an unlawful act. He troubled and harassed people after becoming invisible. On yet another occasion Griffin used his invisibility to evade arrest by the village constable Jaffers, whom Mr. Griffin’s landlady, had called for, when he did not pay her the rent of the room. After becoming invisible, Griffin knocked down the constable who became unconscious and managed to escape easily. So the saying – ‘Science is a good servant but a bad master’ is truly applicable to Griffin’s scientific discovery.
Or
Matilda and her husband were themselves responsible for their misery because of their own negligence. They would have saved themselves from undergoing a great deal of trouble had Matilda been a little more careful while handling other people’s jewellery. Even after losing her friend’s necklace they did not have the courage to confess to Mme Forestier about the loss. Their life changed drastically after the loss of the necklace. They possessed only eighteen thousand francs of their own.
They borrowed the rest of the money to pay a total amount of thirty six thousand francs for a new necklace. Matilda’s husband made ruinous promises, took money from insurers and the whole race of lenders. They chose to live under extremely miserable conditions than to confess about it. One should have the courage to speak the truth and own up one’s mistake if one wants to avoid one’s ruin. Vanity and lying are evil and must be avoided at all costs. It was only towards the end of the story that they realize how foolish and vulnerable they have been because of their own errors.