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BLOOMFIELD HALL SCHOOL

Holiday Homework 2022

English Lower Form III

Holiday Homework 2022 – English Lower Form III

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 1

Comprehension
Read the passage carefully TWICE, and answer all the questions in your
notebook.

Sometimes the work was hard; the implements had been designed for human beings
and not for animals, and it was a great drawback that no animal was able to use any
tool that involved standing on his hind legs. But the pigs were so clever that they could
think of a way round every difficulty. As for the horses, they knew every inch of the
field, and in fact understood the business of mowing and raking far better than Jones
and his men had ever done. The pigs did not actually work, but directed and
supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should
assume the leadership. Boxer and Clover would harness themselves to the cutter or
the horse-rake (no bits or reins were needed in these days, of course) and tramp
steadily round and round the field with a pig walking behind and calling out ‘Gee up,
comrade!’ or ‘Whoa back, comrade!’ as the case might be. And every animal down to
the humblest worked at turning the hay and gathering it. Even the ducks and hens
toiled to and fro all day in the sun, carrying tiny wisps of hay in their beaks. In the end
they finished the harvest in two days’ less time than it had usually taken Jones and his
men. Moreover, it was the biggest harvest that the farm had ever seen. There was no
wastage whatever; the hens and ducks with their sharp eyes had gathered up the very
last stalk. And not an animal on the farm had stolen so much as a mouthful.
All through that summer the work of the farm went like clockwork. The animals were
happy as they had never conceived it possible to be. Every mouthful of food was an
acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own food, produced by themselves
and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging master. With the worthless
parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat. There was more
leisure too, inexperienced though the animals were. They met with many difficulties —
for instance, later in the year, when they harvested the corn, they had to tread it out in
the ancient style and blow away the chaff with their breath, since the farm possessed
no threshing machine — but the pigs with their cleverness and Boxer with his
tremendous muscles always pulled them through. Boxer was the admiration of
everybody. He had been a hard worker even in Jones’s time, but now he seemed more
like three horses than one; there were days when the entire work of the farm seemed
to rest on his mighty shoulders. From morning to night he was pushing and pulling,
always at the spot where the work was hardest. He had made an arrangement with
one of the cockerels to call him in the mornings half an hour earlier than anyone else,

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and would put in some volunteer labour at whatever seemed to be most needed,
before the regular day’s work began. His answer to every problem, every setback, was
‘I will work harder!’ — which he had adopted as his personal motto.
But everyone worked according to his capacity. The hens and ducks, for instance,
saved five bushels of corn at the harvest by gathering up the stray grains. Nobody
stole, nobody grumbled over his rations, the quarrelling and biting and jealousy which
had been normal features of life in the old days had almost disappeared. Nobody
shirked — or almost nobody. Mollie, it was true, was not good at getting up in the
mornings, and had a way of leaving work early on the ground that there was a stone
in her hoof. And the behaviour of the cat was somewhat peculiar. It was soon noticed
that when there was work to be done the cat could never be found. She would vanish
for hours on end, and then reappear at meal-times, or in the evening after work was
over, as though nothing had happened.
On Sundays there was no work. Breakfast was an hour later than usual, and after
breakfast there was a ceremony which was observed every week without fail. First
came the hoisting of the flag. Snowball had found in the harness-room an old green
tablecloth of Mrs. Jones’s and had painted on it a hoof and a horn in white. This was
run up the flagstaff in the farmhouse garden every Sunday morning. The flag was
green, Snowball explained, to represent the green fields of England, while the hoof
and horn signified the future Republic of the Animals which would arise when the
human race had been finally overthrown. After the hoisting of the flag all the animals
trooped into the big barn for a general assembly which was known as the Meeting.
Here the work of the coming week was planned out and resolutions were put forward
and debated.

1. What kind of tools were the animals unable to use?

2. Which animals always found a solution to problems?

3. What did the pigs do? Why did they assume leadership of the farm?

4. How did the ducks and the hens help during the harvest?

5. What were two things that made the harvest so special?

6. Give two reasons why every mouthful of food was an ‘acute positive pleasure’
for the animals?

7. What difficulty did the animals have to face when they harvested the corn?

8. Which two animals on the farm worked the least?

9. Explain in your own words: ‘everyone worked according to his capacity.’

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10. State two ways in which the cat’s behaviour was peculiar?

11. Mention 3 ways in which Sunday was different from the other days of the week
.
12. What were the two main things that were done during the ceremony each
week?

13. How did Snowball make the flag for Animal Farm?

14. What did the animals do in the Meeting?

Explain the contextual meaning of words given below, in not more than seven
words.

a. implements
b. drawback
c. tremendous
d. shirked
e. peculiar

Section B- Animal Farm: Vocabulary

Write the meanings of the following words taken from chapters 1-2 of Animal
Farm and make sentences.

1. to mince
2. benevolent
3. astray
4. prosperity
5. to abolish
6. tormentor
7. thrashing
8. unanimous
9. degrading
10. vivacious
11. nimble
12. apathy

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 2

Composition

1. Write a story with the title “An encounter with Aliens” (250-300) words

Section 2- Grammar

2. Change the following sentences into Active or Passive voice as appropriate.

• I have sent the report.

• A cold fear gripped us.
• This ticket will be given to you by the manager.
• A car ran over the dog.
• We must obey the laws of the land.
• Steven likes to play baseball.
• The girls can play handball.
• The president was elected by the people.
• The electricians test the fire alarm.
• Google was founded by Larry and Sergey.
• People said that the president was ill.
• The professor is going to show the students an old bone.
• Yesterday a boy was injured in an accident in High street.
• They expected us to build the road.
• The waiter will bring us the bill.

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 3

Comprehension
Read the passage carefully TWICE, and answer all the questions in your
notebook.

When the time came within a few days, it was a fast climb. The A team made it up to
Camp 3 at 7300 m in four hours without oxygen. The following day was the final 800
m climb to the summit, which on Cho Oyu, is not an obvious point. The top of the
mountain is really a large, flattened dome, about four football fields in size, gently
sloping towards the northeast. In fact, it is only at the very highest point on Cho Oyu
that Everest is visible and when the team finally stood there taking photographs with
their oxygen masks off, their excitement spilled over to an impromptu snowball fight.
Summing it up, Swee Chiow recalled, “After three years of training, we could finally
see our objective, Everest with the western Cwm, the South col and of course, the
plume of condensation trailing off the peak into Tibet. Everyone felt good and I
remember thinking ‘It’s so big!’ It was a strange feeling, knowing that we were going
to be there next year.”

The B team was to be less fortunate. While the first team moved back down the
mountain, Edwin, Chee Mun, Kim Boon, Robert and Mok moved up to Camp 3,
preparing to ascend the next day. But that night, a wind lifting off the plateau of Tibet
to the north whipped up a storm that struck the tents at Camp 3. Mok and Chee Mun
were in one tent while the others were in another a few metres away. Shortly after
darkness set in, Mok radioed Bruce who was down at base camp to confirm that they
still intended to make a summit push in the morning. Bruce, however, advised against
it. Knowing the physical condition of B team, he felt sure that in the adverse condition
it was tempting fate for them to attempt to reach the summit. The wind was already
howling outside. No one slept; it was extremely cold and cups of tea had to be made
in near darkness to try and keep the climbers warm. By midnight, the wind had reached
hurricane force, in excess of 150 kph.

The drama of the moment was captured on videotape. “I said to Chee Mun,”
remembers Mok, “I think we are going to die. Perhaps we’d better record our last
farewell.” The footage reveals Mok and Chee Mun sitting upright with their backs
against the thin nylon fabric of their tent, trying to keep it from collapsing. Holding a
small torch against his face, Chee Mun is shouting inaudibly against the noise of the
wind which sounds like an express train passing a few feet away. Every so often a

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gust of wind hits the tent which billows inwards, wrapping around Chee Mun’s body,
threatening to rip the fabric apart. As the wind pauses momentarily, Mok can be heard
to say, “There are only two layers of thin fabric separating us from the elements
outside.”

Meanwhile in the other tent, Robert, Kim Boon and Edwin were suffering the same
privations. Robert later recounted that as he lay down to rest during the height of the
storms, he said to himself, ‘Everything should be fine… After all, the tents cost us
US$800 each...’ Barely had the thought surfaced when – SNAP! – The main pole
supporting the tent broke and it fell about them. “I thought I was going to die or get
blown off the mountain or freeze to death because the storm was unrelenting. It was
just like those classic images you see in films and read about in books: ‘The team
perished because they were hemmed in by the storm.’ It was bad up there.”

By early morning the wind had not abated at all and one of the support Sherpas poked
his head through the doorway to report that all the other tents had been flattened. “This
wind is quite normal,” he said, tongue-in-cheek, “the same as Everest. Now we
prepare for the summit.” But it was anything but normal and standing up outside was
almost impossible. Through the telescope at advance base camp, Bruce could see the
tents ripped apart and flapping in the wind. After listening to some disconsolate
conversation on the mountain radio from Camp 3, Bruce instructed the B team to
evacuate and descend within an hour. Everyone now agreed that they had to retreat,
and within three hours they were back at Camp 2.

1. What shape and how big is the area at the summit of Cho Oyu?

2. At what point on Cho Oyu can Mount Everest be seen?

3. How did the A Team express their excitement at reaching the summit of Cho Oyu?

4. What happened to the B Team during their climb up Cho Oyu?

5. How did the climbers keep warm in the extremely cold weather? 1 mark

6. How did the Team B climbers keep their tent from collapsing?

7. Why did Robert believe his tent would stand up to the extreme weather?

8. From the first paragraph, how do you know that the A Team had to use oxygen to
climb the final section to the summit?

9. How did Bruce at base camp know what had happened on the mountain at Camp
3?

10. Why did Bruce ask the B Team to descend within an hour?

11. What do the following phrases mean in this passage?

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a) a plume of condensation
b) to make a summit push
c) to tempt fate
d) tongue in cheek

12. Explain the contextual meaning of words given below, in not more than seven
words.
f. impromptu

g. to ascend

h. adverse

i. upright

j. inaudibly

k. momentarily

l. to collapse

m. unrelenting

n. abated

Section B- Animal Farm: Vocabulary

Write the meanings of the following words taken from chapters 1 -5 of Animal
Farm and make sentences.

1. cynical
2. uproar
3. reproach
4. to convince
5. parasitical
6. in seclusion
7. vague
8. to fling
9. triumph
10. posthumous
11. repose
12. malignity

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 4

Composition

1. Write a story with the title “The strangest boy in the neighbourhood”

(250-300) words.

Section 2- figurative language

2 Write 15 descriptive sentences using metaphors, similes and

personification.

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 5

Comprehension

Read the passage carefully twice before you attempt any questions in your
notebook.

1 Dolphins are very much in vogue these days. Along with rainbows they have
become a symbol of a new age of love, peace and harmony. Although, like human
beings they are mammals, they have adapted surprisingly well to an environment
completely different from our own. There is no doubt that people love these aquatic
creatures, considering them to be both intelligent and beautiful.

2 This fascination with dolphins is not a novelty; they have delighted people for
centuries and they occupy a special place in folklore around the world. For example,
the ancient Mediterranean culture believed that the dolphin represented the vital power
of the sea, and early Greek mythology describes many encounters between their gods
and dolphins. Dolphins graced many forms of art in ancient societies. Killing a dolphin
was punished by the death penalty. Around the world many cultures believed that any
intentional harm to a dolphin could cause ill-fortune or mortal sickness.

3 Dolphins are able to make sounds in the form of little clicks, through which they
communicate with each other. Many dolphins are able to leap high out of the water,
sometimes to indicate the presence of fish to their companions, and sometimes simply
out of exuberance. As well as making clicking sounds, they make other sounds which
damage the balance of their prey, making it easier to capture. They are also able to
make out where their prey is by listening to the echoes of the sounds which their prey
makes. This special ability is called echolocation, and enables dolphins to explore their
environment over a wider distance than eyesight allows, and to find their prey in a
dark, watery world where sight is often of little use.

4 Modern, efficient methods have been introduced that allow fishermen to bring in
record catches. However these methods make no distinction between fish and
dolphins, so that the latter often become the victims of these environmentally
destructive fishing methods. In some parts of the world fishermen have noticed that
particularly large tuna fish swim underneath dolphins. Realising, therefore, that
financially rewarding catches of tuna fish await those willing to take advantage of the

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tuna-dolphin bond, the fishermen deliberately net these dolphins to catch the tuna
swimming below them.

5 Modern fishing nets, unlike those even of the recent past, are made of very strong
materials which dolphins can neither detect nor break and, in some places, local
fishermen use these nets with the specific intention of catching dolphins for food. It is
difficult not to have some sympathy for these fishermen. In many fishing communities,
fish stocks - on which people have always depended - are dwindling. The sea
provides their best food, but local people are unable to compete with the large fishing
vessels which have recently been sent into their waters by large international
companies. As a result, they have to turn to whatever food resources remain, simply
in order to survive, and the only available food is dolphins.

Answer all the questions

From paragraph 1.

1. Give one reason why, according to the writer, people love dolphins.

From paragraph 2

2. How can you tell that in some cultures dolphins were considered as important as
human beings?

3. What did people in many cultures believe could be the result of harming a dolphin?

From Paragraph 3

4. In what two ways do dolphins use their ability to make sounds?

5. Give two reasons why dolphins “leap high out of the water.’’

6. How does echolocation help dolphins?

7. Explain how fishermen take advantage of the tuna-dolphin bond.

From Paragraph 4

8. How are modern fishing methods environmentally destructive?

9. For each of the following words or phrases give one word or short phrase (of
not more than seven words) which has the same meaning as it has in the text.

1. in vogue

2. symbol

3. exuberance

4. communicate

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5. penalty

6. dwindling

Vocabulary
10. Write the meanings of the following and make sentences.

1. inscribed
2. forgery
3. weary
4. tumult
5. rejoice
6. controversy
7. to contemplate
8. vaguely
9. slogan
10. cannibalism
11. flog
12. nocturnal

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Holiday Homework: Lower Form III

English
ASSIGNMENT 6

Composition

- Write a story which includes the words, ‘It was the same bus I got into
every day, but that day, as I sat down, I sensed something was
different.’
(250-300) words

Section 2

- Write a descriptive note on the following characters as depicted in Animal

Farm.

• Snowball
• Napoleon
• Boxer

Holiday Homework 2022 – English Lower Form III