Indraprastha Modern School

HALF – YEARLY EXAM

SUBJECT - ENGLISH

CLASS – 11th (2024-25)

Maximum Marks: 80 Time Allowed: 3 hours

General Instructions:

 The Question Paper contains three sections.

 Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

SECTION – A (Reading)

Q1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (10)

1. We live in an age of wonders and miracles. It has been called the ‘Age of Science’ and
different aspects of our life that changed in the preceding centuries have been attributed
to science. This is completely true, but it is only one side of the coin. The flip side is that
as we have advanced more in the field of technology, something fundamental to
humanity has been left behind. Values such as empathy and concern for our fellow
human beings are gradually being eroded due to the onslaught of our ever-evolving
lifestyles, aided by the marvels of technological advancements
2. Take the example of the Internet. On the one hand, access to information and
knowledge at the click of a button is a veritable boon to everyone (especially students)
and this has made our lives much simpler. On the other hand, it has severely limited
actual contact with teachers, friends and elders. Thus, the learning that a person gains is
incomplete as he or she cannot easily take the advice that another person can give on
the basis of knowledge and practical experience that is at his or her disposal.
3. Today, a small child can access and navigate the Internet with an ease that still astounds
those from the older generation. But what is even more astounding is the neglect of the
basic human traits of friendship, relationships and family values. Owing to all the
 technological advancements and the gadgets available today, children often miss out on
the most enriching childhood experiences such as playing outdoor games with friends,
which apart from being immensely enjoyable and physically exhilarating, also develop
traits such as teamwork and discipline at an early age.
4. But now when the concept of friends is gradually being limited to virtual friends on social
networking sites, one shudders to think of the implications for the personality
development of a child because the time spent with computers or mobile phones for
entertainment can never really substitute for the holistic benefits of outdoor play. Such
examples can be found in plenty.
5. Now if we compare the hustle and bustle of modern city life and the peace and calm of a
rustic village life, we can see that in cities, life is a race with a variety of factors. It is a race
that everyone tries their level best to win, but nobody actually wins as it never ends.
6. As for me, I think this age of rapid development has created at least as many problems
as it has solved, if not more. The reason is that the basic goal of life, which should be the
pursuit of happiness, has now been replaced by the pursuit of money. Money and
happiness are considered analogous in our present society, but they actually are not so.
In this mindless pursuit of money, nobody has time now to appreciate the beauty of life,
which consists not of multi- billion-dollar skyscrapers, but a simple act of kindness to
someone in a time of need.
7. So there is an urgent need to stop for a moment and think about where we are actually
heading, is it development or destruction? Do we have to wait until people have grown
so much apart from each other that we cannot see the suffering of our own species due
to our mindless greed, or can we still mend our ways?
8. To answer this question, I will take the help of that most magnificent of human feelings-
hope. I sincerely wish that we, as the most intelligent species on earth, would take our
fair share of responsibility and sincerely think about the path we should follow. Though
mankind will possibly last for a long time thanks to its determination and sheer
ingenuity, we have to make sure we do not lose our humanity somewhere along the way.
A. On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following
questions by choosing the most appropriate option. (1×6 =
6)

I. According to the passage, it is like one side of the coin to say that life has changed
owing to science as
(A) Age of science has brought wonders and miracles.
(B) Different aspects of life have changed due to science.
(C) There is another side of the coin to look at.
(D) This side of coin is true and sufficient to look at.

II. Which of the following is not true about the internet?

(A) It provides an easy access to information and knowledge.
 (B) It has made our lives simpler.
(C) It has limited actual contact with teachers and friends.
(D) It can easily give advice based on personal experience.

III. Internet hampers the holistic growth of a child by ……………..

(A) Encouraging human traits of friendship, society and family.
(B) Enriching childhood experiences of outdoor games.
(C) Providing virtual friends and gadgets.
(D) Developing teamwork and discipline.

IV. According to the passage, true happiness lies in ………

(A) Simple acts of kindness
(B) Rapid development
(C) multi-billion-dollar skyscrapers
(D) Pursuit of money

V. The word ‘veritable’ in para 2 means:

(A) Actual
(B) Big
(C) Latest
(D) Perfect

VI. Antonym of holistic is

(A) Agonistic
(B) Individualistic
(C) Optimistic
(D) Pessimistic

B. Answer ANY FOR of the following questions as briefly as possible. (1×4 = 4)

i) It has severely limited actual contact with …………….

ii) Money and …………… are considered analogous in our present society but they actually
are not so.
iii) We cannot see the suffering of our own species due to our …………….
iv) I will take the help of that most magnificent of human feeling …………….
v) ……………. will probably last for a longer period of time.

Q2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (8)
1. Millions of tons of small waste from plastic bags, bottles and clothes in the world’s ocean
present a serious threat to human health and marine environment. This is a warning
issued by the U.N. in a report on the most dangerous environmental problem facing the
world today. Global plastic production has increased considerably in years nearly by 38%.
2. A poor waste management means when we have finished with our takeaway containers
cigarette butts and party balloons, they are worn down into trillions of even small
particles by the waves. Therefore, there is a growing presence of these micro plastic in
the world’s oceans.
3. It was estimated in 2010 that millions of tons of plastic was washed into the seas and has
since shown up in the stomachs of whales, plankton and other marine life. Richard
Thompson, professor of marine biology said that in laboratory experiments there is proof
that micro plastic can cause harm to organisms.
4. More than a quarter of all fish now contain plastic, according to a recent study why
analyzed the guts of fish sold in California. Scientist fear that chemicalsin plastics and
also chemicals which attach themselves to plastic in natural environment could cause
poisoning and many disorders in marine life if consumed in huge quantities.
5. Even human could be adversely affected by the plastic. People could even be breathing
in plastic micro-particles suspended in the air with the risk of harmful effect on the lungs
similar to air fumes.
6. Volunteers around the world collect trash and tally up what they find on the fall in
Ocean’s Conservancy’s Annual International Coastal Cleanup. The result item-by-item,
location-by-location Ocean Trash Index provides the only snapshot of marine debris
littering coasts and waterways around the world, according to Ocean Conservancy.
 7. Boyance Slat, a Dutch student has developed a technology that could sift dangerous
plastic particle out of the ocean and sell them for profit or re-cycling. Richard Thompson
recommended that people should avoid using products with micro beads and make sure
they dispose of all plastic products in an appropriate way by, if possible.

Now, answer the following questions:

i. Select the option that is true for the two statements given below.
(1) More than a quarter of all fish now have plastics present in them.
(2) Millions Of tons of plastic waste is present in the world’s oceans.
a. (1) is the result of (2)
b. (1) is the reason for (2)
c. Both (1) and (2) are true
d. (1) contradicts (2)
ii. According to the passage, Richard Thompson is a ________.
iii. ________ provides the only snapshot of marine debris littering coasts and waterways.
iv. Through what does the cigarette butts and party balloons worn down into smaller
particles?
v. We can find out that more than a quarter of all fish contained plastics in them by:
a. The stark warming issued by the UN in a report on the most
dangerous environmental problems facing the world today.
b. Collecting trash and tallying up what they find each day.
c. Laboratory experiments performed by Richard Thompson a profession
marine biology.
d. Analyzing the fish sold in California.
. Choose the correct set of statement which is NOT TRUE.
(I) Plastic could have similar effects like car fumes.
(II) Chemicals which attach themselves to plastic in natural environment could
i. What amount of paper bags in the index are diffused into the oceans?
ii. Fill in the blank with the correct option.
There are ________ beverage cans found in the index.
a. 337,865
b. 339,875
c. 339,445
d. 333,347

Q3. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (6 marks)
(a) Leadership does not exist without followership. A leader has to be accepted by the group
which the former is supposed to lead. To gain acceptability, the leader should cause an emotive
impact on the group members.
(b) The strength of character exhibited by leaders makes them dear to their followers. A leader is
one who effectively inspires followers to achieve worthwhile things. What character of the leader
motivates the followers? It is not pomp and show, neither flattery nor sanctioning more
incentives. Pomp and show create a sense of awe and the leader is deified rather than emulated.
Flattery is unrealistic and cannot serve as a long term motivational tool. A leader’s style should
be one that can be emulated by all irrespective of cadre, class and caliber. Simplicity in one’s
day-to-day conduct is the only thing that can be adopted by all. When the leader is simple, he is
counted as one belonging to the group of which he is the leader. That’s enough to motivate the
people. Motivation is the innate quality that enables an individual or group to contribute
unlimitedly with limited means. It is the proud prerogative of enlightened human beings.
A leader needs to assume the role of a guide; quintessential of fulfilling the role is knowledge
ability. Technical and administrative knowledge of the guide in balanced quantity and of right
kind are essential. Technical knowledge is too vast to be acquired by a leader. At best he is
either ‘Jack of all’ or ‘Master of few’. But he has to master the human relations aspect of
administration in all detail. And when the leader is good at this, his guidance is sought and
accepted, then he fulfils the role of a guide. The leader is a negotiator within and outside the
organization.
The leader shapes people and molds character. To achieve this, the leader should maintain
equanimity. Equanimity is keeping oneself poised and balanced at all times. A leader is simply
great if he can mold his followers with his frame of mind. He does this by his own example.

a. On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on it using headings
and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum four) and
a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.
b. Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words.

Section - B (Grammar and Writing)

Q4. Answer the following questions: (4)

Fill in the following blanks given below choosing the most appropriate options from the
ones that follow.
Most Indian schools fail to ensure their students’ adequate playtime and fitness regime.
Two out of every five school, going children ____ (a) ____ have a healthy Body Mass Index
(BMI) and 50% of children ____ (b) ____ adequate lower body strength. Some schools
____(c) ____ found to offer three or ____ (d) ____ physical education periods per week.
a. (i) does (ii) does not (iii) don’t (iv) do
b. (i) lack (ii) lacked (iii) have lacked (iv) had lacked
c. (i) was (ii) are (iii) is (iv) have
d. (i) much (ii) many (iii) more (iv) less

2. Fill in the blanks to complete the narration. (3)

 Ram: What a cold day it is! I think this must be the coldest day of the season.
Sham: I don’t mind the cold. It is the summer that bothers me.
Ram: Well! I am only worried about my mother.
Ram exclaimed that (i) __________and was positive that (ii) __________ Sham replied
that he didn’t mind the cold, it was the summer that bothered him. Ram stated
that he (iii) ………………..

3. Look at the sentences given below in a disorderly form. Re-

order (Rearrange) them to form meaningful sentences: (2)
1. We / live / eat / we / may / that /so
2. we / I / succeed / am / will / sure

Writing (20 marks)

1. You are R.V. Singh looking for an independent house in East Delhi on rent. Draft a
suitable advertisement to be published in Hindustan Times stating all your
requirements and expected rent. (5)
OR

Your uncle has just established a tour and travel company and needs a classified
advertisement to popularize it. Draft an advertisement giving all the necessary
details.

2. As Cultural Secretary of Ryan’s International School, Gurgaon, design a poster to

announce the staging of a play in your school. (5)
OR

Publicly we proclaim that dowry is an evil. Privately we want our sons to fetch
good dowries. Right from our school days we should be taught that demanding
and even giving dowry is not only illegal but immoral too. Draw a poster in about
50 words highlighting dowry as a curse. You are Vikram/Sonia.

3. A recent health check-up in your school revealed that many among your
classmates were suffering from weak eyesight. You feel concerned. Write a
speech in 150-200 words to be delivered in the morning assembly on how to
protect your eyesight. Make use of the following clues. (5)

 reading in bad light

 bad posture
 wrong direction, from which light is coming
 excessive TV viewing
 regular washing of eyes
 eat more green vegetables
 enough sleep

OR

Every year there are floods or droughts in the country. Victims suffer a lot. The
government does a lot to help the people, but it is not enough. Society also must do its
bit. Write a speech in 150-200 words to be delivered in the school morning assembly
describing how the students can also help by collecting clothes, money and medicines
from their neighborhoods. You are Arun/Aruna.

4. ‘Scientific intervention is necessary to unearth buried mysteries.’ Write a

debate either for or organist the motion. (120 – 150 words) (5)
OR

5. ‘Private cars should be banned in the congested commercial areas of the

cities.’ Write a debate in 150- 200 words either for or against the motion.

Section – C (Literature)
6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (5)
A. Silence surrounds us. I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father’s house, the home he knew,
Rather than see him make and move
His world. I would forgive him too,
shaping from sorrow a new love.
1. Name the poem and the poet.
2. What does the father not want his son to do?
3. What would the father do to shape a new love from sorrow?
OR

B. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,
She enters the thickness,

a. What effect is produced at the branch end with the sitting of the mother
goldfinch bird on it?
b. Why is the mother goldfinch bird ‘alert’ while entering the thickness?
 c. Which figure of speech is used to describe the movement of the mother
goldfinch bird?
d. What does the word ‘twitching’ mean?
e. Name the poem and the poet.

7. Read the given extracts and answer the questions for ANY ONE of the two, given.
(5)

A Flawless half-moon floated in a perfect blue sky in the morning we said our goodbyes.
Extended banks of cloud-like long French loaves glowed pink as the sun emerged to splash the
distant mountain tops with a rose-tinted blush. Now that we were leaving Ravu, Lhamo said she
wanted to give me a farewell present. One evening I’d told her through Daniel that I was
heading towards Mount Kailash to complete the kora, and she’d said that I ought to get some
warmer clothes. After ducking back into her tent, she emerged carrying one of the long-sleeved
sheepskin coats that all the men wore. Tsetan sized me up as we clambered into his car. “Ah,
yes,” he declared, “Drokba, sir.”
We took a short cut to get off the Changtang. Tsetan knew a route that would take us south-
west, almost directly towards Mount Kailash. It involved crossing several fairly high mountain
passes, he said. “But no problem, sir”, he assured us, “if there is no snow.” What was the
likelihood of that I asked. “Not knowing, sir, until we get there.”

i. What did the clouds in the morning sky resemble as the sun
emerged?
ii. Explain any one possible inference that can be drawn from Lhamo’s
gesture of giving the protagonist a long-sleeved sheepskin coat as a
farewell present in the passage.
iii. Identify the line from the text that bears evidence of the fact that the
protagonist’s association with Lhamo and Ravu is not a recent one.

OR
He was just a teenager when he died. The last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt and
its empire for centuries, he was laid to rest laden with gold and eventually forgotten. Since the
discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modern world has speculated about what happened to him,
with murder being the most extreme possibility. Now, leaving his tomb for the first time in
almost 80 years, Tut has undergone a CT scan that offers new clues about his life and death —
and provides precise data for an accurate forensic reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.

i. Who is “he” in the above passage?

ii. Who is the author of the chapter from which the above extract is taken?
iii. What do you understand about the word “pharaoh”?
iv. Find a word from the given extract which means the same as “form a theory
or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence:”

8. Answer the following questions in 40-50 words: (9)

 a. What do you think are the reasons for the extinction of languages?
(Discovering Tut)
b. To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the
comparison?(The Laburnum Top)
c. Give reasons- The article has been titled as ‘Silk Road’.

9. Answer the following questions in 80-100 words: (8)

I. How is the father’s helplessness brought out in the poem
‘Father to Son’?
II. List the advances in technology that have improved forensic
analysis.