MGN PUBLIC SCHOOL, ADARSH NAGAR, JALANDHAR.
FIRST TERM EXAMINATI ON-2014
TIME:3 HRS.
M.M. 90
Writing-80, Dictation-10 & Total=90 Marks
SUBJECT – ENGLISH
CLASS – VIII
ROLL
NO.
ADM.
NO.
SECTION
18th September
NAME
General Instructions:
(i) Write neatly and legibly.
(ii) Leave margins on the sides.
(iii) Use blue or black pen only.
(iv) Attempt all the questions section-wise.
SECTION A READING
Q1. Read the following passage carefully. ..........................................................................10
TIGER TALK
(1) I am the tiger, but I do think Royal Bengal tiger sounds more glamorous, don’t you?
My Latin name is Panthera tigris, and in India I’m called sher or baag. And like all
cats, big and small, I belong to the family Felidae.
(2) Weight: When I grow up, I will measure from anywhere between one-and-a half to
three metres in length. My amazing tail will add about another 36 inches and I
should weigh between 136 and 250 kg. Tigers are the largest of the big cats. It is said
that a tiger can consume as much as 40 kg. of meat in one feeding, Burp! Our
favourite meal consists of prey such as pig, deer, antelope and buffalo, and as you can
imagine, I will grow up to be really, really strong. I can’t wait!
(3) Special features: My striped coat is unique, much like a human thumbprint (no two
tigers have the same stripe pattern!) My under-belly is soft and creamy white in
colour and when I lie on my back I look so cute, don’t you think? Since tigers hunt at
dusk and dawn, stripes help us hide in the shadows of the tall grass. It is said that
our roars can be heard two miles away! I have excellent sight and great hearing. My
powerful jaws are fitted with large pointy teeth, my paws are thickly padded and I
have sharp retractable claws. All the better to grab my dinner with!.
(4) Address: Thousands of years ago, eight different sub-species of tigers roamed the
earth. Of these only five remain: the Sumatran, Bengal, Amur (or Siberian), Chinese
and the Indo-Chinese. In the wild, my sub-species, Bengal tigers, live in tropical
jungles, brush, marshland and tall grasslands in fragmented areas of Bangladesh,
Nepal, India, Bhutan and Burma and some in China.
(5) Family life: We usually travel alone, or sometimes in groups of three or four
(usually a family of a mother and her cubs or a female and her potential mates)
(6) Enemies: My home is fast vanishing as humans destroy forests. My family is being
killed and poisoned for skin, bones, claw and teeth. In China, our body parts are still
used in traditional medicine. Why can’t humans see the connection between my
survival and their own? Apart from the fact that we are beautiful, we are also very
useful to humans and to the earth. Like all ‘top-of-the food-chain’ predators I help
balance the ecosystem of my forest.
(7) Friends: Luckily I do have some friends in high places, many people and
organisations are working really hard to ensure my survival. In 1973, at a time when
our population in the wild was believed to be less than 2,000, Project Tiger came to
our rescue. But today, Project Tiger isn’t doing so well. Once again tigers stand on
the brink of extinction.
The Hindu (Abridged)
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MGN PUBLIC SCHOOL, ADARSH NAGAR, JALANDHAR.
(i) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, complete the following
summary by filling in each blank with one word only. Write the answer in the space
provided. .............................................................................................................................. ½×8=4
Royal Bengal Tiger or Panthera tigris is the (a) ___________ of all the members of the cat
family called (b) ___________ It can (c) ___________ anywhere between one-and-a half to three
metres in length and can (d) ___________ upto 250 kg. The (e) ___________ skin of the tiger is
(f) ___________ like the finger-prints of human beings. Only five (g) ___________ of the tiger
roam the earth, the other three having become extinct. The tiger’s great enemy is (h)
___________ whose survival depends on the survival of the tiger.
(ii) Complete the following statements.
(a) The striped coat is helpful while hunting as the stripes ___________
(b) Tigers are useful to humans and to the earth as they ___________. ...................................... 2
(iii) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following from the
paragraphs indicated. Write the answers in the space provided. .............................2
(a) attractive or exciting (Para 1-2)
(b) disappearing (Para 5 – 6)
(iv) From the passage, find Antonyms of the following words.
(a) worse
(b) modern ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Q2. Read the following poem carefully: ........................................................................................... 5
Have you ever wondered
How the earth will look
A million years from now?
Will it be an earth
(5) That has broken all bonds
Of friendship, love and care?
Where all creatures
Are only interested in killing each other?
Shall it be a bare earth
(10) Extinct of green plants?
A place full of smoke and dust
Where loving hearts get suffocated?
Or shall I live to see an earth
Which seems like my dear home
(15) An earth echoing with the laughter of children
An earth with rippling brooks
Rushing past beautiful fields
An earth full of friendship and love
Write the option you consider the most appropriate.
(1) The lines that suggest ‘decay of human relationship and rise of hatred and violence’ are
(a) lines 1 – 2
(b) lines 5 – 6
(c) lines 10 – 11
(d) lines 12 – 13
(2) When all “bonds” are broken it is quite possible that
(a) there wll be no one left on earth
(b) everyone will kill each other
(c) people will stop fighting
(d) there will be peace on earth
(3) One of the poet’s fear is that the earth
(a) might become barren
(b) may be full of green plants
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MGN PUBLIC SCHOOL, ADARSH NAGAR, JALANDHAR.
(c) may not have any dust or smoke
(d) will grow older and older
(4) An earth that is beautiful would have
(a) loving hearts that get suffocated
(b) homes like the poet’s
(c) children being laughed at
(d) flowing streams
(5) A suitable title for the poem can be
(a) An Unreal Dream
(b) A Bare Earth
(c) Everyone’s Dream
(d) A Fair Earth
SECTION – B (WRITING) [20 MARKS]
Q3. Given below is the opening of a conversation between two students on air pollution.
Complete the dialogue in any suitable way such that the conversation is complete. Create at
least four more exchanges of conversation. ..................................................................................... 4
STUDENT A:
This air pollution! It’s choking me.
STUDENT B:
Not just you but the whole city. Do you know the number of asthma patients in
the city?
STUDENT A:
No, I don’t but what I do is that the air is no more fit for breathing with all the
smoke from chimneys and vehicles.
STUDENT B:
What should be done about it?
Q4. After going through the Unit ‘Literacy, you must’ve understood the meaning of the
slogan, “Each One, Teach One.” Write a letter to your friend expressing how this slogan
has impressed you and you have made up your mind to devote some of your time in
making at least one person literate every year. Mention your plans as how will you
manage it. Motivate your friend also to implement it in his life too. ................................ 10
Q5. Given below is the beginning of a story. Complete it in about 150-200 words. ................. 6
When Raju reached his house from the school, he saw a crowd gathered in front of it. Shocked
and disturbed he started running towards it. Many thoughts were flashing in his mind ______
SECTION – C (GRAMMAR) [15 MARKS]
Q6. Do as directed.
(a) We enjoyed the game. (Change the sentence into Passive Voice) .......................................... 1
(b) She is telling a white lie. (Change the sentence into Passive Voice) ...................................... 1
(c) The prisoners ______________ (escape) from the jail. (Fill in the blank in the given sentence
with present perfect tense) ...................................................................................................... 1
(d) Five years ______________ (be) a brief period of ups and downs for her. (Fill in the blank with
appropriate form of verb give in bracket) ................................................................................ 1
(e) Would you mind my ______________ (play) the music system a little louder? (Fill in the blank
with the gerund form of the word in bracket). ........................................................................ 1
(f) They won the competition. They were excited. (Join the sentences with infinitive) ............. 1
(g) We have already completed the ______________ (one, first) chapter. (Fill in the blank with
correct determiner) .................................................................................................................. ½
(h) The boy is a brilliant player. All he needs is ______________ (little, a little, the little) training.
(Choose the correct determiner.) ............................................................................................. ½
(i) Riverdale is the best school in our city. (Change from superlative to comparative degree
without changing the meaning) ............................................................................................... 1
(j) Always speak the ______________. (Fill in the blank with appropriate noun and write its
type) ......................................................................................................................................... 1
(k) Jo wrote six stories for her father. (Circle the direct object and underline the indirect object,
if any, in the sentence) ............................................................................................................. 1
(l) Give the antonym of the word – ‘humble.’ ............................................................................... ½
(m) Give the synonym of the word – ‘acclaim’. .............................................................................. ½
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MGN PUBLIC SCHOOL, ADARSH NAGAR, JALANDHAR.
Q7. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is an error is each of the numbered
lines. Write the incorrect word and the correction. Remember to underline the word
that you have supplied. ................................................................................................................ 4
Last Monday I received the telegram
e.g. the
a
from my brother which lives in Delhi.
(a) ___________
He wants me to come home immediately
(b) ___________
I at once packed mine luggage and left
(c) ___________
to the railway station in a rickshaw.
(d) ___________
Suddenly there was a louder bang. One
(e) ___________
of the tyres of the rickshaw has burst.
(f) ___________
I rushed to the station in foot. No
(g) ___________
Sooner does I reach the platform than
(h) ___________
the train started moving
SECTION – D LITERATURE (25 MARKS)
Q8. Read the stanza given below and answer the Questions that follow:
(a) A wise teacher once said aloud–
Success is failure turned inside out
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
Rest if you must,
But don’t you quit.
(i) Name the poet. .................................................................................................................... 1
(ii) Give another word for ‘give up’. ......................................................................................... 1
(iii) What do you understand by the line ‘Success is failure turned inside out’? ................... 1
(b) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred
francs…..”
(i) Name the writer. ................................................................................................................. 1
(ii) Pick out a word which means ‘a copy of something expensive’. ........................................ 1
(iii) Who is the speaker of the extract? .................................................................................... 1
(iv) In the above extract, ‘It’ is ___________. ........................................................................... 1
Q9. Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) What is the lesson that you learn from the poem ‘Drop A Pebble In The Water?’
(b) What was the boy being accused of?
(c) When and how did Mathilde realize that her necklace was missing?
(d) Why was the thief praising Arun? ..................................................................................... 4×2=8
Q10. Answer in detail
(a) What would have happened if Mathilde had communicated her loss to Madame Forestier? ..... 4
(b) Give character sketch of Dr. Raman. ...................................................................................... 4
Q11. Give the meanings of the following words:
(1) ecstasy
(2) serenity .................................................................................................................................... 2
Q12. Novel ................................................................................................................................................ 5
(1) On the basis of your reading and understanding of the book ‘More Tales from Shakespeare’;
answer the following
Give character sketch of Macbeth. .......................................................................................... 5
OR
(a) What made Orlando become a truly loving brother? ........................................................ 3
(b) What drove Lady Macbeth to kill herself? ........................................................................ 2
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