english question collection

Joint Examination Board
PABSON, Bhaktapur
Second Terminal Examination – 2066

Class: IX F.M: 75
Subject: English Time: 2:15 hrs. P.M: 30

[Examinees are required to give their answers in their own words as far as practicable. Priority will be given to creative answers.]

Q.1. Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions that follow. 5
Leisure

What is life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have not time to stand and stare. - W.H. Davies
A) Find word/s from the poem that are similar in meaning to the following words: 0.5x4=2

a) anxiety b) long fixed look
c) keep out of sight d) attractiveness




B) Answer the following questions: 1x3=3
a) What does 'a poor life' mean in the poem?
b) What are the streams compared with in the poem?
c) What do squirrels do in the forest?

Q.2. Read the following passage and do the activities that follow: 10

The train was moving fast. Outside the window the freezing cold of winter ruled. The compartment was filled with cold, bored passengers.

Suddenly, a little boy pushed his way through the discourteous grown-up legs. His father chose to stay by the door behind us. The train continued to wobble its way down into a tunnel. Then something very strange happened. The little boy slid down from the seat and put his hand on my knee. For a moment, I thought that he wanted to pass me and return to his father. But he leaned forward and stretched his hand up towards mine. He wanted to say something to me, I thought, I bowed my head to receive the message. Wrong again! What I received was a loud kiss on the cheek.

The boy calmly returned to his seat, leaned back and continued casually looking out the window. I was shocked. What just happened ? A kid kissing cactus-like creatures like us ? Soon enough, all of my neighbours were duly kissed. Nervous and bewildered, we grinned at the father. When he saw our questioning glances as he got ready for his stop, he offered a clue.

A) Complete the following sentences by filling up the blanks with suitable words from the text: 1x3=3

a) The event described in the text took place in …………season.
b) The writer was ………..with the incident.
c) Something very queer happened in the………..where the writer was sitting.


B) Decide whether the following statements are true or false: 0.5x4=2

a) The writer did not like the kiss.
b) The boy kissed all the passengers on the train.
c) A 'tunnel' is an underground passage through a hill or mountain.
d) Cactus-like creatures do not refer to young people.

C) Answer the following questions: 1x5=5

a) What did the writer thought the boy wanted to do?
b) Why were the passengers shocked ?
c) Where did the boy and his father sit ?
d) What ruled outside the window?
e) Whose legs were not courteous ?

3) Read the following text and answer the questions given below it: 10

Daniel Defoe was born in London in 1660. He was not very educated and spent many years of his young life studying religion and later travelling as a merchant. He travelled widely and built up a successful business. During this period, he married and started raising a family. However, around 1692, his business failed and he fell into debt. Since he had always been interested in politics, he tried to earn money by writing political articles for the newspaper. But his political writing brought only troubles and increasing debts, and so Defoe turned to fiction writing. His first novel, written in 1719, when Defoe was nearly sixty years old, was to become one of the best-known adventure stories in the world. The novel was Robinson Crusoe-a story which thrills readers even today, more than two hundred and fifty years later.

Robinson Crusoe brought Defoe great success and helped him pay back part of his debts. He continued writing novels such as Moll Flanders, Colonel Jack, and two other Robinson Crusoe's stories, but none became as popular as the first one.

A) Match the words in column 'A' with their meanings in column 'B. 0.5x4=2
Column 'A' Column 'B'
i) debt i) arrears
ii) adventure ii) electrify
iii) thrill iii) tale
iv) fiction iv) risk

B) Rewrite the following sentences in the right order: 0.5x4=2

a) His first book earned him name and wealth.
b) Robinson was born about 350 years ago.
c) He began to write novels after giving up writing political articles.
d) He fell into debt at the age of 32.

C) Answer the following questions: 2x3=6

a) How did Daniel spend his early life?
b) How did he clear his debts?
c) Why did he give up writing political articles ?

Q.4. Read the advertisement and answer the following questions: 15
















A) From the above text, find the words which are closest in meaning to the following definitions: 1x3=3

a) A brief account of someone's career
b) Offering problems that test someone's ability
c) The amount of profit that you get from something

B) Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with appropriate words from the text: 1x4=4

a) The advertisement is for the post of …………
b) A person who has completed graduation in …….can apply.
c) The company requires ……….employees.
d) The job has lots of opportunities despite being …………

C) Answer the following questions: 2x4=8

a) Who is the employer?
b) Where and when should the candidates apply for the post ?
c) What future perspectives are there?
d) What are the qualities needed besides academic qualification?

Q.5. Write any six rules and regulations for the visitors of a temple. 6

Q.6. Develop a readable story from the outlines given below and give the story a suitable title and a moral: 6

Monkey in a wood – enters nearby village in search of food – goes into a house – searches for food – finds a box with a small hole – pushes hand in – finds wheat – holds a big handful – hand does not come out – thinks, "I won't drop a grain" – house-master comes in – gives a good beating – moral.

Q.7. Write an essay on 'The Importance of the Computer in Modern Life ' using the clues given below: 12

[Introduction – use/advantage – misuse/disadvantage – your own view – conclusion.]

Q.8. Rewrite the following sentences choosing the best alternatives from the brackets: 0.5x12=6

i) ______'l' is missing in the word 'traveling'. (a/an/the )
ii) Exercise is beneficial ______ health. (for/to/in)
iii) No one tells lies, ______? (does he/do they/do we)
iv) Bread and butter ______my best food. (were/are/is)
v) She shut the doors but she ______shut the windows. (doesn't/don't/didn't)
vi) Everybody respects him ______he is a virtuous man. (though/because/because of)
vii) If you put ice in the sun, it ______. (will melt/melt/melts)
viii) Yesterday he said to me, "I will assist you tomorrow." Its indirect speech is ______ (Yesterday he told me to assist him today/The day before he told me that he would assist me that day/Yesterday he told me that he would assist me today)
ix) By whom ______? (has been the rule broken/has broken the rule/has the rule been broken)
x) By the time Sarina arrived, we all ______.(left/will have left/had left)
xi) Don't you need to have your shirt ______? (to iron/iron/ironed)
xii)The affirmative form of 'They haven't had their meal yet' is '______' (They have their meal already/They have already had their meal/They have had their meal yet)

Q.9. Choose the following word/s from the brackets to complete the passage below: 0.5x10=5

It is difficult to find ______ (a/an/the) man who is devoid ______ (from/of/by) love for his motherland. Everybody ______ (are/is/has) deeply attached to his motherland, ______ (haven't/isn't/aren't) they? ______ (when/where/which) a man has stayed abroad for a long time, he naturally ______ (will get/gets/got) sick for his motherland and fills a thrill of pride and pleasure when he returns. If there ______ (is/was/will be) anybody who does not love his motherland, he is spiritually dead. He ______ (does not honour/is not honoured/was not honoured) though he is a man of high rank and of abundant riches. He must ask himself why ______ (people don't respect me/ don't people respect him/people don’t respect him). An unpatriotic person's title and wealth can never make anyone ______ (praise/to praise/praised) him.



Best of Luck !