CBSE Class 11 English Question Paper Set 3 Solved

SECTION-A (READING) 

1 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: 

1. We sit in the last row, bumped about but free of stares. The bus rolls out of the dull crossroads of the city, and we are soon in the open countryside, with fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, their heads all facing us. Where there is no water, the land reverts to desert. While still on level ground, we see in the distance the tall range of the Mount Bogda, abrupt like a shining prism laid horizontally on the desert surface. It is over 5,000 metres high, and the peaks are under permanent snow, in powerful contrast to the flat desert all around. Heaven Lake lies part of the way up this range, about 2,000 metres above sea- level, at the foot of one of the higher snow-peaks.

2. As the bus climbs, the sky, brilliant before, grows overcast. I have brought nothing warm to wear: it is all down at the hotel in Urumqi. Rain begins to fall. The man behind me is eating overpoweringly smelly goat’s cheese. The bus window leaks inhospitably but reveals a beautiful view. We have passed quickly from desert through arable land to pasture, and the ground is now green with grass, the slopes dark with pine. A few cattle drink at a clear stream flowing past moss-covered stones; it is a Constable landscape. The stream changes into a white torrent, and as we climb higher I wish more and more that I had brought with me something warmer than the pair of shorts that have served me so well in the desert. The stream (which, we are told, rises in Heaven Lake) disappears, and we continue our slow ascent. About noon, we arrive at Heaven Lake, and look for a place to stay at the foot, which is the resort area. We get a room in a small cottage, and I am happy to note that there are thick quilts on the beds.

3. Standing outside the cottage we survey our surroundings. Heaven Lake is long, sardine-shaped and fed by snowmelt from a stream at its head. The lake is an intense blue, surrounded on all sides by green mountain walls, dotted with distant sheep. At the head of the lake, beyond the delta of the inflowing stream, is a massive snow-capped peak which dominates the vista; it is part of a series of peaks that culminate, a little out of view, in Mount Bogda itself.

4. For those who live in the resort, there is a small mess-hall by the shore. We eat here sometimes, and sometimes buy food from the vendors outside, who sell kabab and naan until the last buses leave. The kababs, cooked on skewers over charcoal braziers, are particularly good; highly spiced and well-done. Horse’s milk is available too from the local Kazakh herdsmen, but I decline this. I am so affected by the cold that Mr. Cao, the relaxed young man who runs the mess, lends me a spare pair of trousers, several sizes too large but more than comfortable. Once I am warm again, I feel a pre-dinner spurt of energy ‘dinner will be long in coming’, and I ask him whether the lake is good for swimming in.

5. ‘Swimming?’ Mr. Cao says. ‘You aren’t thinking of swimming, are you?’

6. ‘I thought I might’, I confess. ‘What’s the water like?’

7. He doesn’t answer me immediately, turning instead to examine some receipts with exaggerated interest. Mr. Cao, with great off-handedness, addresses the air. ‘People are often drowned here,’ he says. After a pause, he continues. ‘When was the last one?’ This question is directed at the cook, who
is preparing a tray of mantou (squat, white steamed bread rolls), and who now appears, wiping his doughy hand across his forehead. ‘Was it the Beijing athlete?’ asks Mr. Cao.

1.1 Read the questions given below and write the correct option you consider the most appropriate in your answer sheet:

1. One benefit of sitting in the last row of the bus was that

(i) the narrator enjoyed the bumps                (ii) no one stared at him

(iii) he could see the sunflowers                    (iv) he avoided the dullness of the city

2. The narrator was travelling to

(i) Mount Bogda                                          (ii) a desert

(iii) a 2,000-metre high snow-peak              (iv) Urumqi

3. On reaching the destination the narrator felt relieved because

(i) he had got away from the desert.            (ii) a difficult journey had come to an end.

(iii) he could watch the snow-peak.             (iv) there were thick quilts on the beds.

4. Mount Bogda is compared to

(i) a horizontal desert surface.                   (ii) a shining prism.

(iii) a Constable landscape.                       (iv) the overcast sky.

5. The ironic part about the lent pair of trousers was

(i) it was several sizes large but comfortable           (ii) it didn’t belong to him

(iii) way too long                                                  (iv) didn’t keep him warm

6. Mr. Cao did not like the narrator to swim in the lake because

(i) it was too cold                                                (ii) people drowned there

(iii) tourists weren’t allowed                                (iv) he was indifferent

1.2 Answer the following questions very briefly. 

a) Which two things in the bus made the narrator feel uncomfortable?

b) What made the scene look like a Constable landscape?

c) What did he regret as the bus climbed higher?

d) Why did the narrator like to buy food from outside?

1.3 Find words in the above passage which convey the same meaning as the following 

a) sellers (Para 4)

b) increased (Para 7)

2 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: 

1. There are two types of diabetes, insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent. Between 90–95% of the estimated 13–14 million people in the United States with diabetes have non- insulin-dependent, or Type II, diabetes. Because this form of diabetes usually begins in adults over the age of 40 and is most
common after the age of 55, it used to be called adult-onset diabetes. Its symptoms often develop gradually and are hard to identify at first; therefore, nearly half of all people with diabetes do not know they have it. For instance, someone who has developed Type II diabetes may feel tired or ill
without knowing why. This can be particularly dangerous because untreated diabetes can cause damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. While the causes, short-term effects, and treatments of the two types of diabetes differ, both types can cause the same long-term health problems.

2. Most importantly, both types affect the body's ability to use digested food for energy. Diabetes does not interfere with digestion, but it does prevent the body from using an important product of digestion, glucose (commonly known as sugar), for energy. After a meal, the normal digestive system breaks some food down into glucose. The blood carries the glucose or sugar throughout the body, causing blood glucose levels to rise. In response to this rise, the hormone insulin is released into the bloodstream and signals the body tissues to metabolize or burn the glucose for fuel, which causes blood glucose levels to return to normal. The glucose that the body does not use right away is stored in the liver, muscle, or fat.

3. In both types of diabetes, however, this normal process malfunctions. A gland called the pancreas, found just behind the stomach, makes insulin. In people with insulin-dependent diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin at all. This condition usually begins in childhood and is known as Type I (formerly called juvenileonset) diabetes. These patients must have daily insulin injections to survive. People with non-insulin-dependent diabetes usually produce some insulin in their pancreas, but their bodies' tissues do not respond well to the insulin signal and, therefore, do not metabolize the glucose properly, a condition known as insulin resistance.

4. Insulin resistance is an important factor in non- insulin-dependent diabetes, and scientists are searching for the causes of insulin resistance. They have identified two possibilities. The first is that there could be a defect in the insulin receptors on cells. Like an appliance that needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet, insulin has to bind to a receptor in order to function. Several things can go wrong with receptors. For example, there may not be enough receptors to which insulin may bind, or a defect in the receptors may prevent insulin from binding. The second possible cause of insulin resistance is that, although insulin may bind to the receptors, the cells do not read the signal to metabolize the glucose. Scientists continue to study these cells to see why this might happen.

5. There's no cure for diabetes yet. However, there are ways to alleviate its symptoms. In 1986, the National Institute of Health panel of experts recommended that the best treatment for non-insulin dependent diabetes is a diet that helps one maintain a normal weight and pays particular attention to a proper balance of the different food groups. Many experts, including those in the American Diabetes Association, recommend that 50–60% of daily calories come from carbohydrates, 12–20% from protein, and no more than 30% from fat. Foods that are rich in carbohydrates, like breads, cereals, fruits, and vegetables, break down into glucose during digestion, causing blood glucose to rise. Additionally, studies have shown that cooked foods raise blood glucose higher than raw, unpeeled foods. A doctor or nutritionist should always be consulted for more of this kind of information and for help in planning a diet to off-set the effects of this form of diabetes.

a) Make notes on the passage in any suitable format using recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary. Give a title to your notes.

b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words based on your notes.

SECTION-B (WRITING & GRAMMAR) 

3. Your school is organizing a Public Awareness Exhibition. In connection with it, prepare a poster to bring home the importance of the conservation of electricity. Your school is A.K. Public School, Green Park, Delhi.

OR

Your school has decided to celebrate Golden Jubilee of KVS, by arranging a day long programme. Students are urged to participate actively & co-operate in making the celebrations a grand success.

You are Monisha/Manoj, Cultural Secretary of your school. Write a notice in this regard in not more than 50 words to be put up on the school notice board.

4. You are Sonal/ Samkit of Vidyanjali Public School, Lucknow. You have seen an advertisement in ‘The Times of India’ related to new batches of ‘Astronomy C lub’ initiated by National Science Centre, Lucknow starting from the coming fortnight .You wish to join the Club. Write a letter to the Director, enquiring about the venue, duration, fee- structure, activities, transportation etc. Invent other necessary details.

OR

Tech- India Pvt. Ltd. has offered the job of Accountant in one of the national daily. You are Ram Sharma, a resident of 29, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi. Apply for the job in the offering. Write an application to the HR Manager of the company.

5. You are Suraj/Sandhya of Gargi Senior Secondary School Delhi. Games and Sports should be made compulsory in schools. Write a speech for morning assembly on the ‘Importance of Games and Sports in Personality Development’ in about 150 -200 words.

OR

On the threshold of being a world super power, India does have a large young workforce but unfortunately not many in this force are employable for want of necessary skills. Write in about 150- 200 words, an article for a newspaper on the topic 'Skill Development is the Need of the Hour'. You are Anita/Arnav.

6 The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each of the line s. Write the incorrect word and the correction in your answer sheet against the correct number. Remember to underline the word that you have supplied.

The process of borrowing a book from the school

a) library is very simple. Each student is issuing a

b) library card. The library maintains the record of all

c) books in catalogues. The student which wants to borrow

d) a book have to fill up a requisition slip bearing

e) the name of the book and it’s author. If it is available

f) it is at once issued for the student against his borrower’s

g) card. In case it has being issued to another card holder,

h) the student is asking to contact on a particular date when the book is due.

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