CBSE Class 10 English Sample Paper 2018 with Answers Set I

SECTION A

READING

Q1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 

How my Life changed its Course

1. Ever since I can remember, I always felt I was stupid, really stupid. I lost my father when I was three. Since I was a sick child, a polio victim, I lived with my grandmother in Mumbai so I could avail of the metro’s advanced medical facilities. I remember being on the streets all day, playing or lazing around.

2. When I turned ten, my mother and my sister came to live in Mumbai too. My sister was a bright student, always securing high grades. She and my mother encouraged me to study, but I just could not bring myself to concentrate on any subject. I would get bored and feel sleepy when forced to open my books. After innumerable lectures on the importance of studying had failed, mother tried threats as well, but nothing worked, I truly believed I was stupid; no matter how much I worked, it wouldn’t help.

3. One afternoon, as always, I was sitting under a tree in the school premises eating potato wafers when I saw a former classmate approaching me. Aditi and I had been in the same class the year before. I had failed sixth grade and had to repeat the year; Aditi had topped the class and was the brightest student of the seventh grade too. I flinched a little as I saw her walk towards me. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘Hi,’ I replied, but not with much enthusiasm; I wanted her to leave. I continued to eat my chips. Ignoring my coldness, she sat down next to me. For five minutes neither of us spoke and then she asked, ‘Is Devika your real sister?’ ‘Yes, she is, ‘I answered.

4. ‘So how come she doesn’t teach you so that you too can do well? she asked. I peered at her, wondering if she was making fun of me, but all I could see on her face was earnestness. No, she is not trying to tease me, I decided. This time I answered a little more warmly, ‘She tries to, but I don’t like studying.’ ‘Why not? I’m sure you can get good grades too,’ she said emphatically. ‘No, I can’t. I have no brains. God forgot to give me brains, health or beauty. He gave me nothing.’

5. “That’s not true. And anyway, health and beauty can’t be helped, but God has given brains to everyone, we only have to learn to use it.’ I shook my head, ‘No, I have difficulty in concentrating, and books bore me; there is no hope for me. Please leave me alone. I am stupid, and always will be.’ With the gentlest tone that she could muster she said, ‘I can prove it to you that you are not stupid. Give me one chance, I will teach you to study.’ 6. Though I was softening from inside, I still held on to my low self-esteem. ‘You’ll be wasting your time. I cannot study, I am not as bright as you are nor lucky as my sister,’ I said. She said, ‘Let me try and help you, please. I will show you the right way to study. You just have to cooperate with me. Will you try?’ Her belief in me proved more powerful than my doubts about myself. She won and I relented.

A1.1 Give reasons for the following- 

a) The writer believed that she was stupid. b) The writer flinched as she saw her friend walking towards her. c) The writer lacked interest in her studies. d) The writer was not a very confident or assertive girl.

1.2 Complete the following 4 marks

a) When she had to study she felt ------- and -----------.

b) The writer said that God had forgotten to give her brains ----------- and ------

c) Her mother tried to convince her to study by ________ and ----------------.

d) -------- was the writer’s sister and --------- was a classmate in the previous year.

Q2.Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: 

As parents, we strive hard to give our children the best of everything. We ensure to give them all the possible comforts, facilities, education, pleasure and exposure so that they can have a wonderful life. But the most important thing parents forget to provide their children is ‘self-worth’. If your child doesn’t love himself, he will not have the ability to give love. If he keeps on demeaning himself, he might become successful but will never feel powerful. Give your child the gift of self-worth and his life will be a rocking affair. Introspect, who do you think you are? Creative or dull? Intelligent or good for nothing? Loving or quarrelsome? Isn’t it a fact that what you believe you are, is something that your parents labelled you as? The label you give to your child is the ultimate truth of his life. Your child will identify himself by not what he feels he is, but by what label his parents have given him.

Tell your child he is an achiever, and he’ll be. Tell him he is a loser, and he’ll lose all the battles of his life. Even if he becomes the CEO of a multinational, your label of being ‘good for nothing’ will always be at the back of his mind. So it is you, no one from outside or any other achievement that can build your child’s self-worth.

Every child is unique. Each child has his own set of qualities, so there is no question of comparison. Don’t expect your child to have all the traits you want. Only when you accept your child in totality, you’ll be able to love him unconditionally. And your love will nurture his self-worth every moment of his life.

While helping our child identify what is wrong, invariably we start criticizing the child. If your child picks up a fight, counsel him that fighting is something unacceptable. Do make him know that you are hurt by his actions but never condemn him for being ‘aggressive’ or ‘insensitive’. Motivate him to give up the wrong behaviour and not discourage him into blaming himself.

Do you remember how you felt when you were last appreciated at work or in a personal relationship? How good it made you feel about yourself? The same applies to children. Appreciate your child whenever you see him doing something right. Be lavish and honest in your praise. Create opportunities to boost his self-esteem. Like, seek his help in household chores and then reward him. Enroll him into a recreation of his choice maybe dancing or swimming and then applaud him. Remember, praise a child on his progress and do not wait till he does it perfectly. Express your love for your child. Let him know how much joy he has brought in your life. Hug him, spend time with him, do little things to make him feel cherished. Let your child always receive positive vibrations from you that he is someone precious. Then your child will believe that he is someone who is lovable and huggable.

1. Answer the following questions : 

(a) Why do the parents strive hard?

(b) Why shouldn’t children be compared to others?

(c) If your child misbehaves or does something wrong, what should your attitude be?

(d) According to the author, when should parents praise the child?

4. Choose words from the passage which mean the same as following: 

(a) to struggle

(b) act of observing one’s own mind

(c) to praise

(d) to entertain in the mind

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