ITL Public School

Summative Assessment 1(2014-15)

ENGLISH (Set -B)

Date: 24.09.2014 Class: VIII
Time : 3 Hours M. M: 70
General Instructions:

1. This paper consist of Three sections:

Section A Reading 20 marks
Section B Writing and grammar 25 marks
Section C Literature and long reading text 25 marks
2. Attempt all questions.
3. Do not write anything on the question paper.
4. All the questions must be correctly numbered as in the question paper and written in the
Answer sheet provided to you.
5. Strictly adhere to the word limit given with each question.

SECTION A – READING
1 Read the given passage carefully and answer the question that follows by choosing the 5
most appropriate option from those given below:-
Once upon a time, there was John Dolittle, M.D. All the folks, young and old, knew him well
by sight. And whenever he walked down the street everyone would say, “There goes the
Doctor! He‟s a clever man.” And the animals and the children would run up and follow him;
and the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads. The house he
lived in was quite small; but his garden was very large with a wide lawn and stone seats and
weeping-willows hanging over. He kept many kinds of pets. Besides the gold fish in the
pond at the bottom of his garden, he had rabbits in the pantry, white mice in his piano, a
squirrel in the linen closet and a hedgehog in the cellar. He had a cow, a calf, an old lame
horse, chickens and pigeons, and two lambs. But his favourite were Dab-Dab the duck, Jip
the dog, Polynesia the parrot and the Owl Too-Too
[Adapted from Dr. Dolittle]
a) The house he lived in
i) Was quite big ii) had a small lawn and stone seats
iii) Had sweeping willows iv) had a large garden
b) His pets included
i) The gold fish in the pantry ii) rabbits in the cellar
iii) Mice in the linen closet iv) none of the above
c) We come to know that Dr. Dolittle was respected as
i) They thought him as a clever man
ii) Whenever they saw him, they would say, “There goes the Doctor!”
iii) Everyone knew him well by sight
iv) They followed him.
d) Others showed their liking for him by
i) Running up ii) following him
iii) Cawing and nodding iv) all of the above
e) Pick out a word from the passage which means „a very small room‟
i) Closet ii) seat iii) cellar iv) none of the above

2 Read the following passage carefully. 5

Is stress getting to you? If you want to get some relief without medicines, try listening to
music instead. Going back to your roots was never this cool. You will be surprised to know

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 that a lot of people are now moving towards unconventional treatments like music therapy to
fight stress.
Listening to music would probably be rated as number one on the list of stress busters but a
little known fact is that it is actually a widely used, science backed therapy. Right from
easing physical pain to curing central nervous disorders, it‟s music all the way. Research has
shown that music can be used for various psychosomatic and central nervous system
illnesses and therapists have also used music as a tranquillizer to reduce or completely avoid
the use of sedatives and in the treatment of conditions like autism, clinical depression, blood
pressure and heart disease. Besides serious illnesses, music therapy also helps in improving
communicative skills and self confidence, especially in children.

a) What is the unconventional therapy to fight stress?

i) Watching TV ii) Playing with your pet
iii) Listening to music iv) shopping
b) Listening to music would probably be rated a number one on the list of
i) Stress creator ii) stress buster
iii) Nuisance iv) none of the above
c) When can music ease the pain?
i) Physical pain ii) during central nervous disorders
iii) Both (i) and (ii) iv) it can never ease pain
d) How music can help therapists?
i) It can help them reduce sedatives
ii) It can help them increase sedatives
iii) It can help them learn ways to treat patients.
iv) It can help the therapists to relax.
e) Besides illness how can music therapy help?
i) Helps in improving communicative skills.
ii) Helps in developing self-confidence
iii) Helps in learning
iv) Both (i) and (ii)

3 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:- 5
Character is destiny. Character is that on which the destiny of a nation is
built. One cannot have a great nation with men of small character. We must have
young men and women who look upon others as the living image of themselves as
our Shastras have so often declared.
But whether in public life or student life, we cannot reach great heights,
if we are lacking in character. We cannot climb the mountain when the ground at
our feet is crumbling. When the very basis of our structure is shaky how can we
reach the heights we have set before ourselves? We must all have humility. Here is
a country which we are all interested in building up for whatever service we take
up, we should not care for what we receive. We should know how much we can put
into that service. That should be the principle which should animate our young
men and women. Ours is a great country, we have had for centuries a great history.
The whole of the East reflects our culture.

a) What does the passage deals with?

b) What kind of young men and women must we have?
c) How can we reach the great heights we have set before ourselves?
d) Complete the following with words from the passage above:
Whether in public or student life, we cannot reach great heights if
____________________. If the basis of our structure is shaky we cannot reach the
heights we have ________________________.
e) That should be the principle which should animate our young men and
women. The underlined word means :
(i) discourage (ii) encourage (iii) frighten (iv) humour.

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4 Read the following poem carefully:- 5
Of all the meals that glad my day
My morning one‟s the best;
Purveyed me on a silver tray,
Immaculately dressed.
I rouse me when the dawn is bright;
I leap into the sea,
Returning with a rare delight
To honey, toast and tea.
My appetite was razor edged
When I was in my prime;
To eggs and bacon I was pledged…
Alas !the March of Time;
For now a genial old gent
With journal on my knee,
I sip and take with vast content
My honey, toast and tea.
So set me up for my delight
The harvest of the bee;
Brown, crispy toast with butter bright,
Ceylon-two cups or three
Let others lunch or dinner praise,
But I regale with glee,
As I regard with grateful gaze
Just honey, toast and tea.
Answer the following:-
a) What is the present state of the poet?
b) What does he relish at breakfast?
c) What did the poet in his youthful days enjoy taking in his breakfast?
d) What is the rhyme scheme in the poem?
e) What does the „harvest of the bees‟ mentioned in the poem refers to?

SECTION B – WRITING AND GRAMMAR

5 You are Aakash/ Aashima staying in a boarding school in Shimla. Write a letter to your 6
father in about 120-150 words seeking his permission to join an educational tour organized
by your school. You may take help of the value points given below:
[Name of the place and date of journey– purpose of visit – no of students – cost of the trip –
no of days – educational importance]

6 There is need to improve existing conditions and provide new facilities to attract tourists 5
from within the country and also from foreign countries to historical places in your city/
state.
Write an article in about 100-120 words for publication in any of the newspapers suggesting
ways and means to attract the tourists. Use the value points given.
[Maintenance of public facilities – adequate information – proper hygiene to be maintained
in hotels and tourist places – promote Indian heritage - awareness to respect tourist.]

7 Write a story on ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’ with the help of the clues given: 4
Mention the name of the story.(word limit 80 words)
[Two friends – travelling – thick forest – fierce bear coming – one friend ran away – climbed
a tree – other lay down – acted dead – bear sniffed – thought man is dead – went away – first
friend asked – what the bear told him – second friend said – beware of friends who run away
in danger]

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8 The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each of the lines. Write 3
the incorrect word and the correct word in the space provided. The first one has been
done.
INCORRECT CORRECT
Children love picnics and outings of their parents, of with
though they are equally happier doing things with i) ___________ ___________
them in the house. A parent may make
his child feels special by following few simple ii)___________ ___________
rituals. Bedtime stories, the game of cards or iii) ___________ __________
simply talking and laugh together before going to iv)__________ ___________
bed – all give children a wonderful sense
of well – being. They hardly ever forgot these moments (v)_________ ___________
and cherish them throughout these lives vi)_________ ___________

9 Fill in the gaps below with one suitable word in each by choosing the correct option: 4
The United Nations is an international organization that (a) __________ (plan / intends/
aims) to ease cooperation in international law, international security, economic (b)
___________ (increase/ development/ improvement) social progress, human rights, and
achieving (c) ______________ (world / human/ earth) peace. It was founded as a successor
(d) _______________ ( of / at / to) the League of Nations, which (e) ____________ (many/
various/ all) people thought had failed (f) __________________(as/ for/ like) an
international governing body, since it had (g) _________________ (but / to / not) prevented
World War II. On April, 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization (h)
____________ (commenced/ starting/ instigated)

10 Rewrite the following jumbled words to make meaningful sentences: 3

a) would be/ to live / it / place / a great / think / I
b) your home/ restaurants/ near / any good / are there/ ?
c) hometown / in / your / do / we / can / what/ ?

SECTION C - LITERATURE AND LONG READING TEXT

11 Reference to Context:
a) “The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed”
i) Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this line? Name the poet. 1
b) “Nothing beside remains”. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sand stretch far away.”
i) What does the narrator mean when he says these words? 1
ii) From where has the above lines been taken? 1

12 Answer ANY FOUR out of the following questions in brief in about 30-40 words. 4x2=8
a) What necessitated the decision that Baba should be sent to a zoo?
b) Ozymandias refers to himself as „Kings of Kings‟. Which of his character traits does
this statement reveal?
c) What were the first signs of physical disability that the narrator‟s mother noticed?
d) Why was Mme Loisel anxious to hurry away from the ball?
e) What is the significance of the “letter A” to Christy and his family?
13 Answer ANY ONE out of the following questions. 4
Christy Brown was born with a rare disease, which made him physically disabled. But with
the support of his parents and his own strong will power he was able to overcome his severe
disability and became a successful writer. He gives all credit to his mother who supported
him all throughout his tough journey to success.
Imagine you are Christy Brown. Write a letter to your mother expressing your thoughts and
feelings and about the role she played in helpingyou to live a life of dignity.
OR

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 In the story „The Necklace‟ the narrator tells us at the beginning that Mathilde Loisel was
very unhappy with her life. What was the reason for her misery? Do you think Mathilde was
justified in feeling so miserable?

14 Answer the following questions in about 80-100 words:

a) Write a brief character sketch of Rosalind from the novel, „As you Like It‟ by 2x5=10
William Shakespeare.
b) Do you think it is reasonable that Orlando should not recognize Rosalind?

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