SSC Paper English

I. Read the passage and complete the activity given below.

It was now about two o'clock of a moonless night; clouds hung  black and low. Bodwell was at the window in a minute, shouting,  frothing a little, shaking his fist. "We'll sell the house and go back to  Peoria," we could hear Mrs. Bodwell saying. It was some time before  Mother "got through" to Bodwell. "Burglars!" she shouted. "Burglars  in the house!" Herman and I hadn't dared to tell her that it was not  burglars but ghosts, for she was even more afraid of ghosts than of  burglars. Bodwell at first thought that she meant there were burglars  in his house, but finally he quieted down and called the police for  us over an extension phone by his bed. After he had disappeared from  the window, mother suddenly made as if to throw another shoe, not  because there was further need of it but, as she later explained, because        the thrill of heaving a shoe through a window glass had enormously  taken her fancy. I prevented her.  The police were on hand in a commendably short time: a Ford  sedan full of them, two on motorcycles, and a patrol wagon with about  eight in it and a few reporters. They began banging at our front door.  Flashlights shot streaks of gleam up and down the walls, across the  yard, down the walk between our house and Bod well's. "Open up!"  cried a hoarse voice. "We're men from Headquarters!" I wanted to  go down and let them in, since there they were, but mother wouldn't  hear of it. "You haven't a stitch on," she pointed out. "You'd catch  your death." I wound the towel around me again. Finally the cops  put their shoulders to our big heavy front door with its thick beveled  glass and broke it in: I could hear a rending of wood and a splash of  glass on the floor of the hall. Their lights played all over the living-  room and crisscrossed nervously in the dining-room, stabbed into hall-  ways, shot up the front stairs and finally up the back. They caught  me standing in my towel at the top. A heavy policeman bounded up  the steps. "Who are you?" he demanded. "I live here," I said. "Well,  whattsamatta, ya hot?" he asked. It was, as a matter of fact, cold; I  went to my room and pulled on some trousers. On my way out, a cop  stuck a gun into my ribs. "Whatta you doin' here?" he demanded.  "I live here," I said.  

1. State whether the following statements are true or false: (2)

                     i.            It was a moonless night.

                    ii.            Mother was not at all afraid of ghosts.

                   iii.            The cop named Roy picked up the zither.

                    iv.            The policemen never disturbed anything in the house.

2    2. Find out the correct alternative and complete the sentences.                                                     (2)

                     i.            Mother shouted ________________.

a.       Burglars! Burglars! In the house.

b.      Ghosts! Ghosts! In the house.

c.       Snakes! Snakes! In the house.

                   ii.            Mothers flung the shoe of the ________________.

a.       Neighbour

b.      Grandfather

c.       Author

                  iii.            Number of policemen in front of the hall way stairs were  ________________.

a.       Half a dozen

b.      A dozen

c.      Twenty five in numbers

                 iv.            One of the policemen found an old ________________.

a.       Mark

b.      Bag

c.      Zither

3. Match the collocations: (2)

i.            Dining                    ii.            Flash                   iii.            Living                  iv.            Patrol

a.       Wagon b.      Room c.       Light d.      table

4. Grammar (2)

  i.   I prevented her. (Change the voice)

ii.  They caught me standing in my towel at the top. (Add a question tag).

                  5. Has any such incident taken place in your family? How did you tackle it?

II. Read the poem and answer the questions.

But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK -- HE ONLY SEES!

'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say, 'But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain!' We'll answer this by asking you, 'What used the darling ones to do? 'How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?' Have you forgotten? Don't you know?

     

 1.   Write any four pairs of rhyming words:                                                                                                   (2)

 2. Why is excessive watching of T.V harmful?                                                                                              (2)

 3. Explain the figure of speech:                                                                                                                      (1)

      “His brains becomes as soft as cheese.”