(i)Read the following extracts and answer the question/complete the
sentences that follow:
”You are disappointed”, Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder. “You were
told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in espionage and danger. You
wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You
envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the
wine.”
i. What makes Ausable comment to Fowler "You are disappointed"? (1
ii. Why did ‘he’ want to meet Ausable? (2)
iii. Complete the given sentence: (1) Fowler was disappointed to meet Ausable because
________.
iv. What is the meaning of the word Espionage? (1)
i. Finding out secret information
ii. Dealing with careless behaviour
iii. Ignorant about certain things
iv. Dealing indifferently
Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. "I'm going to raise the
devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it," he said grimly.
This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room
through that nuisance of a balcony!
i. Who is Ausable? (1)
ii. Ausable’s annoyance at the balcony when he says, “…nuisance of a balcony…” could be
called fake. Why is it so? (2)
iii. Which word replaces ‘sat down heavily’ in the sentence - 'Ausable moved to an armchair and sat
down heavily’? (1)
a. dumped
b. flumped
c. pumped
d. jumped
iv. Delnaaz is a new tenant in her locality and Mrs. Mehta is the landlady.
Choose the option that lists an action that would require Mrs. Mehta to ‘raise
the devil’ with Delnaaz. (1)
a. She uses the elevator five times a day.
b. She feeds the stray dogs in the street.
c. She works late at night and stays home in the afternoon only.
d. She plays music louder than is necessary late into the night.
And as the light came on, Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day. For
halfway across the room,a small automatic pistol in his hand stood a man.
Ausable blinked a few times.
i. Who was standing in the room with a pistol in his hand? (1)
ii. Ausable blinked because he: (1)
a. was getting adjusted to the light.
b. got afraid of the man with a pistol.
c. was thrilled to have reached his room.
d. started thinking of how to get rid of the man.
iii. Fowler was thrilled because what he saw looked like a ________. (2)
iv. Which word in the extract means the same as 'genuine/real? (1)
Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent.
Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost
the American accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago.
‘‘You are disappointed,’’ Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder.
i. Who is ‘you’ here? (1)
a. Fowler
b. Ausable
c. Waiter
d. Max
ii. How is Ausable different from other secret agents? (2)
iii. 'You’ believed that Ausable was ________. (1)
iv. It can be inferred from the extract that a secret agent is expected to be (1)
1) fit.
2) compassionate.
3) apologetic.
4) suave.
5) violent.
a. Option 1, 3 & 5
b. Option 1 & 4
c. Option 2 ,4 & 5
d. Option 2 & 3
Max bit his lip nervously. The knocking was repeated. "What will you do
now, Max ?" Ausable asked. "If I do not answer the door, they will enter
anyway. The door is unlocked. And they will not hesitate to shoot".
i. Who is Max? (1)
a. a spy
b. a tourist
c. a businessman
d. a waiter
ii. Max was unprepared for his mission. Elaborate with reference to the extract.(2)
iii. Actually the door was knocked at by ________. (1)
iv. Which word in the extract is opposite in meaning to the word 'confidently'? (1)
The moment the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it. It
said, "God: of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesos reached me. Send
me the rest, since I need it very much. But don't send it to me through the mail
because the post office employees are a bunch of crooks".
i. What did Lencho mean by 'the rest'? Answer in about 40 words. (2)
ii. Read the following descriptions (a)-(c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract.
(1)
a. Lencho thought only God could help them in that hour of need.
b. Lencho wanted to punish post office employees.
c. Lencho wanted more money.
iii. Predict and justify the reaction of the postmaster after receiving the second letter from Lencho.
(1)
iv. Fill the blank with one word. A word which is the opposite of "honest" in the passage is ________.
(1)
In the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching. The air was fresh
and sweet. The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the
rain on his body and when he returned he exclaimed, "These aren't raindrops falling from
the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten cent pieces and the little ones are fives."
i. Why did Lencho go out in the rain? Answer in about 40 words. (2)
ii. State TRUE or FALSE. None of the terms (a)-(d) below, can be a true
reference to the following statement 'Lencho compared the rain drops to new coins.' (1)
a. Lencho enjoys rainfall as it provides a pleasant weather to his family.
b. The raindrops help him to grow and harvest the crops, which results inmore prosperity.
c. They reflect light and have a shiny appearance, especially when they are freshly fallen.
d. Lencho depends on rain for farming.
iii. Which phrase/word would correctly substitute 'huge' in the given sentence from the extract.
'In the north-east huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching.' (1)
iv. State any one inference about Lencho from the given context: (1)
"The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the rain on his body and
when he returned he exclaimed, "These aren't raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins."
The house-the only one in the entire valley sat on the crest of a low hill. From this height,
one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always
promised a good harvest. The only thing the earth needed was a downpour or at least a
shower. Throughout the morning Lencho-who knew his fields intimately had done nothing
else but see the sky towards the north-east, “Now we’re really going to get some water,
woman.” The woman who was preparing supper, replied, “Yes, God willing”
i. What is the significance of the location of Lencho's house? Answer in about 40 words. (2)
ii. Complete the sentence with the appropriate option. The field belonged to
Lencho and he had the utmost confidence that the harvest would ________. (1)
A. not gain any profit
B. reap some profit
C. give moderate sale
D. reap great profits
iii. Identify the word in the passage that means the same as “heavy fall of rain” (1)
iv. State any one inference about Lencho from the given context: Throughout the morning Lencho-
who knew his fields intimately had done nothing else but see the sky towards the north-east, “Now
we’re really going to get some water, woman.” (1)
So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea to
answer the letter. But when he opened it, was evident that to answer it, he needed
something more than goodwill, ink, and paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for
money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary and several friends of his
were obliged to give something for an act of charity’. It was impossible for him to gather
together the hundred pesos, so he was able to send the farmer only a little more than
half. He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with it a letter containing
only a single word as a signature: God. The following Sunday Lencho came a bit earlier
than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the postman himself who handed the
letter to him while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who has
performed a good deed, looked on from his office.
i. What is the significance of the situation where the postmaster decided to
help Lencho? Answer in about 40 words. (2)
ii. How did the postmaster collect money to be sent to Lencho? Complete the sentence with the
appropriate option. He collected money from his employees and gave ________. (1)
A. a part of his salary to send to Lencho.
B. the collected money to Lencho.
C. the contribution to Lencho.
D. his monthly salary to Lencho.
iii. Identify the word from the passage, which is opposite to the phrase 'very few'. (1)
iv. What were the things the postmaster kept in the envelope? State any one
inference about the postmaster from the given context: "So, in order not to shake the writer’s faith
in God, the postmaster came up with an idea to answer the letter." (1)
All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes,
as he had been instructed, see everything, to even what is deep in one’s conscience.
Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still, he knew how to
write. The following Sunday, at daybreak, he began to write a letter which he himself
would carry to town and place in the mail. It was nothing less than a letter to God. “God,”
he wrote, “If you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred
pesos in order to sow field again and to live until the crop comes because of the
hailstorm...”
a. Why Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God? Answer in about 40 words. (2)
b. Read the following descriptions (a)-(c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the
extract. (1)
a. Lencho worked in fields like an ox of a man. He worked like an animal in the fields.
b. Lencho became stressed and disappointed as everything went against the plan.
c. He felt helpless as no corn had been left and feared, that they might have to starve this time.
c. What would be the word if a word were to be replaced with the phrase ‘the inner sense of right
or wrong’? (1)
d. Fill the blank with one word. Lencho wrote the letter to God, and he himself carried the letter to
town and dropped in the ________. (1)
1. We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to
the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for
having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is after all a common
victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity. We have, at last, achieved our political
emancipation. We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of
poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.
(a) Who does ‘we’ refer to in the first line of the passage?
A) People of South Africa
B) Military’s loyalty
C) Other racial countries
D) White rulers
(b) What did the people of South Africa achieve at last?
A) an illusion of freedom
B) deliverance from poverty
C) political emancipation
D) lack of freedom
(c) The word ‘bondage’ means …… in the passage.
A) deprivation B) suffering
C) slavery D)discrimination
(d) Give a synonym of ‘emancipation’.
A) Human dignity B) Liberation
C) Integrity D) Peacetime
2. 10th May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days 1 had been pleasantly besieged by
dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the inauguration. The
inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil. The
ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheater formed by the Union Buildings in
Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a
rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first
democratic, non-racial government.
(a) Who were coming and for what before the inauguration?
(b) What happened on the inauguration?
(c) Find out the word that means the same ‘commencement’ from the passage.
(d) Find the word from the passage which means ‘an open space surround by sloping land’.
3. In life, every man has twin obligations- obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife and
children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community, his country. In a civil and humane
society, each man is able to fulfil those obligations according to his own inclinations and abilities.
But in a country like South Africa, it was almost impossible for a man of my birth and colour to
fulfil both of those obligations. In South Africa, a man of colour who attempted to live as a human
being was punished and isolated.
(a) What are the obligations that every man has in life?
(b) Why was it impossible for a coloured man to discharge his obligations?
(c) Find the word in the passage which has same meaning as ‘duty’.
(d) A word synonymous with intentions’ is ……… in the passage.
4. “I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free — free in every way that I could know.
Free to run in the fields near my mother’s hut, free to swim in the clear stream that ran through
my village, free to roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving bulls. As
long as I obeyed my father and abided by the customs of my tribe, I was not troubled by the laws
of man or God. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion, when I
discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to
hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of
being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a. young man in
Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my potential, of
earning my keep, of marrying and having a family—the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful
life.”
(a) In what ways was Mandela free as a child?
(b) What kind of freedom did Mandela yearn for as a man?
(c) Give the meaning of the word ‘illusion’?
(d) What do you mean by ‘transitory’.
The policy of Apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my people. All of us
will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from that profound hurt. But the decades of
oppression and brutality had another, unintended effect and that was that it produced Oliver
Tambos, Walter Sisulus, Chief Luthulis, etc., men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom and
generosity that their like may never be known again.
1. Whom does ‘my’ refer to in the passage?
A. Chief Luthulis
B. Nelson Mandela
C. Oliver Tambos
D. Walter Sisulus
2. Who were the people of extraordinary courage, wisdom and generosity?
A. Oliver Tambos
B. Walter Sisulus
C. Chief Luthulis
D. All of them
3. From the passage, find one word which means ‘a period of ten years’.
A. apartheid
B. profound
C. unintended
D. decades
4. What created a lasting wound in Nelson’s country?
A. Unintended effect
B. Policy of apartheid
C. Oppression
D. Brutality
Tenth May dawned bright and clear. For the past few days, had been pleasantly besieged by
dignitaries and world leaders who were coming to pay their respects before the Inauguration. The
inauguration would be the largest gathering ever of international leaders on South African soil.
The ceremonies took place in the lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in
Pretoria. For decades this had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a
rainbow gathering of different colours and nations for the installation of South Africa’s first
democratic, non-racial government.
1. When was the installation day of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government?
A. 10th June
B. 10th August
C. 10th April
D. 10th May
2. Which ceremony is referred to in the paragraph?
A. Prize distribution
B. Installation
C. Inauguration
D. Republic Day
3. Which word in the passage means the same as ‘Placement of person in office with ceremony’?
A. installation
B. inauguration
C. gathering
D. None
CHAPTER 3