DIRECTORATE OF EDUCATION, GNCT OF DELHI
ANNUAL EXAMINATION, PRACTICE PAPER (2022-23)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (Code No. 184)
CLASS-X
Time allowed: 3 Hrs. Maximum Marks: 80
General Instruction:
1. 15 minute prior reading time allotted for question paper reading.
2. This question paper contains three sections- Reading, Grammar & Writing and
Literature.
❖ Section A - Reading 20 Marks
❖ Section B - Grammar and Writing Skill 20 Marks
❖ Section C - Literature 40 Marks
3. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part and question.
Section A: READING SKILLS 20 Marks
I Read the passage given below 10
1 Birds have been building nests for over 100 million years. Dinosaurs, the
ancestors of birds, also built terrestrial nests over hundreds of millions of
years. The diversity we see in bird’s nests today is a result of these
thousands of bird species, evolving in different environments, creating
diverse ways to house and protect their families.
2 We think of architecture as a result of conscious design, purpose and
aesthetic expression; there is, precisely, such architecture in avian nests.
These are not unplanned constructions. These are shaped by a history of
selection and functionality. Also, the diversity of materials used by birds to
build nests is astonishing and birds arrive at this independently.
3 As adults, the birds go out into nature alone and gather materials to
construct their nests which have very specific structures. They have
extraordinary building capacities which show both flexibility and an innate
way of interacting with the environment.
4 Interestingly, all nests perform a physical job to house and protect a bird’s
eggs from bad weather and predators. The nest is also often the location of
the development of the young. Therefore, knowing the nest’s centrality,
birds have developed habitat- based strategies to meet these needs.
Diverse species used sticks, twigs, webs or mud, handled in specific ways
to create the nest they require. Like human builders, Birds choose
materials related to the actual structure they want.
5 Birds’ nests also have regular styles of construction- historically
conditioned by circumstances, like human communities which use bricks or
stones. Birds have a similar historical investment in their nests. For
instance, a group of land birds, which includes kingfishers, hornbills and
woodpeckers is about 60 million years old. All of these nest in holes, from
ground burrows to holes in trees, where they can safely keep their eggs.
None of them has created an alternative way. Nests are, therefore,
conservative structures- words don't change the designs much, unless
, they are sure they are improving on the conditions required for breeding
and protecting their young.
6 Now weaver birds are an extraordinary example of a group that makes
impressive nests. These include an egg chamber suspended from a
branch, with a doorway. The complexity is amazing - the fibres are
interlaced, like weaves.
7 This creates very strong water - repellent structures. The Weaver bird
starts with a vertical ring, like a hoop, and adds a back hemisphere to this.
It then weaves on the front to create a small door. Some species add a
tubular passage to the back chamber - this can be up to five times the
length of the nest.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the 1X10
questions given below
i. Infer one reason for the following, based on information in paragraph 1: 1
Different Birds build their nests in different ways.
ii. Complete the following analogy correctly with a word from paragraph 1
3:
Fuzzy: clarity :: rigid : —-------------
( Clue: just like fuzzy means lacking in clarity, similarly rigid means
lacking —---------)
iii. State whether the following statement is TRUE or FALSE: 1
Diverse species use sticks, twigs, webs or mud, handled in specific ways
to create the nest they require.
iv. Substitute the word ‘ instance’ with one word similar in meaning, in the 1
following sentence from paragraph 5:
Birds have a similar historical investment in their nests. For instance, a
group of land birds.
v. Birds also have aesthetic sense. they show it through 1
(a) the architecture of their nests
(b) there multi-coloured plumes
(c) how they protect their families
(d) the Precision of their nests
vi When the birds think of building their nests, the most important factor in 1
their minds is:
(a) its beauty
(b) Its purpose
(c) its design
(d) its colour
vii. List any two jobs performed by a bird’s nest. 1
1. ______________________
2. ______________________
viii. The materials all birds used for building their nests are 1
(a) Sticks
ANNUAL EXAMINATION, PRACTICE PAPER (2022-23)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (Code No. 184)
CLASS-X
Time allowed: 3 Hrs. Maximum Marks: 80
General Instruction:
1. 15 minute prior reading time allotted for question paper reading.
2. This question paper contains three sections- Reading, Grammar & Writing and
Literature.
❖ Section A - Reading 20 Marks
❖ Section B - Grammar and Writing Skill 20 Marks
❖ Section C - Literature 40 Marks
3. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part and question.
Section A: READING SKILLS 20 Marks
I Read the passage given below 10
1 Birds have been building nests for over 100 million years. Dinosaurs, the
ancestors of birds, also built terrestrial nests over hundreds of millions of
years. The diversity we see in bird’s nests today is a result of these
thousands of bird species, evolving in different environments, creating
diverse ways to house and protect their families.
2 We think of architecture as a result of conscious design, purpose and
aesthetic expression; there is, precisely, such architecture in avian nests.
These are not unplanned constructions. These are shaped by a history of
selection and functionality. Also, the diversity of materials used by birds to
build nests is astonishing and birds arrive at this independently.
3 As adults, the birds go out into nature alone and gather materials to
construct their nests which have very specific structures. They have
extraordinary building capacities which show both flexibility and an innate
way of interacting with the environment.
4 Interestingly, all nests perform a physical job to house and protect a bird’s
eggs from bad weather and predators. The nest is also often the location of
the development of the young. Therefore, knowing the nest’s centrality,
birds have developed habitat- based strategies to meet these needs.
Diverse species used sticks, twigs, webs or mud, handled in specific ways
to create the nest they require. Like human builders, Birds choose
materials related to the actual structure they want.
5 Birds’ nests also have regular styles of construction- historically
conditioned by circumstances, like human communities which use bricks or
stones. Birds have a similar historical investment in their nests. For
instance, a group of land birds, which includes kingfishers, hornbills and
woodpeckers is about 60 million years old. All of these nest in holes, from
ground burrows to holes in trees, where they can safely keep their eggs.
None of them has created an alternative way. Nests are, therefore,
conservative structures- words don't change the designs much, unless
, they are sure they are improving on the conditions required for breeding
and protecting their young.
6 Now weaver birds are an extraordinary example of a group that makes
impressive nests. These include an egg chamber suspended from a
branch, with a doorway. The complexity is amazing - the fibres are
interlaced, like weaves.
7 This creates very strong water - repellent structures. The Weaver bird
starts with a vertical ring, like a hoop, and adds a back hemisphere to this.
It then weaves on the front to create a small door. Some species add a
tubular passage to the back chamber - this can be up to five times the
length of the nest.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the 1X10
questions given below
i. Infer one reason for the following, based on information in paragraph 1: 1
Different Birds build their nests in different ways.
ii. Complete the following analogy correctly with a word from paragraph 1
3:
Fuzzy: clarity :: rigid : —-------------
( Clue: just like fuzzy means lacking in clarity, similarly rigid means
lacking —---------)
iii. State whether the following statement is TRUE or FALSE: 1
Diverse species use sticks, twigs, webs or mud, handled in specific ways
to create the nest they require.
iv. Substitute the word ‘ instance’ with one word similar in meaning, in the 1
following sentence from paragraph 5:
Birds have a similar historical investment in their nests. For instance, a
group of land birds.
v. Birds also have aesthetic sense. they show it through 1
(a) the architecture of their nests
(b) there multi-coloured plumes
(c) how they protect their families
(d) the Precision of their nests
vi When the birds think of building their nests, the most important factor in 1
their minds is:
(a) its beauty
(b) Its purpose
(c) its design
(d) its colour
vii. List any two jobs performed by a bird’s nest. 1
1. ______________________
2. ______________________
viii. The materials all birds used for building their nests are 1
(a) Sticks
