CBSE Class 10 English Question Paper 2024 for 2025 Preparation | Download Pdf

CBSE Original English Question Paper 2024-2025 (Communicative)

1. Reading the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Libraries

1. Libraries are buildings filled with stacks of books and resources. Modern day libraries also consist of electronic resources. Libraries offer wealth of knowledge, resources, space and environment to discover the world of books and enjoy studying or just reading for pleasure. The benefits of libraries are countless as they play a vital roal by providing access to information, knowledge and entrainment resources.
2. Virtual libraries provide immediate access to a wide range of books and resources. Libraries provide materials in all formats such as books, periodicals, magazines, videos, audios and digital medias. The resources are tailored to meet the needs of the learner community. The wide range of resources meets the need of diverse users. Weather in an educational or public library, people benefit from the assistance of librarians and staff members. There is a head library in every library and a team of professional staff who helps people with queries and recommends books as per their interest. Libraries are always catalogued by trained staff. They are catalogued to meet the needs of the community. The catalogue is also entered and stored in computers so that it becomes easy for the users to search. Libraries have a positive impact on the development of our society. They open a world of books and sources of information and knowledge to people for free.
3. Libraries require a lot of staff and real estate to house various books and resources. It becomes really expensive to maintain libraries and library staff. Since they are not seen as crucial, they are likely to bear budget cuts. Since a wide range of books and resources are to maintained and updated in old libraries, the useful resources may be limited due to the time it takes to update. So, the libraries may not sometimes have access to the current information. Some limited edition books and journals from centuries ago may not be available in every library. People looking for such resources must visit traditional libraries for the same.
4. Some argue that there is technology to read online and do research so what is the need to visit a library. Yet libraries have served the communities for centuries by providing original and quality resources. People who have that habit of visiting and using libraries understand that value and importance of libraries. In addition to it, there are people who love reading but cannot afford to buy many books. They can get easy access to valuable resources in libraries.

1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any eight of the following questions:

• What do modern libraries offer?
• What is the role played by the head librarian and other staff members?
• What is the use of making a catalogue?
• How do libraries help in the development of society?
• Why do libraries become expansive?
• Why sometimes do they not have access to current information?
• What are the uses of a traditional library?
• What can be the impact of online material in libraries?
• Who understands the value and importance of a library?

2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Hi, heavy bat was a major talking point whenever Sachin Tendulkar battled injuries in his over-two-decade-long career but the iconic cricketer said he was never convinced about giving it up for a lighter one as his timing got affected every time he tired the change. In his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’, Tendulkar wrote that he was asked several times to try a lighter bat but it never worked for him.
2. “ I used a pretty heavy bat and I was sometimes encouraged to move to a lighter one. Again, I did try but I never felt comfortable, as my whole bat swing depended on that weight. When I hitting a drive, I needed the weight to generate power. It was all to do with the timing, He explains. The all-time leading scorer in the game also offered an interesting take on how to hold the bat. “To me, the bat should be an extension of your arm, and if you’ve reached the stage where it’s become an extension of your arm, why do you need to change? What mattered to me most when I was batting was feeling comfortable. As long as I felt comfortable, it didn’t matter where I was playing or who I was playing against. If you make technical adjustments, such as moving to a lighter bat, to cope with different conditions, there’s a risk of making yourself feel uncomfortable and of thinking too much about your technique, he says.
3. Tendulkar has advised budding batsmen against too much experimentation, saying,” the should be an extension of your arm” and there is no need for a change in technique if “You have reached that stage”. “People have often commented on my grip, which is very low down on the handle. It all goes back to when I started playing cricket when I was eleven, with m brother Ajit, Who is ten years older. As I didn’t have a bat of my own, I had to use Ajit’s full-size bat and the only way I could cope with the weight at that age was to hold the bat right at the bottom, of the handle, “ Tendulkar writes. “Some coaches suggested changing my grip, and I did an experiment, but it never felt right. I had got used to feeling the end of the handle pressing against the inside of my forearm and if I gripped the bat further up I didn’t have that, and batting just didn’t feel natural. “That’s not to say that my technique didn’t change at all, though. Throughout my career, I was always looking to improve and constantly tried new things to cope with different situations.”
4. Tendulkar said one must try to read the bowler’s mind rather than thinking too much about “your own batting”. “I’ve always felt that I’ve batted best when my mind has been at the bowler’s end of the pitch, not at my end. In fact, for both batsman and bowler’s, I’ve always believed that cricket is played best when your mind is at the opposite, end and that problems occur when your mind is stuck at your own end. “For example, if a bowler is thinking too much about bowling no-balls, he’s not going to be able to bowl what he wants to bowl. Intend, his mind should be at the batsman’s end, focusing on where he’s going to pitch the ball, which way he’s going to swing it and so on. As a batsman, If I’m not consciously worrying about my footwork or my backlift or my wrist-work, then I know that I’m in the right space, because my mind need to be at the opposite end, figuring out what the bowler is trying to do. There’s no time think about both ends at the same time, “he says.

2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each:

• What could be the problems facing a cricketer in making technical adjustments?
• What advice did Tendulkar give to a budding batsman?
• Why did he start using a heavy bat?
• Why did the advice given by coaches not work for him?
• Why is it important to read a bowler’s mind?

2.2 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, fill in any two of the following blanks with appropriate words/phrases:

• Tendulkar’s bat was a major taking point because __________.
• To Tendulkar the bat was an ___________.
• When he used a lighter bat _____________.

2.3 Find out words/ phrases from the passage that mean the same as the following. Attempt any two.

• create (Para 2)
• hold (Para 3)
• trying to understand (Para 4)

 3. In order to increase the green cover in their area, residents of pioneer Housing Society, Vinod Vihar, Delhi, planted saplings around their residential complex and also along the road. As Secretary of the Society, write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper requesting him to highlight the initiative taken by your society and urge other residential complexes to launch similar campaigns in their areas. You are Sugam/Sugandha. (100-200 words)

Or

The Supreme Court’s observation that we waste tons of food and thousands of liters of water on the occasion of a wedding should be taken seriously by all. Besides, we waste a lot of money on showing off our wealth and position. This should be avoided. Write an article on the topic, ‘Keep wedding as simple as possible.’ You are Rama/ Ramesh.

4. Write a short story in 200-250 words, with the help of the cues given below. Give a suitable title to the story.

The cries, ‘Save! Save! Help!’ alarmed you. You ran in the direction from which the cries were coming. You saw a house on fire and people desperately trying to douse it. You … … …

Or

Ramesh and Rohan were very close friends. A small misunderstanding caused a rift between them. They didn’t speak to each other for months. But when … … …

5. Fill in the blanks in the paragraph given below by choosing the most appropriate options from the ones that follow. Attempt any four. Write the answer in your answer sheet against the correct blank numbers.

As we got closer _____ (a) ______ the hills, the vegetation ______ (b) ______ more abundant and the fields smaller and ______(c) ______. By _____ (d) _______ time we branched _____ (e) ______ the jungle, it was quite dark.

a. (i) in (ii) from (iii) to (iv) over

b. (i) grew (ii) growing (iii) grows (iv) grown

c. (i) few (ii) fewest (iii) fewer (iv)  a few

d. (i) a (ii) an (iii) some (iv) the

e. (i) in (ii) into (iii) to (iv) on

6. The following paragraph has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Identify the error and write down its correction against the correct blank number. The first one has been done for you attempt any four.

7. Rearrange any four of the following groups of words/phrases to make meaningful sentences:

(a) to the / and / was / winding / the way / market / long.

(b) could / walking get / boring / alone / quite

(c) a / for / good time / it was / day / the / to plan

(d) walk keeps / the day / for / fit and healthy / you / the

(e) for / advisable / distances / is / short / it / to walk

8. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

You know not what you do : do not consent

That Antony speak in his funeral :

• Identify the speaker of the above extract.
• Whose ‘funeral’ is being talked about?
• Why did the speaker raise this objection?
• Give the synonym of the word, ‘consent’.

Or

‘’Get all your friends and acquaintances to stop using the Ouija board, and then we’ll start helping you to write.”

• Identify the speaker of the above lines.
• To whom has this request been made?
• Why has the speaker made this request?
• How has the speaker been ‘helping you to write’?

9. Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words each:

• Why did Nicola and Jacopo have to do several jobs?
• How did the circumstances prove favourable for the tiger hunt by Mrs Packletide in ‘Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger’?
• What will the poet’s friend learn when he arises on the ‘Judgment Day’ in the poem, ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’?
• In the poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, what opinion do you form of the other crew members on the ship with the Ancient Mariner? Why?
• In the play, ‘Dear Departed’, why did been Jordan refer to the grandfather as ‘The drunken old beggar’?

10. Attempt the following question in 100-120 words:

     Mr. Pakrashi was the force behind Patol Bahu’s brilliant performance as an absent-minded pedestrian. Substantiate with reference to ‘Patol Bahu, Film Star’.

Or

     Do you agree that the assassination of Julius Caesar was a deliberate move to satisfy the ambitions and aspirations of a few ? Give reasons.

11. Answer the following question in 200-250 words:

     With reference to ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’, what do the others in the Annexe think about Anne?

Or

     The residents of the Annexe had to take several precautions while in hiding. Describe with reference to ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’.

Or

“Tough people Outlast tough conditions.” Describe Helen’s character in ‘The Story of My Life’ with reference to the above.

Or

Helen in ‘The Story of ‘My Life’ calls Boston the “city of kind hearts”. Justify with reference to the text.