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DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL TAPI

CLASS VIII SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 1

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

DATE: TOTAL MARKS: 70

DURATION: Reading – 15 Mins. + Writing – 2 Hrs 45 Mins. + Revision – 15 Mins.

 

SECTION A: READING (20 Marks)

1. Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions: (8 Marks)

US President Barak Obama’s energy plan calls for higher efficiency standards for cars as well as

greater use of ethanol. It aims to cut US oil demand by about four million barrels a day. That’s

equal to the combined oil consumption of France and Canada, and would knock the bottom off

the world oil market. That has to be a good thing in a world of energy shortages, even though a

study conducted at Stanford’s Wood Institute for the Environment claims that reliance on

biofuels is not a good strategy.

If Obama’s new energy plan takes off, it would promote interest in research and development of

clean, alternative energy options like those of wind, water, solar and hydrogen resources as well

as develop hybrid vehicles. It could find ways of making crop-based biofuels viable. Oil’s long

term costs, which include reliance on oilfields in geopolitically unstable parts of the world,

would make it a far more expensive choice, besides its negative impacts on environment and

health.

It might be that presently America’s ethanol-from-corn projects consume a great deal of energy

and have driven upward the price of food crops on account of farmland diversion. But there are

success stories in other places. In Brazil, sugarcane ethanol has reduced the country’s

dependence on fossil fuels and cleaned up the transport industry. Moreover, sugarcane cultivated

for ethanol here is grown in the south, far away from the Amazonian rainforests. Therefore, a

region-specific cost-benefit analysis of crop-based fuels would reveal what kind of crops are

most suitable for use as fuel to supplement the world’s energy requirements in a manner that is

beneficial to all.

A fall in US petrol demand will have a positive global impact since it is the world’s largest

importer of petrol. The new administration’s thrust on clean energy and scaling down of petrol

consumption could well set the pace for a future where oil would no longer dominate

geopolitics.

   

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Biofuels are a key component of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy and play an

important role in reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. The Obama administration has

supported research and engaged in public-private partnerships to pursue new innovations in

biofuels technologies, increase production of U.S. biofuels, strengthen American energy

security, and create jobs. (374 Words)

1.1. Complete the following sentences: (5 Marks)

1. President Obama’s energy plan is aimed at…………

2. A study at Stanford’s Wood Institute claims………..

3. Obama’s new energy plan could find………..

4. America’s ethanol-from-corn have driven………..

5. A fall in US petrol demand will have a positive global impact……………

1.2. Find words/phrases in the passage which means the same as the following: (3 Marks)

1. cause something to collapse –

2. that can be done or will work; possible –

3. to add to or complete something with something else –

2. Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions: (12 Marks)

India has witnessed great expansion of educational opportunities since the attainment of

independence. However, the disable children have not yet benefitted in any substantial manner

from the growth in educational facilities. Education of handicapped children, including the

mentally retarded, has always faced obstacles. Also there are misconceptions held by health,

education and social welfare workers. The common misconceptions are that the handicapped

children ultimately become more dependent and non-productive. It is therefore believed that

scarce national resources should not be wasted on them. Further, it has been our misconceived

notion that the education of handicapped children requires highly specialised people working in

a multi-disciplinary team and as such, it must essentially be very costly. Maybe, precisely for

these wrong notions we have not been able to involve clinical and educational specialists in

programmes of training and education exclusively meant for handicapped children.

It is encouraging to note that the new National Policy on Education had recommended the

placement of such children in regular schools so as to provide them integrated education along

with normal students. The integrated education will take care of the different needs of various

categories and types of disabled children. The objective is to place the disabled children in

ordinary schools for imparting education with the help of special teachers, aids and other

   

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resources. For fulfilling this objective, an array of the necessary infrastructure by the way of

training the teachers, provision of equipment and books, a resource room, assessment facilities,

etc., are some of the basic pre-requisites. Hopefully, the parents and their handicapped children

will be greatly relieved when the latter are transferred to regular schools.

Developing inclusive schools that cater to a wide range of pupils in both urban and rural areas

requires: the articulation of a clear and forceful policy on inclusion together with adequate

financial provision; an effective public information effort to combat prejudice and create

informed and positive attitudes; an extensive programme of orientation and staff training; and

the provision of necessary support services. Changes in all the following aspects of schooling, as

well as many others, are necessary to contribute to the success of inclusive schools: curriculum,

buildings, school organisation, pedagogy, assessment, staffing, school ethos, and extracurricular

activities [UNESCO, 1994: 21 (The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special

Needs Education)].

An inclusive curriculum means one curriculum for all students rather than a separate curriculum

for students without SEN and another for students with SEN. According to Quinn and Ryba

(2000) an inclusive curriculum is recognition that under the principle of social justice,

participation in education should not involve discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity,

indigenous group, socio-economic status, and ability or disability. An inclusive curriculum,

recognises the need that schools be organised, with the individual differences of students in mind

and allow for scope and flexibility to enable all students to achieve their goals. (476 words)

2.1. Complete the following statements: (5 Marks)

1. The misconceptions about handicapped children are that………………

2. Handicapped children are those who………………

3. The New National Policy on Education has recommended that……………

4. The pre-requisites are……………….

5. The integrated education will take care of………………..

2.2. Fill in the blanks with the missing words: (1/2 x 6=3 Marks)

1. India has seen great ……………….. of educational opportunities.

2. However, the handicapped children have not yet ………….from the growth in educational

facilities.

3. It is believed that…………..resources should not be wasted on them.

4. Our misconceived notion is that handicapped children require highly……………people to

educate them.

   

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5. Education of handicapped children has always faced…………………….

6. We have not been able to …………………….clinical and educational specialists for training

handicapped children.

2.3. Use the following words in your own sentences: (4 Marks)

1. attainment

2. misconception

3. resources

4. assessmemt

SECTION B: WRITING & GRAMMAR (25 Marks)

3. You are Ruchi Verma, Secretary of the Debating Society of your school. Write a notice

in about 50 words informing the students about a debate on ‘Dowry’ being organised in

your school. Put the notice in the box. (5 Marks)

4. Using the given outline, write a story in not more than 200 words: (10 Marks)

A dark stormy night – a traveller reached an inn – found the door locked from inside – called for

the innkeeper – the innkeeper said that the key was lost – demanded a silver key to open the door

– the traveller saw through the trick – the door opened – asked the innkeeper to bring his box

lying outside – the innkeeper went out – the traveller locked the door – got his money back.

5. Complete these sentences using the present simple of the verbs. Add any other words

that may be needed to complete the sentences e.g. a, the, at, on etc. (1/2 x 10 = 5 Marks)

(shave, generate, float, make, rise, set, work, stand, treat, believe, leave)

a. The sun ……… in the east and set in the west.

b. London ……… on the Thames.

c. Jet aircraft ………a lot of noise.

d. Combustion ……… heat.

e. Hospitals ……… the sick.

f. Computers ……… at a great speed.

g. Oil ……… on water.

h. An aethist doesn’t ……… in God.

i. The last bus for Delhi ……… at 10 pm.

j. Most men ……… everyday.

   

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6. The following passage has not been edited. There is an error in each of the lines. Write

the incorrect word and the correction in your answersheet as shown in the examlpe:

(5 Marks)

Mohan is the tall handsome boy. E.g. the – a

His father is a MP and (a) ……………..

his brother is the doctor (b) ……………..

his mother is the pious lady (c) ……………..

Mohan has an ambition of (d) ……………..

becoming a I.A.S (e) ……………..

SECTION C: LITERATURE (25 Marks)

7. Read the give extract and answer the questions in the answer sheet in not more than 30

words: (3 × 3 = 9)

a. “The beach was getting smaller and smaller. I didn’t know what was happening.”

(i) Name the speaker of the above line. (1 mark)

(ii) Why was the beach getting smaller? (1 mark)

(iii) Where did the incident take place? (1 mark)

b. “I don’t suppose you recognise me.”

(i) Who said the above words? (1 mark)

(ii) Whom is the speaker speaking to? (1 mark)

(iii) Where and when had they met? (1 mark)

c. However instead of being jubiliant there was a tinge of sadness.

i. Who is the speaker? (1 mark)

ii. Why is the speaker experiencing a contrast feeling? (2 mark)

8. Answer the given questions in the answer sheet in not more than 60 words: (4 × 2 = 8)

(i) Why is the cricket young but silly?

(ii) How did the city look when the jet was on the ground and when it was in the sky?

(iii) Who is Macavity? Why is he called the ‘hidden paw’?

(iv) Who offers to hire the poet first? How?

   

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9. Answer the given questions in the answer sheet in not more than 80-100 words:

(4 × 2 = 8)

i. Describe the celebration of Christmas on the no man’s land.

ii. How has Major Alhuwalia described the virtue of team work?

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