VIBGYOR HIGH

Sample Paper
2023-2024
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Grade: VIII Max. Marks: 80
Date : dd/mm/yyyy Time Allowed: 2 hour

INSTRUCTIONS:

 Answers to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

 You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.
 This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
 The time given at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the
answers.
 Attempt all five questions.
 The intended marks for the questions or parts of questions are given in
brackets [ ].
 This question paper contains 9 printed pages.
 You are advised to spend not more than 30 minutes in answering Question 1
and 20 minutes in answering Question 2.

Question 1. (Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.) [20]
Write a composition (300-350 words) on any one of the
following:
(i) Write an original short story that begins with:
Sudha was the odd one out among all her friends.
(ii) The internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives.
Express your views either for or against this statement.

(iii) You have won a prize in a scrabble competition. Narrate the

experience of participating in the competition, the efforts you made,
the nature of the prize and what you did with it.

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 (iv) Describing the sights and sounds when you were caught in a traffic
jam for hours, state the difficulties you faced and how you
overcame them.
(v) Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an
account of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about
the subject of the picture or you may take suggestions from it;
however, there must be a clear connection between the picture and
your composition.

Question 2. (Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.) [10]
Select any one of the following:

(i) You went on a cycling expedition near the Jim Corbett National Park.
Write a letter to your friend describing your experience of cycling
amidst the sights, sounds and smells of nature for the first time.

(ii) Write a letter to the Editor of a newspaper stating your concern

about the misuse of technology by the youth of today. Also suggest
ways which will work best to keep this misuse in check.

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Question 3.
(i) You are the Sports Captain of your school. The school is organising [5]
an Inter-school cricket tournament. Write a notice for the school
notice board informing the students from Grade 5 to Grade 10 about
the tournament.

(ii) You are the Student Editor of the magazine of your school. Draft a [5]
notice to be displayed on the school notice board, inviting articles,
poems, anecdotes, puzzles, etc. for the forthcoming edition of the
magazine, to be published on the occasion of the silver jubilee of
your school.

Question 4. Read the following passage carefully and answer the [20]
questions that follow:
They pass me every day, on their way to school - boys and girls from
the surrounding villages and the outskirts of the hill station. There
are no school buses plying for these children. They walk.
For many of them, it’s a very long walk to school. Ranbir,
who is ten, has to climb the mountain from his village, four miles
distant and two thousand feet below the town level. He comes in all
weathers, wearing the same pair of cheap shoes until they have
almost fallen apart.
Ranbir is a cheerful soul. He waves to me whenever he sees me at
my window. Sometimes he brings me cucumbers from his father’s
field. I pay him for the cucumbers and he uses the money for books
or for small things needed at home. Many of the children are like
Ranbir-poor, but slightly better off than what their parents were at
the same age. They cannot attend the expensive residential and
private schools that abound here, but must go to the government
aided schools with only basic facilities. Not many of their parents had
managed to go to school. They had spent their lives working in the
fields or delivering milk in the hill station. The lucky ones got
into the army.

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Perhaps Ranbir will do something different when he grows up. He
has yet to see a train but he sees planes flying over the mountains
almost every day. “How far can a plane go?” he asked me one day.
“All over the world,” I told him. “Thousands of miles in a day. You
can go almost anywhere.”
“I’ll go round the world one day,” he vowed then. “I’ll buy a plane
and go everywhere!”
And maybe he will for he has a determined chin and a defiant look
in his eye.
Up to a few years ago, very few girls in the hills or in the villages of
India went to school. They helped in the home until they were old
enough to be married, which wasn’t very old. But there are now just
as many girls as there are boys going to school.
Bindra is something of an extrovert. She is a confident, fourteen-
year-old who is always seen chattering away as she hurries down
the road with her companions. Her father is a forest guard and
knows me quite well. I meet him on my walks through the deodar
woods behind Landour. I have grown used to seeing Bindra almost
every day. But, when she did not put in an appearance for a week,
I asked her brother if anything was wrong.
“Oh, nothing,” he said. “She is helping my mother cut grass. Soon
the monsoon will end and the grass will dry up. So, we cut it now
and store it for the cows in winter.”
“And why aren’t you cutting grass too?”
“Oh, I have a cricket match today,” he said, and hurried away to
join his team mates.
Unlike his sister, he puts pleasure before work!
Cricket, once the game of the elite has become the game of the
masses. On any holiday, in any part of this vast country, groups of
boys can be seen making their way to the nearest field, or open
patch of land, with bat, ball and any other cricketing gear that they
can cobble together. Watching some of them play, I am amazed at
the quality of talent and at the finesse with which they bat or bowl.
Some of the local teams are as good, if not better, than any from
the private schools, where there are better facilities. But boys from

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 these poor or lower middle-class families will never get the
exposure that is necessary to bring them to the attention of those
who select state or national teams. They will never get near enough
to the men of influence and power. They must continue to play for
the love of the game, or watch their more fortunate heroes’ exploits
on television.

(i) For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as [3]
used in the passage) from the options provided:

1. defiant
(a) compliant
(b) bold
(c) indifferent
(d) cold

2. elite
(a) inclusive
(b) middle class
(c) privileged class
(d) commoners

3. exposure
(a) chance to play with other middle-class children
(b) platform to showcase their agility
(c) chance to convince their parents
(d) chance to play with experienced players

(ii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. [9]
(a) Why does the author say that the children in the village are ‘slightly
better off than what their parents were at the same age'? [2]
(b) What is Ranbir’s ambition? [2]
(c) State the adjectives used by the author to describe Ranbir and
Bindra? [2]

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 (d) What was keeping Bindra from meeting the author? How was her
life different from her brother's? [2]
(e) Who does the author call 'fortunate heroes'? [1]

(iii) In not more than 50 words describe the difficulties faced by the [8]
children in the village. What does the author feel about their sporting
skills?

Question 5 [20]
(i) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of [4]
the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write
in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the
blank space.
Example:
A local charity had never (0) (receive) a donation from the
town's banker.
Answer: received
So, the director (1) (make) a phone call. "Our records
show you make 500,000 dollars a year, yet you (2) (not
give) a penny to charity," the director began _ (3)
(accuse). "Wouldn't you like (4) (help) the community?"
The banker replied, "Did your research show that my mother is ill,
with extremely expensive medical bills?"
"Um, no," (5) (stutter) the director.
"Or that my brother is blind and not _ (6) (employ)? Or that
my sister's husband _ (7) (die), leaving her bankrupt
with four kids?"
"I had no idea."
"So," said the banker, "if I (8) (not contribute) any
money for their well-being, why would I give any to you?"

(ii) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words: [4]

(a) Our stock of rice has run .
(b) Recently there has been a small reduction _ the price of
petrol.

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(c) The workers do not work properly the ten day long festival.
(d) A wooden barrier was placed the road.
(e) He has taken painting as a hobby.
(f) Look my children when I am away.
(g) The Principal has dispensed his services.
(h) Unjust criticism was levelled the school.

(iii) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence [4]
without using and, but or so. Choose the correct option.

1. You may need money. Give me a call.

(a) If you need money you can call me up.
(b) If you need money, give me a call.
(c) Give me a call when you might need money.
(d) Give me a call as and when you need money.

2. This is a small village. My father was born here.

(a) This is a small village and my father was born there.
(b) Though the village is small, my father was born here.
(c) This is a small village where my father was born.
(d) My father was born here but the village is small.

3. He was felicitated. He saved a number of lives.

(a) He was felicitated for he saved a number of lives.
(b) He was felicitated so he saved a number of lives.
(c) He was felicitated on having saved a number of lives.
(d) He had been felicitated as he saved a number of lives.

4. The road was flooded. We had to pass through it.

(a) The road flooded, but we passed through it.
(b) We passed through the road when it was flooded.
(c) The road was flooded and we had to pass through it.
(d) Although the road was flooded, we had to pass through it.

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(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions [8]
given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary,
but do not change the meaning of each sentence. Choose the
correct option.

1. Unless Ria takes care of her health, she will not be able to look
after her family.
(Begin: Ria must… ......... )
(a) Ria must take care of her health so she can look after her family.
Ria must take care of her health in order to be able to look after her
(b)
family.
(c) Ria must look after her family by taking care of her health.
(d) Ria must take care of her health to look after her family.

2. The students are bringing their books to school every day.

( End ............... the students.)
(a) The books are brought to school every day by the students.
(b) The books have been brought to school every day by the students.
(c) The books are being brought every day to school by the students.
(d) The books are being bought every day to school by the students.

3. His arrogance was the cause of his losing the election.

(Rewrite the sentence using ‘arrogant’.)
(a) He lost the election as he was arrogant.
(b) He lost the election though he was arrogant.
(c) He lost the election, hence he was arrogant.
(d) He was arrogant for he lost the elections.

4. Nobody will deny that your friend did his best.

(Begin: Everyone ........ )
(a) Everyone will deny that your friend did his best.
(b) Everyone will never accept that your friend did his best.
(c) Everyone would accept that your friend did his best.
(d) Everyone will accept that your friend did his best.

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5. Raju did not complete the exercise on time.
(Rewrite the sentence adding a question tag.)
(a) Raju did not complete the exercise on time, didn’t he?
(b) Raju did not complete the exercise on time, did he?
(c) Raju did complete the exercise on time, didn’t he?
(d) Raju did not complete the exercise on time did he?

6. The teacher said, “How many of you think the answer is correct?”
(Rewrite the sentence using indirect speech.)
(a) The teacher said how many of us think the answer was correct.
The teacher asked how many of us thought the answer was
(b)
correct.
(c) The teacher asked how many of us think the answer was correct.
(d) The teacher asked how many of us thought the answer is correct.

7. I have never seen such a beautiful place as this.

(End .............. ever seen.)
This place is most beautiful than any other place that I have ever
(a)
seen.
This place is more beautiful than any other place that I have ever
(b)
seen.
(c) This place is beautiful than any other place that I have ever seen.
This place is most beautiful than most of the places that I have
(d)
ever seen.

8. She ate her lunch and then went to the library.

(Begin: Having….)
(a) Having eaten her lunch, she went to the library.
(b) Having ate her lunch, she went to the library.
(c) Having gone to the library, she ate her lunch.
(d) Having eaten her lunch, she was gone to the library.
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