The City School North Nazimabad Girls Campus

English Grand TestClass 7

Name:___________________ Section: ____________ Date :_______ Max Marks: /100

Directed Writing /20

Q1. Write on any one of the following topics: (150-180 words)

i. Your school has organized a Science and Art Exhibition to display the talents of the young artist and scientist in your school. Your Headmistress has asked you to write a report and include the following points. Name, agenda, when and where the exhibition took place? Details of the arrangements and activities Benefits that students gained from the experience.

ORii. You are the Head girl of your school. Your school principal had celebrated ‘Women’s day’ by

inviting all the lady relatives to spend their day in the Campus, she/he has given you the task of collecting feedback and suggestions from the guests. Write a letter to the principal. Include the following details:

Brief details of the proceedings of the day. Encouraging response of the ladies who participated in the event and the

estimated number of guests who attended. Thank the principal for arranging such an event and suggestions for improving the

programme in future. OR

iii. A local school had organized a ‘Sport’s Week’ in collaboration with your school. Your school’s teams had participated in netball, throw ball, Table tennis and Tug of War. Write a newspaper report on the event and include the following points.

When and where the event took place and who were the incharges. Details of the games and the winning teams. The objective of the event.

Creative Writing /30Q2. Write on any one of the following: (200-250 words)

i. Describe an unforgettable journey to a place that you shall remember for all of your life.

OR

ii. Write a descriptive essay on: “A haunted House”.

OR

iii. ‘Young people should not be given mobile phones.’ What do you think? Give examples to support your views, which can be from your own experience if you wish.

OR

iv. You woke up one day to find that everything has changed…seems that you are in future. Your house has undergone a complete transformation; a robotic pet is sleeping in its basket when you try to pat it,

it opens its eyes and it starts talking…. Continue the story and write how you will come back to your own time frame.

Unseen Passage: /25 marksDuncan was getting ready to make another wand. His master, Meerfus, was letting him try more and more often these days. Duncan had been working with the famous, wand-making magician for more than three years now, and he was getting to an age where he needed to be able to make some of his own wands. It was part of the learning process.

Sadly, Duncan didn’t always succeed when he tried to make wands. Meerfus claimed it was all in his intent. That is, what was he thinking when he was trying to make the wand? Apparently, he had to focus completely on the goa

l at hand, and could not allow himself distractions. Distractions made for poor wands, and he was still not able to focus all of his thoughts on the task of making wands. He always had things he was wondering about or things that diverted his attention. For example, when he was making a wand that was supposed to shoo bugs out of a house, he was

also thinking about the dairy man who was delivering milk down the road at that moment. So, instead of just shooing away bugs, the wand switched bugs with little puddles of milk. This was a pretty silly result for a wand to have, and one that smelled after a few days.

Another time, Duncan’s wand to sweep the floors ended up making dust clouds that spun like mini tornadoes. The dust devils raged around the house, all because he’d been staring out the window at a swirl of leaves that had been caught up in winds against the house. He realized he really needed to focus, or Meerfus was bound to get upset. The mini tornadoes had really messed up Meerfus’ scrolls and papers, and it had taken nearly a week to sort them back out. Meerfus decided that Duncan needed to work without distraction, so they’d built a curtain that surrounded his whole work table until he figured out how to ignore things around him. The white sheet hung on all four sides of him as he worked now. Meerfus always said it was not the materials that Duncan chose that caused problems, because Duncan chose those well. So, if it was entirely the fault of his focus, he really had no excuses now, did he?

Duncan looked at the materials on his worktable. He was making a fire-starting wand. The ingredients for this particular wand were warm coals, a long splinter of dried pine, bits of tinder, and flecks offlint and steel for creating sparks. Duncan wore gloves and handled the coals with care, because they were hot enough to burn. He laid out the ingredients carefully, cleared his mind, and spoke the words that came to mind, words that helped focus his natural magic into the wand he was making: “Fireus Startus Easicus.” The wand picked up a glowing red aspect, as if he’d just blown on the coals to heat them up. The length of the wand glittered dangerously with flint and steel chips. It seemed as if he’d succeeded, so he took the gloves off and went out to his waiting master with his

new wand in hand.

Meerfus grinned and nodded toward the fireplace, where a few logs sat ready to be lit. All other flammable materials had been moved back from the fireplace at least three or four steps. Duncan shook his wrist and pointed the wand at the fireplace. There was no huge explosion, there was no blast of smoke and ash, and there were no strange side effects; just a simple, warm fire started around the logs, burning cheerfully. “Excellent work, Duncan!” Meerfus clapped happily. “You shall have to sell that wand and keep the money for it – minus the cost of materials, which was next to nothing.” Duncan grinned sheepishly. He didn’t know what to say, but it seemed sad to sell the wand. “Can I keep it? It is my first successful wand, after all.” Meerfus nodded. “That is fine, perhaps better than selling it. Make another tomorrow and sell that

one instead.”

Q.1 Use the information in the story to answer the questions below.

1. What kind of wands is NOT mentioned in the story? /1

a) Fire starting b) Bug shooing c) Dinner cooking d) Dust sweeping

2. What is the author’s purpose in this text? /1

a) to persuade the reader about trial and errorb) to entertain the readerc) to inform the reader about the wand making skillsd) to appreciate Duncan’s excellent sense of purpose

3. What measures were taken to help Duncan concentrate in the wand-making? /1

a) He was provided with the new exciting material.b) His work place was isolated from the others parts of the house.c) He was warned to concentrate for the last time.d) His work place was surrounded with white sheets of curtains.

4. Why did Duncan not want to sell the fire starting wand he makes? /1

a) It won’t be worth much. b) He is too shy to try to sell it. c) He is afraid it will be used for evil. d) He wants to keep his first successful wand.

5. The most appropriate meaning of the word distraction is: /1

a) dislocationb) diversionc) deviation d) alteration

6. The most probable antonym of the word sheepishly is: /1

a) awkwardlyb) nervouslyc) defiantlyd) embarrassedly

Q.2) What precaution had Meerfus and Duncan taken during the making of the last wand? /2

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Q.3 How did Meerfus and Duncan realize that the wand was working perfectly? Give evidence

from the text to support your answer. /3

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Q.4 Do you think that Meerfus was an encouraging and supportive teacher? Why? Give two

reasons from the text to support your answer. /3

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Q.5 What according to you is the reason behind Duncan’s failure in wand making before? /3

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Q.6 Fill in the blanks with suitable connectives. /2

until, before, since, after

a) Duncan wore the gloves _______________________ laying the ingredients.b) He spoke the magic words _______________________ putting up a curtain around him.c) Duncan did not give up the hope _______________________ he successfully made the wand.d) Duncan was unable to make a new wand _______________________ he was distracted.Q.7 Rewrite the following sentences in indirect speech. /2

a) “Excellent work, Duncan!” Meerfus clapped happily._________________________________________________________________________________

b) “Can I keep it? It is my first successful wand, after all,” Duncan asked shyly._________________________________________________________________________________

Q.8 Punctuate the following sentences. /2

a) you need to work without distraction advised meerfus._________________________________________________________________________________

b) you shall have to sell the wand and keep the money for it said meerfus_________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION B: SEEN PASSAGE COMPREHENSION /25

Extract 1

They entered a tiny cagelike lift and travelled down for fully three – quarters of a minute, stopping finally in an immense vault, whose long lines of file drawers and storage bins stretched in all directions from where here began to where there ended, and from floor to ceiling. "Every sound that's ever been made in history is kept here," said the Soundkeeper, skipping down one of the corridors with Milo close behind. She pulled out a small brown envelope… Milo peered into the envelope and, sure enough, that's exactly what was in it. "But why do you collect them all?" he asked as she closed the drawer. "If we didn't collect them," said the Soundkeeper as they continued to stroll through the vault, "the air would be full of old sounds and noises bounding around and bumping into things. It would be terribly confusing … why, I can tell you what your mother said in the morning. It’s really very simple; let me show you. Say a word — any word." "Hello," said Milo, for that was all he could think of. "Now, where do you think it went?" she asked with a smile. "I don't know," said Milo, shrugging his shoulders. "I always thought that—" "Most people do," she hummed, peering down one of the corridors. "Now, let me see: first we find the cabinet with today's sounds. Ah, here it is. Then we look under G for greetings, then under M for Milo, and here it is already in its envelope. So, you see, the whole system is quite automatic. It’s a shame we hardly use it anymore."… Now for a look at the workshops," she cried, whisking him through another door and into a large abandoned laboratory full of old pieces of equipment, all untended and rusting. “This is where we use to invent the sounds, “she said wistfully… But how do you invent a sound?

" Milo enquired”. Oh, that's very easy," she said. "First you must decide exactly what the sound looks like, for each sound has its own exact shape and size. Then you make some of them here in the shop, and grind each one three times into an invisible powder, and throw a little of each into the air every time you need it.” “But I’ve never seen a sound,” Milo insisted.

Extract 2

There in the lead was King Azaz, his dazzling armour embossed with every letter in the alphabet, and, with him, the Mathemagician, brandishing a freshly sharpened staff. From his tiny wagon, Dr. Dischord hurled explosion after explosion, to the delight of the Soundkeeper, while the busy DYNNE collected them almost at once. And, in honour of the occasion, Chroma the Great led his orchestra in a stirring display of patriotic colours….The Spelling Bee buzzed excitedly overhead shouting “Charge – c-h-a-r-g-e-charge- c-h-a-r-g-e.” Canby, who, as everyone knew, was as cowardly as can be, came all the way from Conclusion to show that he was also as brave. And even Officer Shrift, mounted proudly on a long, low

dachshund, galloped grimly along…. The two princesses bowed gratefully and warmly kissed their brothers, and they all agreed that a very fine thing had happened… Cheer after cheer filled the air, and even the bug seemed bit embarrassed at having so much attention paid to him… The five cabinet members then rolled up the large parchment and, with many bows and flourishes, retired. Swift horsemen carried the news to every corner of the kingdom, and, as the parade slowly wound its way throughout the countryside, crowd of people gathered to cheer it along. Garlands of flowers hung from every house and shop and carpeted the streets. Even the air shimmered with excitement, and shutters closed for many

years were thrown open to let the brilliant sunlight shine where it hadn't shone for so long. Milo, Tock, and the very subdued Humbug sat proudly in the royal carriage with Azaz, the Mathemagician, and the two princesses; and the parade stretched for miles in both directions…. Finally, when they'd reached a broad, flat plain midway between Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, somewhat to the right of the Valley of Sound and a little to the left of the Forest of Sight, the long line of carriages and horsemen stopped, and the great carnival began.

Question No. 1: Answer the following questions after reading the passage. /12

a. Where were all the sounds ever made in history kept? /2

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b. What happened when Milo uttered the word “Hello”? /2

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c. Why had the SoundKeeper taken all the sounds from the valley? /2

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d. What big change is there in the two brothers, King Azaz and Mathemagician? Give evidence to support your

answer. /2

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e. What was the reason behind Canby coming all the way from Conclusions? /2

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f. Describe the scene when the parade slowly made its way through the country side. /2

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Q.5. Make sentences of any three of the underlined words. /3

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Q.6 Give one word for the following descriptions. /3

a) The food which enhanced hunger instead of satisfying it: ______________________

b) The city where the Mathemagician ruled: ______________________

c) The person who banished sounds from the Valley of Sound: ______________________

d) The dog with an enormous clock attached to the body: ______________________

e) The officer who gave severe punishments on petty matters: ______________________

f) The place where King Azaz ruled: ______________________

Q.7 Write the character sketch of Milo, citing evidences from the text. /7

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