Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: The use of the word ‘crawling’ conveys the meaning that

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: The siblings were ‘awful mouths’ is the following figure of speech

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: “Truly, there was no point to these silly endless family dinners.” The correct transformation would be 

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: The tone of the story is 

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: The clock was ‘always suspect’. The subject thought

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: “The clock face was glowing round and white.” This observation is further enhanced by the observation that it was like 

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: “It made Maddy’s teeth clench.” The idiom ‘to clench one’s teeth’ can be introduced in an EBL class by 

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: The word _________ in the story means ‘incline’. 

Directions: Read the given passage and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

The day, the cat was killed, Maddy watched her mother wind that old clock with her same little smile, cranking the gold key into its funny little hole, as grandma wandered around the dining table in her dressing grown while her nurse read a pulp fiction on the front step, while her brothers scraped their forks against the table and dripped the last bits of potatoes and corn from their open, awful mouths, that clock sat heavy on the white carpet, at the end of the hall, moon humming along to that terrible ticking. It made Maddy’s teeth clench. Truly, there was no point to these silly, endless family dinners. Always being 6 o’clock sharp and never over until that clock was wound, 13 years of her life wasted for this nonsense so far, burnt up in boredom, when all the while she had some very important matters to attend to back in her bedroom. 

The long case clock had been left by the previous owner, or may be the one before that, no one was sure. Cloaked in pine wood and always counting, no birds printed around the clock face, no farm scenes or flowers, just black numbers and wiry hands and that was that. Then near the bottom, a long silver pendulum behind a square of Smokey glass. It was too heavy to rip, too tall to place anything on top, old and faded and always suspect. Her brothers avoided it at night and the cat avoided it entirely (or used to). The clock face glowing round and white, over the wooden suit, like a pale faced ghost or a porcelain reaper, feetless and shadows for arms. And mom would sing along with the pendulum while the boys knocked over the kitchen chairs wrestling and playing tag and grandmother would nap by the television and the nurse would paint her nails. All the time, her mom would smile and hum.

Question: “All the time, her mom would smile and hum.” This suggests that Maddy 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: Another word in the poem that suggest ‘forbidden’ is 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: “It becomes the predator” means 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: An example of personification in the poem is 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: “Eating at us like a carnivore” refers to 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: “We, still craving illicit nectar” can be explained by focusing on the word 

Directions: Read the given poem and answers the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

Human Nature

Is it human nature

to desire forbidden fruit,

to hunger for a blossom

so obsessed with passion

that we forget the pain,

which inevitably arises

once we tease ourselves

with the thought of it

or taste a tiny part of it,

and it becomes the predator

eating at us like a carnivores

that saves the head for last

savouring the brain to feed its own

and we, still craving illicit nectar

enjoying the fact that it is devouring us?

Question: A synonym for the word ‘savouring’ is 

Directions: Answer the following questions by selecting the most appropriate option.

Question: Decorum in spoken language pertains to

“You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory.” Churchill asks a question and then goes on to answer it. Such a question is

A fellow traveler at the airport has just finished reading the newspaper and you want him/her to pass it to you. Choose how you will make the request.

Read this exchange.

Teacher: Do you like to read a story book instead?

Student: Yes.

Teacher: Yes, please.

Here the teacher

Which is a function word?

Strut, stride and trudge are words that describe a manner of

A. The documents have been downloaded by the students.

B. The students have downloaded the documents.

The two given statements can be differ-entiated by drawing students’ attention to the

Which pair constitutes types of ‘cognitive style’?

The process of word formation consists of

When reading, to ‘decode’ means to

Speaker 1: where are you from?

Speaker 2: Kashmir.

During the assessment of students’ speaking-listening skills, mark/s would be deducted during this exchange for

While writing, one of the cohesive devices used is

If the piece of writing is brief, complete, in the third person, without digressions and emotional overtones and logically arranged, it is a

Use of the medium of motion pictures offers a/an ________ experience for the student.

According to the recommendation of NCF 2005, technology could integrated