Class 11 Question Paper 2024-25 English (Half Yearly)

HALF YEARLY EXAM

QUESTION
PAPER
ORIGINAL EXAM PAPERS

HALF YEARLY EXAMINATION, 2024-25
ENGLISH
Time – 3:00 Hrs. Class – XI M.M. : 80
Date – 14.09.2024 (Saturday)
Name of the student _______________________________________________Section _____
General Instructions:
1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections – A, B and C.
2. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.
 SECTION A : READING SKILLS
 SECTION B: GRAMMAR & CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS
 SECTION C: LITERATURE
SECTION – A (26 marks)
Q.1 Read the passage given below.
1. Given the standing of some of the institutes of higher learning, the IITs and IIMs, India is a
potential knowledge power. Realising the potential however is not going to be easy. The
impressive strides made by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) notwithstanding, universal access to
school quality education- a minimum necessary condition for any progress towards making India
a knowledge society as the 2006 report of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) puts it-
remains a distant goal.
2. There is yet no legislation at the national level to affirm the right to education, a fundamental
right under the constitution. The number of school buildings for elementary and secondary
education falls far short of requirements and so does the number of qualified teachers. The
pressure on government budgets which forces governments to hire teachers on contract paying
a pittance of salary, is playing havoc with quality. While the incursions of the private sector in the
field is providing some competition, mechanisms to enforce the required standards are lacking.
3. Not that there are no national standards or standards enforcing agencies. We have the National
Council For Educational Research And Training (NCERT) to bring out text books in various
subjects for school education. The Central Board Of Secondary Education(CBSE) conducts
examinations for schools affiliated to it across the country. The states too have their school
boards to conduct exams and enforce minimum standards. However the standards vary widely.
In their anxiety to show spectacular performance, some states are overly lenient in marking
answer papers.
4. Questions arise over the standards applied by CBSE. Going by the number of students securing
90% or more in their higher secondary exam, it would appear India is on the brink of a
knowledge revolution. The numbers are so large that it would appear that the cut -off point for
top colleges is now above 90%. However admissions to the IITs and medical colleges are not
based only on CBSE or State Board Exam results. Leading undergraduate colleges offering non-
professional degree courses hold their own admission tests. Obviously Higher Secondary School
results are not taken to be a reliable index of the quality of the student`s learning capability or
potential.
5. The numbers seem to be growing every year. The standards applied by Higher Secondary Boards
like CBSE seem to have been diluted to the point that leaves a big gap between what students
learn at school and what they have to face on entering institutions of higher learning.

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6. In an attempt to remedy the situation, NCERT had recently commissioned experts to rewrite
textbooks on economics. Though not entirely free from blemishes, these new texts should go
some way in helping beginners get acquainted with the basic concepts in the subject and their
applications.
7. Not surprisingly, their introduction is facing roadblocks. Teachers do not like to be compelled to
look at textbooks they are not familiar with. Those who revel in seeing students score 90% are
reluctant of ushering in something that may stop the rush of such scores.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any ten of the following questions- (1x10=10)
i) Complete the sentence by choosing an appropriate option:
Governments have to hire teachers on contract basis due to
a) the non-availability of regular teachers b) abundance of teachers in an area
c) the guidelines issued by the Central Government d) the pressure on government budgets.
ii) List the reason as to why India is referred as a potential knowledge power.
. iii) Select the option that conveys the opposite of ‘plenty’ from words used in Paragraph 2.
a) incursions b) mechanisms c) looking d) pittance
iv) What is the tone of the writer when he remarks that ~India is on the brink of a knowledge
revolution?
a) Sarcastic b) Optimistic c) Imaginative d) Presumptuous-
v) Complete the given sentence with an appropriate inference with respect to the following:
The main factor that has affected the quality of education is _______________.
vi) Why do leading undergraduate colleges hold their own admission tests?
vii) The writer would not agree with the following statements based on Paragraph 4, except:
a) A large number of students score more than 90% in their higher secondary school exams
b) The cut-off point for admission to top colleges is above 85%
c) Admissions to IITs are based only on CBSE or state board results
d) Higher Secondary School results are taken to be a reliable index of the quality of a student`s
learning capabilities.
viii) Based on the information given in the last paragraph, why do you think teachers are opposing
the introduction of new textbooks?
ix) Pick the option that correctly lists the feelings of the writer with reference to the topic concerned
in the passage.
1. Frustrating 2. Amusing 3. Satisfying 4. Disillusioning 5. Exacting 6. Enlightening
Codes:
a) 1 & 4 b) 4 & 6 c) 3 & 5 d) 2 & 3
x) Select the most suitable title for the above passage:
a. The Reality Of Indian Education System b. India as a Potential Knowledge Power
c. The Indian Education System d. None of these
xi) Why is making India a knowledge society a distant goal?
xii) The word ‘roadblock’ in the last paragraph indicates:
a) Obstacles in teaching-learning procedures b) Inability to understand the curriculum
c) Lack of familiarity with the curriculum d) Evaluation procedures

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Q.2 Read the passage given below:
1. The average age of India is just 28 in 2024, which means that the majority of the country
comprises of young students and youth. But even now with the clock ticking, the unemployment
crisis is raging the country and the main reason behind this problem is that there are a huge
number of youths passing out from schools and colleges every year and there are many new
career options and job roles being added to various industries as well.
2. However, the youth do not have the kind of skills the new industries want which results in a wide
skill gap. A recent survey by Mindler, an online career-counselling platform, has proved that the
majority of Indian students are aware of just seven career paths, even though there are 250
career options that can be pursued in India- most new and in-demand.
3. The survey on the awareness of career options among Indian students in the age group of 14-20
was conducted among 10,000 participants. The responses collected in the survey showed that a
staggering 93% of the students who participated in the survey were aware of just seven career
options- law, engineering, medicine, accounts and finance, design, computer applications and IT
and management.

4. According to researchers, India has a variety of 250 career options available across 40 domains
covering 5,000 job types. This shocking lack of awareness among Indian students regarding their
future career options can spell a death knell for the economic bonus that could have come to
India due to its demographic dividend the time period where its population is young and earning.
5. Thus, if parents and teachers can build their own awareness regarding new career options coming
up, then they can be a very helpful part in their child`s career decisions rather than being one of
those parents who push their child into one of the most common careers simply because they are
unable to understand which area would be perfect fit for their child.
6. If parents utilize the available technology and tools available, they can become more aware of
which careers will help their children grow the most and career counselling can help both parties
get the desired satisfaction.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any eight questions given below: (1x8=8)
i) Does the following statement agree with the information given in para 2?
‘The youth of today do have the kind of skills the new industries want.’
Select from the following:

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True- If the statement agrees with the information.
False- If the statement contradicts the information.
Not Given- If there is no information on this.
ii. Do you think the researchers of the study aimed to change the students’ outlook towards the
new career options? Support your answer with reference to the text.
iii. What is the main essence of the passage?
a) There is no gap between education and employment opportunities.
b) There is a lack of awareness regarding new professions available.
c) Parents must be involved in the process of career selection.
d) Only eight professional fields are popular in India.
iv. Complete the sentence based on the following statement:
Most of the parents push their child into one of the most common careers. This happens simply
because__________________.
v. According to the passage, the lack of awareness regarding various career options results in:
a) Employment b) Frustration and depression
c) Economic stagnation with any bonus d) Lack of economic bonus
vi. Complete the given sentence by selecting the most appropriate option-
Career counselling can help both the students and __________ to get satisfactory results.
a) teachers b) parents c) survey team d) employees
vii. How according to you, is lack of awareness regarding various career options affecting our
country?
viii. How can parents become more aware?
a) By using the available tools and technology.
b) By talking to their children.
c) By providing career counselling to their children.
d) By finding which career options are best fit for their children.
ix. Which two fields, according to the survey, was most popular among students?
x. Based on the reading of the text, state a point to challenge the given statement.
‘Parents need not be aware of the upcoming career options’.
Q3. Read the passage given below-
Fashion is a force- a powerful force of constantly altering patterns of change and growth. It affects the
face of the designers and manufacturers who distribute it, and of course, the lives who follow what it
dictates. All of its facets taken together add up to a multi-million dollar industry. Fashion today means
mega bucks.
Fashion is also a science. Surprising, isn`t it? However it is well-known that it involves facts and basic
principles and its actions and reactions can be predicted, as these are based on those facts and
principles. Fashion is one of those distinct and unique trades that is highly dependent on the
environment and the changes that are continuously taking place in it. These have to be understood by
the designers if they want to be successful.
For one to make it to the top in the fashion business and stay there, one has to continue to discover
and innovate to fulfil the needs and wants of the customers. For this, most of the top designers such as
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Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Claiborne etc,all rely upon their creativity backed by years of
invaluable experience. In this line of work, instinct and intuition play a very major role besides the
knowledge of past successes and failures.
As the power of fashion to influence our lives grows, a number of misconceptions about it continue to
abound. The most common of these is the power of the designers and the retailers to dictate what the
fashion will be, by accepting or rejecting the styles and trends that are offered. They are truly as one
fashion guru once said, `Variety Vultures`. However, it is not so- actually customers dictate the trends.
The second misconception is that fashion acts as an influence on women only. However, actually men
today are as much influenced by, and responsive to, fashion as women. In point of fact, the male
fashion industry has been growing at a dizzying rate. Yes, there was a time when menswear was not
exactly worth talking about. It was staid and unimaginative. But that does not mean that men did not
dress up according to the latest trends of the day.
Fashion today is more lifestyle oriented and quite practical. The modern male and female want to dress
up quite differently for office and leisure. Designers are becoming more daring so that the women as
well as the men have a wide choice. There are different designs for every moment of a busy social
schedule- from work, lunch to afternoon tea, cocktails, dinner and gala banquets.
i. On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it using headings and sub-
headings. Use recognizable abbreviations, wherever necessary (min.4). Supply an appropriate title
to it. (5)
ii. Write a summary of the given passage in 50-80 words. (3)
SECTION – B (23 marks)
Grammar
Q4. Answer any seven from (A) and (B) out of the eight given below: (1x7=7)
(A) Choose the correct option.
i) _________ I wasn`t feeling well, I went to school.
a) When b) Hence c) Although d) Whether
. ii) I wonder _________ she doesn`t want to go to the picnic.
a) why b) how c) where d) when
iii) The river Thames ___________ through London.
a) is flowing b) has been flowing c) flows d) has flowed
iv) There is something wrong with her car so she ___________ to work by bus.
a) has been going b) goes c) went d) is going
(B) Choose the correct option.
v) P : he wants to Q: is a party R: learn whether there S: today or not
a) PRQS b) RPSQ c) RPQS d) SQPR
vi) P: daughter been Q: had her R: eating anything S: at all
a) PQSR b) RPSQ c) QPRS d) SQRP
vii) P: that you Q: won`t always R: I can understand S: be with me
a) PQRS b) RPSQ c) RPQS d) SQPR
viii) P: weather forecast Q: raining tomorrow R: according to the S: it will be
a) PQSR b) RPSQ c) QPRS d) SQPR

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Creative Writing Skills
Q.5 You are Mohan/ Mohini, General Manager of P.K Industries, Hyderabad. You need an accountant
for your company. Draft in not more than 50 words an advertisement to be published in THE
HINDU classifieds. (3)
OR
You are Mani/Mansi. You set up aquariums and sell different types of fish for ornamental fish
tanks. Draft a suitable advertisement in not more than 50 words to be inserted in the classified
columns of a local daily, offering assistance to set up aquarium on a small and a large scale & to
provide different kinds of fish on payment.
Q.6 National Book Trust is organizing an exhibition displaying books on yoga on the occasion of
International Yoga Day on 21st June. Design a poster in not more than 50 words highlighting the
advantages of developing the habit of yoga for the occasion. (3)
OR
Design an attractive and instructive poster in not more than 50 words on behalf of the Delhi
Police to educate and warn the people against any suspicious or unclaimed objects in public
places/trains/buses to avert bomb blasts.
Q.7 The recent rise in incidents of violent behavior of students is a matter of concern for all. The
problem can be cured if students learn how to manage anger. Write a speech on the topic in
120-150 words to be delivered in the school`s morning assembly. (5)
OR
You are the class representative, class XI of Gandhi Memorial School, Pushp Vihar. You have
been asked to prepare a speech on the need to imbibe principles of truthfulness, gentleness and
co-operation to counter the growing violence in today`s world. Write this speech in 120-150
words.
Q.8 Introduction Of ‘Common University Entrance Test’ is a step in the right direction. Give your
views for or against the motion in 120-150 words. (5)
OR
‘Rising prices can be controlled only by the government’. Write a debate in 120-150 words
either for or against the motion.
SECTION – C (31 marks)
LITERATURE TEXTBOOKS.
Q.9 Read the given extracts carefully and answer the following questions. (Do either A or B) (1x3=3)
(A) Then sleek as a lizard, and alert and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and of tremor of wings, and trillings
The whole tree trembles and thrills
It is the engine of her family.
i) Complete the following analogy correctly.
Sleek as a lizard; Simile:: _________ ; Metaphor
ii) What is the machine?
a) The Laburnum Tree b) Sound of goldfinch`s chicks c) The goldfinch d) None of these
iii) Fill in the blanks appropriately.
The movement of goldfinch is compared to that of lizard because…………………….

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OR
(B) Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea, upward to heaven,
whence,
vaguely formed altogether changed, and yet the same.
i) What does ‘eternal I rise’ mean here?
a) It’s a continuous process. b) It rises to eternity
c) It keeps on rising until it reaches heaven. d) None of these
. ii) The word ‘impalpable’ in the extract means
a) something that can be touched b) something that cannot be heard
c) something that can be heard d) something that cannot be touched.
iii) How is ‘I’ altogether changed and yet the same?
Q10. Read the given extracts carefully and answer the following questions. (Do either A or B) (1x3=3)
(A) There before heading east, we took on two crewmen- American Larry Vigil and Swiss Herb
Seigler to help us tackle one of the world`s roughest seas, the Southern Indian Ocean. On our
second day, out of Capetown we began to encounter strong gales. For the next few weeks they
blew continuously. Gales did not worry me; but the size of the waves was alarming- upto 15
metres, as high as one main mast.
i) Select the option that completes the given sentence appropriately.
`Took on` in the given context would refer to-
a) Fighting with someone b) Employing someone
c) Helping someone d) Leaving someone behind
. ii) Select the suitable word from the extract to complete the following analogy:
Bravery : Courage :: Frightening : …………………
iii) Identify the word from the extract that is similar in meaning to the phrasal verb ‘run into’.
OR
(B) Regardless about his fame and his speculations about his fate, Tut is one mummy among many
in Egypt. How many? No one really knows. The Egyptian Mummy Project, which began an
inventory in late 2003, has recorded almost 600 so far and is still counting. The next phase:
scanning the mummies with a portable CT machine donated by the National Geographic Society
and Siemens. Its manufactures. King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned in death, as
in life, moving regally ahead of his countrymen.
i) Replace the underlined word with its antonym from the extract.
Regardless of the reality of its fame, Tut is one of the many mummies.
. ii) The given extract does not talk about
a) The new advanced CT scanner discoveries about Tut
b) The Egyptian tradition of mummifying
c) Speculations of Tut`s death
d) The inaccuracy of the data presented prior to the CT
iii) Complete the sentence appropriately.
The CT scan done on King Tut was significant because……………………

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Q11. Read the given extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow. (Do either A or B)(1x4=4)
(A) One day back there in the good old days when I was nine and the world was full of every
imaginable kind of magnificence, and life was still a delightful and mysterious dream, my cousin
Mourad who was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me, came to my house
at four in the morning and woke me up tapping on the window of my room. Aram, he said. I
jumped out of bed and looked out of the window. I couldn`t believe my eyes. It wasn`t morning
yet, but it was summer and with daybreak not many minutes around the corner of the world it
was light enough for me to know I wasn`t dreaming. My cousin Mouarad was sitting on a
beautiful white horse. I stuck my head out of the window and rubbed my eyes.
i) Why does the narrator call his childhood ‘good old days’?
a) Because life was full of imagination. b) Because life was delight
c) Because there was no worries of life. d) All of the above.
. ii) The opening lines of the extract depict………………….
a) The beauty of the white horse b) The beauty of life
c) The beauty of childhood d) The beauty of summer morning
iii) Why did the narrator rub his eyes?
iv) Why couldn`t Aram believe that Mourad was riding a horse?
OR
(B) I wouldn`t go back there because the objects that are linked in your memory with familiar life of
former times instantly lose their value when, severed from them, you see them again in strange
surroundings. And what should I have done with them in a small rented room where the shreds
of black-out paper still hung along the windows and no more than a handful of cutlery fitted in
the narrow table drawer? I resolved to forget the address. Of all the things I had to forget, that
would be the easiest.
i) Why did she not claim her mother`s belongings?
a) Because she did not care for her mother.
b) Because it brought back painful memories.
c) Because she did not have place to keep them.
d) Because she understood that the lady would not give them back.
ii) The closing lines of this passage depict
1) The mental depression of the narrator
2) The suffering brought by the war
3) The pain caused by the rudeness of the lady
4) The disinterested attitude of the narrator
a) Only 1 b) Both 1&2 c) Both 3&4 d) Only 2

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. iii) Why did the narrator not want to go back?
iv) What is the depiction of the author`s room symbolic of?
Q12. Answer any two of the following questions in 40-50 words. (3x2=6)
i. Which movement of the goldfinch is compared with the lizard? What is the basis for this
comparison? (The Laburnum Top)
ii. How did the sparrows express their grief over grandmother`s death in the chapter `The Portrait
Of A Lady`?
iii. How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress” in the chapter ‘We
Are Not Afraid To Die’?
iv. Describe the atmosphere when King Tut’s body was scanned in the chapter ‘Discovering Tut: The
Saga Continues.’
Q13. Answer any one of the following questions in 40-50 words. (Do either A or B) (3x1=3)
(A) “A suspicious man would believe his eyes instead of his heart.” Who said these words? Why?
(The Summer Of The Beautiful White Horse)
OR
(B) ‘You only notice when something is missing’- What human trait has been brought by the
narrator through these lines?(The Address)
Q14. Answer any one of the following questions in 120-150 words. (Do either A or B) (1x6=6)
(A) “Its silence silences,” writes Shirley Toulson. The loss of her mother has silenced her. Do you
think that this attitude of the poet is the right attitude to live life? Why/Why not? (A Photograph)
OR
(B) Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother. Did their feelings
for each other change? (The Portrait Of A Lady)
Q15. Answer any one of the following questions in 120-150 words. (Do either A or B) (1x6=6)
(A) Give a brief account of Mourad`s adventure with the white horse. (The Summer Of The Beautiful
White Horse).
OR
(B) The chapter is about an autobiographical note at one level, while at another it portrays how
futile war is. What are your views regarding war? Is it fruitful? Base your views on the chapter
`The Address`.

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Study Materials
Notes

Model Papers Class 6 Notes

Sample Papers Class 7 Notes
Half Yearly Sample Papers Class 8 Notes

Class 9 Notes
Important Resources
Class 10 Notes
Periodic Table
Class 11 Notes
Writing Skills / Formats

Maps of India / World Class 12 Notes

Books and Solutions

NCERT Books
NCERT Book Solutions
HC Verma Chapter Wise Solutions
RD Sharma Solutions
CGBSE Solutions