English For Today chapter 17: Sample Question

Sample Question

Subject: English 1st Paper

Grade: Nine

Time: 3 hours Marks: 100

[Marks for individual items are mentioned next to the test items]

Part A - Reading (Marks: 70)

Read the text and answer the questions 1 & 2

‘Heritage’ is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generations. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak out of ‘World Heritage’ indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The Shat Gambuj Mosque in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Originally the Historic City was known as ‘Khalifatabad’. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century .The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There were about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi-domed Shat Gambuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at the 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways in the East and 7 each on the North South for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall.

The west wall in the interior has 11 ‘mihrabs’. These mihrabs are decorated with stone work and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as the court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

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1. Choose the correct answer from the following alternatives: 1x7=7

a) Khalifatabad was a colony where lived the -

i. Chainess ii. Muslims iii. Christians iv. Portugees

b) Shat Gambuj Mosque got the status of a world heritage site from -

i. 1985 ii. 1995 iii. 1965 iv. 1975

c) The mosque is situated in -

i. Khulna ii. Cumilla iii. Bagerhat iv. Barishal

d) The surface of the mosque is of -

i. stone ii. marbel iii. brick iv. iron

e) What is the meaning of the word ‘Significant’?

i. evidential ii. inconsiderable iii. meaningless iv. irrelevant

f) The mosque was established by a person who was -

i. Turkish ii. British iii. American iv. Irani

g) What is the opposite word of ‘Inspiration’?

i. encouragement ii. hindrance iii. innovation

2. Answer the following questions. 2x5=10

a) What is ‘World Heritage’?

b) What do you know about Khalifatabad?

c) What is the floor of the mosque made of?

d) What were the activities of Khan Jahan Ali to make the city habitable?

e) Why do you think the decoration of the Shat Gambuj Mosque is unique?

3. Fill in each gap with a suitable word based on the information of the text. 1x5=5

We use the term “World Heritage” in a (a) ____ sense because it represents a place or site to the entire world. The Shat Gambuj mosque in Bagerhat is (b) ____ as a “World Heritage” site in 1985. The mosque is famous for its (c) ____ Islamic architecture. Ulugh Khan Jahan Ali founded it who was not only a saint but also a (d) ____. He decorated the old city “Khalifatabad” to (e) ____ the tradition of Islamic architecture.

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Read the following passage carefully and answer the question no 4 & 5

Nobel prize is awarded every year for outstanding performance in the field of science, literature and for promoting world peace. Under this prize, the winner gets a gold medal, a certificate and a large sum of money. The Nobel prize is the world’s most important prize. The prize is given to the persons with most outstanding contributions in six fields, namely Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Physiology or Medicine, Peace and Economics. Economics was added in this list in 1969 for the first time. One prize is awarded in each field. If there are more than one recipient of the prize in one field, the prize money is equally distributed amongst all the winners.

The prize was instituted by a man who was the inventor of the science of destruction. This scientist was Alfred Bernard Nobel. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden on October 21, 1833, and died on December 10, 1896. Though he was a citizen of Sweden, he was educated in Russia. He invented dynamite. This material is widely used for breaking rocks, digging petrol wells and also used in wars. For this valuable discovery, Nobel becomes famous all over the world. He earned a huge amount of money by selling it. At the time of his death in 1896, Nobel left behind a fabulous sum 90,00,000 dollars. He left a will indicating that the interest on this money should be given as prizes to persons for their outstanding contributions to Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace. This Prize was named Nobel prize. The first Nobel Prize was given to Roentgen on 10th December, 1901 for his outstanding research in X-ray. The prize money was 40,000 dollars. The winners of this prize are treated with great respect all over the world.

4. Complete the following table with the information given in the passage. 1x5=5

5. Write a summary of the above passage in your words. 10

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6. Match the parts of sentences given in column Á’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ to write five complete sentences. 1x5=5

7. Put the following parts of the story in correct order to make the whole story. Only the corresponding numbers of the sentences need to be written. 1x8=8

a) And he took shelter in a remove cave.

b) Then he saw a spider trying hard to reach the celling of the cave.

c) Robert Bruce was a famous king.

d) One day he was lying in the cave.

e) This king fought bravely but lost the battle.

f) The king was always in a gloomy state for his unhappy conditions.

g) Enemies invaded his kingdom.

h) He had to flee from his kingdom to save his life.

8. Answer any five of the following questions from the poems in your texbook. 2x5=10

a) According to the poem “Two Mothers Remembered”, What should children do to their mother and why?

b) When do you have many friends and when do they leave you? Write the answer according to the poem “Solitude”?

c) What does the poet mean by “useless years” in the poem “O Me! O Life!”?

d) What benefits do you think reading books can give you according to the poet of “Books”?

e) Why did the poet stop by the woods in the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”?

f) What was the weather like when Mary went to bring the cattle home in the poem “The Sands of Dee”?

g) Why does the poet call time an ‘Old Gipsy Man’?

h) Guess what promise the poet had to keep before he would sleep in his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”?

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9. Answer any five of the following questions from the stories in your textbook. 2x5=10

a) In the story "The Purple Jar", how did the milliner's shop look like?

b) What made Rosamond finally decide to buy the purple jar?

c) Why did Shylock get a bond signed by Antonio in the story "A Pound of Flesh"?

d) Why did Portia's father make a strange plan in the story "The Three Caskets"?

e) What do you think about mother son relationship according to the story "Mr. Moti"?

f) What is the importance of gender in the story "Girl"?

g) What do you mean by the statement "a joy that kills" in "The Story of an Hour"?

h) What did Portia say regarding mercy in the story "The Trial"?