Please refer to Sample Paper Class 10 English Term 1 Set C with solutions provided below. We have provided CBSE Sample Papers for Class 10 English as per the latest paper pattern and examination guidelines for Standard 10 English issued by CBSE for the current academic year. The below provided Sample Guess paper will help you to practice and understand what type of questions can be expected in the Class 10 English exam.

CBSE Sample Paper Class 10 English for Term 1 Set C

I. Read the passage given below: 

1. “We become brave by doing brave acts,” observed Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics. Dispositions of character, virtues and vices, are progressively fixed in us through practice. Thus, by being habituated to despise things that are terrible and to stand our ground against them we become brave, and it is when we have become so that we shall be most able to stand our ground against them.

2. Standing ground against threatening things is not to be confused with fearlessness, however. Being afraid is a perfectly appropriate emotion when confronted with fearful things. The great American novelist Herman Melville makes the Aristotelian point beautifully in a telling passage in Moby-dick, where Starbuck, the chief mate of the Pequod, first addresses the crew. “I will have no man in my boat’, said Starbuck, ‘who is not afraid of a whale’, By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.

3. The brave person is not one who is never afraid. That is rather the description of a rash or reckless person, someone who may be of more harmful than helpful in an emergency. It is hard to “educate” such a person on the spot. The coward, on the other hand, is the one who characteristically lacks confidence and is disposed to be overly fearful, may yet be susceptible to the encouragement of example.

4. The infectious nature of strikingly courageous behaviour on the part of one person can inspire – and also in part can shame – a whole group. That was one key to the kind of courage inspired by Horatius at the bridge in ancient Rome and by Henry V at Agincourt. It was one key to the kind of courage displayed by those who silently suffered abuse when they joined ranks with Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in acts of non-violent protest directed at rousing the public conscience against injustice.

5. Another key to their success, of course, was reason: practical reason delivered with the kind of eloquence that is informed by a real command of one’s cultural heritage and that steels the will to take intelligent action. The mere inclination to do the right thing is not in itself enough. We have to know what the right thing to do is. We need wisdom – often the wisdom of a wise leader – to give our courage determinate form, to give it intelligent direction. And we need the will, the motivating power that inspiring leaders can sometimes help us discover within ourselves, even when we are unable to find it readily on our own.

6. Fear of the dark is almost universal among young children, and it provides relatively safe opportunities for first lessons in courage. In families, older siblings are greatly assisted in cultivating their own dispositions in this respect by putting up a brave front before their younger brothers and sisters. “You see? There’s really nothing to be afraid of.”This is excellent practice, and a fine place to begin.

7. So, daring to do what is not good and beneficial for all is far more insidious than not daring to do something for a right cause. Naturally, bravery well nurtured and backed by moral courage alone is exemplary, and so, should be promoted.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any eight out of the ten questions by choosing the correct option.

Question 1. Virtues and vices are progressively fixed in us through _________
(a) company we keep
(b) heredity
(c) environment at home
(d) practice

Question 2. Being afraid is _________
(a) to be avoided.
(b) to be suppressed.
(c) not a healthy feeling.
(d) an absolutely right emotion.

Question 3. It is normal to be afraid of _________.
(a) one’s elders
(b) fearful things
(c) a boss
(d) one’s parents

Question 4. To give our courage intelligent direction we need _________
(a) guidance
(b) support of the people
(c) knowledge
(d) wisdom

Question 5. The more universal fear among children is fear of the _________
(a) solitude
(b) dark
(c) strangers
(d) height

Question 6. The speciality of Gandhiji was_________
(a) noticing injustice
(b) courageous behaviour.
(c) inspiring protest.
(d) rousing public conscience.

Question 7. The word in the passage which means the same as ‘dislike’ is _________ (Para 1)
(a) confronted
(b) disposed
(c) despise
(d) displayed

Question 8. Find a word in the passage which means:
ability to speak effectively and well (para 5)
(a) delivered
(b) command
(c) eloquence
(d) inclination

Question 9. The word in para 4, which means the same as ‘capable of being passed on’ is _________ .
(a) Striking
(b) Inspire
(c) Infectious
(d) display

Question 10. Spreading gradually and unnoticed (para 7)
(a) beneficial
(b) nurtured
(c) insidious
(d) exemplary

II. Read the passage given below.

(i) How often do we remember to treat others as you would like them to treat you?
In our quest to get more and more, we forget that the quality of our lives depends on the kind of personalities we have cultivated for ourselves. Genes might play a role when it comes to one’s disposition, but the major portion of our attitudes and behaviour is influenced by the choices we make. So in the beginning of every year should you resolve to make more money, learn a new language, travel more frequently, then you must discontinue to be the same grumpy, impatient soul you always were, should you then not seek to refine your character, focus on nuances like how you treat people, react to challenges and deal with stress situations? For most people such a course would yield rich results.

(ii) According to Mary Thomas, usually our New Year resolutions remain unachieved because we try to achieve the impossible or, sometimes, just add more goals that we wish to accomplish to the list of resolutions, but, strangely, we do not remember much about them during the course of the year as we do not seem to value them enough to complete them. The better option would be to address something fundamental to you, to who you really are, and go ahead with completing them instead of making any drastic resolutions which you will never be able to fulfil. You could resolve to be a better person by having a positive attitude towards people you come across in life. This could involve being nice with the lady who cleans the house, or your colleague who sits near you, but you never interacted with. Another trick is to acknowledge people for the value they add to your personal or professional life. By extending basic courtesies to people around you, you add value to your life and that pays off in the long run.

(iii) Sometimes, we know that there is room for improvement as far as our personalities are concerned but we have little or no idea from where to make the start. An easy starting point could be to look for opportunities in one’s immediate surroundings. One positive starting point could be taking a positive attitude towards life and dispelling all negative thoughts. You could make a positive beginning by being a better person at work. This means treating everyone with respect. You should not only interact politely, but also value each person’s ideas however far removed these may be, to your own. After all, your friend’s ideas are an integral part of the organization to which both of you belong. Inculcating this habit of making an effort to talk to people you would normally not have to interact with on a daily basis, would make you a better person at the workplace.

(iv) Also, you do not have to do something extraordinary to prove your good intentions. Just greeting or smiling at your colleagues first thing in the morning could always brighten someone’s day. These are simple things that we are taught while growing but tend to forget as we move through life. So essentially, being better is an exercise in learning to be nice, and you will see that playing nice will get your work done better than scolding or frowning or passing orders.

(v) A purposeful life should contain skills that lead to practical changes. After all, no people are alike, so why should your ideas be the only right solution? A company, where individual differences are nurtured, information is not suppressed, soon becomes a workplace that adds value to its employees, rather than merely extracting work out of them. It makes workers feel intrinsically rewarded. It is, therefore, imperative that co-workers and partners share a camaraderie that transcends mere professional conduct and delivery. Thus, for a person who wishes to remain happy and content, it is as valuable to spend time on nurturing qualities like friendship and consideration as it is on acquiring skills and knowledge.

Based on your understanding of this passage answer any six out of the eight questions by choosing the correct option.

Question 11. The quality of our lives depends on ________
(a) the personalities we have cultivated for ourselves.
(b) the number of New Year resolutions we make
(c) the challenges that people give us
(d) None of the above

Question 12. Our New Year resolutions remain unfulfilled, according to Mary Thomas, because we ________
(a) make no resolutions.
(b) add more goals than what we can accomplish.
(c) get caught up with our studies
(d) feel happy about them

Question 13. To add value to your life you ________
(a) must earn more money
(b) become more hardworking
(c) should be nice to the people in your immediate surroundings
(d) only (b) and (c)

Question 14. Workers feel intrinsically rewarded if ________
(a) they are given bonuses
(b) their work is given recognition
(c) their individual differences are acknowledged
(d) none of the above

Question 15. Mention the most favoured resolution that people usually make in the New Year.
(a) being patient
(b) polishing character
(c) value oneself
(d) travel more

Question 16. Which of these is not essential to improve our personality
(a) treating everyone with respect
(b) on a daily basis not conversing with some
(c) value each person
(d) dispelling negative thoughts.

Question 17. Find a word from the passage which means the same as:
A. the natural qualities of a person’s character (para i)
(a) nuances
(b) genes
(c) disposition
(d) grumpy

Question 18. Find a word which means the same as: subtle variation (para i)
(a) behaviour
(b) attitude
(c) nuance
(d) react

WRITING

III. Answer any four out of the five questions given, with reference to the context below.

As the librarian, you have to write a notice informing the students about the International Book Fair being held at Pragati Maidan from 7 December to 14 December, 2021.

Question 19. Select the appropriate title for the notice.
(a) Fair in Town
(b) International Book Fair
(c) Fair in P Maidan
(d) Book Fair

Question 20. Select the option that lists the most accurate opening for this notice.
(a) We wish to bring to your notice
(b) This is to inform you that International Book Fair
(c) IBF begins at….
(d) Pay attention children

Question 21. Select the option with the information points to be included in the body
(a) Timings, Place, venue.
(b) Time, which books, price
(c) Venue, Timings, categories of books; meet the author.
(d) Time, Fair, languages.

Question 22. Select the appropriate concluding line for this notice.
(a) Fair is held every year
(b) Duration of the Fair is 7 – 14th- December
(c) For further details contact the undersigned
(d) Inconvenience regretted.

Question 23. How will the notice conclude ?
(a) Signature of the person issuing it
(b) Contact the undersigned
(c) Signature and designation of the person issuing it
(d) Date of the notice issued.

IV. Answer any six of the seven questions given, with reference to the context below.
Anshaj recently visited Kerala and felt that there is a vast potential for tourism in India that remains untapped. He wrote the article.

Question 24. Select the option that lists an appropriate title for Anshaj’s article.
(a) South Travels
(b) Kerala Trip
(c) Tourism Potential
(d) ‘The Importance of Tourism’.

Question 25. Which option should Anshaj choose to elaborate on the topic ?
(a) Visit to ashram; skiing; hillside trip; theatre; camel ride
(b) guided tours; house boat stay; backwaters;plantation visit
(c) Fort trip; Sea temple; car racing
(d) B&B facility; boat house; guided tours; back waters visit

Question 26. Read a sentence from Anshaj’s article draft and help him complete it by selecting the most appropriate option.
Kerala, _________, is a beautiful state in India with a _________ of thousands of tourists every year.
(a) (i) in the south (ii) number
(b) (i) God’s Own Country (ii) footfall
(c) (i) as you know (ii) group
(d) (i) If I am right (ii) throng

Question 27. Read another sentence from Anshaj’s article draft and help him complete it by selecting the most appropriate option.
_________ green hills with _________ plantations and paddy fields make it one of the most visited regions in Asia.
(a) (i) Bright (ii) wide
(b) (i) Lush (ii) sprawling
(c) (i) Tall (ii) stony
(d) (i) Dark (ii) sparse

Question 28. Where would one find information about Kerala travels ?
(a) sheets; paper; novels.
(b) books; paper; billboards.
(c) write ups; sheets; people.
(d) travelogues; articles; internet.

Question 29. What suggestions would you give for improving Tourism ?
(i) Transport facilities. (ii) Revival of Royal charm of Travancore.
(iii) Tourist investment by locals. (iv) Tourism to get a tech boost.
(a) (i), (iii)
(b) (ii), (iv)
(c) (i), (iv)
(d) (iii), (iv)

Question 30. Read the following options to choose the most appealing ATTRACTION for a visit to Kerala.
(a) Tourism Bhawan has come up for affordable stay.
(b) Cruise along Malabar to soak in its rich culture.
(c) Heritage project draws crowds.
(d) Kerala- a confluence of Cultures.

LITERATURE

V. Read the given extract to attempt the questions that follow:

______ and
looked but soon
Put that thought away, and
Looked out at young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes, …….

Question 31. What did the poet realise?
(a) that the trees looked beautiful
(b) Children were spilling
(c) Trees had sprinted by
(d) A long time had gone by

Question 32. What did she do then?
(a) She wanted to meet them
(b) She looked out and got distracted
(c) She admired the scene
(d) Looked at the ground

Question 33. What did she notice in the world outside?
(a) Lots of greenery
(b) Children playing
(c) Distracted by the greenery outside
(d) Happiness in contrast to sadness in the car

Question 34. What does the writer mean when she says,”Saheb is no longer his own master”?
(a) He did not like his master
(b) Master was not required
(c) He had lost his freedom
(d) He owned himself

Question 35. `Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it metaphorically’. Explain what the author means by this.
(a) it is far away from Delhi
(b) Physically close but far from it’s quality of life
(c) It borders the capital in both ways
(d) It appears to be close

VI. Read the given extract to attempt questions that follow:

_______ On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom

Question 36. Which two images are used to describe these slums?
(a) Children roaming around and holding a map
(b) Piles of garbage and dirty/green environment
(c) Skinny children appearing doomed
(d) Piles of garbage and wearing mended spectacles

Question 37. Which figure of speech is used in the last line?
(a) Metaphor
(b) Alliteration
(c) Simile
(d) Oxymoron

How it must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave the country next day.

Question 38. Who are ‘they’ here?
(a) Franz and his sister
(b) M. Hamel and his sister.
(c) Franz and M. Hamel
(d) None of the above

Question 39. Why is M. Hamel’s heartbroken?
(a) As no one is interested in his class.
(b) As he has to leave the school nurtured by him.
(c) Because he had no money.
(d) Because his parents were no more.

Question 40. What does ‘scrounging for gold’ in the garbage mean?
(a) Searching for some valuable thing to make money
(b) Searching for gold in the garage
(c) Searching for gold ornaments in the garbage
(d) Searching for gold in the garbage

VII. Read the given extract to attempt questions that follow:

On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilised dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

Question 41. What does the expression – sour cream walls – suggest?
(a) Display of donated artefacts on the walls.
(b) Badly maintained walls.
(c) Wall-to wall furniture.
(d) A poor choice of paint for walls.

Question 42. The map of the world in the classroom symbolizes
(a) hopes and aspirations of the children.
(b) travel plans of the school authorities.
(c) a world that is unconnected with the children.
(d) Inter connectivity within the world.

Question 43. The expression, ‘Shakespeare’s head’ is an example of
(a) pun
(b) satire
(c) parody
(d) irony

Question 44. In the extract, ‘future’s painted with a fog’ suggests that the
(a) classroom is as foggy as the paint on the walls.
(b) beautiful valleys are not a part of the children’s future.
(c) life ahead for the slum children is as unclear and hazy as fog.
(d) fog often finds itself in the classrooms through broken windows.

Question 45. What is the theme of the poem ?
(a) elementary school students
(b) empathy for the children
(c) condition of slums
(d) social injustice and class inequalities.

VIII. Read the given extract to attempt questions that follow:

‘On the seventh day after that, two things happened. In the morning the servants left altogether, their belongings tied in a large square cotton kerchiefs.’

Question 46. Why did the servants leave Dr. Sadao’s house?
(a) They got better offers.
(b) Sadao did not speak to them.
(c) Hana was not paying them well.
(d) Felt their master was wrong in hiding the enemy.

Question 47. What was the gardener’s fear about Dr. Sadao treating the wounded American soldier?
(a) That it would make Sadao famous.
(b) He was proud about his skills.
(c) That nature would take revenge.
(d) Felt that his master’s son was bad.

Question 48. How did Yumi react?
(a) She was happy to leave.
(b) She cried for having to leave the children.
(c) She was angry.
(d) She was sad.

Question 49. What does Hana try to say to make Sadao understand ?
(a) That it would be difficult.
(b) that the servants could clearly see the wrong but they couldn’t.
(c) That she was unhappy.
(d) That she felt weak.

Question 50. What message does ‘The Enemy’ give?
(a) reality of war
(b) life of Japanese
(c) Superstitious nature of people
(d) fellow feeling and humanism.

IX. Attempt the following.

Question 51. Saheb wearing discarded and worn out tennis shoes are
(a) an indication to procure different ones.
(b) a dream come true.
(c) a sign of his poverty.
(d) an insult to the sport itself.

Question 52. Concluding his last lesson by writing ‘Vive la France!’ on the blackboard shows that M. Hamel…….
(a) was overwhelmed with emotions.
(b) wanted to distract all attending class that day.
(c) was keen on not leaving the country.
(d) wanted to teach French participles through it.

Question 53. ‘Keeping Quiet’ uses fishermen to symbolize man’s
(a) persistent pollution of the natural environment.
(b) rapid degradation of human values.
(c) limitless exploitation of natural resources.
(d) constant participation in acts of terror.

Question 54. In the poem, My Mother at Sixty-six, all that the poet did was smile and smile and smile…, Her smile is
(a) sudden, in response to her mother’s.
(b) meaningful and loaded with love.
(c) accompanied with tears of farewell.
(d) put on to cheer mother and hide her emotions.

Question 55. Choose the statement that is not true with reference to Douglas.
(a) Douglas’s fear allowed him to indulge in leisurely activities in water.
(b) The fall in the pool at YMCA taught Douglas a life lesson.
(c) The fear of drowning was the source of Douglas’s anxiety and terror.
(d) Douglas decided to practice relentlessly to overcome his fear.

Question 56. Why the General did not order immediate arrest of Dr Sadao who had sheltered the white man?
(a) He was a polite fellow
(b) General was a sensitive man.
(c) Because he was in need of Sadao’s help.
(d) He was afraid of the doctor.

Question 57. What does Neruda want the war mongers to do?
(Keeping Quiet)
(a) To revolt
(b) Declare that they mean no harm.
(c) Invite the media
(d) Stop fighting and put-on clean clothes.

Question 58. Spender’s use of imagery in “His eyes live in a dream, of squirrel game, in tree room, other than this”, brings out
(a) the similarity between the frail bodies of a squirrel and the children in the classroom.
(b) the contrast between studying in the dreary classroom and playing outside freely.
(c) the comparison of the dingy home of the squirrel and the dreary classroom.
(d) the difference between the games of the squirrel and those of the children.

Question 59. In concluding the poem Kamala Das says she : ‘felt that old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,’What is the childhood fear referred to here ?
(a) fear of school time.
(b) childhood fear of losing her mother.
(c) staying away from home.
(d) childhood fear of getting home late.

Question 60. Why did Charley run away from the third level?
(a) He was scared.
(b) The ticket counter clerk charged him for fake money.
(c) He lost his way at Grand central.
(d) His wife called him.