KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA NO. 1 TAMBARAM
UNIT TEST I – JULY 2011
CLASS XI
Time :90 mts ENGLISH Marks : 50
SECTION –A -READING-12marks
1.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (12 marks)
1. Global warming is the warming up of the earth due to the trapping of gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and nitrous oxide, when the atmosphere fails to perform its function of acting as a protective blanket. The incoming solar radiation is partly absorbed by carbon dioxide, though a vastly higher amount of the outgoing radiation is trapped in the atmosphere.
2. Carbon dioxide possesses immense staying properties in the atmosphere. It is being speculated that carbon dioxide concentrations may double in about a century.
3. This increased carbon dioxide level, according to predictions, indicates an increase in temperature ranging from 1.5-4 degrees Celsius, or a rise in sea levels by about 50cms by AD 2100. However, Earth apparently has its own system of checks and balances. Water vapour in the atmosphere is known to absorb radiation more than any other atmospheric component.
4. A doubling of carbon dioxide concentration would increase the capacity of the Earth’s surface to absorb infra-red radiation by about 4 watts per square metre, though over all, the levels of absorption would be small.
5.Volcanic eruptions, too, are believed to be responsible for reduction in the carbon dioxide contents in the atmosphere.
6.A massive volcanic eruption in Philippines had in fact a cooling impact.
7.Cooling through volcanic eruptions is believed to release certain gases into the atmosphere, which are responsible for increase in the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere.
8.Measurement of the incident of CO2 in the atmosphere made in Hawaii indicates that during 1992-93 about two billion tonnes of the gas was found missing from the atmosphere.
9. As far as the impact of ozone depletion is concerned, it seems to be dictated more by political considerations, than any other factor. This increased burning of fossil fuels for energy is largely responsible for the increase in temperature through ozone depletion.
10.A tug-of-war has been going on among the industrialised countries and the developing countries on the share of the blame. In fact, the US, the erstwhile USSR, Brazil and China account for almost half of the net global emissions of harmful gases such as CFCs. While North America generates about 5 tonnes per head of carbon dioxide, Africa, China and India together generate approximately 1 tonne of CO2 per head.
11.Developing countries, on the other hand, are charged with emission of methane largely generated from paddy fields and discharge of animals.
12.However, despite the fact that 1995 was one of the hottest years of the century, snowfalls have been recorded in some part of the world – notably on the eastern coast of America and in Jammu and Kashmir.
13. Moreover, over the last 50 years, the Arctic climate has not been undergoing any noticeable temperature changes. In fact, till 1975, global temperatures had been undergoing a downward trend. Could the recent spurt in temperatures be a natural cyclical process, or temporary offshoot of the shifting pressure belts?
14. Given the rising temperatures, growing seasons would be prolonged. Higher temperatures would also lead to an increased evaporation from oceans, thereby intensifying cloudiness, leading to moderate temperatures during the day and warmer nights.
15. Warmer temperatures during the night enhance agricultural productivity. Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will also result in an increase in fertility.
Global warming will also have an impact on the EI Nino phenomenon – the circulation of weather disturbances around the world as a result of the warming of Pacific Oceans around the tropics.
16. However, a few questions remain in the ongoing debate on global warming.The process of heat transfer in the atmosphere – convection – is a field in which a lot of research needs to be done.
17. Secondly, clouds and vapour are known to be major absorbers of incoming radiation back into space.
18.If the cloud cover, as a result of increased evaporation due to rising temperature, were to increase, it would result in more containment.
19.Plants, which both absorb and release carbon dioxide, too have a crucial role to play. Their role, however, has been till now underestimated.
a)Answer the following questions briefly: ( 9 marks)
i) What is the function of the earth’s atmosphere? (2)
ii)What is increased amount of carbon dioxide likely to lead to? (2)
iii)How does water vapour balance the effect of carbon dioxide? (2)
iv)What is the cause of tug-of-war between industrialized and developing countries? (2)
v)What is the ‘EL Nino Phenomenon’? (1)
b). Find words in the passage that mean the same as the following (3 marks)
| i) | arrested (para 1) |
| ii) iii) | sudden increase (para 13) to strengthen (para 14) SECTION-B Writing- 10 Marks |
2.You participated in a career counseling program organized by Careers India. You had the opportunity of listening to professionals from various fields like food technology, fashion technology, media management, etc. Write an article of the programme for your school magazine in about 150 words. You are Anita/Raj. - 10 Marks
SECTION C Grammar-8 Marks
3.Complete the following dialogue with suitable modals : 3 Marks
Sushi: Someone is knocking at the door. Who (a)______ it be at this time?
Shanu :It (b)_________ be Smita. She wanted to come to get my class notes.
Sushi :Why (c)______________ she prepare her own notes?
Shanu :She (d)______________ not attend the class for three days due to her illness. She
needs them to get through the test.
Sushi :Oh, then you e)__________help her. She f)____ need them.
4. Rearrange the following jumbled words to make meaningful sentences 5Marks
a)for/years/have/working/three/I/been/in/firm/this
b)Ashoka/greatest/rulers/of/of/the/was/one/India
c)too/to/reached/late/catch/he/train/station/the
d)a/a/training/soldier/undergo/to/has/hard
e)hand/worth/the/bird/in/two/the/a/is/bush/in
SECTION D -Literature- 20 Marks
5.Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow : 4 x 1= 4 Marks
A sweet face
My mother’s that was before I was born,
And the sea, which appears to have changed less
Washed their terribly transient feet.
a) Where was the mother standing, with whom and why?
b) How did she look at that time?
c) Compare the mother and the sea.
d) Why are the feet of all the girls called ‘terribly transient?
6.Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each : 2 x 2 = 4 Marks
a)How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being’ pretty’?
b)Describe the way the sparrows paid their homage to the grandmother.
7.Answer the following question in 100-125 words : 8 Marks
What was the turning point in the relationship of the grandmother and the grandson? How did it come? What was the result of that change in them?
8.Answer the following questions in 30-40words each 2 x 2= 4 Marks
a)What is nostalgia? Describe the nostalgic beginning of the story?
b)Who was John Byro? Why had he come to the narrator’s house?
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