Development Test ,WBBSE, Class Ten (X),English,The Passing Away Of Bapu and My Own True Family. 2026 english paper one
1st Terminal Examination-2026
Class-X
Sub: English (1st Paper) Code: …………. Roll……….
Time: 1:30 Hours F.M:50
READING COMPREHENSION
(SEEN)
1. Read the
following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
I was having tea
at home on the evening of 30th January, 1948, when I was called to Birla house
by an urgent telephone. Gandhiji had been shot on his way to a prayer meeting.
I was numb with shock as I got into the car. At the Birla House, Gandhiji's
relatives and followers had gathered round his body. There was silence in the
room as Gandhiji breathed his last. Words of Bapuji's death had spread through
Delhi like a flame fanned by wind. Sad groups of men and women had collected
around Birla House. Out of every window one could see a brown blur of faces.
They did not make a sound. There was an unnatural silence. It was as if time
stood still for those few minutes. The people were too stunned to speak in the
beginning. Later they clamoured wildly, shouting and crying. They jostled one
another in a stampede to break into the house. They calmed a little when it was
announced that they would be allowed to see Gandhiji before the funeral. When
one is faced with the shock of a loved one's death, one whimpers: "What
will become of me now that he has left me?" This was surely the question
uppermost in the mind of the mourning people. They looked like lost children.
It was the question in many of our hearts as we sat, still shocked and
unbelieving. We listened to the broadcast telling the people of India that
their Bapu was no more.
A. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following
sentences: 1x5=5
i) The phrase ‘flamed fanned by wind’
means_______________________________________________
a) slowly b) steadly c) quickly d) naturally
ii) Absolute silence reigned in __________________________________________________________
a) the capital city
b) the Birla House c) the narrator’s house d) special train
iii. People outside the Birla House appeared initially to be _____________________________________
a) shouting b)
violent c)
shocked and silent d) both a
& c
iv) Shock turned the narrator
____________________________________________________________
a) nervous b)
sad c) glad d) numb
v) The people of Delhi mourned Gandhiji’s death like
__________________________________________
a) Political leaders b) matured c) lost children d) careless people
B. Complete the following sentences with information from the
text: 1x3=3
i) Words of Bapu’s death had ______________________________________
ii) It was announced through broadcast______________________________
iii) The narrator set off for Birla House being __
_____________________
C. Answer the following questions: 2x2=4
i. What are the mourning people compared to and why?
ii. “It was as if time stood still for those few
minutes”_____Describe the situation?
2) Read the following poem carefully and and answer the questions
that follow:
Once I crept in an oakwood--I was looking for a stag.
I met an old woman there--all knobbly stick and rag.
She said: 'I have your secret here inside my little bag.
Then she began to cackle and I began to quake.
She opened up her little bag and I came twice awake--
Surrounded by a staring tribe and me tied to a stake.
They said: 'We are the oak-trees and your own true family.
We are chopped down, we are
torn up, you do not blink an eye.
Unless you make a promise now-now you are going to die.'
'Whenever you see an oak-tree felled, swear now you will plant two.
Unless you swear the black oak bark will wrinkle over you
And root you among the oaks where you were born but never grew
'This was my dream beneath the boughs, the dream that altered me.
When I came out of the oakwood, back to human company,
My walk was the walk of a human child, but my heart was a tree.
A) Choose the correct alternative to complete the following
sentences: 1x4=4
i) The word ‘root’ here
means______________________________________________________
a) uproot b) place
fixedly c)
place temporarily d) ruin
ii) The type of poem is called
___________________________________________________________
a) a lyric b) an
allegory c) an epic d) a sonnet
iii) ‘Blink’ refers to something
__________________________________________________________
a) static b)
ascending c) dynamic d)
descending.
iv) The poet was accused of_____________________________________________________________
a) gratefulness b)
carelessness c) violence d) truthfulness
B) State whether the following statements are True or False.
Provide sentences/phrases/words in support of your answer:
(1+1)x2=4
a) The old woman cast a spell on the little boy.
Supporting Statement: _________________________________________________________________
b) The old woman wore a shabby dress.
Supporting
Statement:_________________________________________________________________
UNSEEN
3. Read
the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below:
Bhubaneswar: An elderly woman washing clothes and utensils in the Kharasrota
river was dragged away by a saltwater crocodile in Odisha's Jajpur district on
Monday. The body, recovered in a mutilated state on Tuesday, had been partially
eaten by the reptile. The 59-year-old victim, Soudamini Mahal, was attacked
around 3pm on Monday. Eyewitnesses said the crocodile suddenly came out from
the water, dragged her and swam along the river's current. Locals jumped in to
rescue her but could not venture deep into the river, fearing other crocodiles.
Some bystanders captured the incident on video, which later went viral on
social media.Assistant conservator of forest (Jaipur) Santosh Kumar Pati told
The Telegraph: "The Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) recovered
the body nearly one kilometre from the spot. After the post-mortem, the body
was handed over to the family. The family will be given ₹10 lakh as per
government norms, out of which ₹1 lakh has already been given. The remaining
amount will be provided once the legal heir certificate is submitted." Soudamini
is survived by her husband, who works as a plumber in Calcutta and two sons. Residents
of Jajpur and Kendrapara districts live in constant fear of crocodile attacks.
Crocodiles from the Bhitarkanika sanctuary, home to nearly 1,826 of the reptiles,
sometimes venture into nearby rivers, creeks and other water bodies, posing a
serious threat to locals. According to an Odisha government report, 27 deaths
have occurred in the past 38 months in and around the Bhitarkanika sanctuary.
"Though protective measures, including barricades at 120 river ghats, have
been installed, they are insufficient. People need to remain cautious," an
official said. "With rivers now over-flowing, saltwater crocodiles from
the sanctuary may enter human settlements. We have seen several attacks in Kendrapara
and Jajpur," added former Congress MLA Ansuman Mohantv.
The Telegraph, Friday 10th
Oct, 2025
A. Choose the correct alternative to complete the following
sentences: 1x6=6
i) Crocodiles live in the Bhitarkanika sanctuary _______a)
1,826 b) 1,823 c) 1,862 d) Nearly 1,826.
ii) The body was found__________________________ a) partially eaten
by the reptile b) Completely
intact
c) Badly
decomposed d)
Floating on water.
iii) The body was recovered on _____________________a) Monday b) Tuesday c) Wednesday d) Thursday.
iv) MLA mentioned in the article is_________________ a) Ansuman
Mohanty b) Santosh
Kumar
c) Pati d)
Soudamini Mahal
v) When the crocodile attacked, the victim was _________a) Fishing b) Swimming
c) Collecting water d) Washing clothes and utensils.
vi) Protective measures have been settled at ________ river ghats.
a) 100 b) 120 c) 200 d) 122.
B. State whether the following statements is true or false. Write
‘T’ for true ‘F’ for false in the box and provide sentences/phrases/words in
support of your answer: (1+1)
x 4=8
a. The victim was a young woman in her twenties.
S.S________________________________________________________________________________
b. The family will be provided with one million as per government
norms.
S.S______________________________________________________________________________
c. The victim’s husband works in a spinning mill.
S.S________________________________________________________________________________
d. The incident was occurred on 6th October 2025.
S.S_________________________________________________________________________________
C. Answer the following questions: 2x4=8
i. How was the incident occurred according to the eyewitness?
ii. What action did locals take when the crocodile attack?
iii. What challenges do people living in Jajpur and Kendrapara
districts face according to the article?
iv. Who are the surviving family members of Soudamini Mahal? What
will be given to the family?
D. Given below are the meanings of four words which you will find
in the passage in Question No.3.Find out the words and write them in the
appropriate boxes on the right-hand side: 2x4=8
i)
Maimed_________________________ ii) A risk or daring journey
_________________________
iii) Vigilant_________________________________ iv) A holy place; a
temple or church__________________
