Read the passage carefully & then answer the questions that follow:

Our house is filled with photos. They cover the walls of my kitchen, dining room and den. I see our family's entire history, starting with my wedding, continuing through the births of both sons, buying a home, family gatherings and vacations. When my sons were little, they loved to pose. They waved, danced, climbed trees, batted balls, hung upside down from the jungle gym and did anything for a picture. But when they reached adolescence, picture-taking changed into something they barely tolerated. Their bodies were growing at haphazard speeds. Reluctantly they stood with us or with their grandparents at birthday celebrations and smiled weakly at the camera for as short a time as possible.

I am the chronicler of our photographs. I select those to be framed and arrange the others in albums. The process is addictive, and as the shelves that hold our albums become fuller and fuller, I wonder what will become of them. Will anyone look at these photographs in future years? If my sons look at them, what will they think of us and of themselves? One bright afternoon, I took some photographs of my father with my husband as they fished in a lake near our vacation house. As my sons and I sat on the shore and watched them row away, I picked the camera up and photographed the beautiful lake surrounded by green trees. The two men I loved gradually grew smaller until all I could see were my father's red shirt, and the tan and blue caps on their heads.

My father died a week later, and suddenly those photos became priceless to me. I wept when I pasted them in our album. I wept again afterwards when I saw my younger son looking at them. It was a few days before he went away to college. He had taken all our albums down from the bookshelves in the den and spread them out on the carpet. It had been a very long time since I had seen him doing this. Once he stopped posing for pictures, he seemed to lose interest in looking at them. But now he was on the verge of leaving home. This was his special time to look ahead and look back. I stood for a moment in the hall by the den, and then tiptoed away. I didn't take a photo of my son that afternoon, but I will remember how he looked for as long as I live. Some pictures, I learned, don't have to be taken with a camera.

1a Why did the sons love to pose when they were younger and not when they were older?

1b Why did the author especially value the picture of her father and husband fishing?

1c What did her younger son do before going to college? Why do you think so?

1d “Some pictures, I learned, don't have to be taken with a camera.” Do you agree? Why?

1e Give a title to the passage.

1f Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:

i Not organized or planned (para)1

ii Unwillingly (para 1)

iii One who records events in order (para 2)

iv habit forming (para 2)

v Very valuable (para 3)

1g Make sentences with the following words/phrases:

i cover the wall

ii adolescence

iii album

iv priceless

v tiptoed away

Insert the adverbs given in brackets in the correct position.

i The child forgot to inform her mother about the courier. (completely)

ii The children complain if they have a Math’s test after the Sports period. (always)

iii I fight with my sister. (rarely)

iv Last week there were delays in the departure of flights due to bad weather. (frequent)

v I was joking. (only)

vi My uncle is moving to Delhi. (definitely)

vii The baby realized that it could get everything by crying. (very quickly)

viii Our class worked the whole year. (hard)

ix Ravi fell off the bike.(almost)

x Good work will be rewarded. (always)

You have secured admission at Mysore University. You are excited at the prospect of campus life. You meet a new friend for the first time. Write a dialogue where you attempt to get to know each other. Take about 20 turns.

You have been asked to participate in a debate on the topic- ‘Should attendance be optional for college students.’ You have to submit four points in favour and four points against the topic with an introductory statement. Prepare a draft in about 150-200 words.

Tick (√) the correct form of the adjective in the following sentences.

i Delhi is more polluted/polluter than other big cities in India

ii He is one of the best athletes/one of the best athlete in our school.

iii These are the deliciousness/ most delicious dish I have ever tested in my life.

iv My shirt has become tighter/more tight than before.

v No farther/further information is available about the criminal.

vi This is the prettiest/most pretty woman around here.

vii Aditi looks smarter/smartest than her brother.

viii My sister is younger/youngest in the family.

ix The new table is heavier/more heavy than the old one.

x My watch is more slow/slower than his.

Can you relate an incident when your father/mother/teacher was wrong, yet insisted on being obeyed? What was your reaction? How did you deal with the incident? Write an essay about the incident and how it left you feeling.