Class 10 English Half Yearly Question Paper 2025 Answer Key

Class 10 English Half Yearly Question Paper 2025 Answer Key (NCERT Based)

SECTION – A (Reading Skills)

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow : (10 Marks)
Power foods are foods that provide rich levels of nutrients like fibre, potassium and minerals. With people becoming increasingly health conscious today, a lot of fitness trainers encourage their clients to include these foods in their daily diet to increase muscle development. There are various ways of incorporating power foods in your daily diet. Of course, the key to enjoy power foods is proper preparation of these foods, the use of season-fresh foods, and identifying your choice of flavour among power foods.
Some of the recommended power food combinations are those that are prepared in our kitchens on a regular basis. Take for instance, the combination of chickpeas and onions. This combination is a powerful source of iron which is required by the body to transport oxygen to its various parts. Iron deficiency can lead to anaemia, fatigue, brain fog and tiredness. A study by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry says that sulphur compounds in onion and garlic help in the absorption of iron and zinc from chickpeas. The combination is a hit with teenagers who need to be diligent about getting iron in their diet. A quick way to prepare this power food is to make a chickpea salad with chopped onions, chaat masala and cilantro.
Another favourite combination with power food takers is yoghurt and bananas. This makes for a perfect snack after a rough game of football. Exercising burns glucose and thus lowers blood sugar. Yoghurt is packed with proteins that help preserve muscle mass, and bananas are packed with carbohydrates that help in refuelling energy and preventing muscle soreness. A quick and easy recipe with bananas is a banana smoothie topped with cool yoghurt.
Among beverages, green tea is the best source of catechins that are effective in halting oxidative damage to cells. According to researchers at the Purdue University, adding a dash of lemon juice to green tea makes the catechins even more easily absorbable by the body.
So, the next time you have instead of are friends serve them rounds of iced green tea with mint and lemon juice.
Questions :
(i) What are power foods?
Answer – Power foods are foods that provide rich levels of nutrients like fibre, potassium, and minerals.

(ii) What is the advantage of including onions and garlic in our diet?
Answer – Sulphur compounds in onions and garlic help in the absorption of iron and zinc from chickpeas, which is beneficial for the body.

(iii) Suggest a quick recipe with chickpea and onions.
Answer – A quick recipe is chickpea salad with chopped onions, chaat masala and cilantro.

(iv) Why is yoghurt and bananas an enriching power food?
Answer – Yoghurt and bananas together help restore energy after exercise. Yoghurt provides protein to preserve muscles, while bananas provide carbohydrates for refuelling energy and reducing soreness.

(v) Why is green tea a recommended power food?
Answer – Green tea is rich in catechins that prevent oxidative cell damage, and adding lemon juice helps the body absorb them better.

(vi) The key to enjoy power foods is ………….
(a) use of season-fresh foods
(b) identifying one’s choice of flavour
(c) proper preparation of power foods
(d) all of these
Answer – (d) all of these

(vii) What is the meaning of ‘incorporating’?
(a) To avoid
(b) To include
(c) To deny
(d) None of these
Answer – (b) To include

(viii) Iron deficiency can lead to ……………
(a) fracture
(b) anaemia
(c) injury
(d) typhoid
Answer – (b) anaemia

(ix) While we exercise, we …………… glucose.
(a) get
(b) need
(c) burn
(d) make
Answer – (c) burn

(x) Adding lemon juice to green tea is important because ………….
(a) it is liked by your friends.
(b) it is declared by the Purdue University.
(c) It makes catechins more absorbable by the body.
(d) it develops muscle mass in the body.
Answer – (c) It makes catechins more absorbable by the body.

SECTION – B (Grammar)

2. Attempt any five out of given questions : (5 Marks)
(i) It was …………. unique sight.
(a) an
(b) a
(c) the
(d) no article
Answer – (b) a

(ii) The movie ………….. started when I reached the cinema hall.
(a) has
(b) have
(c) had
(d) had been
Answer – (c) had

(iii) By the next month, we shall ………….. the project.
(a) has completed
(b) completing
(c) completed
(d) have completed
Answer – (d) have completed

(iv) He said, “I do not like coffee.”
(a) He said that he did not like coffee.
(b) He asked that he does not like coffee.
(c) He said that I did not like coffee.
(d) He told that he doesn’t like coffee.
Answer – (a) He said that he did not like coffee.

(v) Work hard lest you ……………. fail.
(a) must
(b) will
(c) should
(d) shall
Answer – (c) should

(vi) ……………. you have a cup of tea?
(a) can
(b) shall
(c) would
(d) could
Answer – (c) would

SECTION – C (Writing Skills)

3. Write a letter to M/S Haryana Publishing House complaining against the wrong delivery of books and requesting them to send the books you ordered to supply. (5 Marks)
Answer –

OR

Write a report of the train accident in about 40 words mentioning the loss of lives, the scene of rescue work by the neighbouring villagers.
Answer –

SECTION – D (Literature)

4. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (5 Marks)
Let me put it more clearly since no one will believe that a thirteen-year-old girl is completely alone in the world. And I’m not. I have loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister, and there are about thirty people I can call friends. I have a family, loving aunts and a good home. No, on the surface I seem to have everything, except my one true friend. All I think about when I’m with friends is having a good time. I can’t bring self to talk about anything but ordinary everyday things. We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other. In any case, that’s just how things are, and unfortunately, they’re not liable to change. This is why I’ve started the diary.
Questions:
(a) Who does ‘I’ refer to in the above passage?
Answer – ‘I’ refers to Anne Frank.

(b) How many people can she call her friends?
Answer – About thirty people.

(c) Whom does she regard as her true friend?
Answer – Her diary, which she calls “Kitty.”

(d) Why does she start writing the diary?
Answer – She feels lonely and has no true friend to confide in, so she starts writing her thoughts in her diary.

(e) Find a word from the passage which means “trust someone to tell a secret”.
Answer – Confide

OR

“But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”
Questions :
(a) What does ‘it’ stand for in the first line?
Answer – ‘It’ stands for the world.

(b) What is ice symbolic of?
Answer – Ice symbolizes hatred.

(c) Which two things the poet thinks are good enough for destruction?
Answer – Fire and ice

(d) What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?
Answer – ababa

(e) Name the poem and the poet.
Answer – Poem : Fire and Ice, Poet : Robert Frost

5. Did the letter reach to God? Why did the postmaster send a reply to Lencho? (3 Marks)
Answer – No, the letter did not reach God. The postman noticed the letter addressed to God and showed it to the postmaster. The postmaster did not want to shake Lencho’s faith, so he sent a reply to him. He and his staff collected seventy pesos and sent it to Lencho to help him in his time of need.

6. How does Mandela describe the scene of inauguration? (6 Marks)
Answer – The inauguration marked the establishment of a democratic government in South Africa in 1994, with Nelson Mandela becoming the first Black president. He was sworn in on 10 May 1994 at Pretoria, in a grand ceremony attended by a large number of international leaders and dignitaries from around the world. The event symbolized the triumph of democracy and equality, as South Africa emerged from decades of racial oppression. Mandela’s inauguration was not only a personal achievement but also a historic moment for the nation, reflecting hope, unity, and the beginning of a new era.

7. What is the central idea of ‘The Ball Poem’? (3 Marks)
Answer – The central idea of The Ball Poem by John Berryman is to understand and accept the nature of loss as a part of life. The poem conveys that gaining and losing are natural experiences, and one must face them with patience and maturity. The boy, having lost his ball for the first time, learns the significance of loss and the responsibility that comes with it, marking his emotional growth and understanding of life’s realities.

8. What did Griffin do inside a big London store? (3 Marks)
Answer – Inside the London store, Griffin stole clothing, food, and money to survive and remain inconspicuous. He dressed himself in warm clothes, including shoes and a hat, to cover his invisible body, ate and drank the food he found, and rested on a pile of quilts. The next morning, when the store employees arrived, he quickly fled, removing his clothes to become invisible again, showcasing his cunning and resourcefulness.