Haryana Board (HBSE) Class 11 English SAT-1 Question Paper 2025 Answer Key. Get the Students Assessment Test (SAT) Class 11 English question paper with complete solution, accurate answer key, and expert preparation tips. The Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) conducts SAT as an important assessment for Class 11 students. Best resource for Haryana Board Class 11 SAT English exam practice, quick revision, and scoring better marks.
HBSE Class 11 English SAT-1 Question Paper 2025 Answer Key
SECTION – A (Reading Skills)
1. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow : (5 Marks)
Happiness is like the sun; it is often hidden by the clouds of thoughts, worries, and desires. You don’t have to create happiness. All you have to do is calm your mind because when there is a quiet mind and inner peace, there is happiness. Happiness does not depend on circumstances, objects, or events. It is an inseparable part of our consciousness, of our essence, but hidden and covered from sight by our thoughts, desires, and worries. The mind is always in a constant race from one thought to another, from one worry to another. This restlessness hides the happiness within you.
Questions :
(i) What is happiness compared to in the passage?
Answer – In this passage, happiness is compared to the sun.
(ii) What hides happiness according to the passage?
Answer – Thoughts, desires, and worries hide happiness.
(iii) What do you need to do to experience happiness?
(a) create happiness actively
(b) calm your mind
(c) pursue desires vigorously
(d) none of the above
Answer – (b) calm your mind
(iv) Does happiness depend on external circumstances?
(a) yes, always
(b) no, never
(c) It depends
(d) only on objects
Answer – (b) no, never
(v) Why is happiness often not felt?
(a) due to lack of money
(b) due to thoughts, desires, and worries
(c) because of physical pain
(d) only when alone
Answer – (b) due to thoughts, desires, and worries
OR
On a cloudy day, the clouds hide the sun, but the sun is always there. Happiness is like the sun, is often hidden by the clouds of thoughts, worries and desires. We have to scatter and dissolve them to experience happiness. You don’t have to create happiness. All you have to do is calm down your mind because when there is a quiet mind and inner peace, there is happiness. Happiness is not something far away and unattainable. Happiness does not depend on circumstances, objects or events. It is an inseparable part of our consciousness, of our essence, but hidden and covered from sight, by our thoughts, desires and worries. The mind is always in a constant race from one thought to another, from one worry to another. It constantly moves from one object or task to another, never standing still.
This restlessness hides the happiness that is within you. It is like a choppy sea that hides the bottom.
When the sea gets calm you can see the bottom. In the same way, when the mind gets quiet you sense the happiness that is within you. You cannot see a treasure at the bottom of a stormy and muddy lake, though it is there. However, when the wind stops, the water becomes still, and the mud sinks, you can see the treasure. The treasure is there, whether you see it or not. So happiness. It is always there, only hidden by thoughts, desires and worries.
Questions :
(i) What does happiness not depend on?
Answer – Happiness does not depend on circumstances, objects, or events.
(ii) What does the narrator call the mind full of thoughts?
Answer – The narrator calls it a restless mind or a choppy sea.
(iii) Complete the following statements by choosing the best of the given choices:
In order to experience happiness in life we should
(a) look at the shining sun
(b) concentrate on our own anxieties
(c) calm our mind
(d) do something for others welfare
Answer – (c) calm our mind
(iv) The thing that hides or in a happiness is :
(a) circumstances
(b) unattainable object
(c) restlessness
(d) quiet mind
Answer – (c) restlessness
(v) What is the synonym of the word ‘treasure’?
(a) Valuable
(b) Misfortune
(c) Shortfall
(d) Loss
Answer – (a) Valuable
2. Read the following passage carefully and make notes on it and also supply a suitable title : (5 Marks)
Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them; our purpose is to fit them for life. As soon as we realise this fact, we will understand that it is very important to choose a system of education which will really prepare children for life. It is not enough first to choose the first system of education one finds, or to continue with one’s system of education; without examining it to see whether it, in fact, is suitable or not. In many modern countries, it has for some time been fashionable to think that, by free education for all, whether rich or poor, clever or stupid one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education; for all is not enough. We find in such countries a far larger number of people, with university degrees than there are jobs for them to fill.
Answer –
Title : Importance of Education
Notes :
1. Purpose of Education
1.1 Not an end, but a means to an end
1.2 Aim: To fit children for life
2. System of Education
2.1 Must prepare children for life
2.2 Should not be accepted without examination
3. Free Education
3.1 Popular belief: solves all social problems
3.2 Reality: Free education for all is not enough
4. Present Situation
4.1 More degree holders than available jobs
4.2 Mismatch between education and employment
SECTION – B (Writing Skills)
3. Write an application to the Principal of your school requesting him to allow you to change your subjects from commerce to science.
Answer –
| To, The Principal, Model Sr Sec School, Charkhi Dadri Subject : Request to change subjects from Commerce to Science
Respected Sir, Thanking you, |
OR
Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper about the evils of street begging.
Answer –
| To, The Editor, Dainik Bhaskar Subject : Evils of Street Begging
Sir, Yours truly, |
SECTION – C (Grammar)
4. Attempt any six of the following : (1 × 6 = 6 Marks)
(i) It gives her …………… pleasure to do social work. (Article)
(a) no article
(b) an
(c) the
(d) a
Answer – (a) no article
(ii) Football is ………….. most popular sport in the world. (Article)
(a) a
(b) the
(c) an
(d) no article
Answer – (b) the
(iii) We ….……… (not watch) T.V. (Verb)
(a) did not
(b) do not
(c) does not
(d) not
Answer – (b) do not
(iv) He …………. (know) English. (Verb)
(a) knows
(b) know
(c) did not know
(d) knew
Answer – (a) knows
(v) The aeroplane is flying …………… the cloud. (Preposition)
(a) at
(b) above
(c) in
(d) none of the above
Answer – (b) above
(vi) He deals ……………. cosmetic goods. (Preposition)
(a) of
(b) with
(c) in
(d) none of the above
Answer – (c) in
(vii) ……………. or not you allow me, I am going to the fair. (Conjunction)
(a) Whether
(b) Unless
(c) If
(d) Until
Answer – (a) Whether
(viii) He helped me with the lessons …………… I should fail. (Conjunction)
(a) because
(b) unless
(c) lest
(d) so that
Answer – (c) lest
SECTION – D (Prose and Poetry)
5. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (5 Marks)
In the evening, a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighborhood, got an old drum and started to sign. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray.
Questions :
(i) Name the lesson this extract has been taken from?
(a) The Portrait of a Lady
(b) The Browning Version
(c) The Adventure
(d) Landscape of the Soul
Answer – (a) The Portrait of a Lady
(ii) What was the change that came over the grandmother?
(a) She beat an old drum
(b) She prayed for a long time
(c) She did not pray
(d) Both (a) and (b)
Answer – (c) She did not pray
(iii) When did a change come over grandmother?
(a) in the noon
(b) in the morning
(c) in the evening
(d) in the afternoon
Answer – (c) in the evening
(iv) Name the writer of the chapter?
(a) Gordon Cook and Elan East
(b) Khushwant Singh
(c) A. R. William
(d) Nathalie Trouveroy
Answer – (b) Khushwant Singh
(v) Give the synonym of the word ‘dilapidated’.
(a) ramshackle
(b) new
(c) fresh
(d) none of the above
Answer – (a) ramshackle
OR
Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterlings, and a tremor of wings, and trilling-
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
Questions :
(i) Name the poem this stanza has been taken from :
(a) A Photograph
(b) The Voice of the Rain
(c) The Laburnum Top
(d) Childhood
Answer – (c) The Laburnum Top
(ii) Name the poet.
(a) Ted Hughes
(b) Walt Whitman
(c) Shirley Toulson
(d) Markus Natten
Answer – (a) Ted Hughes
(iii) Why does the poet compare the chitterlings goldfinch to an engine?
(a) because of a tremor of wings
(b) because of their chitterlings
(c) because of trilling
(d) all of the above
Answer – (d) all of the above
(iv) What happens when the goldfinch comes?
(a) the tree trembles
(b) the tree thrills
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
Answer – (c) both (a) and (b)
(v) To which creature is goldfinch compared?
(a) a snake
(b) a sparrow
(c) a lizard
(d) a tortoise
Answer – (c) a lizard
6. The lesson “We’re not afraid to die…………. if we can all be together’ depicts a grand lesson “United we stand, divided we fall.” Explain the idea. (We’re not afraid to die……….) (5 Marks)
Answer – The lesson “We’re Not Afraid to Die… if We Can All Be Together” shows how unity and courage help overcome the toughest challenges. When the narrator’s family faced a violent storm at sea, their boat was badly damaged, and survival seemed impossible. But everyone in the family remained united. They encouraged one another, supported in repairing the boat, and showed determination. Their teamwork gave them strength to fight against the odds. The story conveys the grand idea that when people stand together with courage and cooperation, they can overcome any difficulty – “United we stand, divided we fall.”
OR
Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address? (The Address)
Answer – In the story “The Address” by Marga Minco, the narrator visited Mrs. Dorling’s house to get back her mother’s belongings which had been taken during the war. However, seeing those familiar household things in strange surroundings gave her deep pain instead of comfort. The objects reminded her of the loss of her mother and her past life. She realized that those memories could not be relived again. To free herself from the sorrow, she decided to forget the address and move on.
7. Answer any three questions : (2 × 3 = 6 Marks)
(i) What things of her childhood did the grandmother tell the children? (The Portrait of A Lady)
Answer – The grandmother often told the children stories of her childhood. She would talk about the games she played as a little girl, her village life, and incidents from her early days. These stories entertained the children and also connected them with her past.
(ii) How long did Armenhotep III rule over the Empire? (Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues)
Answer – Amenhotep III ruled Egypt for 38 years.
(iii) What traits of the Garoghlanian family are highlighted in the story? (The Summer of the Beautiful……)
Answer – The Garoghlanian family was very poor but known for honesty, trust, and integrity. No member of the family could ever be suspected of dishonesty.
(iv) How does Mrs. Pearson behave after her changed personality. (Mother’s Day)
Answer – After her personality changes, Mrs. Pearson becomes bold, outspoken, and dominating. She stops obeying her family blindly, speaks firmly, and makes them realize their mistakes.
8. What impression do you form of the poetess and the poetess’ mother after reading the poem ‘A Photograph’. (A Photograph) (3 Marks)
Answer – In ‘A Photograph’ by Shirley Toulson, the poetess appears as a sensitive and emotional person, deeply attached to her mother and pained by her loss. The mother, on the other hand, comes across as cheerful, lively, and fond of her childhood days spent at the beach. Both are shown as loving, caring, and nostalgic, tied together by strong bonds of affection.
OR
How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science. (The Voice of the Rain)
Answer – In ‘The Voice of the Rain’ by Walt Whitman, the poet shows the cyclic movement of rain. Rain rises from the land and sea as water vapour, forms clouds in the sky, and then returns to the earth as rain, giving life and beauty to everything. This cycle is never-ending.
In science, this is explained as the water cycle – evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Rainwater again seeps into the earth or flows into rivers and seas, repeating the same cycle.