Envy poisons the precis passage of the English Precis and Composition past paper 2010. The passage calls envy the most unfortunate trait of ordinary human nature: the envious person gains pain from the success of others and works to strip their advantages away. The comprehension passage starts with Galileo and his muttered “And still it moves”. It turns that moment toward our own world of piling discoveries and asks whether life grows happier and more worthy. Part-I carries 10 marks and Part-II 90. The precis asks for about 100 words and pays 5 extra marks for the title. Sayings headline the note topics: “When flatterers get together, the devil goes to dinner” and “The impossible is often the untried”. Narration hides at the tail of Q.6 this year.
What this paper contains
- Part-I (Q.1) — (a) Synonyms for capitalised words (5 marks); (b) antonyms for capitalised words (5 marks)
- Q.2 — Precis of a passage on envy, in about 100 words, with a title (20+5 = 25 marks)
- Q.3 — Comprehension: a passage on Galileo and human progress (20 marks)
- Q.4 — Note of 250–300 words on one of the given topics (20 marks)
- Q.5 — (a) Use five idioms in sentences (5 marks); (b) use five pairs of words in sentences (10 marks)
- Q.6 — (a) Correct five sentences (5 marks); (b) change the narration of five sentences (5 marks)
English Precis and Composition Past Paper 2011 · All English Precis and Composition Past Papers · English Precis and Composition Past Paper 2009