CREST English Olympiad Class 10 Previous Year Papers

Q.1

Read the passage and identify the false statement:

Language is the primary source of communication for humans and is used to convey thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires to others (Bonvillain 2008:1). Many rules are taken into account when forming a language. According to Bolton, language is arbitrary and is unrepresentative of the objects they represent (Bolton 1996: 63). The study of Semantics allows us to identify the meaning of words and phrases in their literal sense, and helps us to make meaning out of arbitrary sounds and phrases. It has been contributed to by both linguists and philosophers. Linguists used lexical decomposition to understand the features that comprise words and the categories in which the words fit. Philosophers dealt more with the meanings of sentences and truth condition and reference (Parker and Riley 2010: 28). Semantics is still not a completely understood field, and as a result it is not easy to study (Parker and Riley 2010:26-27).Semantics is split into three different sections: sense, reference, and truth conditions.

Thanks to semantics, we gain an understanding of what words mean when they are said to us. Without semantics, we would not be able to understand each other. Semantics take into account cultural, situational and environmental constructs to develop meaning in different areas of the United States and throughout the world (Bonvillain 2008: 27). With that being said, there are several things that semantics brings to the English language that allows us to communicate on a deeper level and makes our language more complex. Sense is the study of the literal and intentional meaning of words and phrases. Part of this section is lexical ambiguity. This occurs when one word has more than one meaning.
Source: https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Semantics-221752

Q.2

Choose the most suitable option to fill in the blank:

This new process is a ______ advance in technology.

Q.3

Choose the correct meaning of the idiom given in quotes in the sentence:

Kelly was left "high and dry" by her friends when she lost all her money.

Q.4

Read the passage and fill in the blank:

As the rulers of the planet, humans like to think that it is the large creatures who will emerge victorious from the struggle for survival. However, nature teaches us the opposite it is often the smallest species which are the toughest and more adaptable. A perfect example is the hummingbird, which is found in the Americas. One species of hummingbird is known as the bee hummingbird ranks as the world's smallest and lightest bird and it is barely visible when it is in flight.
Humming birds are the only birds that can fly backwards. They feed mainly on the nectar of flowers, a liquid that is rich in energy. Nectar is an ideal food source, for hummingbirds need an incredible amount of energy to sustain their body metabolism. A hummingbird's wings flap at a rate of about 80 times per second and its tiny heart beats more than 1000 times per minute. This is why they must consume relatively large quantities of food. In the course of a day, a hummingbird consumes about half its body weight in nectar.

Hummingbirds need a lot of energy in order to ______________________________________.

Q.5

Read the jumbled parts of a sentence and find out which of the four combinations is correct:

1 : A connection had long been suspected
P : since both were at their worst in the
Q : same regions and seasons, but the nature
R : between the abundance of mosquitoes
S : and the occurence of malaria
6 : of this connection had not been understood.

Q.6

Read the passage and answer the question:

Tom Hamilton liked his Aunt Prudence. She taught at the university. Her name was Dr. Prudence Hamilton. When she came to Tom's father's farm in the Cowichn Valley on Vancouver stand, which is part of the province of British Columbia, she always brought presents. Tom liked her.
He didn’t like her constant companion, Genevieve Trueheart, a dog.
Tom Hamilton was fond of other dogs. He had a dog, a bull terrier called Rusty, a fighter right from the word go. Rusty kept the pheasants out of the garden and young grain. He worked for a living. Tom couldn't like Genevieve Trueheart. She was good for nothing. She never even looked like a dog. She was a great big soft wheezing lazy wagging monster, a great big useless jump.

Which of the following DOES NOT describe Genevieve Trueheart?

Q.7

Choose the most suitable option to fill in the blanks:

I would like to _______ your attention to the first paragraph of my letter ________ to the terms of sale of the machinery.

Q.8

Find the proper order for the four sentences and mark accordingly:

1 : One of the greatest curses of the world is the belief in the necessity of poverty.
P : There need not be a poor person on the planet.
Q : But there was no poverty, no want, no lack, in the creator's plan for man.
R : Most people have a strong conviction that some must necessarily be poor, that they were made to be poor.
S : The Earth is full of resources which we have scarcely yet touched.
6 : We have been poor in the very midst of abundance, simply because of own blighting limit thought.

Q.9

Choose a suitable option which expresses the same sentence in passive/active voice:

The government has launched a massive women welfare programme in New Orleans.

Q.10

Read the passage and answer the question:

As the rulers of the planet, humans like to think that it is the large creatures who will emerge victorious from the struggle for survival. However, nature teaches us the opposite it is often the smallest species which are the toughest and more adaptable. A perfect example is the hummingbird, which is found in the Americas. One species of hummingbird is known as the bee hummingbird ranks as the world's smallest and lightest bird and it is barely visible when it is in flight.
Humming birds are the only birds that can fly backwards. They feed mainly on the nectar of flowers, a liquid that is rich in energy. Nectar is an ideal food source, for hummingbirds need an incredible amount of energy to sustain their body metabolism. A hummingbird's wings flap at a rate of about 80 times per second and its tiny heart beats more than 1000 times per minute. This is why they must consume relatively large quantities of food. In the course of a day, a hummingbird consumes about half its body weight in nectar.

Which of the following statements about the bee hummingbird is true?