NCTB PREPARED
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Secondary School
Certificate (SSC)
Examination
2.
ENGLISH FIRST PAPER
Full Marks-100; Time-3 hours
A. Reading Test
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions
following it.
Feroza’s childhood was full of sufferings and sorrows. She
never had a moment of happiness in her life. All she
remembered from her childhood was the extreme want of
food, want of shelter and want of clothing. In 1972 at the age
of 12 she was married to a 24-year old unemployed man.
Feroza entered into her husband’s house with the dreams and
hopes of a young girl but all she saw was more want. It was
Feroza who worked for a handful of grains to feed herself,
her mother in law and her husband. When her first son was
born she was 19. The birth of a child meant another mouth to
feed. Feroza’s toiling days became harder with the birth of
her second son in 1982. Her husband was still unwilling to
work and therefore she had to work even harder to feed all
the five mouths. From morning till dark she worked, worked
and worked. When she was 24 her third son was born. Each
day became more difficult for Feroza. No matter how hard
she worked she could never earn enough to feed everyone.
Eight years went by and Feroza was still struggling for
herself and her family. Then she came to learn about the
Grameen Bank. She became a member of the Bank, took a
loan and started her own ‘ricehusking’ business. Gradually
she managed to improve her conditions and managed to
repay the loan she had borrowed from the Grameen Bank. In
1995 Feroza took an even larger loan and started a stationery
shop alongside her husking business. She went to the adult
literacy centre and learned to read and write. By 2000
Feroza’s worst days were over. She had solvency, security
and happiness.
1.
Choose the best answer.
(a) During the early years of Feroza’s life, she had a
lot of ⎯
i) land
ii) clothes.
iii) sufferings.
iv) happiness.
(b) Her second child was born at the age of ⎯
i) 20.
ii) 22.
iii) 24.
iv) 32.
(c) Feroza was a ⎯ person.
i) courageous
ii) self-cantered
iii) proud
iv) restless
(d) Feroza’s story is a ⎯ example.
i) rare
ii) strange
iii) rich
iv) sad
(e) Feroza wished for a ⎯ life.
i) difficult
ii) miserable
iii) luxurious
iv) comfortable
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Write whether the statements are true or false. If false,
give the correct answer.
(a) Feroza’s life was full of struggle.
(b) She was married to an old man.
(c) After marriage she had to work hard to support the
family.
(d) Her days of struggle ended after she became a
member of the Grameen Bank.
(e) After 1995, Feroza spent all her savings.
Fill in each gap in the following passage with a suitable
word from the box. There are more words than necessary :
determination
created
ideas
self
educated confident
shaped
pleasant
bitter
reminded
independent
life
Feroza had (a) ⎯ memories of her childhood. It (b) ⎯
her of poverty and struggle. She tried hard for a better
(c) ⎯ and succeeded through sheer (d) ⎯ Her efforts and
(e) ⎯ helped her to start an (f) ⎯ business. Gradually
Feroza got (g) ⎯ and was a (h) ⎯ person. She was a (i)
⎯ made woman who (j) ⎯ her own life.
Read the passage in A. Now write a paragraph based on
the information about Feroza’s life. Use the clues in the
box below. Write the information in a logical sequence
as it appears in the text. The paragraph should not
exceed 70 words.
business – happiness – loan – childhood – education –
motherhood – marriage
Read the passage in A again. Now answer the
following questions in your own words:
(a) How did Feroza spend her childhood?
(b) Why were Feroza’s hopes shattered after her
marriage?
(c) What does ‘five mouths’ mean?
(d) How did her conditions improve finally?
(e) What kind of business did Feroza run?
Fill in each gap with a suitable word of your own,
based on the information from the text in (A)
This (a) ⎯ is about Feroza, a (b) ⎯ girl from Dhamrai. She
was married at a (c) ⎯ age. She had to work (d) ⎯ as her
husband had no (e) ⎯ . Her sufferings became (f) ⎯ when
1×5=5
she (g) ⎯ a mother of three. Her struggle finally (h) ⎯ .
She ran her own business through hard work and (i) ⎯.
Feroza set a good (j) ⎯ for the people in the village.
Read the passage in A again. Imagine you are Feroza.
Now write in about 70-80 words about yourself stating
how your life has changed through loans, business and
education and also what you are doing at present.
Read the passage in A again. Now write the main ideas
of the story in your own words in not more than five
sentences.
B. Vocabulary Test
Fill in each gap with a suitable word from the box.
There are more words than necessary.
glass
built
room
sitting
work
discussions meant
together
centrally
highway
engineers
capacity
2
NCTB Prepared Sample Questions
The Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre has
been (a) ⎯ at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka. The venue is
(b) ⎯ for holding large assemblies. Some four hundred
Chinese (c) ⎯ and technicians have completed the
construction (d) ⎯ in sixteen months. 1672 persons can
sit (e) ⎯ in an assembly. Besides the huge plenary (f) ⎯,
the centre has two auditoriums, each with a sitting (g) ⎯
for 400 people. There are four rooms for political (h) ⎯.
The building materials are of steel, aluminium, (i) ⎯,
granite and wood. The entire complex is (j) ⎯ air
conditioned.
10. Complete the following passage, using suitable words.
Use only one word for each gap.
Once upon a time, an ambitious Tortoise thought that he
would (a) ⎯ to possess all the wisdom in the world. His
aim was to be the only wise (b) ⎯ in the world. If he
succeeded in this (c) ⎯, everybody including the great
kings (d) ⎯ the aged counsellors would have to consult
with (e) ⎯. He thought he could charge a great deal of (f)
⎯ for giving his advice. He set out to (g) ⎯ all the
wisdom in the world. As he (h) ⎯ each piece, he put it
into a large pumpkin. Then he (i) ⎯ the opening of the
pumpkin and hid it on (j) ⎯ of a very high tree.
C. Writing Test
11. Read the following table and make ten sentences.
I
You
He
We
took
was
were
turned
showed
began
had
the best dog in the neighbourhood
him to the Dog’s Training School
like best friends
out to be keener to learn than I had
thought
surprised to see other dogs were
obedient than Shadow
a dog called Shadow
to work hard in disciplining him
him for a run every morning
the most affectionate dog I have
ever known
more devotion than other dogs
would show
12. Rearrange the following sentences according to
sequence and rewrite them in a paragraph.
(a) Special food is prepared and clothes are made for the
occasion.
(b) These together mean ‘people belonging to the east’.
(c) On this day no one goes out of the house and no
work is done.
(d) The Sherpas are mountain people.
(e) The Sherpas celebrate many festivals.
(f) The food includes tea, a strong local drink, fried rice,
a special kind of bread and many other delicious
varieties.
(g) It is situated in front of Mt. Everest and is the main
place of the Sherpas.
(h) The word ‘Sherpa’ is derived from the two words
‘Shar’ and ‘wa’.
(i) They live in three levels of the mountain range in
Nepal.
1×10=10
(j) One of the festivities is the celebration of New Year.
13. Imagine that you have gone to your school picnic.
Read the questions and write a paragraph in about
100 words by answering them.
(a) When was it planned ?
(b) Who planned it and how ?
(c) Where did you go ?
(d) Who did you go with ?
(e) How did you go?
(f) How long did it take to reach there?
(g) What did you see?
(h) What did you do?
1×10=10
(i) What did you eat?
14. Imagine you are Nabila/Nabil of 9 Mymensingh Road,
Dhaka 1000. Recently your older sister got married. Now
write a letter to your non-Bangladeshi friend Robert
who lives at 9 Derriford Road, Plymouth PLG8 BH,
UK, telling him about the wedding. Use the following
clues :
(a) date of wedding;
(b) where it took place;
(c) how the place was decorated;
(d) clothes worn by the bride groom and other guests;
(e) ornaments;
(f) how the groom came to the wedding;
(g) kinds of food.
Or, Write a composition in about 200 words about your
leisure. Use the following clues:
1×10=10
(a) thing/things you do;
(b) reasons for doing;
(c) time you spend
Key to NCTB Prepared Sample Questions
56
KEY TO NCTB PREPARED
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Secondary School Certificate
(SSC) Examination
ENGLISH FIRST PAPER
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A. Reading Test
(a) iii. suffering; (b) ii. 22; (c) i. courageous; (d) i. rare; (e)
iv. comfortable
(a) True. (b) False. Corr. Ans. She was married to an
unemployed man. (c) True. (d) True. (e) False. Corr.
Ans. After 1995, Feroza settled down financially.
(a) bitter; (b) reminded; (c) life; (d) determination; (e)
ideas; (f) independent; (g) educated; (h) confident; (i) self;
(j) shaped
Feroza came from a poor family. She was married at the
age of twelve to an unemployed man. Feroza had to work
hard to support the family. But she did not give up. She
borrowed money from the Grameen Bank and started her
own business. It was enough to lead a comfortable life.
She also learned to read and write from the adult literacy
centre.
(a) Feroza had a difficult childhood. She did not have
enough food or clothes.
(b) Feroza’s husband did not work. So she had to work
hard to feed the family.
(c) Feroza’s family members : her husband, mother-inlaw and her three sons.
(d) Feroza started her own business with a loan from the
Grameen Bank and things got better.
(e) Feroza ran a rice-husking business and owned a
stationery shop.
(a) story/text/passage; (b) poor; (c) young; (d) hard; (e)
job/work; (f) worse; (g) became; (h) ended; (i) succeeded;
(j) example
My name is Feroza. I live in Dhamrai. I am a mother of
three sons. My husband is still sitting idle at home. I have
become a member of the Grameen Bank. I took a loan
from the Grameen Bank and I am running a rice-husking
business. I have also started a stationery shop near my
house. I can now read and write. I am very busy but happy
now.
Feroza grew up in want. She was married at an early age
to an unemployed man. She worked hard to support her
family. With loans from the Grameen Bank she could
finally change her life.
B. Vocabulary Test
9.
(a) built; (b) meant; (c) engineers; (d) work; (e) together;
(f) room; (g) capacity; (h) discussions; (i) glass; (j)
centrally
10. (a) like; (b) person/man; (c) job/purpose/goal/
attempt/mission; (d) and; (e) him; (f) money; (g) collect/
possess/gain/ acquire/earn; (h) gathered/collected/got; (i)
shut; (j) top
C. Writing Test
11. (a) I had a dog called Shadow. (b) We were like best
friends. (c) He was the best dog in the neighbourhood. (d)
I took him for a run every morning. (e) I took him to the
Dog’s Training School. (f) I was surprised to see other
dogs were obedient than Shadow. (g) I began to work
hard in disciplining him. (h) He turned out to be keener to
learn than I had thought. (i) He showed more devotion
than other dogs would show. (j) He was the most
affectionate dog I have ever known.
12. The Sherpas are mountain people. The word ‘Sherpa’ is
derived from the two words ‘Shar’ and ‘wa’. These
together means ‘people belonging to the east’. They live
in three levels of the mountain range in Nepal. It is
situated in front of Mt. Everest and is the main place of
the Sherpas. The Sherpas celebrate many festivals. One of
the festivities is the celebration of New Year. Special food
is prepared and clothes are made for the occasion. The
food includes tea, a strong local drink, fried rice, a special
kind of bread and many other delicious varieties. On this
day no one goes out of the house and no work is done.
13.
GOING ON A PICNIC
Our school picnic was planned long before we actually
went for it. After the second term exam we went to our
teachers and requested them to take us out for a picnic.
The teachers had a meeting with the headteacher and
agreed to take to a picnic after the test. We went to a park
seventy kilometres away from our school. All of our
teachers and classmates went to the picnic. Three buses
were hired to take us to the picnic spot. The journey took
an hour and a half and all the way we were singing songs.
Some of our teachers also sang. The picnic spot was very
beautiful. There were flower gardens all around. It was
very big. We went round the gardens, took pictures, sat
beside the flower beds, chatted with our friends and
enjoyed the place. There were arrangements to play
certain games. We had sandwiches and oranges for
breakfast and polau, chicken roast, potato chop and
pickles for lunch. After taking the afternoon tea and
biscuits we started back.
14.
Dear Robert
I got your letter week before last but could not write back
as I was awfully busy with my sister’s wedding. You
know my older sister Nadiah. She got married on 12
January. The wedding took place in Sena Kunja which is
a community centre. In the cities and towns most wedding
ceremonies take place in community centres because at
least 400-500 guests are invited to a wedding. The entire
centre was decorated with colourful lights. An arched gate
with fresh flowers was made for the bridal party. My
Key to NCTB Prepared Sample Questions
56
sister wore a red saree with stone setting jewellery given
by the groom’s family. The groom was wearing the
traditional ‘sherwani’, it was a cream coloured suit. Most
women were wearing heavy jewellery and very gorgeous
‘katan’ sarees, which are our traditional wedding dresses.
Men wore suits, pants and shirts etc.
At about 8pm, the groom came to the community centre
with the bridal party. The party was accompanied by a
group of musicians playing the drums and the flute. It
looked like a fairytale wedding. We all welcomed the
bridal party and showed them in, but before the groom
entered he had to pay an entrance fee which was decided
at the gate. It is again a very traditional thing. Then came
the food. Traditional ‘biriyani’, ‘rezala’, salad, ‘borhani’
and ‘jarda’ were served. Everybody enjoyed the food very
much. At about 10.30 the bridal party took the bride with
them. It is such a time when a lot of crying takes place
and everybody from the bride’s side was in tears.
Well I hope I have given you a long description of my
sister’s wedding. No more for now. Waiting to hear from
you soon.
Yours ever
Nabila
From
Nabila
...............................
...............................
Stamp
To
Robert
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