Rbse Board Class 9th English Annual Exam Paper 2026 imp.

One of the most famous monuments in the world, the Statue of Liberty, was presented to the United States of America by the people of France. The great statue which was designed by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, took ten years to complete. The actual figure was made of copper supported by a metal framework which had been specially constructed by Eiffel. Before it could be transported to the United States, a site had to be found for it and a pedestal had to be built. The site chosen was an island at the entrance of the New York Harbour. By 1884, a statue which was 151 feet tall, had been erected in Paris. The following year, it was taken to pieces and sent to America. By the end of October, 1886, the statue had been put together again and it was officially presented to the American people by Bartholdi. Ever since then, the great monument had been a symbol of liberty for the millions of people who have passed through New York Harbour to make their homes in America.

An old philosopher friend of mine (narrator) grew very cautious from experience, and carefully avoided any contact with such people. He had a thermometer to show him the temperature, and a barometer to show when the weather was likely to be good or bad. Since there is no instrument, however, to discover an unpleasant disposition in a person of first sight, he made use of his legs. One of his legs was remarkably handsome, the other, by some accident, was crooked and deformed. If a stranger looked at his ugly leg more than his handsome one, he doubted him. If he spoke of it and took no notice of the handsome leg, my friend had sufficient reason not to bother with him any longer.
Not everyone has this two-legged instrument, but everyone, with a little attention, may observe signs of that kind of fault-finding disposition and make the same resolution to avoid those infected with it. I therefore advise those critical, argumentative, discontented, unhappy people that if they wish to be respected and loved by others, and happy in themselves, they should stop looking at the ugly leg.

Every child is born, with some inherited characteristics, into a specific socio-economic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways by figures of authority. I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness and so did my three brothers and sister. I had three close friends in my childhood – Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As children, none of us ever felt any difference amongst ourselves because of our religious differences and upbringing. In fact, Ramanadha Sastry was the son of Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple. Later, he took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father; Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.