ENGLISH ELECTIVE CODE NO. 001
CLASS XII SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER
Time Allowed : 3 hours
Maximum Marks : 100 Marks

General Instructions
1. Question Nos. 1-4 are compulsory
2. Attempt either Question 5 or 6
3. Your answer should be to the point. Stick to word limit given.

Section A : Reading
Read the following passage and answer the questions 6 x 2 = 12 Marks

1.a)I can still remember my first encounter with the fear of supernatural. I was about 8 years old and my younger brother Sonu was 7. We lived in Meghalaya – a really beautiful part of India, and this was long before civilization really came to that part of the country. We were allotted a huge bungalow, complete with outhouse and servants quarters and sprawling lawns. The net result was that we were isolated from the hoi polloi .

It was about mid June, on a Saturday, my brother and I had just finished dinner. Our parents had gone to the club when it started raining in earnest. Father rang up to tell us that they would not be driving home in the storm and that we should lock the house up from inside after informing the guards. Now this left us alone in the huge house in the middle of what appeared to us in the night like a huge jungle. All of a sudden, there was a huge crack of lightning and the power failed. I was in my bed at that time – and started quaking with fear. My younger brother came running into my room absolutely terrified. Dee … dee, can I sleep with you ?

Now I could not admit that I was scared too. So like a very brave elder sister … I took charge. I smiled and told him “Sure, but let’s play knots and crosses”, a game he hated and I was addicted to. He agreed making a face. Both of us together lit a lamp, got out our pencils and some paper and started playing. As time went by, it was more like a night without parents and we were savouring our independence. We took the lamp and went to the kitchen, got ourselves some cookies, chips and sodas, and had a party. Then we sat down to laugh and discuss the daily happenings in school. The fear receded and we felt very brave and grown up – two children in a 7 bedroom house all alone. We both pretended that it was quite okay and together we could face anything. Soon the oil in the lamp went down and the wick needed trimming, the lamp-light became dim. So we decided that we should sleep together and got into my bed for the night.

There was a loud crash followed by a huge earthquake that woke us up. All pretence at bravery was over. The lamp had gone out and we did not even know what time it was. On the top of that, we could not find the matches. I had started crying and it was Sonu’s turn to be the brave macho brother. Both of us held hands, I was holding the lamp and we walked to the kitchen, Sonu leading the way. That walk is etched in my memory – a wooden floor with creaky floor boards, an open window slamming again and again in the storm, and tree branches rustling and groaning in the storm. We never reached the kitchen. We had reached the living room, which overlooked the boundary wall of the bungalow lawns – about a mile away. From the distance we could see the wall on and off in the flickering lightening. And all our fears were realized !!!! On the wall looking straight at us in the flickering light were two heads. I forgot all reserves and started wailing. The lamp slipped and fell out of my hands and broke. Sonu somehow managed to hold on to me and take me to the two seater sofa close by. Both of us sat down on the sofa with our eyes focused on the wall. We could not take our eyes away from the two people peering at us. I whispered to Sonu “Shall we scream for the guards” , Sonu did not even waste a minute and started yelling “Chowkidaar, chowkidaar” but most probably the guards were sitting inside the room, away from the cold rain and could not hear the screams of a terrified 7 year old boy. I had lost my voice and could not say anything – all efforts brought just a quavering “Help … bachao” from me.

Both of us kept sitting on the couch – our horrified eyes fixed on the heads that were looking at us menacingly all through the night. After a while, the tears and fear took its toll on us and we drifted into an uneasy sleep, cuddled into each other. I woke up with a start in the morning, weak sunbeams lighting up the room …. Our parents had just come home. Father and Mother came in to the house and saw us both on the couch, and woke us up. We had eyes for nothing but the boundary wall. What we saw had us speechless. Some one had apparently picked up coconuts from the palms growing near the gate, and placed on the wall were two halved coconut shells, and we had actually spent the entire night petrified because of two coconut shells.

1 What does the child remember about the bungalow? 2
2. What happened as result of lightning? What was the children’s reaction? 2
3. Why did Sonu agree to play knots and crosses? 2
4. How did the children enjoy the night without parents? 2
5. How were all pretences of bravery over? 2
6. When did the truth about the ghost come to light? 2

1.b) Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow: (8 marks)

This is a poem by war poet - Siegfred Sassoon. It describes the atmosphere when peace was finally declared after WW2 , so evocatively...

EVERYONE SANG

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on--on--and out of sight.

Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun ;
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away...O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Seigfred Sassoon

1. List out any four things that people felt when peace was declared after World War II 2
2. Setting of sun is a common sigh t. What makes it special on that day? 2
3. Point out a simile in the poem? 1
4. Give an example of alliteration from the poem 1
5. Complete the following :- 2

When peace was established everyone suddenly began to _________ .The song filled the poet with great happiness just as the _______ ______when they are set free. They fly _______ across the sky. The whole thing was so beautiful that the poet was moved to __________. The horror of war gradually drifted away. Every one, like a bird sang songs that had no words and the singing seemed never to end.


Section B – Writing
2.a)

1) India entered into the 61st year of Independence. You watched a lot of programmes showing the struggle and sacrifice of many leaders and of common men & women. You feel very strongly feel that this freedom must not be lost at any cost and the youth alone can take up the responsibility of building the India of tomorrow. Write an essay in about 150-200 words to this effect :- 10

OR

2) The newspapers have been reporting that many old people are left alone in their native places when their children settle down in other places. Life becomes lonely and difficult for them. They have to depend on outsiders. You feel that they certainly need better care. Write an essay in about 100-200 words.

2 .b) Study of arts and humanities helps us to become sensitized individuals. Study of the sciences helps us to develop a rational temperament required in the modern age. An individual who combines sensitivity and rational temperament is the one who can contribute to society meaningfully. Prepare a speech to express your opinion on this topic in about 150-200 words 10

Section C – Applied Grammar
3.a) In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in your sheet. Ensure that the word that forms your answer is underlined. 10 x ½ = 5

There two types of exercises _________
prescribed clients diagnosed _________
osteoporosis. Weight bearing _________
activities walking, stair climbing, _________
jogging etc. and resistance exercises performed _________
with free weights or machine weights
used the gym. _________
Swimming a non-weight bearing _________
exercise, but considered as a
part of exercise regimen osteoporosis. _________
Exercises prescribed _________
depending the severity of condition. _________

3.b) Read the following report. Complete the paragraph using the information given below in your own words. 5 x 1 = 5
Delhi lawyer stabbed outside the court
1 New Delhi Bar association secretary said,
2 “I was standing outside my chamber with fellow lawyers.
3 Aman kumar came out rushing towards us
4 He was bleeding profusely”.
5 Aman Kumar said, “ I have been attacked by a group of men outside the gate. They took away all my cash and mobile phone”.
6 Secretary, “ I took him to the Hindu Rao Hospital in my car”.
New Delhi Bar Association Secretary reported that _________ with fellow lawyers when __________ bleeding profusely. Aman Kumar informed _____________outside the gate. He also said that ____________ robbed of all his cash and mobile phone. The secretary then _________to Hindu Rao Hospital in his car.

Section D - Literature

4 .a) Choose two of the following extracts and answer the questions that follow: 4 x 2 =8
1) Finally she lay dying
In her eighty sixth year
A woman wearied by compromise
Her legs quilted with arthritis
And with only a hard cough
For comfort
I looked deep into her eyes
Her poor bleary eyes
And prayed that she would not grieve
So much about the house

a. Explain the phrase-‘wearied by compromise’ 2
b. What responsibility does the speaker have towards the house? 2
2 ‘Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to explain to my son exactly what happened on that day…..
a. What had the speaker been accused of? 2
b. Why was it important to the speaker that the matter be explained to the son? 2

3 We have curious ideas of ourselves. We think of ourselves as a body with a spirit in it, or a body with a soul it, or a body with a mind in it.
a. What do people think of themselves? 2
b. Why is it called a curious idea? What is the truth? 2

4.b) Answer any two of the following questions in about 100 words each 6 +6 =12
1) Girish Karnad’s brilliance is at its best in his play ‘Broken Images’. Comment on the technique of the play.
2) What prompts Issac Azimov to say that science fiction is a literary universe of no mean size?
3) ‘‘It is not the actions of a character in a short story but the whole range of emotions, that cause the actions that contribute to its plot’. How does the statement apply to Eveline’s final decision?

4.c) Answer any five of the following questions in about 60 words each. 4x 5 = 20

1) Why is modern film making like a walk on a tight rope without a net?
2) How is slavery to nature better than slavery to man?
3) Why is Shakespeare called the son of memory?
4) Explain the lines ‘ And mutual fear brings peace, Till the selfish loves increase’?
5) How far do you think Frau Frieda was honest in her dealings with others? Why do you think so?
6) Dr. Margolin met Raizel at a wedding in Brownsville and wanted to marry her according to Jewish law. What made him realize that he could not do so?

NOTE : Attempt either question 5 OR 6

5 .a) Answer one of the following in about 100 words 6
1) According to R.K.Narayan the ‘tiger hermit’ employs his power to save the tiger and transforms it inwardly working on the basis that deep within, the core of personality is the same in spite of differing appearances and categories and with the right approach you could expect the same response from a tiger as from any normal human being’ . – Elaborate

2) The self-styled higher animal – man- is no better than the animals of the jungle and at times he is worse than them . Prove with the help of examples.


5.b) Answer any one in about 60 words 4
1) How does the tiger eventually attain freedom from Captain?
2) What is the ‘profound question’ often asked? Has the hermit found an
answer to that?

6.a) Answer one of the following in about 100 words 6
1) On the basis of the novel ‘The Financial Expert’ prove that love of money is the root of all evil.
2) Discuss the role of Dr. Pal in the life of Margayya and his family.

6.b) Write short notes on any one of the following in about 60 words. 4
1) Margayya’s brother
2) Margayya’s son Balu