English Class - XII Sample Paper 
(1999)

General Instructions:
 (i) The question paper is divided into three sections - A, B and C. All the sections are compulsory.
 (ii)Separate instructions have been provided with each question, where necessary. Read these instructions carefully and follow them faithfully.
 (iii)Do not exceed the given word limit while answering a question. Marks will be deducted if it iscrossed.

Time allowed : 3 hours
Maximum Marks : 100

SECTION A-(READING UNFAMILIAR PASSAGE AND NOTE-MAKING)

Q 1.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

People travelling long distances frequently have to decide whether they would prefer to go by land, sea or air. Hardly anyone can positively enjoy sitting in a train for more than a few hours. Train compartments soon get cramped and stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind off the journey. Reading is only a partial solution, for the monotonous rhythm of the wheels clicking on the rails soon lulls you to sleep. During the day, sleep comes in snatches. At night when you really wish to go to sleep, you rarely manage to do so. If you are lucky enough to get a couchette, you spend half the night staring at the small blue light in the ceiling, or fumbling to find your passport when you cross a frontier. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost exhausted.

Long car journeys are even less pleasant, for it is quite impossible even to read. On motor-ways you can at least travel fairly safely at high speeds, but more often than not, the greater part of the journey is spent on narrow, bumpy roads which are crowded with traffic . By comparison, trips by sea offer a great variety of civilized comforts. You can stretch your legs on the spacious decks, play games, swim, meet interesting people and enjoy good food-always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm. If it is not, and you are likely to get sea-sick, no form of transport could be worse. Even if you travel in ideal weather, sea-journeys take a long time. Relatively few people are prepared to sacrifice up to a third of their holidays for the pleasure of travelling on a ship.

Aeroplanes have the reputation of being dangerous and even hardened travellers are intimidated by them. They also have the grave disadvantage of being the most expensive form of transport. But nothing can match them for speed and comfort. Travelling at a height of 30,000 feet, far above the clouds, and at over 500 miles an hour is an exhilarating experience. You do not have to devise ways of taking your mind off the journey, for an aeroplane gets you to your destination rapidly. For a few hours, you settle back in a deep armchair to enjoy the flight. The real escapist can watch a free film show and sip a hot or cold drink on some services. But even when such refreshments are not available, there is plenty to keep you occupied. An aeroplane offers you an unusual breath taking view of the world. You soar effortlessly over high mountains and deep valleys. You really see the shape of the land. If the landscape is hidden from view, you can enjoy the extraordinary sight of unbroken clouds, plains that stretch out for miles before you, while the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky. The journey is so smooth that there is nothing to prevent you from reading or sleeping. However you decide to spend your time, one thing is certain: you will arrive at your destination fresh and uncrumpled. You will not have to spend the next few days recovering from a long and arduous journey.

Q(a)  Answer the following questions briefly in your own words as far as possible:

(i)   Why is it difficult to read on a train in long distance journeys? Give two Reasons. (2 marks)
(ii)   What are the two disadvantages of travelling by sea? (2 marks)
(iii)  What are the two disadvantages of travelling by air? (2 marks)
(iv)  What are the pleasures of air-flight, according to the writer? (2 marks)
(v)   Why does the writer dislike long car journeys? (1 mark)

Q(b) Find words in the above passage which convey a similar meaning as the following:

(i) Pieces (1 mark)
(ii) feel around (1 mark)
(iii) causing excitement (1 mark)

Q 2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

How you can best improve your English depends on where you live and particularly on whether or not you live in an English speaking community. If you hear English spoken every day and mix freely with English speaking people, that is on the whole an advantage. On the other hand, it is often confusing to have the whole language, poured over you at once. Ideally, a step-by-step course should accompany or lead up to this experience. It will also help a great deal if you can easily get the sort of english books in which you are interested

To read a lot is essential. It is stupid not to venture outside the examination `set books' or the text books you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books' in English as you can, not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not choose the most difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new words as possible; choose what is likely to interest you and be sure in advance that it is not too hard. You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Look up a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead, guessing what words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra-reading and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which extensive reading gives of having some command of the language. As you read you will become more and more familiar with words and sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only slightly from others.

Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe this is to believe that the spoken language and the written language are quite different things. This is not so. There is a very great deal in common between the two . In learning the patterns and vocabulary of the written form we are learning to a considerable extent those of the spoken form too. We are, in fact, learning the language and not merely one form of the language.

Q a)  On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum 4) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.( 5 marks)

Q b) Write a summary of the above passage. (3 marks)

SECTION B-(ADVANCE WRITING SKILLS)

Q 3 (a) You are Manav/Manasi working as he Students's Representative on the School Development Committee. The committee is going to meet next week to prepare a Calendar of Activities for the School for the year 1999-2000. To ensure that you play your role effectively at the proposed meetingyou have decided to invite the students' suggestions on this subject. Write a notice in this regard innot more than 50 words to be put up on your school notice-board. (5 marks)

(b) You are Abhinav/Aakriti. You have received a letter from your close friend, inviting you to attend the      marriage of his sister. But unfortunately, you can not attend it due to your previous commitments.      Write him a letter regretting your inability to attend the marriage ceremony. (5 marks)

Q 4. You are Kushan/Kajol working for The Times of India as a reporter. Yesterday you were invited to     attend a press conference called by the Chief Minister of delhi on "Unprecedented Price Rise of     Vegetables and Pulses." Write a report for the paper in not more than 100 words covering what the     Chief Minister said to tackle this issue against the background of the forthcoming assembly     elections.( 5 marks)   

OR

You are Rajat/Ranjita. The other day you participated in an inter-school debate competition as a contestant, organized by the Lions Club of your area, in which you spoke for the motion and stood first. The topic for the debate was "In the opinion of the house, free education upto Secondary level is the fundamental right of every Indian child"" Write a reporton this event in not more than 100 words for publication in your school magazine.

Q 5. You are Amol/Anubha staying at 162, Kailash Hills, New Delhi. Last month, you bought a cordless     electric iron from 'Premier electronic Goods', South Extn., New Delhi against a warranty of 2 years.     Now you discover that there is something wrong with this iron. Its heat lasts hardly for a few seconds     after it is taken off the mains. Write a letter to the dealer complaining about it. Also request him to     change this defective iron against the warranty that goes with it (Word limit: 2000 words). (10 marks)

OR

You are Aakanksha/Abhijeet staying in Kanishka Cooperative Group housing Society, Indira Nagar, Mumbai. There are no street lights on themain road leading to this colony. The road gets so dark after seven in the evenings in winter that the possibility of some major accident cannot be ruled out. Write a letter to the editor of a national daily drawing attention of the government to this serious problem of the residents of Indira Nagar. (Word limit: 200 words) (10 marks)

Q 6. While going to your school in the morning you noticed hundreds of men and women queuing up before    the vegetable booth of your locality. On inquiring you were told that they were waiting to buy 2 Kgs. Of    onion on their ration cards, which were available only at a very high price in the open market. In anguish    you decide to write an article for publication in a national daily, suggesting ways and means to overcome    this problem and avert its recurrence in future . (Word limit : 200 words) (10 marks)

OR

This year children of many schools in Delhi took a vow not to use crackers and other fire-works on the occasion of Deepawali to reduce air and noise pollution and also to register their protest against the child labour involved in this industry. The next day, almost all the important national dailies published this news with great appreciation for this unique gesture on the part of the children. Getting motivated by this news, write an article on `Role of children in curbing Black-Marketing and Criminalization in Politics' for publication in the Education Times. (Word limit: 200 words.) (10 marks)

SECTION - C (Text Books)

Q 7. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

The ground was too muddy and he slithered . He had hardly gone five yards when a stick caught him in the middle and he broke his back. A volley of blows reduced him to a squishy-squashy pulp of black and white jelly, spattered with blood and mud. His head was still undamaged.

(i) Name the lesson from which the above lines have been extracted. (1 mark)
(ii)  Who is the victim? (1 mark)
(iii)  Why could't he save himself from his attackers? (2 marks)
(iv)  Why did the attackers try to kill him? (1 mark)
(v)  Why did they avoid damaging his hood? (1 mark)
(vi)  Select words from the above passage which convey similar meanings:  (3 marks)
       (a) shower
       (b) mash
       (c) hurt

Q 8. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each:
(i)  What causes the old tiger's death? (2 marks)
(ii)  Why does Charlie fail to attract Nancy in spite of his passionate love for her? (2 marks)
(iii)  Did Miss Stubbs have a knowledge of her impending death? Give a reason. (2 marks)
(iv)  Why did Mikali's fellow Aremenians chase him away? (2 marks)
(v)  Why did the 'Titanic look fascinating' just before diping into the sea? (2 marks)
(vi)  Both Robichon and Quinquart loved Brouette equally. Who did she say she would finally marry, and       why? (2 marks)
(vii)  What happened to life and property after the atom-bomb was dropped? (2 marks)
(viii)  Why did Cassius not ring up his white millionaire sponsors? Give two reasons.

Q 9. Imagine yourself to be a Gafur, the character in the story Drought by Sarat Chand Chatterjee. Being     persecuted by the village Zamindar you decide to leave the village. Justify your decision of leaving the     village in about 150 words. (10 marks)

OR

`Both Mr. Patch and Miss Straw got the kind of spouse they had been looking for.' Point out relevant traits of their personality to justify this remark. (word limit : 150)

Q 10. 'A Man Who Had No Eyes is a story of two totally different outlooks on life.' Cite relevant instances       from the story to justify this remark. (Word limit : 150 ) (10 marks)

OR

Fatima's parents wanted her to marry a man whom she despised. Do you think it was proper on the part of her parents to arrange such a marriage? Give at least three reasons in support of your view.
(Word limit:150)