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English (Core) 2010 Question Paper For CBSE Class XII Exams

Section -A: (Reading) 20 Marks

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (12 Marks)

   (1) Today's woman is a highly self - directed person, alive to the sense of her dignity and the importance of her functions in the private domestic domain and the public domain of the world of work. Women are rational in approach, careful in handling situations and want to do things as best as possible. The Fourth World Conference of Women held in Beijing in September 1995 had emphasized that no enduring solution of found without the participation and empowerment of the women. The 1995 World Summit for social Development had also emphasized the pivotal role of women in eradicating poverty and mending the social fabric.

   (2) The Constitution of India had conferred on women equal rights and opportunities - political, social, and educational and of employment - with men. Because of oppressive traditions, superstitions, exploitation and corruption, a majority of women are not allowed to enjoy the rights and opportunities, bestowed on them. One of the major reasons for this state of affairs is the lack of literacy and awareness among women. Education is the main instrument through which we can narrow down the prevailing inequality and accelerate the process of economic and political change in the status of women.

   (3) The role of women in a society is very important. Women's education is the key to a better life in the future, A recent World Bank study says that educating girls in not a charity, it good economics and if developing nations are to eradicate poverty, they must educate the girls, The report says that the economic and social returns on investment in education of the girls considerably affect the human development index of the nation. Society would progress only if the status of women is respected and the presence of an educated woman in the family would ensure education of the family itself. Education and empowerment of women are closely related.

   (4) Women's education has not received due care and attention from the planners and policy makers. The National Commission for Women has rightly pointed out that even after 50 years of independence; women continue to be treated as the single largest group of backward citizens of India. The role of women in overall development has not been fully understood nor has it been given its full weight in the struggle to eliminate poverty, hunger, injustice and inequality at the national level. Even when we are at the threshold of the 21st century, our society still discriminates against women in matters of their rights and privileges and prevents them from participating in the process of national and societal progress. Various Committees and Commissions have been constituted before and after the independence to evaluate the progress in women's education and to suggest ways and means to enhance the status of women. The female literacy rate has gone up in the 20th century from 0.6 percent in 1901 to 39.29 percent in 1991 but India still possesses the largest number of illiterate women in the world. The female literacy index for the year 1991 shows that there are eight States which fall below the national average. The most populous states of the country. UP. MP, Bihar and Rajasthan fall in the category of most backward States as far as female literacy is concerned.

   (5) The prevailing cultural norms of gender behavior and the perceived domestic and reproductive roles of women tend to affect the education of the girls. Negative attitude towards sending girls to schools, restrictions on their mobility, early marriage, poverty and illiteracy of parents affect the girl's participation in education.

   (6) Woman's political empowerment got a big boost with the Panchayati Raj Act of 1993 which gave them 30 percent reservation in Village Panchayats, Block Samities and Zila Parishads throughout the country. The National Commission for women was also set up in 1992 to act as a lobby for women's issues.

   (7) The educational system is the only institution which can counteract the deep foundations of inequality of sexes that are built in the minds of people through the socialization process. Education is the most important instrument of human resource development Educational system should be used to revolutionise the traditional attitudes and inculcate new values of equality.

   (a) (i) Mention any two attributes of a modern woman. (2 Marks)
   (ii) Why are women's participation and empowerment considered Necessary? (2 Marks) (iii) Which factors adversely affect the education of girls? (2 Marks)
   (iv) What benefits did the women get with the enactment of the Panchayati Raj Act of 1993? (2 Marks)
   (v) By what process can we remove the sense of inequality of sexes from? The minds of the people? (12 Marks)

   (b) Pick out words from the passage which mean the same as each of the Following: (1�3=3 Marks)

   (i) Cruel and unfair (Para 2)
   (ii) Remove (Para 3)
   (iii) Full of people (Para 4)

2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : (8 Marks)

   Despite all the research, every one of us catches cold and most of us catch is frequently. Our failure to control one of the commonest of all ailments sometimes seems ridiculous. Medical science regularly practices transplant surgery and has rid whole countries of such killing diseases as typhus and the Plague. But the problem of common cold is unusually difficult and much has yet be done to solve it. It is known that a cold is caused by one of a number of viral infections that affect the lining of the nose and other passages leading to the lungs but the confusing variety of viruses makes study and remedy very difficult. It was shown in 1960 that many typical colds in adults are caused by one or the other of a family of viruses known as rhinoviruses, yet there still remain many colds for which no virus has as yet been isolated.

   There is also the difficulty that because they are so much smaller than the bacteria which cause many other infections, viruses cannot be seen with ordinary microscopes. Nor can they be cultivated easily in the bacteriologist's laboratory, since they only grow within the living cells of animals or plants. An important recent step forward, however, is the development of the technique of tissue culture, in which bits of animal tissue are enabled to go on living and to multiply independently of the body. This has greatly aided virus research and has led to the discovery of a large number of viruses. Their existence had previously been not only unknown but even unsuspected.

   The fact that we can catch cold repeatedly creates another difficulty. Usually a virus strikes only once and leaves the victim immune to further attacks. Still we do not gain immunity from colds. Why? It may possible be due to the fact that while other viruses get into the blood stream where anti - bodies can oppose them, the viruses causing cold attack cells only on the surface. Or it may be that immunity from one of the many different viruses does not guarantee protection from all the others. It seems, therefore, that we are likely to have to suffer colds for some time yet.

   (a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it in points only, using abbreviations wherever necessary. Also suggest a suitable title. (5 Marks)
   (b) Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words using the notes made.

Section-B: (Advanced Writing Skills) 35 Marks

3. You are General Manager of Ivy software solutions, Agra Cant, Agra. You need a software engineer for your organization. Draft an advertisement in not more than 50 words to be published in 'The Times of India' under the classified columns. (5 Marks)

   OR

   As Sports Secretary of G.D.G. Public School, Pune, draft a notice in not more than 50 words for your school notice board informing the students about the sale of old sports goods of your school. You are Rohini/Rohit.

4. You are Sweety/Suresh of L.M. Jain School, Ajmer. As secretary of your school Co- curricular Activities Club, you visited a slum area in your city where the people suffered a great loss of life and property in a massive fire. The students of your school rendered their services and material help to the victims. Write a report in 100-125 words for your school magazine. (10 Marks)

OR

Recently your school held a seminar on conservation of water a s a part of World Water Day celebrations. As the school Pupil Leader of Maryland School, Gurgaon, write a report in 100-125 words for a local daily. sing as Pritham / Preeti.

5. You are sruthi /Shiraj staying at R.K. Puram, Secunderabad. Your locality being away from the main city, the poor bus service adversely affects the life of residents. Write a letter to the Editor, Deccan Chronicle, highlighting the problems faced and also giving a few possible solutions. (10 Marks)

   OR

   You are Varsha /varun, In charge of Excursion Club of B.V.P. School, Mathura Road, Delhi. Write a letter to the General Manager, Northern Railways, requesting reservation of a bogie for 80 students from New Delhi to Chennai and back by G.T Express.

6. Presently the prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing causing much hardship to the common man. Write an article in 150-200 words expressing your views and suggesting measures to curb this problem. (10 Marks)

   OR

   The number of women in the police force seems insufficient specially when we see the increasing involvement of women in terrorist activities. Write an article in 150-200 words for 'The HindustanChronicle', on the need having more women in the police

Section-C : (Text Books) 45 Marks

7. Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow: (4 marks)

   It would be an exotic moment Without rush, without engines, We would all be together In a sudden strangeness.

   (a) What is the poet 'it' refers to? (1 Marks)
   (b) Who is the poet speaking to? (1 Marks)
   (c) What would be the moment like? (2 Marks)

OR

Aunt Jennifer's tigers prance across a screen, Bright topaz denizens of a world of green. They do not fear the men beneath the tree: They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

(a) How are Aunt Jennifer's tigers described? (1 Marks)
(b) Why are they described as denizens of a world of green? (12 Marks)
(c) Why are not afraid of the men? (1 Marks)

8. Answer any three of the following in 30-40 words each : (2�3=6 Marks)

   (a) Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting '? (My Mother at Sixty -six)
   (b) How does the poet describe the class -room walls? (An Elementary school class-room in a slum )
   (c) What image does Keats use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
   (d) What is the 'childish longing' that the poet refers to? Why is it 'vain'? (A Roadside Stand)

9. Answer the following in 30-40 words each: (2�5=10 Marks)

   (a) What had the narrator counted on to enter the school unnoticed?
   (b) When Douglas realized that he was sinking, how did he plain to save himself?
   (c) Why did the servants thing Gandhi Ji to be another parents?
   (d) What drawbacks of interviews have been pointed out by Lewis Carroll?
   (e)"Damn that Geoff, this was a Geoff thing not a Jansic thing .not a Janice thin. "(Why did Sophie say so?

10. Answer the following in 125-150 words : (10 Marks)

The bangle-makes of Firozabad make beautiful bangle and make everyone happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate.

OR

The story "the Rat Trap' focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with Others. Explain.

11. Answer the following in 125-150 words : (7 Marks)

    When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he able to Avert the danger?

    OR

    How did the question paper ant the correction slip help the prisoner and the Governor?

12. Answer the following in 30-40 words each : (2�4=8 Marks)

    (a) How did Charley often get lost in the Grand Central Station?
    (b) How did the Antarctic amaze the writer when he first saw it?
    (c) Why did Jo think Roger Skunk was better off with the new smell?
    (d) Why did the landlord's man ask Bama's brother, on which street he lived? What was the significance?

Section - D : ( Literature) 40+10 Marks

4. (a) Choose any two of the extracts given below and answer the questions that Follow: (4×2=8 Marks)

   (i) That old man came flying to Colebrook three years ago all in black broadcloth (had lost his wife lately then ), getting out of a third-class smoker as if the devil had been at his heels: and the only thing that brought him down was a letter – a hoax probably.

   a. Identify the ‘old man’. (1 Marks)
   b. What brought the old man to Colebrook? (1 Marks)
   c. What was the letter about? (2 Marks)

   (ii) ‘So you are familiar with the rules and regulations, are you?’ Now the young man addresses her with the formal ‘you’. Tao Ying detects the sarcasm in his tone but she simply nods.

   a. Who is referred to as ‘you’? (1 Marks)
   b. Who is the ‘Youngman’? (1 Marks)
   c. What sarcasm is there in his tone? (2 Marks)

   (iii) Soon spreads the dismal shade

   Of Mystery over his head;
   And the Caterpillar and Fly
   Feed on the mystery

   a. Identify the poem. (1 Marks)
   b. Explain: ‘The shade of Mystery’. (2 Marks)
   c. What do Caterpillar and Fly refer to here? (1 Marks)

   (b) Answer any two of the following questions in about 100 words each:  ( 6×2=12 Marks)

   (i) Who was frank? Why did Eve line’s father quarrel with him?
   (ii) Discuss ‘Kubla Khan’ as a fragment. What do you think has Made it a lasting literary piece?
   (iii)  An account of reflection is more important than a description Of reality according to Virginia Woolf. Why?

      (c) Answer any five of the following questions in about 60 words each:   (4×5=20 Marks)

(i) Why did Bessie sometimes show signs of irritation and disgust?
(ii) How do we know that Tao Ying did not intend to cheat at the temple?
(iii) What connection does the author draw between film-making and conjuring?
(iv) What are the things that mark animate things from the inanimate?
(v) What are the three major issues sen discusses in his article in relation to India’s dialogic traditions?
(vi) Why do you think the playwright has used the technique of the image in the play?

Note : Attempt either Question No. 5 or 6.(6 Marks)

5. (a) Answer the following in about 100 words :

   Narrate briefly, how, after leaving Malgudi, Raja (the tiger) and his guru pass Their days in sweet philosophical discourse.

   OR

   Describe the circumstances under which the tiger could free himself from the Cirrus.

   (b) Answer the following in about 60 words; (4 Marks)

   What was the tiger's experience at school?

   OR

   What, according to the tiger's master, is the profound question asked by someone what is profound about it?

6. (a) Answer the following in about 100 words: 6 Marks

   How is Dr. Pal responsible for Margayya’? Ruin?

OR

Describe the efforts made by Margayya to educate his son.

(b) Answer the following in about 60 words; (4 marks)

Describe the role played by Madan Lal in making Margayya a Rich man.

OR

How did the throwing of the red book into gutter by Balu affect Margays’ life?