WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2018

WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2018

Time: 3 Hours 15 Minutes

(First 15 Minutes for reading the question paper only, 3 Hours for writing) 

PART – B [Marks: 20]

1. Complete each of the following sentences, choosing the correct option from the alternatives provided: [1×4 = 4]

(i) The narrator had the compartment to himself upto—

1. Saharanpur
2. Dehradun
3. Rohana
4. Mussorie

(ii) The coconut grove, where Abdul Kalam’s father used to walk down every morning was about—

1. one and a half miles
2. three miles
3. four miles
4. four and a half miles

(iii) Bending over the sink the boy, Roger asked Mrs Jones whether she

1. was going to take him to jail
2. was going to punish him
3. was going to reward him
4. was going to take care of him.

(iv) The hermit received none but

1. Emperors
2. Kings
3. Common folk
4. the Tsar

2. Answer any four of the following questions, each in a complete sentence ：[1×4 = 4]

1. What remark did the narrator make about people with good eyesight?
2. What does Kalam’s father say about the relevance of prayer?
3. What did Mrs Luella Jones ask the boy to pick up?
4. Why did the Tsar put on the simple cloth before meeting the hermit?
5. How did the Tsar meet the hermit?
6. Describe the ancestral house of Kaiam.
7. How did the girl describe the narrator?
8. What advice did Mrs Jones give to Roger at the end of the story?

3. Complete each of the following sentences, choosing the correct option from the alternatives provided: [1×4 = 4]

(i) The marks of the wound of the soldier are —

1. on his head
2. on his chest
3. in his side
4. in his leg

(ii) The ‘curled green twigs’ rise from—

1. the earth’s cave
2. the uprooted tree
3. close to the ground
4. the rough bark

(iii) Nature’s changing course is—

1. dimmed
2. temperate
3. untrimmed
4. lovely

(iv) “…he takes the lead”—Who is ‘he’? He is—

1. the Summer
2. the Grasshopper
3. the Cricket
4. the poet

4. Answer any four of the following questions, each in a complete sentence: [1×4 = 4]

1. Which part of the tree is the most sensitive, white and wet?
2. What gives life to the poet’s friend in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?
3. How does the poet bring out the innocence of the soldier in ‘Asleep in the Valley’?
4. Why is the soldier pale?
5. Where does the Grasshopper rest?
6. How long will the young man be remembered in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?
7. What causes the bark of a tree to bleed?
8. From where is the shrill song of the cricket heard in ‘The Poetry of Earth’?

5. Complete each of the following sentences, choosing the correct option from the alternatives provided: [1×4 = 4]

(i) Lomov went to his neighbour, Chubukov’s house—

1. to borrow money
2. to settle a dispute
3. to give a marriage proposal
4. to complain

(ii) Chubukov comments that Lomov’s have had in their family—

1. autocracy
2. lunacy
3. hypocrisy
4. democracy

(iii) Lomov gave to Mironov for his dog—

1. 120 roubles
2. 125 roubles
3. 25 roubles
4. 85 roubles,

(iv) Lomov’s anut’s name is—

1. Natalya Stepnova
2. Natasha Vassilvitch
3. Nastasya Mihailovna
4. Natalya Mihailovna.

Or;

(i) The merchant’s wife comes from—

1. Naiidgaon
2. Bhatgaon
3. Raigarh

(ii) Charandas takes from Sattuwala—

1. a bundle of coins
2. a bundle of sattu
3. a bundle of clothes
4. a bundle of jewellery

(iii) The name of the gambler was—

1. Chait Ram
2. Ramlal
3. Ramcharan
4. Uday Ram

(iv) The minister first inaugurates—

1. a cycle shop
2. a ration shop
3. a shoe shop
4. a cloth shop

PART – A [Marks: 60]

1. Answer any two of the following questions each in about 100 words: [6 × 2 = 12]

1. “She was an interesting girl.”——Who said this to whom and when? What else did the person say? What reply did he get? 3+1+2
2. “I normally ate with my mother”—Who ate with his mother? Name his mother. Where did he eat with his mother? What did he eat with his mother? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3
3. “All the answers being different, the Tsar agreed with none of them.” What were the questions to which the Tsar got different answers? Whom did the Tsar decide to consult when he was not satisfied? Where did that person live whom the Tsar decided to consult? What was he famous for? 3 + 1 + 1 + 1
4. “Do you need somebody to go to the store…?” Who is the speaker? To whom did the speaker say this? Why did the speaker want to go to the store? What did they have for supper? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3

2. Answer any two of the following questions each in about 100 words: [6×2 = 12]

1. “It takes much time to kill a tree.”—Why does it take much time to kill a tree? According to the poet how is the tree finally killed? 3 + 3
2. How does the poet express the futility of war through his poem ‘Asleep in the Valley’? What message does he want to convey? 4 + 2
3. “And every fair from fair sometime declines”—From which poem is the line quoted? Who is the poet? Briefly explain the meaning of the quoted line. How does the poet promise to immortalize his friend’s beauty? 1 + 1 + 2 + 2
4. Justify the title of the poem “The Poetry of Earth”. 6

3. Answer any one of the following in about 100 words: [6×1 = 6]

1. “We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years…” Who is the speaker? Who is spoken to? What is refewed to as ‘the land’? What do you know of ‘The land’ form their conversation? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3
2. Give a brief sketch of the character of Lomov in the play ‘The Proposal’. 6
3. “Go; there’s a merchant came for his goods.” Who said this and to whom? Who is ‘the merchant’? What is referred to as ‘goods’? In what way does it bring out the attitude of the person and the society at that time? 2 + 1 + 1 + 2

Or,

1. “Can you see? Sitting there, counting his ill-gotten gains” About whom is this spoken? What information does the speaker give about the property of that man? What prompted the speaker to utter these words about the man? 1 + 2 + 3
2. Comment on Habib Tanvir’s use of folk elements in the play Charandas Chor. 6
3. “There’s been a theft in this village.” Who says this and to whom? What was stolen? Why was the person spoken to interrogated? What deal did the person offer? 2 + 1 + 1 + 2

4. (a) Do as directed: [1×6 = 6]

1. “Was I bothering you when I turned that corner?”, asked the woman. (Turn into Indirect speech)
2. My father could convey complex spiritual concepts in very simple, down-to- earth Tamil. (Change the voice)
3. As soon as she left the train, she would forget our brief encounter. (Turn into a negative sentence)
4. I am the most unhappy of men. (Change to positive degree)
5. But thy eternal summer shall not fade. (Change to affirmative Sentence)
6. I wished to kill you. (Use the underlined word as a noun and rewrite)

(b) Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles and/or prepositions :[ ½ ×6=3]

The Tsar turned round and saw ___(i)___ a bearded man come running ___(ii)___ ___(iii)___ the wood. The man held his hands pressed ___(iv)___ his stomach and blood was flowing ___(v)___ ___(vi)___ them.

(c) Correct the error in the following sentence by replacing the underlined word with the right one from the options given below. [1×1 = 1]

His answers filled me with a strange energy and enthusiastic.

5. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :

It was my second year at boarding school, and I was sitting on platform No. 8 at Ambala station, waiting for the northern bound train. I think I was about twelve at that time. My parents considered me old enough to travel alone, and I had arrived by bus at Ambala early in the evening: now there was a wait till midnight before my train arrived. Most of the time I had been pacing up and down the platform, browsing at the bookstall, or feeding broken biscuits to stray dogs; trains came and went, and the platform would be quiet for a while and then, when a train arrived. it would be an inferno of heaving, shouting, agitated human bodies. As the carriage doors opened, a tide of people would sweep clown upon the nervous little ticket collector at the gate; and every time this happened I would be caught in the rush and swept outside the station. Now. tired of this game and of ambling about the platform. I sat down on my suitcase and gazed dismally across the railway tracks.

Trolleys rolled past me, and I was conscious of the cries of the various vendors— the men who sold curds and lemon, the sweet-meat seller, the newspaper boy—but I had lost interest in all that went on along the busy platform, and continued to stare across the railway tracks, feeling bored and a little lonely.

(a) State whether the following statements are True or False. Write‘T’ for True and ‘F’ for False. (You need not write the sentences, write only the numbers) [1×4 = 4]

1. My parents did not think that I could travel alone.
2. I spent my time on the platform moving up and down and looking at the bookstalls.
3. When a train came, people silently moved on the platform.
4. I arrived at the station early in the morning.

(b) Answer each of the following questions in about 30 words: [2×3 = 6]

1. When, how and why did the narrator arrive at Ambala?
2. What happened when a train arrived at the station?
3. What did the narrator watch as he sat on his suitcase on the platform?

6. (a) Write a report on a one-week programme undertaken by your school to clean up the classrooms, the school premises and its surroundings. Mention the roles of both students and teachers. (Word limit: 150 words) 2 + 8 = 10

Or, (b) Write a letter to the Editor of an English Daily about the unhealthy food items sold in and around your school, affecting the health of the students; (Word limit:150 words) 2 + 8 = 10

Or; (c) Write a precis of the following passage. Add a suitable title. 2 + 8 = 10

Among the misfortunes that trouble human Beings, the loss of health la the most troublesome. A man cannot enjoy his wealth, his happiness or his relations when he is sick. If you can give a sick man everything but leave him to his sufferings, he will feel that the world is lost to him. Even when he is laid on a bed of roses, he groans in physical agony and remains sleepless. On the contrary, a beggar who is healthy can enjoy a sound sleep even lying on the bare ground. A man with good health can enjoy his food and choose his drink but a sick man cannot take a morsel out of fear that his health may deteriorate. In fact, a healthy man is always envied by a rich man with poor health. If a sick man is surrounded with the pomp of a king, if his chair be made his throne, if his crutch is his sceptre, even then he will envy the good health of his meanest servant. His great palace would not be able to provide him the comfort that a man with sound health gets even if he lives in a hut with a thatched roof.