WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2019

WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2019

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) Abdul Kalam’s father would convey complex spiritual concepts in simple, down-to-earth—

1. Arabic
2. Urdu
3. Tamil
4. Telugu

(ii) The wounded man was actually —

1. an enemy of the hermit
2. enemy of the Tsar
3. friend of the Tsar
4. disciple of the hermit

(iii) The girl in the train compartment thought the narrator to be —

1. gallant
2. serious
3. gallant and serious
4. pretentious

(iv) On entering her room Mrs Jones asked Roger to—

1. eat dinner
2. comb his hair
3. wash his face
4. take rest for a while

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

1. When and where did Roger and Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones meet?
2. Whom did Kalam consider to be a very close friend of his father?
3. What shoes and jeans was Roger wearing?
4. Who did the narrator of the Eyes Have It’ think to be fonnidable creatures?
5. Where was the girl in the story ‘The Eyes Have It’ getting off?
6. What, according to the hennit, is the most important thing to do?
7. What was the hermit doing when the Tsar came to take leave of him? (viii) What did Abdul Kalam’s father use to avoid?

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

(i) Being tired, the Grasshopper rests beneath—

1. green hedge
2. bushes
3. Pleasant weed
4. grassy hills

(ii) “……. his gold complexion dimmed,” Here his’ refers to—

1. the sun
2. the sky
3. poet’s friend
4. poet himself

(iii) Nature pleaded to keep the soldier—

1. pleasant
2. Wann
3. asleep
4. peaceful

(iv) Green twigs that rise from close to the ground are—

1. straight
2. curled
3. crooked
4. crinkled

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

1. Where does the soldier lie stretched?
2. Where do the birds hide when they are ‘faint with the hot sun’?
3. What shall death not brag about in Shakespeare’s poem?
4. “Slowly consuming the earth”—What does the expression ‘consuming the earth’ mean?
5. Where does the tree’s strength lie?
6. What kind of a poem is ‘Shall 1 compare thee to a summer’s day?
7. What might one hear on alone, cold and silent winter evening?
8. Where does the stream leave ‘long strands of silver?

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

(i) Chubukov said that Lomov’s younger aunt had run away with—

1. a hunter
2. a drunkard
3. a count
4. an architect

(ii) Natalya sugested that Lomov should not go after foxes but —

1. catch black beetles
2. go after horse
3. shoot partridges
4. go to the doctor

(iii) The worst of Lomov’s physical problems is—

1. the way he sleeps
2. his palpitations
3. his headache
4. his limp

(iv) Lomov wanted to remind Natalya that her dog was— (a) ugly (b) old (c) overshot (d) lame.

Or, (i) The woman made her ornaments from— (a) Jalgaon (b) Bhatgaon (c) Raigarh

• (ii) The queen gave five coins to the guru for teaching Charandas—
• Never to sing (b) never to get drunk (c) Never to steal (d) never to tell a lie. (iii) Mister Babu Das is the name of the— (a) Peasant (b) Gambler (c) havaldar (d) landlord, (iv) The villagers who have come to the landlord seeking help are suffering from a terrible(a) famine (b) disease (c) drought (d) flood.

PART – A [Marks: 60]

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

1. “ …. the girl got up and began to collect her things.” Who is the girl? When did she get up? Why did she get up to collect her things? What had the speaker thought about the brief encounter he had with the girl? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3
2. “His answer filled me with a strange energy and enthusiasm.” Who is the speaker? Whose answer is being referred to here? What was the answer? 1 + 1+4
3. “You gonna take me to jail?” Who asked this question and to whom? When did the speaker ask this question? What reply did the speaker get? 2 + 3 + 1
4. How was the wounded man revived and nursed? Why did he ask forgiveness of the Tsar? What did the Tsar do when had gained the man for a friend? 2 + 2 + 2

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

1. How does the poet describe the growth of a tree over the years? What are the different steps taken for the tree?
2. “ His smile Is like an infant’s…” Whose ‘smile’ is being referred to here? Why is his smile compared to the smile of an infant? How does Nature take care of him? 1 + 3 + 2
3. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade” Why is being referred to as ‘thy’? What is meant by ‘eternal summer’? Why shall not ‘thy eternal summer’ fade? 1 + 1+4
4. How does Keats show that the ‘poetry of earth’ never ceases? 6

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

1. “Why are you so formal in your get up?”—Who is the speaker? Who is being spoken to? Shat led the speaker to make this comment? 1+1+4
2. Lomov came with a proposal to marry Natalya Stepanovna. What logic does he give for his decision? — 6
3. “I’m the most unhappy of men!” Who said this? Why did he say so? How did the speaker get rid of his unhappiness? 1+3 + 2

Or,

1. What are the vows that Charandas take? How does the Guru react to them? 4 + 2
2. “You have stolen her heart” Who is the speaker? Why does the speaker say so? Whose heart is ‘stolen’? What does the person speak to think? 1 + 1 + 2 + 2
3. Why does the queen pronounce a death sentence on Charandas Chor? 6

4. (a) Do as directed : [1×6 = 6]

1. I don’t intend to give up what I have. (Use the underlined word as a noun and rewrite)
2. The Tsar said, “I come to you, wise man, for an answer to my questions”. (Change into indirect speech)
3. The man would have attacked you. (Change the voice)
4. The door was open. (Turn into a negative sentence)
5. The sun began to sink behind the trees, the tsar stuck the spade into the ground at last. (Turn into a complex sentence)
6. The most important thing in the world was science. (Change into positive degree)

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

When my father came out ___(i)___ the mosque after the prayers, people of different religions would be sitting outside, waiting ___(ii)___ him. Many of them offered bowls of water ___(iii)___ my father, who would dip his fingertips ___(iv)___ them and say ___(v)___ prayer. This water was then carried home ___(vi)___ invalids.

(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]

You might run that comb through your hair so you will look present. [Options: presently/ presentable/ presenting]

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

Sometimes it is hard to believe that I’ve been up here in the hills all these years——fifty summers and monsoons and winters and Himalayan springs (there is no real spring in the plains)—because when I look back to the time of my first coming here, it seems like yesterday. That probably sums it all up. Time passes, and yet it doesn’t pass; people come and go, and the mountains remain. Mountains are permanent things. They are stubborn, they refuse to move. You can blast holes out of them for their mineral wealth; or strip them of their trees and foliage, or dam their streams and divert their currents: or make tunnels and roads and bridges; but no matter how hard they try, humans cannot actually get rid of the mountains. That’s what I like about them; they are here to stay.

I like to think that I have become a pan of this mountain, this particular range, and. that by living here for so long, I am able to claim a relationship with the trees, wild flowers, and even the rocks that are all integral part of it. Yesterday, at twilight, when I passed beneath a canopy of oak leaves, I felt that I was a part of the forest. I put out my hand and touched the bark of an old tree, and as I turned away, its leaves brushed against my face, as if to acknowledge me.

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

• The oak leaves fornied a roof over the author.
• The author does not like the fact that mountains are permanent things.
• The author means to say that he has lived through all the seasons in the mountains.
• Humans cannot do away with the mountains.

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

1. What can man do to mountains?
2. What does the author claim a relationship with?
3. Why is it hard to believe for the author that he has lived in the hills for fifty years?

6. (a) Write a report on a campaign on ‘Educate the Girl Child’ organised by your

school. Mention the role of both students and teachers, the purpose of this campaign, participation, response and so on. The report will be published in your school magazine. (Word limit: 150 words) 2 + 8 = 10

Or, (b) Write a letter to the headmaster/headmistress of your school requesting him/ her to make more variety of books available in the library (Word limit: 150 words) 2 + 8 = 10

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

Charlie Chaplin once said, “In this age of scientific inventions, we think too much, we feel too little.” Science boosts up the modern craze for material prosperity. It has revolutionized our lives. It has made life more comfortable with various amenities. It is undoubtedly the driving force behind any human excellence. But it kills the soul of a man. Our skills and habits are changed by science. Excessive mechanization brings unhappiness because human faculties are slighted. A person starts believing that machines will do all for him, and this tendency becomes fatal in this-tech world. But none can doubt that science has helped us to discover the hidden truth in nature. Can we ever imagine the modem age without computers, lasers, antibiotics, biotechnology or different electronic gadgets? That is why it is said that science gives knowledge and power but not wisdom.