WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2022

WBBHSC Class 12 English B Higher Secondary Examination 2022

Time: 3 Hours 15 Minutes

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

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 up to —

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

Or, The girl in the train compartment thought the narrator to be—

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

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

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

(iii) Kalam’s ancestral house was built in—

1. mid 19th century
2. late 19th century
3. early 20th century
4. early 19th century

(iv) The wounded man was actually

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

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

1. Who was the priest of the Rameswaram temple?
2. How did the girl describe the narrator?
3. Why did the Tsai* put on the simple cloth before meeting the hermit?
4. What does Kalam’s father say about the importance of prayer?
5. Who did the narrator of ‘The Eyes Have It’ think to be formidable creatures?
6. Where was the girl in the story ‘The Eyes Have It’ getting off?
7. What, according to the hermit, is the most important thing to do? (viii) What was the hermit doing when the Tsar came to take leave of him?
8. 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) 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

Or,

The darling buds are shaken by rough winds in —

1. March
2. April
3. May
4. June

(ii) Nature is pleaded to keep the soldier —

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

(iii) Nature’s changing course is—

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

(iv) Being tired, the Grasshopper rests beneath—

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

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

1. From where is the shrill song of the cricket heard in ‘The Poetry of Earth’?
2. What does the ‘eye of heaven’ refer to?
3. How long will the young man be remembered in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 18?
4. Why is the soldier pale?
5. Where does the soldier lie stretched?
6. Where does the stream leave ‘long strands of silver?
7. What shall death not brag about in Shakespeare’s poem?
8. Where do the birds hide when they are ‘faint with the hot sun’?
9. What kind of M poem is ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’?

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

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

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

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

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

(iii) 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

(iv) Lomov’s aunt’s name is—

1. Natalya Stepanova
2. Natasha Vassilevitch
3. Nastasya Mihailovna
4. Natalya Mihailovna

Or;

(i) The woman made her ornaments from—

1. Jalgaon
2. Bhatgaon
3. Raigarh
4. Nandgaon

(ii) The queen gave five coins to the guru for teaching Charandas—

1. never to sing
2. never to get drunk
3. never to steal
4. never to tell a lie

(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]

How was the wounded man revived and nursed? Why did he ask forgiveness of the Tsar? What did the Tsar do when he had gained the man for a friend? 2 + 2 + 2

“I’m tired of people telling me I have a pretty face.” Who said this, to whom and when? What did the person spoken to reply? 1 + 1 + 2 + 2

“… 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 meeting he had with the girl? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3

“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

“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 the person live whom the Tsar decided to consult? What was he famous for? 3 + 1 + 1 + 1

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

1. How does Keats show that the ‘poetry of earth’ is never dead? 6
2. “And every fair from fair sometime declines’’
3. 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 make his friend’s beauty live forever? 1 + 1 + 2 + 2
4. “ His smile Is like an infant’s …” Whose ‘smile’ is being referred to here? Explain the comparison in the given lines. How does Nature take care of him? 1 + 3+2
5. “In his side, there are two red holes” Who is the person referred to here? What do the ‘two red holes’ signify? What attitude of the poet to war is reflected here? 1+2 + 3
6. “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” What does the poet mean by ‘this’? Who is ‘thee’ being referred to? How does the poet think that ‘this’ will give life to ‘thee’? 1 + 1+4

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

1. “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
2. Give a brief sketch of the character of Lomov in the play ‘The Proposal’. 6
3. “Why are you so formal in your get up?”—Who is the speaker? Who is being spoken to? What led the speaker to make this comment? 1 + 1+4

Or, “We’ve had the land for nearly three hundred years …” Who is the speaker? Who is spoken to? What is referred to as ‘the land’? What do you know of ‘the land’ from their conversation? 1 + 1 + 1 + 3

Or,

1. Why does the queen decide on a death sentence for Charandas Chor? 6
2. “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
3. “You have stolen her heart” Who is the speaker? Why does the speaker say so? Whose heart is ‘stolen’ and how? What does the person spoken to think? 1 + 1 + 2 + 2

4. (a) Do as directed: [1×6 = 6]

1. The most important thing in the world was science. (Change into positive degree)
2. I don’t intend to give up what I have. (Use the underlined word as a noun and rewrite)
3. The door was open. (Turn into a negative sentence)
4. The hermit was digging the ground. (Change the voice)
5. My father could convey complex spiritual concepts. (Change the voice)
6. As soon as she left the train, she would forget our brief encounter. (Turn into a negative sentence)
7. The Tsar said, “I come to you, wise man, for an answer to my questions.” (Change into indirect speech)

(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.

Or, Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles and/or prepositions :

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 strange energy and enthusiasm. [Options: enthuse / enthusiastically / enthusiasm]

Or;

Few girls can resist flattering. [Options: flatter, flattery, flatterer]

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 part of this mountain, this particular range and that by living here for so long, I am able to claim a relationship with the trees, wildflowers, and even the rocks that are an integral part of it. Yesterday, at twilight, when I passed beneath of oak leaves which formed a roof over me, 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]

1. The oak leaves formed a roof over the author.
2. The author does not like the fact that mountains are permanent things.
3. The author means to say that he has lived through all the seasons in the mountains.
4. Humans cannot live without 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

0r; (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 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, (d) 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 high-tech world. But none can doubt that science has helped us to discover the hidden truth in nature. Can we ever imagine the modern 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.