English Set 2 2013-2014 HSC Commerce (English Medium) 12th Standard Board Exam Question Paper Solution

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :

Reuben arrived at the factory. The sack buyer was about to lock up.
"Mister! Please don't close up yet." The man turned and saw Reuben, dirty and sweat-stained.
"Come back tomorrow, boy."
"Please, Mister. I have to sell the sacks now-please." The man heard a tremor in Reuben's voice and could tell he was close to tears.
"Why do you need this money so badly?"
"It's a secret."
The man took the sacks, reached into his pocket and put four nickels into Reuben's hand. Reuben murmured a quiet thank-you and ran home.
Then, clutching the tin can, he headed for the store.
"I have the money" he solemnly told the owner, pouring his coins onto the counter.
The man went to the window and retrieved Reuben's treasure. He wiped the dust off and gently wrapped it in brown paper. Then he placed the parcel in Reuben's hands.
Racing home, Reuben burst through the front door. His mother was scrubbing the kitchen range. "Here Mum!Here!" Reuben exclaimed as he ran to her side. He placed a small box in her work-roughened hand.
She unwrapped it carefully, to save the paper. A blue-velvet jewel box appeared. Dora lifted the did, tears beginning to blur her vision.
In gold tettering on a small, almond-shaped brooch was the word 'Mother'
It was Mother's Day, 1946
Dora had never received such a gift; she had no finery except her wedding ring. Speechless, she smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms.

(1) Why did Reuben insist on the sack buyer to buy his sacks that day only?
(2) How did the mother react when Reuben gave her the gift?
(3) In what way was Reuben's gift special to his mother?
(4) What do you plan to do on Mother's Day?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) I have to sell the sacks.
(Rewrite it replacing the underlined part with the modal auxiliary showing 'compulsion'.)
(ii) She smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms. (Use 'As soon as'.)
(iii) She unwrapped it carefully.
(Rewrite the sentences using the noun form of the underlined word.)
(6) Find out the words/phrases from the extract which mean:
(i) showing joy (ii) got back

Do as directed :
It is paradoxical that ___________ average consumer cannot decide which technology will offer him ____________ highest standards of water purification.
[Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles.]

Do as directed :
The lady took the girls ____________ a hall where they met a few more girls who were waiting ___________ her instructions.
[Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions.]

"Why did you throw it away?" said the father to his son.
"I didn't like it," said the son.
[Change it into Indirect Speech.]

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Researchers recently announced the earth could actually withstand up to 200,000 times the current population. They arrived at this figure by calculating the amount of heat a human body emits, and only at 1.3 million billion would the earth be too hot to be habitable. And though it would feel like being in a can of sardines if that figure were ever reached, the earth is capable of comfortably sustaining a population several times the current 6.5 billion.
In fact, fertility is actually on the decline worldwide. Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. Twenty years ago, the UN projected that the population would reach 11.16 billion in 2050, today they say it will reach only 9.3 billion. Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11.5 billion. While this figure is almost twice the current one, it is hardly claustrophobic.
True, the demands on resources are heavy even now, but this is more due to the manner in which these resources are being used. In fact, figures show that a bigger population does not amount to greater consumption. Over 20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditure - the poorest 20% a tiny 1.3%. With just 5% of the world's population, the US consumes about 40% of the world's resources. Would you say the US is overpopulated?
  Concerns on the scarcity of food are equally baseless. In fact, global food production has actually kept up with population growth.

(1) What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
(2) What is the relationship between the population and the available resources?
(3) Why do the researchers claim that the earth is capable of sustaining a bigger population?
(4) What, according to you, are the problems caused by the increasing population?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) The earth would be too hot to be habitable. (Remove 'too'.)
(ii) Though the population has grown, the rate of growth has fallen sharply. (Rewrite it using 'but')
(iii) Moreover, the human population will stabilize at about 11.5 billion. (Make it 'less definite'.)
(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean :
(i) natural capacity to produce  (ii) shortage

Read the following extract and complete the table given below:

Children are perpetually asking questions. As adults, we are awkward with questions. We link the act of asking questions to ignorance. It indicates that we do not know; hence, we may look stupid while asking questions. 

Children have no shame, whereas adults suffer from layers and layers of shame. Because children have no shame, they are more capable of failing at something and moving on from it. Our sense of shame makes us inhibited. So we do not try new things at work.

Children quickly make friends with strangers. Put two small kids alongside a few toys and they will start playing before they care to know about each other’s antecedents. As adults, we seek the false comfort of known relationships before we agree to play with each other.

Children freely express their emotions; adults learn to suppress their emotional side. We come to the workplace and are frequently counselled, “Do not get emotional.”

Children play. They find play in everything. Adults shun play and consider it the opposite of “serious work”. To a child, every act is an act of play.

Traits Delinking Childhood and Adulthood:

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on ecological processes, biodiversity, and cycles adapted to local conditions. Organic farmers ensure soil fertility with the help of crop rotation, compost, and other biologically-induced soil amendments. A healthy soil structure increases and insects and there is no need to depend on synthetic fertilizers, synthetic pesticides, plant growth regulators, livestock feed additives and genetically modified organisms, all of which are extremely harmful to the plants as well as human beings who consume them.

According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements: "Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation, and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and good quality of life for all involved.... ." In India,
the Green Revolution, which was water-intensive and involved a heavy dose of chemical fertilizers, has not been a boon. Many farmers have seen the effects of chemical farming - soil erosion and loss of soil nutrients, loss of nutrition in food, and human diseases resulting from the chemicals that seep into the water table.

But organic farming is often hard for the farmers who have to invest considerable time, energy and resources to regenerate the soil and reestablish the delicate balance between soil, water, air, animals and plants. further, the lack of support on maintaining such a balance makes the products more expensive, putting the burden on consumers who choose to eat healthy.

(1) What does the first paragraph focus on?
(2) Why was the Green Revolution not a boon for Indian farmers?
(3) How is organic farming advantageous to farmers?
(4) What agricultural problems, according to you, do farmers face?
(5)
Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) Organic farmers ensure soil fertility with the help of crop rotation.
(Rewrite the beginning of the sentences with 'Soil fertility'.)
(ii) A healthy soil structure increases its ability to hold water. (Frame a 'Wh-question' to get the underlined part as its answer.)
(iii) Chemical fertilizers are extremely harmful to the plants as well as human beings.
(Rewrite the sentence using 'not only..... but also'.)
(6)
Find out the words from the extract which mean:
(i) leak slowly (ii) substance added to improve something.

Write a summary of the above extract with the help of the following points and suggest a suitable title.

Organic farming – depends on – ensures soil fertility by – organic agriculture promotes – difficulty for farmers because – burden on the consumer.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
If you accept counsel without getting sore
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof
If you pledge not to be obstinate any more
And meet others without any frown or scoff.
You may be the person I am looking for.

If you have the will to live and courage to die
You are a beacon-light for people far and wide
If you ignore the jeers and, thus, expose the lie
"That virtue and success do not go side by side."
You are the person I am looking for.

(1) What does the poet advise us about interacting with others?
(2) What good qualities do you expect in your friend?
(3) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line:
"If you have the will to live and the courage to die."
(4) Pick out the words from the extract which denote negative traits.

Read the following extract and rewrite it from the point of view of Roma : 
[You may begin with: Herman and I shared the backseat of Sid's car. .... ]
We piled back into Sid's car, Roma and I sharing the backseat. As European Jews who had survived the war, we were aware that much had been left unsaid between us. She broached the subject, "Where were you during the war?" she asked softly
"The camps," I said, the terrible memories still vivid, the irreparable loss, I had tried to forget. But you can never forget.
She nodded, "My family was hiding on a farm in Germany, not far from Berlin," She told me. "My father knew a priest, and he got us Aryan papers."
I imagined how she must have suffered too, fear, a constant companion. And yet here we were both survivors, in a new world.
"There was a camp next to the farm." Roma continued. "I saw a boy there and I would throw him apples every day."
What an amazing coincidence that she had helped some other boy. "What did he look like?" I asked.
"He was tall, skinny and hungry. I must have seen him every day for six months. "
My heart was racing. I couldn't believe it. This couldn't be. "Did he tell you one day not to come back because he was leaving Schlieben?".
Roma looked at me in amazement. "Yes!"
"That was me!"
I was ready to burst with joy and awe, flooded with emotions. I couldn't believe it! My angel.
"I'm not letting you go," I said to Roma. 
I proposed to her. I didn't want to wait.

Read the following extract carefully and convert it into a dialogue between Daisy and Lark.

You may begin with: 'Daisy: Why are you singing so sadly, little bird?'

Read the following extract and extend it by adding an imaginary paragraph of your own in about 120 words :

Orlando lived happily with the Duke and his friends, but he had not forgotten the lovely Rosalind. She was always in his thoughts and every day he wrote poetry about her, pinning it on the trees in the forest. 'These trees shall be my books', he said, 'so that everyone who looks in the forest will be able to read how sweet and good Rosalind is.'

Rosalind and Celia found some of these poems pinned on the trees. At first, they were puzzled, wondering who could have written them; but one day Celia came in from a walk with the news that she had seen Orlando sleeping under a tree. and she and Rosalind guessed that he must be the poet. Rosalind was happy to think that Orlando had not forgotten her, because she loved him as much as he loved her.

One day she and Celia met Orlando. He did not recognize them because of their stained faces and simple clothes. He thought they were a shepherd boy and his sister. He made friends with them.