English Set A 2015-2016 HSC Commerce (English Medium) 12th Standard Board Exam Question Paper Solution

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

In 1945 in Bay Roberts, Canada, a 12- year old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price - five dollars- was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family.

Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. everything Mark Earle made fishing. Reuben's mother. Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children.

Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, "but I don't have the money now. can you please hold it for me?"

"I will try," the shopkeeper smiled. "Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while."

Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the May sunlight. The bay rippled in a freshening wind that ruffled his short hair. There was purpose in his loping stride. He would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.

Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street. Reuben had an idea.

He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in burlap sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded is the flurry of building, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents apiece.

Questions: 

(1) What is the passage about?

(2) What did Reuben ask the shopkeeper? What was the shopkeeper's reply?

(3) Why could not Reuben ask his father for five dollars?

(4) How do you express your love and respect for your parents?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

i. He opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. (Make it simple)

ii. "I will try."
(Rewrite the sentence using another modal Auxiliary showing 'obligation'.)

iii. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts.
(Frame a Wh question to get the underlined part as ita answer)

(6) Give the opposite words of:

(i) respectfully 

(ii) Usually 

Do as directed.

 Meet me ________ 10.30 a.m _________ monday.
(Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions)

Do as directed

 Teacher: How far is your home from your college?
Rupali: More than 2 km; Sir.
(Change it into indirect narration)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

        But being named an 'AdarshGaon' is far from easy. Villages had to give a proposal after which a committee headed by Mr. Pawar inspected the villages. "The Villages had to show dedication in the struggle to fight mediocrity. They had to follow all the conditions of becoming an 'AdarshGaon'. We chose villages with a revolutionary spark, "Mr. Pawar says.

        Villages need to follow strict rules. The process begins with effective water management through the watershed technique and water auditing. taking responsibility for the village's natural resources-planting trees and stopping grazing. contributing labour for the village work, and then expanding to bring about behavioral changes in the people for harboring social change. Hiware Bazaar is free of any kind of addiction and there are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village. Vasectomy has been made compulsory, as is the pre-marital HIV test. 

        The 'AdarshGaon' model prides itself on being based on the joint decisions made by the Gram Sabha, where all the villagers are present. Even while selecting the new villages under the scheme, Mr. Pawar made sure that the decision to become an ideal village was taken by the entire village together.

        The greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar so far has been the reverse migration that the village has witnessed since 1989. As many as 93 families have come back to the village," from the slums in Mumbai and Pune," Mr. Pawar says.

Questions:

(1) What features of 'Adarsh Gaon' are given in this extract? 

(2) What is the procedure for selecting 'Adarsh Gaon'?

(3) What is the greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar?        

(4) Do you think all villages in Maharashtra should follow the ideals of Hiware Bazaar? why?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :

 i.  Mr. Pawar inspected the villages. 

    (Rewrite it using the noun form of the word underlined.)     

ii. Vasectomy has been made compulsory by the villagers.

   (Rewrite it beginning with-"The villagers........".)

iii. There are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village.

   (Rewrite it using 'neither......nor'.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean: 

(i) causing a great change 

(ii) the quality of being average

Read the following extract and complete the table given below about 'Types of Diseases':

         Health is defined as not simply the absence of disease. It involves a state of feeling well, both in body and in mind. 

      The diseases may be classified into the following types, Some diseases are present at birth. They are called congenital diseases. They may develop during pregnancy or are inherited, Some of them may be caused by environmental factors. Examples of congenital diseases are Down's syndrome, sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis, haemophilia, etc.

      Some diseases are acquired by humans themselves and hence are called Self-Inflicted or Acquired diseases. Examples of acquired diseases are coronary heart diseases, hypertension.

      Some diseases are transmitted from one person to another. They are called as Communicable or Infectious diseases. They are caused by biological agents, Examples of communicable diseases are Cholera, Typhoid, Measles, Malaria, etc.

      Non- communicable diseases are caused by exogenous factors like physical, chemical, nutritional deficiencies. The examples are Kwashiorkor, Pellagra, Scurvy, and Rickets, etc.  

                                                Title

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 

  To read a lot is essential. It is stupid not to venture outside the examination 'set books' or the textbooks you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books in English as you can., not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not close the most difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new words as possible. choose what is likely to interest you and be sure in advance, that it is not too hard. You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Lookup a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead. guessing what words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra reading and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which extensive reading gives. As you read, you will become more and more familiar with words and sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only slightly from others. 

       Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe that the spoken language and written language are quite different things. This is not so.    

Questions:

(1) What does the author tell us about the importance of reading English?

(2) What different steps are suggested to improve reading?

(3) What do some people say about learning the spoken form of a language?

(4) What will you do to improve your English?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed: 

i. To read a lot is essential. 

(Rewrite using gerund form of the words underlined.)

ii. Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book.

(Rewrite it using 'be able to'.)

iii. It is extensive. 

(Make it a Rhetorical question.) 

(6) You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning.

The underlined word here means: 

(i) develops

(ii) deprives of 

(iii) creates

(B) Write a summary of the above extract with the help of the outline given below and suggest a suitable title. 

Read a lot --- outside the textbooks --- for pleasure --- avoid difficult books ---read interesting ones --- avoid dictionary --- guess meanings --- extensive and not intensive reading --- different opinions. 

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

I celebrate the virtues and vices

of suburban middle-class people 

who overwhelm the refrigerator 

and position colourful umbrellas 

near the garden that longs for a pool:

for my middle-class brother

this principle of supreme luxury:

what are you and what am I, and we go on deciding

the real truth in this world. 

(1) Give a list of the objects of luxury as given in the extract.

(2) What is your idea about a Luxurious life?

(3) Give an example of a 'paradox' from the extract.

(4) This poem does not follow any fix-verse pattern (rhyme scheme). What type of poem is it? 

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail,

Maybe catch a glimpse of a bobcat, playing eye tricks with its tail

Now there is only one type of bobcat we see

The one that is for free, clearing the pavements of all debris

We used to walk through a footpath in a forest of pine

The smell intoxicating our lungs and mind

Now the only smell to be found comes from plastic trees

Swaying on my rear-view mirror, labelled pine breeze

Questions:

(1) What does the poet miss?

(2) What, according to you, are the causes of the degradation of our ecosystem?

(3) 'We used to walk down the snow sprinkled trail.'
Name and to explain the figure of speech from the above line.

(4) What kind of feelings are aroused after reading the extract?

Read the following extract and rewrite it as if Daisy is the narrator:
[You may begin with: "I grew on the bank of a ditch ______"]

There was a little flower garden with painted wooden palings in front of it: close by was a ditch on its fresh green bank grew a little daisy: the sun shore as warmly and brightly upon it as on the magnificent garden flowers, and therefore it thrived well. One morning it had quite opened, and its little snow-white petals stood around the yellow center, like the rays of the sun, It did not mind that nobody saw it in the grass and that it was a poor despised flower; on the contrary, it was quite happy, and turned towards the sun, looking upward and listening to the song of the lark high up in the air.

The little daisy was as happy as if the day had been a great
holiday, but it was only Monday. All the children were at school,
and while they were sitting on the forms and learning their lessons, it sat on its thin green stalk and learned from the sun and from its surroundings how kind God is, and it rejoiced that the song of the little lark expressed so sweetly, and distinctly its own feelings. With a sort of reverence the daisy looked up to the bird that could
fly and sing, but it did not feel envious. " I can see and hear," it
thought; "the sun shines upon me, and the forest kisses me. How
rich I am!"

Read the following extract and convert it into a dialogue (about 8 sentences):

[You may begin with : Rosalind: 'O, excellent young men.......']

'O, excellent young men!' cried Rosalind, delighted, and the Duke called out: 'No more! No more!'

'I beg you to let us go on, 'said Orlando. 'I have hardly begun!'

The Duke turned to ask Charles how he was, but the man lay without moving on the ground. 'He cannot speak, my lord,' said one of the nobles.

'Take him away,' said the Duke and then he turned to Orlando. 'What is your name, young man?' he asked.

'Orlando, my lord, the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys,'Orlando answered and the Duke looked at him in angry surprise. Sir Rowland de Boys had been faithful to the Duke Senior, and therefore Fredricks enemy.

'Your father was my enemy', said Frederick. 'I would have been better pleased by your brave deed if you had told me of another father.'

'I am proud to be Sir Rowland's son, 'answered Orlando angrily,' and I would not change my place to be the heir of this dukedom.'

The Duke and his lords went away, Leaving Orlando alone with Rosailand and Celia. Celia was angry with her father for speaking so unkindly to Orlando. 'Would have done this in my father's place?' she said to Rosalind. 

'My father loved Sir Rowland as much as his own soul,' Rosalind said to Celia,' and all the world agreed with him. If I had known that this young man was Sir Rowland's Son I should have begged him with tears not to take so great a risk.'

Extend the given extract by adding an imaginary paragraph of your own (about 120 words)

A couple of days later, I was walking around the camp, around the barracks, near the barbed-wire fence where the guards could not easily see. I was alone.

On the other side of the fence, I spotted someone: a little girl with light, almost luminous curls. She was half-hidden behind a birch tree.

I glanced around to make sure no one saw me. I called to her softly in German. 'Do you have something to eat?'

She didn't understand.

I inched closer to the fence and repeated the question in polish. She stepped forward. I was thin and gaunt, with rags wrapped around my feet, but the girl looked unafraid. In her eyes, I saw life.

She pulled an apple from her woollen jacket and threw it over the fence.

I grabbed the fruit and, as I started to run away, I heard her say faintly, 'I'II see you tomorrow."

Mr. Manoj S. Patil, age 26, M.Tech, Electrical from 'Manas', Om Colony, Vidhyavihar, Nagpur wants to apply in response to the following advertisement. Prepare a job application.

You intend to make a general awareness among people about the hazardous effects of plastic carry-bags.

Write a letter to the Editors of a newspaper Highlighting the improper disposal of plastic carry-bags and also suggest some solutions to solve this problem.

Prepare a short tourist leaflet on any hill-station you have visited with the held of points given below:

(i) How to reach there?

(ii) Accommodation.

(iii) Worth-seeing places.

(iv) Specialties.

(v) Add your own points. 

Write a report about the celebration of the 'Republic Day' at your college.

Read the following tree-diagram and prepare a short paragraph regarding 'Soil Erosion'. 

Prepare a paragraph to be used for the counter view-section on the following topic:

"There should be a dress-code for Junior College students."
You can take the help of the following points in the view-section.

The election of your village ‘Gram Panchayat’ is just over. You have to take an interview of the newly elected ‘Sarpanch’. Frame at least 8 questions related to his future planning for the welfare of your village.

You are the captain of your college cricket team. You have your final match on Sunday. Your teammates are nervous. Prepare a speech motivating them to face the challenge courageously. (About 100 words)