English Set D 2016-2017 HSC Commerce (English Medium) 12th Standard Board Exam Question Paper Solution

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :

  Early risers clearly have the edge in life. By the time most of us wake up, they've been through their morning rituals, enjoyed their walk, had their tea and read the daily news. They're also likely to have made long-distance calls before dawn to those similarly inclined. Thus, by the time the sun warms up they're likely to have discussed all varieties of 'men, matters, and affairs' with a dozen people.
The upshot of these varying tendencies is that such extreme contrasts often exist in the same household. Weeks pass before the younger lot (typically late risers) and the older lot (normally early birds) come face to face. It's almost as if they live in different time zones and different countries.
All over the country, things are likely to be pretty much the same in this respect, one would think. If the man of the house, any house, decides to take a day off from work, he'd probably find his son emerging from his room at about I0 a.m. and that too in a 'rubbing-eyes' mode. After fooling around for a while the lad would probably dash off to college in a rush whilst simultaneously zipping up his jeans and sending text messages on his phone. His father would undoubtedly be left shaking his head and burying himself deeper into his newspaper.

(1) What is the extract about?

(2) How do the early risers get a headstart in life?

(3) What kind of lifestyle of the young son is reflected in the extract?

(4) According to you, why do the youngsters rise up late?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:
(i) He goes for his morning walk at 1 p.m.
(Rewrite it in the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.)
(ii) They live in different time zones.
(Make it a complex sentence.)
(iii) The man decides to take a day off from work.
(Rewrite it using the noun form of the underlined word.)

(6) Find out the words from the extract which mean:
(i) have a slight advantage over
(ii) coming out

Fill in the blank with appropriate article
J.R.D. Tata was an amazing personality. He always helped _______ poor in the country.

Do as directed :
They stood_______ silence as a mark honour to her._______
(Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions.)

Do as directed :
 ''Where are you going?'' he asked. ''Pune, Sir, my husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.''
(Change it into Indirect speech.)

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:
We commemorate so many special days such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Mother's Day and so on. Well, here is one day that deserves not only a commemoration but our total dedication - Earth Day, 22 April. At Sanctuary, we live our lives like every day is Earth Day, but we all believe that it would be, fantastic to remind our relatives, friends, neighbours, teachers, and elders on this day that protecting Mother Earth can end up making us both happy and safe.
Will you do something this Earth Day? Here's a handy list of things you can do-

(1) Cut Consumption: Consume as little as possible on Earth Day. This 'is a day·when you ca!l Refuse (to buy new things), Repair and Reuse (old stuff), Recycle (what you cannot reuse), Reject (stuff that is toxic or dangerous to the environment) and Renew (your purpose and resolve to protect the planet).

(2) Cut Energy: (a) Ditch the old incandescent bulbs and shift to CFLs or LEDs (Google both to find out more). (b) Walk or use public transport, try not to use private cars to save fuel. Carpool. Cut down on trips. Use Skype· instead of traveling for meetings. (c) Switch off unnecessary gadgets. (don't just use the remote .... walk to the mains!).

(3) Cut Waste: Start a waste segregation system in your building, school or neighbourhood. Compost organic waste, sell what you can to the raddi-wallah and give him a small token of.. appreciation also for he is protecting your world. Collect unused papers from old notebooks and make new ones from them.

(4) Cut out plastic: Speak to at least five shopkeepers in your area and tell them you and your friends will only use their shops if they move away from wasteful plastic packaging, particularly thin plastic bags.

(1) What do you understand from this extract?
(2) What steps can we take to keep our environment clean?
(3) Why should we commemorate Earth Day?
(4) What is your opinion regarding shifting to CFLs or LEDs?
(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) Earth Day deserves a commemoration and our total dedication.
(Use 'not only - but also'.)
(ii) Start a Waste Segregation System in your building.
(Rewrite it beginning with 'Let'.)
(iii) You can sell waste to the raddi-wallah and give him a
small token of appreciation.
(Replace the modal auxiliary by another showing 'obligation'.)
(6) What do the following words in the extract mean?
(i) resolve
(ii) toxic

Read the following extract and complete the note with the help of the clues provided : 
Vitamins are either fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) or water-soluble (B vitamins, including niacin, folic acid and riboflavin, and vitamin C). They consist mainly of the elements nitrogen, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in bod)' fat, while water-soluble vita1nins are used or quickly excreted in the urine.
Vitamin A is essential for the eyes, skin, hair, and bones; the B vitamins help enzymes to function; C is essential for the formation of collagen; D helps the body absorb calcium; E prevents cell damage, and K helps blood clotting. Most vitamins cannot be produced by the body and so must be obtained directly from food.

VITAMINS

(A) Read the following extract and answer the questions given below :
Oil is one of the world's major sources of energy. We depend on it as fuel for heating, transport, and generation of power.
For centuries, animal and vegetable oils have been used for cooking and as a source of artificial light. But it is mineral oil which meets most of the world's needs today.
Crude mineral oil comes out of the earth as a thick brown or black liquid with a strong smell. It is a complex mixture of many different substances, each with its own individual qualities. Most of them are combinations of hydrogen and carbon in varying proportions. Such hydrocarbons are also found in other forms such as bitumen, asphalt and natural gas. Mineral oil originates from the carcasses of tiny animals and from plants that live in the sea. Over millions of years, these dead creatures form large deposits under the sea bed and ocean currents cover them with a blanket of sand and silt. As this material hardens, it becomes sedimentary rock and effectively shuts out the oxygen so preventing the complete decomposition of the marine deposits underneath. The layers of sedimentary rock become thicker and heavier. Their pressure produces heat, which transforms the tiny carcasses into crude oil in a process that is still going on today.
The earth's crust is split into a few hu·ge continental plates which move continuously rather like rafts on a sluggish tide. Geologists call this rnoven1ent as 'continental drift'.

(1) What does the extract ·tell us about?

(2) In which form does crude mineral oil come out of the earth and from what does it originate?

(3) How is 'continental drift' formed?

(4) According to you, how can we stop the excessive use of energy?

(5) Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed :
(i) Oil is one of the world's major sources of energy.
(Rewrite it as a negative sentence without changing its meaning.)

(ii) As this material hardens, it becomes sedimentary rock.
(Make it a compound sentence.)

(iii) Geologists call this movement 'con·tinental drift'.
(Frame a 'Wh-question' to get the underlined part as an answer.)

(6) Give the antonyms from the extract for :
(i) artificial
(ii) lighter

(B) Write·a brief summary of the above extract with the help of the points given below and suggest a suitable title.
Oil as a source of energy - our dependence - types of oil -mineral oil origin of crude oil formation of crude oil-farming of sedimentary rocks - continental drift

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below:

If you crave not for praise when you win   
And look not for sympathy while you lose 
If cheers let not your head toss or spin
And after a set-back you ofter no excuse.
You may be the person I am looking for.

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.

(1) How should you behave when you are a winner and a loser?

(2) Do you agree with the poet's view about an ideal person? Justify your answer.

(3) Pick out an example of Antithesis from the extract.

(4) Pick out the words from the extract showing our stubbornness and expression of displeasure.

Read the following extract and answer the questions given below: 
The banyan tree was three times as tall as our house
Its trunk had a circumference of fifty feet
Its scraggly aerial roots fell to the ground
From thirty feet or more so first they cut the branches
Sawing them off for seven days and the heap was huge
Insects and birds began to leave the tree
And then they came to its massive trunk 
Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped
The great tree revealed its rings of two hundred years
We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter

(1) How does the poet describe the banyan tree?

(2) According to you, how are trees important to maintain ecological balance?

(3) Pick out an example of repetition from the extract.

(4) Pick out the words in the extract which are related to the killing.

Read the extract carefully and rewrite as if you are the friend of the narrator :
[You may begin with: A couple of days later he was walking around ...... ]

    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"ll see you tomorrow. ''
I returned to the same spot by the fence at the same time every day. She was always there with something for me to eat a hunk of bread or better yet, an apple. We didn't dare speak or linger. To be caught would mean death for us both. I didn't know anything about her, just a kind farm girl, except that she understood Polish. What was her name? Why was she risking her life for me? Hope was in such short supply, and this girl on the other side of the fence gave me some, as nourishing in its way as the bread and apples.

Read the following extract and convert it into a dialogue between Oliver and Rosalind in about 120 words:
[You may begin with : Oliver: I had searched for Orlando ..... ]

Oliver told them his story. He had searched for Orlando everywhere in the forest, he said, and at last, tired and hungry, he had fallen asleep under a tree. On his way from Rosalind's cottage, Orlando had seen his brother lying asleep. A big snake had curled round Oliver's neck and was just going to bite him when it saw. Orlando and slipped away into a bush. And then Orlando saw that a hungry lion was waiting under the same bush, ready to kill Oliver as soon as he woke up.

Orlando thought of all his brother's unkindness to him in the past. Why should he risk his own life to save this brother who had always been cruel to him? Twice he turned away to leave Oliver, but he had a kind and noble heart and at last, decided that he could not leave his brother to die. So he fought the lion. The fierce animal tore and bit his arm, but he managed to kill it. Oliver wakened by the noise of the fight, saw that Orlando was risking his own life to save him. He was filled with shame at all his past unkindness to his young brother, and he begged Orlando to forgive him.

Orlando took his brother to the Duke, who gave him food and clothes. Orlando said nothing about the wound the lion had given him, but it had been bleeding all the time and suddenly he fell to the ground and fainted from loss of blood. As soon as he recovered consciousness, Orlando begged Oliver to go to Ganymede and Aliena. 'Show them this blood-stained handkerchief,' he said, 'and explain to them why I have broken my promise to be with them at two o'clock'.

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

[You may begin with: Mrs. Green: May I come in.......]
"May I come in?" asked the pink lady.
"Please come in," said my mother. "Do sit down. Do you require a room'?"
"Not today, thank you. I'm staying with Padre Dutt.
He insisted on putting me up. But I may want room for a day or two -- lust for old time's sake."
"You've stayed here before."
''A long time ago. I'm Mrs. Green, you know. The missing
Mrs. Green. The one for whom you put up that handsome tombstone in the cemetery. I was very touched by it. And I'm glad you didn't add 'Beloved wife of Henry Green' because I didn't' love him any more than he loved me.''
''Then - then - you aren't the skeleton?'' stammered my
mother.
''Do I look like a skeleton?''
''No!'' we said together.
· ''But we heard you disappeared,'' I said, ''and when we found that skeleton -''
''You put two and two together.''
''Well, it was Miss Kellner who convinced us,'' said my
mother. ''And you did disappear mysteriously. You were missing for years. And everyone knew Mr. Green was a philanderer!''
''Couldn't wait to get away from him," said the pink lady.
'Couldn't stand him anymore. He was a lady-killer, but not a real killer.''
''But your father ca1ne looking for you. Didn't you get in touch with him?''

Read the following advertisement and prepare a letter of application in response to it by using the information given in the C. V. (Resume) that follows :

Your locality is facing the problem of irregular water supply.
Write a letter to the concerned authority about it.

Read the following Intros of news items. Choose any ONE of them and write the headline, the dateline and a short continuing paragraph for it.
(i) A shortage of onions in Maharashtra has surged prices by 30 percent. It forced the authorities to import onions from abroad.
(ii) The birth anniversary of the late President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was celebrated yesterday in Saraswati Kanya Pathshala as Teacher's Day.

Your college is going to arrange a rally to raise funds to help drought affected farmers. Prepare a short appeal for people to join the rally with the help of the following points:
(i) Use slogans.
(ii) Make a persuasive appeal for generous donation.
(iii) Time and place of the rally.
(iv) Famous personality to lead the rally.
(v) Add your own points.

Study carefully the following pie-chart about the Income Sources of a City Budget and write a short continuing paragraph based on it in about 120 words :

Prepare a paragraph with an appropriate title to be used for the Counter-View Section on the following topic in about 120 words:
''Can the use of Internet enhance students' learning?''
You can take the help of the following points from the View Section.

Answer the following questions as per instructions:

Imagine that you are a journalist and you have been assigned the task of interviewing a film actor/actress. Frame a set of 8 to 10 questions to interview him/her.

Prepare a speech on 'Father's Day' with the help of the following
points :
(1) Man of practical attitude.
(2) Thinker of the future.
(3) Pillar of family.
(4) Greatest family support.