2019
2nd
Year
ENGLISH
Full Marks
:100
Pass Marks :
30
Time : Three
hours
SECTION A
1. Read the
following passage carefully:
It is a
disturbing fact that today many different kinds of wild animals throughout the
world are in danger of extinction. The reasons for this are many and varied,
but we must largely blame pollution, pesticides, the disturbance of the
animals’ natural environment and man’s greed and thoughtlessness.
Industry has
grown enormously, and it has become common practice for factories to dispose of
waste matter in streams and rivers, causing great loss of river life. Modern
agricultural methods include the use of pesticides which effectively control
insects classified as pests, but which also destroy many that are not. An
increase in population has meant more building and with it the destruction of
much of the countryside that provides habitat for wild animals. To satisfy
man’s selfish desires the polar bear in North America is under threat, hunted
by sportsmen; in Boreneo and Sumatra the orang-utan has become part of a
smuggling racket; in South America the chinchilla is almost extinct because its
fur is in demand; whales are massacred world-wide for the oil and the food they
yield. These are only a few of the species under threat.
But the
problem is receiving world-wide recognition, and some action is being taken. To
name a few examples – sewage pollution in the river Thames has been greatly
reduced; a ban on trading in some furs has been agreed; and organizations like
Friends of the Earth do valuable work in this deserving cause.
On the basis
of your reading of the passage answer the following questions:
(a) Cite the
reasons as to why some species of wild animals are on the verge of
extinction. 2
(b) What has
brought about the destruction of much of the countryside? 1
(c) Why are
the polar bear and the whales under threat?
2
(d) Which
animal is hunted for its fur? 1
(e) Mention
the ways in which wild life is currently helped. 2
(f) Give the
adjective form of ‘habitat’. 1
(g) Find a
word in the passage which means “a great slaughter”. 1
SECTION B
2. Water is
precious and each one of us must stop its wastage. Prepare a poster in not more
than 50 words urging people to employ various methods of rain-water harvesting
in their own locality. 5
Or
Write a
classified advertisement for the ‘ Lost and Found’ column of a local newspaper stating
the loss of your cell phone while travelling in the local bus. You are
Anwesha/Abhilash. (Word Limit : 50 words) 5
3. Your
school has recently celebrated “Tree Plantation Week” organizing a number of
inter-school competitions highlighting the ecological balance. As the Secretary
of the Eco-Club of your school, prepare a report in 100-125 words, suitable to
be published in your school magazine. You are Nilim/Nilima. 10
Or
Your District
Administration has celebrated Silpi Divas at the District Library auditorium
recently. Prepare a report on it in 100-125 words to be published in “ The
Assam Tribune”. 10
4. You are
Asha/Amit. You have seen an advertisement for the post of a sales Executive in
a reputed company. Write an application, along with your detailed resume, to
the Regional Director of the company in response to the advertisement applying
for the post. 10
Or
You are
Aruna/Arun living in Amolapatty, Sivsagar. Write a letter to the Editor of “The
Sentinel” drawing the attention of the concerned authority to the poor
condition of water supply in your locality.
10
SECTION C
5. Change the
form of the narration in the following sentences: 2x2=4
(a) Reena
said to the boy, “What’s the matter? Why are you crying? Be cheerful.”
(b) The
customer inquired if he could get a garden-roller in that shop. The assistant
respectfully replied that he would get it in the hardware department.
6. Change the
voice of any three of the following sentences:
3x1=3
(a) Drive the
car slowly.
(b) I am
writing a letter now.
(c) We should not encourage indiscipline.
(d) Who wrote
the Ramayana?
(e) Promises
should be kept.
(f) He will
be forgotten in a few years.
7. Rewrite
any five of the following sentences using the verbs given in brackets in their
correct tense forms: 5x1=5
(a) I met him
while (go) to his office.
(b) They
(live) in this place since 1970.
(c) The train
(leave) before I reached the station.
(d) I wish I
(be) a bird!
(e) Your
letter (reach) me yesterday.
(f) He (make)
a doll now.
8. Rewrite
any four of the following sentences filling in the blanks with appropriate
prepositions: 4x1=4
(a) What is
the time ______ your watch now?
(b) The
students of this college have free access _____the Principal.
(c) You
should take proper care _____ your books.
(d) A sage
has no desire _______ material wealth.
(e) India is
rich ______minerals.
(f) He is
very particular _____ his health.
(g) I did
that without any malice ____ you.
9. Rewrite
any four of the sentences as directed: 4x1=4
(a) Your hair
is very lovely. (Make it an exclamatory sentence)
(b) The
Bhupen Hazarika Xetu at Dhola Sadiya is the longest bridge in India. (Change it
into positive degree)
(c) I tried
every plan. (Make it negative without changing the meaning)
(d) He wants
me to help him. (Make it a complex sentence)
(e) The enemy
fled as soon as they saw us. (Make it a compound sentence)
(f) A stone
that is rolling gathers no moss. (Make it a simple sentence)
SECTION D
10. Read one
of the following extracts and answer the questions that follow :
(a)
“Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery
band to bind us to the earth.
Spite of
despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble
natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the
unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our
searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of
beauty moves away the pall
From our dark
spirits.”
Questions:
(i) What do
we do everyday? 1
(ii) What
removes the pall from the dark spirits? 1
(iii) What is
the message expressed in these lines? 2
Or
(b) “Driving
from parent’s
Home to
Cochin last Friday
Morning, I
saw my mother,
Beside me,
Doze, open
mouthed, her face
Ashen like
that
of a corpse…”
Questions:
(i) Where was
the speaker riving to? 1
(ii) What did
she notice when her mother sat beside her?
1
(iii) Find
two words from the passage that mean ‘sleep lightly’ and ‘dead body’. 1
(IV) Why was
her mother’s face like that of a corpse? 1
11. Answer
any three of the following questions in 30-40 words: 3x2=6
(i) How did
the travelers on the highways react to the roadside stand?
(ii) What,
according to Keats, makes human being love life in spite of all its problems
and miseries?
(iii) Why
quietness would be an exotic moment for the speaker in “Keeping Quiet’?
(iv) What is
Pablo Neruda’s opinion about different kinds of wars?
(v) What is
the significance of the parting words of the speaker and her smile in ‘My
Mother at Sixty-six’?
12. Answer
any five of the following questions: 5x1=5
(a) What is
the name of the river mentioned in “The Last Lesson”?
(b) Where
does Saheb originally hail from?
(c) Which
country had developed synthetic indigo?
(d) Where did
Gandhi stay in Muzzafarpur?
(e) Who is
Darek?
(f) What did
Sophie dream of?
(g) Name the
book from which “Memoirs of a Chota Sahib” is taken.
13. Answer
any five in 30-40 words: 5x2=10
(a) What
words did M. Hamel write on the blackboard before dismissing the last class?
What did they mean?
(b) What
would Franz love to do on that sunny morning instead of going to school?
(c) What is
the actual name of Saheb? What does it signify?
(d) How was a
solution to the problem of indigo share-croppers of Champaran found?
(e) Why
didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
(f) Give a
brief description of the Peacock Island.
(g) What is a
marboat and how is it operated?
14. Answer
any one of the following questions in 80-100 words: 1x5=5
(a) Describe
the character of Sophie’s father and the role played him in the story “Going
Places”.
Or
(b) Describe
the exploitation of the indigo sharecroppers by the English landlords. How did
Gandhi help them to get an honourable settlement?
15. Answer
any one of the following questions in 125-150 words: 1x7=7
(a) Write a
character-sketch of Dr. Sadao Hoki as depicted in “The Enemy”.
Or
(b) “Through
both Mr. Lamb and Derry suffer from a physical disability, their attitude to
life is different.” Justify the relevance of this statement with reference to
the story ”On the Face of it”.
16. Answer
any four of the following questions in 30-40 words: 4x2=8
(a) What did
the Maharaja decide to do when he remembered the astrologer’s prediction?
(b) Who was
Hana? What did she notice coming out of the mist?
(c) How did
Derry get his face burnt?
(d) Why was
Zitkala Sa in tears on the first day in the land of apples?
(e) What is
the meaning of ‘Domahi’? What do people usually have for lunch on that day?
(f) How is
the delicacy ‘Sunga-pitha’ prepared?
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