2020
H.S. 2nd
Year
ENGLISH
Full Marks:
100
Pass Marks:
30
Time: Three
hours
SECTION A
1. Read the
following passage carefully :
The next time
you take printouts unnecessarily or you throw a paper into the bin, think for a
minute as to how many trees have been felled to manufacture something you use
so often every day.
Can you take
out some time from your everyday routine and devote it to starting a simple
recycling programme at your school or your neighborhood? Not only would you save
our planet from the torture of felling greenery, but you would also reduce
generation and dumping of waste into the environment.
Using
recycled papers conserves natural resources. As our worldwide population grows,
the strain on these resources becomes even greater. You can drastically reduce
the number of trees cut down for manufacturing paper. In addition to saving
landfill space, you cut down on your expenses of trash-disposal. There is a
reduction in air pollution caused due to incineration. Making papers from
discards instead of trees not only saves forests, but it also reduces energy
use by up to three quarters and requires less than half as much water. Items
that are made of paper and may be recycled are called the loose paper, a few
examples are paper bags, magazines, newspapers and cardboard egg-trays.
A
paper-recycling programme gives a positive image to large corporations or
business organizations. Parents can teach their children the importance of
recycled paper by bringing about simple changes in their lifestyle. Schools can
also train students to make paper products like folders, penholders, material
for the display board, lampshades, teaching/learning aids, etc. Students can
creatively make their own cards, files, folders, invitation cards and
certificates for the school. Working on a paper recycling plant demonstrates
the concept of recycling waste into ‘wealth’. The real success of such
programmes is visible in the seemingly simple acts like students exchanging
books in a new academic session, indirectly saving paper and thereby, trees.
This is amazing that only a single sheet is saved by each child, 40,000 trees
could be saved per year by students only.
Learning the
facts about recycling paper will help you as you fulfill your part to keep the
environment green. If we keep our minds focused on the desire to be friendly to
our earth and her resources, recycling will become important. After a while, we
will be in the habit of recycling the paper that we use in the course of a
given day.
On the basis
of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions:
(a) Why do
you need to think before you take printouts unnecessarily? 2
(b) Name some of the products that can be obtained from recycled
paper. 2
(c) How can
parents and schools help in creating awareness about paper recycling? 2
(d) How can
students help in saving trees indirectly? 2
(e) Give a
synonym of ‘conserve’. 1
(f) Find a
word in the passage which means “the destruction of something, especially waste
material by burning”. 1
SECTION B
2. You are
Gautam/Geeta, General Secretary of Radhakrishnan College, Guwahati. Your
college is organizing an educational trip to Delhi during the summer vacation.
Write a notice for the college notice board giving all the details of the trip.
(Word Limit: 50 words) 5
Or
Design a
poster in not more than 50 words to create awareness about the safety measures
to be taken during an earthquake. 5
3. A team of
twenty students from Japan visited your school as part of a cultural exchange
programme. A special welcome assembly was organized for them. Write a report
about the same in 100-125 words for your school magazine. 10
Or
The students
of the local college have organized a campaign on ‘Say no to Plastic’ in your
town. Prepare a report in 100-125 words to be published in an English daily. 10
4. You are
Rekha/Ramesh of Barpeta. You have seen an advertisement for the post of a
sports teacher in Lakhimpur High School. Write a letter to the President of the
Managing Committee of the school applying for the post. Give your detailed bio-data
as well. 10
Or
You are
Gaurav/Garima, a resident of Guwahati. Write a letter to the editor of a local
daily expressing your views against the insensitive use of loudspeaker during
festival. 10
SECTION C
5. Change the
form of the narration in the following sentences: 2x2=4
(a) Alexander
said to Porus, “How do you desire to be treated?” He answered, “Like a king.”
(b) The boys
exclaimed in joy that they had all passed the test and that they would
celebrate their success the next day.
6. Change the
voice of any three of the following sentences: 1x3=3
(a) The nurse
is looking after this little girl.
(b) Morning
shows the day.
(c) The glass
has not been broken by anybody.
(d) What
causes an earthquake?
(e) The
ground has to be cleared by us.
(f) The Governor
gave him a reward.
7. Rewrite
any five of the following sentences using the verbs given in brackets in their
correct tense forms: 1x5=5
(a) My
brother (practice) law these days.
(b) The
patient (die) before the doctor reached.
(c) You
(sleep) when I entered the room.
(d) She
(come) here the day after tomorrow.
(e) They
(win) the match.
(f) We
(visit) the Taj Mahal last year.
8. Rewrite
any four of the following sentences filling in the blanks with appropriate
prepositions: 1x4=4
(a) The ship
is sailing ________ the shore.
(b) Cut the
rope ________ a knife.
(c) I am
taller than you ________ two inches.
(d) There was
a bridge ___________ the river.
(e) We depend
_____ you.
(f) He begged
________ help from me.
(g) I do not
believe _________ his honesty.
9. Rewrite
any four of the following sentences as directed: 1x4=4
(a) Why waste
time in this fruitless occupation? (Make it assertive)
(b) It is
often difficult to speak the truth. (Make it negative without changing the
meaning)
(c) Being
ill, he could not attend school. (Make it a compound sentence)
(d) On seeing
the lion, he ran away. (Make it a complex sentence)
(e) The
students who are good do their homework regularly. (Make it a simple sentence)
(f) Atul is
the best boy in the class. (Change it into positive degree)
SECTION D
10. Read the
following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
(a) “Now we will count to twelve
and we will
all keep still.
For once on
the face of the Earth
let’s not
speak in any language,
let’s stop
for one second,
and not move
our arms so much.”
Questions:
(i) How long
does the poet want to stay still? 1
(ii) Why does
he ask us to keep still and not use any language? 2
(iii) What
does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’? 1
Or
(b)
“Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought
of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness
that lurks near the open window there,
That waits
all day in almost open prayer
For the
squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,”
Questions:
(i) What is
the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘in vain’? 1+1=2
(ii) Who
waits near the open window? 1
(iii) What
does the person waiting near the open window pray for? 1
11. Answer
any three of the following questions in 30-40 words: 2x3=6
(i) What is
the message that Keats wants to convey through “A Thing of Beauty”?
(ii) What do
the young sprinting trees signify in the poem, “My Mother at Sixty-Six”?
(iii) Why has
the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ in the poem, “My Mother at
Sixty-Six”?
(iv) What is
the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem “Keeping Quiet”?
(v) What is
‘in the news’ as mentioned in the poem “A Roadside Stand”?
12. Answer
any five of the following questions: 1x5=5
(a) What,
according to M. Hamel, is the great trouble with Alsace?
(b) What does
Mukesh want to become?
(c) Where was
the original home of Saheb’s family ?
(d) Why was
Gandhi visiting Lucknow in 1916?
(e) For whom
does Sophie ask Danny Casey an autograph?
(f) What work
does Geoff do?
(g) What
position did John Rowntree hold before living Shillong a few days after
Independence?
13. Answer
any five in 30-40 words: 2x5=10
(a) Why did
Wachter, the blacksmith, tell Franz that he would reach school in ‘Plenty of
time’?
(b) Give a
brief description of Seemapuri.
(c) Was Saheb
happy with his job at the tea stall?
(d) Why was
Professor Malkani’s action of offering shelter to Gandhi ‘extraordinary’?
(e) What
other dreams does Sophie have besides having a boutique?
(f) Why was
Sophie fascinated by Danny Casey? Was it a one-sided affair?
(g) Write, in
brief, the scene observed by the author from the veranda of his bungalow on the
bank of the Brahmaputra.
14. Answer
anyone of the following questions in 80-100 words: 5x1=5
(a) How does
M. Hamel make the people realize how they, the students and he have been
responsible for not learning their language well?
Or
(b) Write
briefly on the hazard of working in the glass bangles industry.
15. Answer
anyone of the following questions in 125-150 words: 7x1=7
(a) Compare
and contrast the stories of Zitkakala-Sa and Bama.
Or
(b) Give an
elaborate account of the celebration associated with Uruka, the important part
of Magh Bihu.
16. Answer
any four of the following questions in 30-40 words: 2x4=8
(a) How did
the hundredth tiger take its revenge on the tiger king?
(b) Why did
the messenger come to Dr. Sadao?
(c) How did
Mr. Lamb try to give courage and confidence to Derry?
(d) Why did
it take Bama to reach home in 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes?
(e) How did
Annan explain the elder man’s action to Bma?
(f) what are
the different sports held on the occasion Magh Bihu or Maghar Domahi?
***************
