Class XII - English Practice Paper - 5

Subject: English Core

Class XII

Time Allowed: 3 hours

Max. Marks: 80

General Instructions:

1. 15-minute prior reading time allotted for Q-paper reading.

2. The Question Paper contains THREE sections-READING, WRITING and LITERATURE.

3. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part. Write the correct question number in your answer sheet to indicate the option/s being attempted.

SECTION A: READING SKILLS

1. Read the passage given below:

I got posted in Srinagar in the 1980s. Its rugged mountains, gushing rivers and vast meadows reminded me of the landscapes of my native place – the Jibhi Valley in Himachal Pradesh. Unlike Srinagar which saw numerous tourists, Jibhi Valley remained clouded in anonymity. That is when the seed of starting tourism in Jibhi was planted. I decided to leave my service in the Indian Army and follow the urge to return home. We had two houses – a family house and a traditional house, which we often rented out. I pleaded with my father to ask the tenant to vacate the house so that I could convert it into a guest house. When my family finally relented, I renovated the housekeeping its originality intact, just adding windows for sunlight. I still remember the summer of 1992 when I put a signboard outside my first guest house in Jibhi Valley! The village residents, however, were skeptical about my success. My business kept growing but it took years for tourism to take off in Jibhi Valley. Things changed significantly after 2008 when the government launched a homestay scheme. People built homestays and with rapid tourism growth, the region changed rapidly. Villages turned into towns with many concrete buildings. Local businesses and tourists continued putting a burden on nature. Then, with the 2020–21 pandemic and lockdown, tourism came to a complete standstill in Jibhi Valley. Local people, who were employed at over a hundred homestays and guest houses, returned to their villages. Some went back to farming; some took up pottery and some got involved in government work schemes. Now, all ardently hope that normalcy and tourism will return to the valley soon. In a way, the pandemic has allowed us to introspect, go back to our roots and look for sustainable solutions. For me, tourism has been my greatest teacher. It brought people from many countries and all states of India to my guest house. It gave me exposure to different cultures and countless opportunities to learn new things. Most people who stayed at my guest house became my regular clients and good friends. When I look back, I feel proud, yet humbled at the thought that I was not only able to fulfill my dream despite all the challenges but also played a role in establishing tourism in the beautiful valley that I call home.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer the questions given below.

(i) The scenic beauty of Srinagar makes the writer feel ______________ .

(ii) A collocation is a group of words that often occur together. The writer says that Jibhi valley remained clouded in anonymity. Select the word from the options that correctly collocates with ‘clouded in’.

(A) disgust

(B) anger

(D) terror

(iii) Complete the given dialogue as per the context in paragraph II.

Father: Are you sure that your plan would work?

Writer: I can’t say.

Father: That’s a lot of uncertainty, isn’t it?

Writer: ___________________________________.

(iv) Which signboard would the writer have chosen for his 1992 undertaking, in Jibhi Valley?

(A) Option 1

(B) Option 2

(D) Option 4

(v) List one way that clearly indicates the situation before and after 2008, in Jibhi Valley.

(vi) What is the relationship between (1) and (2)?

(1) Tourism came to a complete standstill in Jibhi Valley.

(2) Tourism has been my greatest teacher.

(A) (2) is the cause for (1).

(B) (1) repeats the situation described in (2).

(D) (1) sets the stage for (2).

(vii) The writer mentions looking for sustainable solutions. He refers to the need for sustainable solutions because he realises that:

(A) even though all natural ecosystems are essential pillars of resilience, we need to focus on using their resources to address the economic needs of mankind, as a priority.

(B) the exposures to pandemics are a reality and a big threat to countries across the world.

(C) for an economic recovery to be durable and resilient, a return to ‘business as usual’ and ‘environmentally destructive investment’ patterns and activities must be avoided.

(D) there is an increasing urgency in the climate movement and the need for collaborative action for the future.

viii) Select the option that lists the customer review for the writer’s project.

(A) Beautiful accommodation in the lap of nature. Luxurious cottage with indoor pool and garden.

(B) Comfortable and peaceful. Neat room with ample sunlight. Pleasant and warm host.

(D) Remote locale, good food and clean room. Would have loved more natural light, though.

(ix) Which quote summarises the writer’s feelings about the pace of growth of tourism in Jibhi Valley?

(A) We kill all the caterpillars, then complain there are no butterflies. – John Marsden

(B) Nature will give you the best example of life lessons, just open your eyes and see. –Kate Smith

(D) I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God than in church thinking of the mountains. – John Muir

(x) Select the option that lists what we can conclude from the text.

(1) People of Jibhi Valley practised sustainable tourism.

(2) The people of Jibhi valley gradually embraced tourism.

(3) Tourists never revisited Jibhi Valley.

(4) The writer was an enterprising person.

(A) (1) and (2) are true.

(B) (2), (3) and (4) are true.

(D) (1), (3) and (4) are true.

II. Read the following passage [1 × 10= 10]

The present generation is well updated with the use of the internet and computers. The rapid development in computer technology and the increase in accessibility of the internet for academic purposes have changed the face of education for everyone associated with it. Let’s look at the data arising out of a recent survey that was done to ascertain the time spent on utilisation of the computer and internet

At present, many schools and universities have been implementing internet-based learning, as it supplements the conventional teaching methods. The internet provides a wide variety of references and information to academics as well as scientific researchers. Students often turn to it to do their academic assignments and projects.

However, research on the internet is very different from traditional library research and the differences can cause problems. The internet is a tremendous resource, but it must be used carefully and critically. According to a 2018 Academic Student e-book Experience Survey, conducted by LJ’s research department and sponsored by EBSCO, when reading for pleasure, almost 74% of respondents said they preferred print books for leisure whereas, 45% of respondents chose e-books rather than the printed versions, for research or assignments. When asked what e-book features make them their favourite for research, the respondents were clear. Having page numbers to use in citations, topped the list (75%); followed by the ability to resize text to fit a device’s screen (67%); the ability to bookmark pages, highlight text, or take notes for later reference (60%); downloading the entire e-book (57%), and allowing content to be transferred between devices (43%) were the varied responses.

Based on your understanding of the above passage, answer the questions given below. [1 × 10= 10]

(i) Which word used in paragraph three conveys the same meaning as ‘incredible’?

(ii) Based on the graphical chart in the passage, choose the option that correctly states the depiction of the internet usage for work and for leisure, for once a month.

(A) Option (1)

(B) Option (2)

(D) Option (4)

(iii) Based on the given graphical representation of data in the passage, choose the option that lists the statements that are TRUE with respect to the usage of email.

(1) The everyday usage of email is more than the everyday usage of computers for personal use.

(2) About 18% of people use email once a week.

(3) There are a smaller number of email users using it 2-3 times a week than the ones using it once a month. (4) Less than 5% of people never use email.

(A) (1) and (3)

(B) (2) and (4)

(D) (3) and (4)

(iv) Based on the given graphical chart, pick the option that lists the area of zero response from respondents.

(A) Never using the internet for work and leisure

(B) Daily use of the computer for academic activities

(D) Using the internet for personal tasks once a month

(v) In the cartoon, the student’s reaction reveals that he is.

(vi) Which of the following statements is NOT substantiated by information in paragraph 4?

(A) About three-quarters of the respondents preferred print books for recreational reading.

(B) A little less than 50% of the respondents voted for e-books for research or assignments.

(D) The survey was intended for understanding the e-book experience among students.

(vii) Arrange the given e-book features preferred for research from the least favourite to the most favourite.

(1) Downloading the entire e-book

(2) Choosing page numbers in citations

(3) Highlighting text

(4) Resizing text to fit screen

(A) (1), (3), (4), (2)

(B) (3), (2), (1), (4)

(D) (4), (1), (2), (3)

(viii) List one reason for the recent transformation of education.

(ix) Comment on the writer’s reference to 2018 Academic Student e-book experience survey.

(x) Which word in the passage means the same as based on or in accordance with what is generally done or believed?

(A) Implement

(B) Conventional

(D) Research

SECTION B: CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS

(All the names and addresses used in the questions are fictitious. Resemblance, if any, is purely coincidental.)

1. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. [1 × 5 = 5]

(A) You are Simar/Smriti of Lotus International School, Jodhpur. Your school has decided to contribute to controlling traffic near your school and requires the names of volunteers from IX to XII. Write a notice to be displayed on the notice board. (50 words)

(B) You are Dhruv/Nidhi, the Student Editor of your school magazine, ‘The Buds’. Write a notice in not more than 50 words to be placed on your school notice board, inviting short stories, articles, poems, etc., from students of all classes for the school magazine. Give all the necessary details.

2. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. [1 × 5 = 5]

(A) Your school is planning to organise a talk on the ‘Importance of PromotingArt Education’ at various levels. You plan to invite The Director, Delhi School of Art, as a Key Note Speaker. As CCA Coordinator of Vidya Mandir Vidyalaya, draft an invite for the same giving all the necessary details. (50 words)

(B) You are Dr. Stanzin, a certified art therapist from Leh. You have been invited by G. D Public School, Jammu, to conduct a seminar for students on ‘Art Therapy the Way Forward’. This seminar is to introduce students to the usefulness of Art in analysis, using appropriate format and fluency, appropriacy of style and tone dealing with personal and social problems. Write your reply, in about 50 words accepting the invitation

3. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. [1 × 5 = 5]

(A) You are Shubha/Krushna Mohanty, residing in Subhadra Apartments, Bhuvneshwar, Orissa. You have observed, with increasing concern, that garbage collection continues to be done without segregation in your neighbourhood. Write a letter to the editor of ‘The Real Times’, Bhuvneshwar, in about 120–150 words, explaining your concern along with the rationale behind the importance of garbage segregation. Suggest the ways in which the R.W.A can participate in this program.

(B) You have read an advertisement in the newspaper for the post of Software Engineer in Alex Software. You believe that you have the requisite qualifications, and experience and you are innovative. Write an application in about 150 words for this post emphasising your strong points. Also, write your resume. You are Sourav/Shikha of 14, Mall Road, Chandigarh.

4. Attempt ANY ONE from A and B given below. [1 × 5 = 5]

(A) Rashmi is the President of her school’s Library Club. She decides to write an article on the need to develop the habit of reading as she strongly feels it is fading among present-day students. (Word limit: 120–150 words)

(B) Ranikhet district, Uttarakhand, on the occasion of Basant Panchami, celebrations had organised a three-day cultural festival. You are Bhupinder/Priyanka Bhisht. Your newspaper had deputed you to cover the inaugural event of this festival. As a newspaper reporter, use the given cues along with your own ideas to write a report about the same in 120–150 words.

• Big crowds – main grounds of the marketplace

• Colourful decorations

• Inauguration – local panchayat member to inaugurate.

• Folk dance and songs

• Speeches

SECTION C: LITERATURE

IV. Read the given extracts to attempt the questions with reference to context. 1. Attempt ANY ONE of two extracts given. [6 × 1 = 6]

(A) And looked out at Young Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes, but after the airport’s security check, standing a few yards away, I looked again at her, wan, pale as a late winter’s moon and felt that old familiar ache…

(i) What is the most likely reason the poetess capitalised ‘Young Trees’? This was to:

(A) convey a clearer meaning.

(B) highlight the adj.– noun combination.

(D) draw a connection with the title.

(ii) Choose the option that appropriately describes the relationship between the two statements given below.

Statement 1: The poetess knows her mother has aged.

Statement 2: The poetess feels the pain of separation.

(A) Beginning–Ending

(B) Cause–Effect

(D) Introduction–Conclusion

(iii) Choose the option that completes the sentence given below. Just as the brightness of the winter’s moon is veiled behind the haze and mist, similarly.

(A) the pain of separation has shaded the mother’s expression.

(B) age has fogged the mother’s youthful appearance.

(D) memories warm the heart like the pale moon in winter.

(iv) Choose the correct option out of the ones given below:

(A) Option 1

(B) Option 2

(D) Option 4

(v) Fill in the blank with an appropriate word, with reference to the extract.

‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ is a ____________ poem.

(vi) ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’ is a poem that highlights a daughter’s painful feelings of ____________ .

(B) If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing,

perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves

and of threatening ourselves with

death.

(i) Look at the images given below. Choose the image to which the above extract can be seen as an appropriate response.

(A) Option (1)

(B) Option (2)

(D) Option (4)

(ii) What do you think is the mood of the poet in the above extract?

(iii) Pick the option that DOES NOT complete the given sentence suitably, as per the extract.

Threatening ourselves with death _______________________.

(A) feeds on the fear of death.

(B) challenges finiteness of life.

(D) makes us restless and impatient.

(iv) What might the “huge silence” signify?

(v) What is the expectation of the poet from all human beings?

(A) Maintaining harmony

(B) Stopping destruction

(D) All of these

(vi) The tone of the poem, Keeping Quiet, is ____________ .

(A) agitated

(B) enthusiastic

(D) serene

2. Attempt ANY ONE of two extracts given. [1 × 4 = 4]

(A) In the afternoon the second thing happened. Hana, working hard on unaccustomed labour, saw a messenger come to the door in official uniform.

(i) Which day did two things happen?

(A) The day the war broke.

(B) The day of the arrival of the American prisoner.

(D) The seventh day after the arrival of the American prisoner.

(ii) What was the second thing that happened that very day?

(iii) What problem did the General have?

(iv) Why was Hana working in spite of having servants?

(A) The servants were on leave.

(B) The servants had gone to buy groceries.

(D) The servants had died.

(B) Early this year, I found myself aboard a Russian research vessel—theAkademik Shokalskiy heading towards the coldest, driest, windiest continent in this world.

(i) ‘I’ in these lines refers to____________.

(ii) Which continent is ‘I’referring to?

(A) Asia

(B) America

(D) South Africa

(iii) ‘I’ began his/her journey.

(A) Chennai, north of equator

(B) Public Park, Gondwana

(D) Chennai, south of equator

(iv) How many time zones did ‘I’ cross before reaching the destination?

3. Attempt ANY ONE of two extracts given. [1 × 6 = 6]

(A) They had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British. The officials felt powerless without Gandhiji’s cooperation. He helped them regulate the crowd. He was polite and friendly. He was giving them concrete proof that their might, hitherto dreaded and unquestioned, could be challenged by Indians. The government was baffled. The prosecutor requested the judge postpone the trial. Apparently, the authorities wished to consult their superiors.

(i) The officials felt powerless because _____________________.

(A) of Gandhiji’s refusal to co-operate with them

(B) of Gandhiji’s polite and friendly behaviour

(D) the crowd was getting violent

(ii) The demonstration proved that the __________________.

(A) policies of the British had failed.

(B) dread instilled in the hearts of Indians had begun to lessen.

(D) might of the British had not been understood by Indians.

(iii) Which style, from those given below, is being used by the author, when he says, “Apparently, the authorities wished to consult their superiors”?

(A) Humorous

(B) Dramatic

(D) Persuasive

(iv) Gandhiji’s behavior towards the British prior to the proposal of postponement of the trial was that of ____________ . (v) Which among the following statements is correct?

(A) Gandhiji was happy with taking the cases of sharecroppers to law courts.

(B) Gandhiji wanted to make the peasants of Champaran free from the fear of the British.

(C) Gandhiji and Rajendra Prasad were the representatives of the peasants in the official commission of inquiry into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation.

(D) Gandhiji was ready to furnish bail for 120 minutes.

(vi) The officials at Motihari court sought the cooperation of Gandhiji to ____________ .

(B) Naturally, the first thing he saw was the tall ragamuffin who had eased his way so close to the furnace that steam rose from his wet rags. The ironmaster did not follow the example of the blacksmiths, who had hardly deigned to look at the stranger. He walked close up to him, looked him over very carefully, then tore off his slouch hat to get a better view of his face.

(i) Who is ‘He‘ in the first line?

(ii) Select the correct option to fill in the blank with reference to the given statement. ‘The ironmaster did not follow the example of the blacksmiths…’. This shows that the ironmaster was ____________.

(A) haughty

(B) furious

(D) dominant

(iii) How was the attitude of the ironmaster different from that of blacksmith?

(iv) Choose the option from the passage means ‘to do something that one considers to be below one’s dignity‘?

(A) Ragamuffin

(B) Deigned

(D) Slouch

(v) Complete the sentence appropriately, with reference to the extract; The ironmaster associates the ragamuffin with ____________ .

(vi) How did the ragamuffin react towards the ironmaster’s invitation?

(A) He agreed readily.

(B) He was angry.

(D) He started screaming

V. Answer ANY FIVE the following in about 40–50 words. [5 × 2=10]

(i) Comment on any one aspect of the writing style of the author Selma Lagerlof in the Rattrap.

(ii) Would you say that the poem ends on a note of hope? Justify your opinion. (Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger)

(iii) What do we come to know about the author of “Deep Water’ – William Douglas after reading the text?

(iv) Mention two things of beauty that Keats refers to in his poem. How do they influence us?

(v) How were the parents and M Hamel responsible for the children’s neglect of the French language?

(vi) Does the poet reach a conclusive solution for the issue at hand? Discuss with reference to The Roadside Stand.

VI. Answer ANY TWO of the following in about 40–50 words. [2 × 2=4]

(i) What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?

(ii) Why did Zitkala-Sa oppose tooth and nail the shingling of her long hair?

(iii) Why was Dr. Sadao not arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?

VII. Answer ANY ONE of the following in about 120–150 words. [1 × 5 = 5]

(i) It is not unusual for a lower middle-class girl to dream big. How unrealistic were Sophie’s dreams?

(ii) Imagine Asokamitran witnesses a film shooting and visits a film set of present-day Bollywood. As Asokamitran write a diary entry penning down the transformation you notice between film making of yesteryears and today.

VIII. Answer ANY ONE of the following in about 120–150 words. [1 × 5 = 5]

(i) Imagine that you come across Louisa’s diary. What might you find in it about the third level? Compose at least one diary entry based on any of the events from the story, ‘The Third Level’.

(ii) Imagine that Yumi, the cook and the gardener meet each other after leaving their job at Dr. Sadao’s house. Imagine a conversation between the three. Create this exchange with reference to the chapter, ‘The Enemy

Class XII – English Practice Paper – 5