2018
ENGLISH
Full Marks: 90
Time: Three hours
The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions
SECTION – A
(Reading)
1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The word ‘depressed’ in common usage means sad, frustrated, fed up, bored and pessimistic. The mood of a depressed person is much lower at his or her best moments than that of a normal person at
his or her worst. Depression is a state of mind. It is a mental disorder characterised by a lowering of the individual’s vitality, his/her mood, desires, hopes, aspirations and of his/her self-esteem.
Depression arising out of environmental factors is called reactive depression; depression arising out of biochemical changes in the brain is called endogenous depression. If depression is mild or moderate and if the individual is in touch with his / her surroundings, it is known as neurotic depression. If the individual is severely disturbed and is not able to comprehend what is happening around, such a state is called psychotic depression.
Old age is one of the stages of human development, where a person is likely to attain wisdom, maturity, social and economic stability with social recognition and emotional fulfillment. Generally, societies show a great respect and consideration for the aged. In ancient times old people were considered as the guiding starts in Indian families because they were symbols of tradition, respect wisdom and experience. In primitive, ancient and medieval cultures, old persons had a recognised social role. They were of great value because could impart knowledge and skill to youngsters. The old people were considered as repositories of wisdom and traditions and were not perceived as a burden on others.
At Present, social structures and values are undergoing transformation from traditional to modern. There is a rapid stride in urbanization and industrialisation leading to the breaking up of joint families and property. This has weakened the social position and status of the aged in the family. Changes in the institutions of marriage and family have diminished the control of parents over their children. Children have come to view the aged as a useless and non-productive entity. The ultimate result is that the very integrity of the family with the elderly forming an integral part of it is being uprooted. Thus the elderly have ended up losing much of their earlier authority, respect and prestige within the Indian family system. These changes generally bring about depression in old people.
Questions:
1.(a) (i) What does the word ‘depressed’ mean in common usage?
(ii) What is ‘reactive depression’?
(iii) What is ‘endogenous depression’?
(iv) Why were old people considered to be of great value in earlier societies?
(v) What was the status of old people in ancient India?
(vi) What are the factors responsible for the disintegration of the joint family system?
(vii) Mention two changes in our society that has caused depression in old people.
(b) Pick out words in the passage that mean the following:
(i) liveliness and energy
(ii) a place where things are stored.
2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. There are two problems which cause great worry to our educationists – the problem of religious and moral instruction in a land of many faiths and the problem arising out of a large variety of languages.
2. Taking up the education of children, we see that they should be trained to love one another, to be kind and helpful to all, to be tender towards the lower animals and to observe and think right. The task of teaching them how to read and write and to count and calculate is important, but it should not make us lose sight of the primary aim of moulding personality in the right way.
3. For this, it is necessary to call into aid, culture, tradition and religion. But in our country we have, in the same school, to look after boys and girls born in different faiths and belonging to families that live diverse ways of life and follow different forms of worship associated with different denominations of religion. It will not do to tread the easy path of evading the difficulty by attending solely to physical culture and intellectual education. We have to evolve a suitable teaching method for serving the spiritual needs of school children professing different faiths. We should thereby promote an atmosphere of mutual respect, a fuller understanding and helpful cooperation among the different communities in our society. Again we must remain one people and we have therefore to give basic training in our schools to speak and understand more languages than one and to appreciate and respect the different religions prevailing in India. It is not right for us in India to be dissuaded from this by considerations as to overtaking the young mind. What is necessary must be done.
4. Any attempt to do away with or steamroll the differences through governmental coercion and indirect pressure would be as futile as it would be unwise. Any imposition of a single way of life and form of worship on all children or neglect of a section of the pupils in this respect or barren secularization will lead to conflict between school and home life which is harmful. On the other hand, if we give due recognition to the different prevailing faiths in the educational institutions by organising suitable facilities for religious teaching for boys and girls of all communities, this may itself serve as a broadening influence of great national value.
Questions:
a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage, make notes on it, using recognizable abbreviations whenever necessary. Add a suitable title to it. 5
Ans: See solved Q.P 2016
b) Make a summary of the above passage in about 80 words. 3
Ans: See solved question paper 2016
SECTION – B
(Writing)
3. You are arranging a picnic to Kaziranga next Sunday. Describe your preparations to your classmates in about 100 words. 6 marks
Or
You are Ranjan/Ranjana, a reporter of ‘The Telegraph’. You have witnessed a road accident resulting in the death of three persons. Prepare a report in about 100 words to be published in your newspaper.
4. Write a speech to be delivered in the school/college assembly on the importance of the English language in the present-day world.
Or
Write an article for your school/college magazine on what students can do to preserve our wildlife. 6
5. You have seen an advertisement in ‘The Assam Tribune’ for the post of Manager in a private firm. Write an application to the proprietor of the firm in response to the advertisement. Sign as Mridul/Mridula. 8
Or
Write a letter to the Editor of a local English daily drawing attention of the authorities concerned to the pitiable condition of roads in your area. 8
SECTION – C
(Grammar)
6. (a) Fill in the blanks with suitable determiners: ½ x 2=1
1) He had _____ time to spare as he was in a hurry. (a little/little) Ans: Little
2) Do you have _____ complaint against the authority? (some/any) Ans: Any
(b) Rewrite the following sentences with the correct form of the verb given in brackets: ½ x 2=1
1) Cricket (play) only in a few countries. Ans: is played
2) She (be) absent for a month. Ans: was absent.
(c) Fill in the blanks with appropriate modal auxiliaries (the sense of the sentence is indicated in the bracket): ½ x 2=1
1) We _____ play football. (ability). Ans: Can
2) _____ I come in? (permission). Ans: May
(d) Correct the following: ½ x 2=1
1) He left the hostel with bag and baggage. Ans: He left the hostel bag and baggage
2) She is reading since morning. Ans: She has been reading since morning.
7. (a) Complete the following piece of conversation by choosing the correct alternative from the brackets: 2
She said to me, “Why (why/where) are you late?” I replied, “I’ m not late. It’s 10:30 by (in/by) my watch.”
(b) Rewrite the following sentences as directed: 1×2=2
1) He did not know my name. (Make it a complex sentence)
Ans: He did not know what my name is.
2) Guwahati is the oldest city in the North-East. (Use the comparative degree of ‘oldest’)
Ans: Guwahati is older than any other city in the North-East.
8. Rearrange the words in the following to form meaningful sentences: `1×2=2
a) This is to see you who the person came last week.
Ans: This is the person who came to see you last week
b) Are harmless to snakes most people.
Ans: Most snakes are harmless to people.
SECTION – D
(Textual Questions)
9. Read any one of the stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow:
a) And who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated :
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea.
1) Where do these lines occur? 1
Ans: These lines has been taken from the poem ‘’ Voice of the rain’’
2) How does the shower fall? 1
Ans: The rain falls softly.
3) What does the poet ask the rain? 1
4) Find a word in the passage that means “that cannot be touched”. 1
5)What idea do you form about the relationship between the rain and the earth from your reading of the quoted lines?
b) Father and son, we both must live
On the same globe and the same land,
He speaks : I cannot understand
Myself, why anger grows from grief
We each put out an empty hand,
Longing for something to forgive
1) Where must father and son live together? 1
Ans: Both the son and the father must live ‘on the same globe’ or in the same world.
2) What is the source of the father’s anger? 1
Ans. The grief of the grieved father turns into anger
3) What does the ‘empty hand’ signify? 1
4) What do they long for? 1
Ans: They long for something to forgive
5) What idea do you form about the relationship between the father and his son from the quoted lines?
10. Answer any two of the following questions: 3×2=6
a) The three stanzas of the poem ‘A photograph’ depict three different phases. What are they?
b) What is the poet’s feeling towards childhood in the poem “Childhood”?
c) Does the poem ‘Father to Son’ talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal? Give a reasoned reply.
d) How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’?
11. Answer any five of the following questions: 2×5=10
a) Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
a) Explain the concept of ‘Shanshui’.
b) What is sustainable development?
c) What are the principal biological systems of the earth?
d) Give two examples of the author’s grandmother’s love of animals.
e) Why did Verrier Elwin say that he was unconventional as a visitor?
12. (a) “We have not inherited this earth from our forefathers; we have borrowed it from our children.” Justify this statement. 6
Or
(b) Describe the childhood days spent in the village by the author with his grandmother. 6
13. Comment on the influence of the English language and way of life on Indian society as reflected in the story “Ranga’s Marriage”. 6
Or
“The school system often curbs individual talents”. Discuss the statement in the light of your reading of “Albert Einstein at School.” 6
14. Answer any two of the following questions in brief: 2×2=4
a) What was Einstein’s idea of education?
b) How did Ranga and Ratna react when they saw each other?
c) How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation?
Top 5 self-help books that you must read before you die.
1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
3. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change
4. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
5.Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
