Alternative English Question Paper' 2023 AHSEC Class 12 Question Paper

Alternative English Question Paper' 2023
AHSEC Class 12 Question Paper

Full Marks: 100
 Pass Marks: 30
Time: 3 hours

1. Give brief answers to any five of the following:                   1x5=5

(a) Where did the christening ceremony take place?

(b) Where from had the new vicar come?

(c) Where does man’s ultimate destiny life, according to R. K. Narayan?

(d) Who fell on R. K. Narayan’s car when it was parked in front of the hospital?

(e) Who was Sudheer?

(f) Why was Mriganko Babu travelling to Durgapur?

(g) Who called the witch doctor?

(h) Who asked Mriganko Babu, “Can you recognize me, Babu”?

(i) How much money does Della have?

(j) What is there between the windows of Della’s room?

(k) What gift does Jim buy for Della?

(l) Why did Robert Lynd read Emerson and Marcus Aurelius?

(m) Who is Zeus?

2. Answer any five of the following:                 2x5=10

(a) What happened to the series of gowns in the sixteen year long service of the Verger?

(b) What was the discovery that had astonished the vicar?

(c) How are one’s privacy and anonymity lost, according to R. K. Narayan?

(d) Why does R. K. Narayan think that the book called ‘Testament of a Walker’ may never be written?

(e) Why did Mriganko Baby think that birds were foolish?

(f) What did Mriganko Babu decide never to do again?

(g) What were the two priceless possessions of the James Dillingham Young?

(h) “May be the hairs of my head were numbered, but nobody could ever count my love for you” – in what context does Della say this to Jim?

(i) In what context does Lynd mention Solomon?

(j) Why is Pliny and Elder famous?

3. Give brief answers to any three of the following:                 4x3=12

(a) What was the Verger’s impression about the new vicar?

(b) What does make R. K. Narayan fear that he would soon be bankrupt?

(c) Describe, how the scarecrow gradually turned into a human figure in front of Mriganko Babu.

(d) What does Jim say to Della when she holds out her gift for him on her palm?

(e) Describe the circumstances in which Lynd was led to read Epictetus.

4. Explain with reference to the context on any two of the following:        4x2=8

(a) “I think a log of these young fellows waste a rare lot of time reading when they might be doing something useful.”

(b) “Two cyclists collided and fell on my car parked in front of the hospital, and smashed the parking light on the left side.”

(c) “It was the end of January. All the crops had been removed from the fields.”

(d) “Terrified, Mriganko Babu took a few steps backwards and stood leaning heavily against his car.”

(e) “Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hushed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim’s present.”

(f) “They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession.”

5. Give brief answers to any five of the following:         1x5=5

(a) Who is the fair lady the narrator speaks of in the poem “Sita”?

(b) What are the three happy children doing?

(c) What flowers do grow by the brook for the happy lovers?

(d) Where does the brook murmur?

(e) Where does the traveler in the poem “Ozymandias of Egypt” come from?

(f) Who could read the passions of Ozymandias well?

(g) Who made a garland for the lady’s head?

(h) What is an ‘elfin grot’?

(i) Whose mother will wait and weep?

(j) What will bite the village girl in the darkness?

6. Answer any four of the following:              2x4=8

(a) Why do tears fall from the three young pairs of eyes?

(b) What type of forest do the children imagine from their mother’s description?

(c) Why does the brook say, “I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance”?

(d) How and where does the brook flow?

(e) What type of legs stand in the desert?

(f) What is still visible on the ‘shattered visage’?

(g) How did the lady look?

(h) Where did the Knight make the lady sit?

(i) What will the girl’s mother say if her daughter is late?

(j) How does the village maiden pray for her safety?

7. Answer any three of the following:                4x3=12

(a) How does the poem ‘Sita’ reflect the poet’s deep love for nature?

(b) Briefly describe the brook’s journey through different places.

(c) Explain the significance of the expression, “nothing beside remains”.

(d) Write how the strange lady treats the knight-at-arms.

(e) Describe in your own words, how the young girl is surrounded by dark shadows in the evening.

8. Explain with reference to the context on any one of the following:      5x1=5

(a) I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried – “La Belle Dame sans Merci

Hath thee in thrall !”

(b) By thirty hills I hurry down,

Or slip between the ridges,

By twenty thorps, a little town,

And half a hundred bridges.

(c) Swiftly the shadows of night are falling,

Hear, O hear, the white crane calling,

(d) And on the pedestal these words appear:

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair !”

GROUP – B

Marks: 35

9. Change any five of the sentences given below as per instruction given, without changing their meaning:                 1x5=5

(a) Sagar will help me with this project. [Change into negative]

(b) She was not allowed to enter the house. [Change into affirmative]

(c) She is writing a letter to him. [Change into passive]

(d) Yam is eaten by the people of my country. [Change in active]

(e) She tried all plans. [Change into negative]

(f) Was that not an excellent speech? [Change into assertive]

(g) The ball was thrown by Virat. [Change into active]

(h) Can I ever forgive him? [Change into assertive]

(i) People call him the pillar of the society. [Change into passive]

(j) As soon as the rain stopped, we started the journey. [Change into negative]

10. Add appropriate question tags to any five of the following:        1x5=5

(a) Your house faces the river.

(b) You will show me your new bike.

(c) He can act very well.

(d) He kept his promise.

(e) We’re late for the movie.

(f) I was wrong.

(g) Please stop talking.

(h) It is very humid today.

(i) You don’t live here.

(j) The girl is playing the piano.

11. Fill in any five of the following blanks with suitable prepositions:        1x5=5

(a) What are you looking _______?

(b) My parents live _______ the countryside.

(c) Give me the book _______ the shelf.

(d) His father deals _______ tea.

(e) The hotel is adjacent _______ the police station.

(f) We will finish our exams _______ two days.

(g) Our relatives arrived _______ the morning.

(h) I am fond _______ chocolates.

(i) At last the bus arrived, and we got _______ it.

(j) The scientist looked _______ the microscope.

12. Rewrite any five of the following sentences using the verbs given in brackets in their correct forms:                    1x5=5

(a) I (reach) Mumbai yesterday.

(b) I wish I (accept) the proposal.

(c) He (work) when she arrived.

(d) Shyamal (go) to work by bus today.

(e) Purabi (live) in this house for twelve years.

(f) He (write) ten novels so far.

(g) All the trains (run) late today.

(h) Perhaps it (rain) yesterday.

(i) She wants to go for a walk, but she (not finish) her work yet.

(j) Do you still (belong) to that football club?

13. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:                15

The Pink Fair Armadillo is the smallest of the armadillo species in the world. It is 3.5 to 4.5 cm in length and about 110 grams in weight. It can sit on the palm of a human hand. Like its larger armadillo cousins, the pink fairy armadillo has a shell on its top side. But unlike them, it is pinkish in hue. The pink colour is derived from the animal’s blood vessels which are visible through the shell. It is unique to this species. So is the extremely fine white hair visible from beneath the shell. Those blood vessels and that silky hair are both part of the creature’s thermoregulation system that enables it to the extreme variation in temperature in its habitat in central Argentina. Exposing more blood to silly hot air or soil – making the outer skin appear more pink – would lower the armadillo’s body temperature, while draining the blood would enable the creature to hang on to the heat it needs during the colder periods at night, as would the hair, which acts as a kind of insulation.

Unfortunately, these tiny marvels are extremely hard to study because they spend the bulk of their lives burrowing underground in search of ants and larvae, using their powerful claws on both their front and hind legs, which enable them to travel through the soil below ground at surprising rate of speed. The pink fairy armadillo is extremely sensitive to stress and none has survived in captivity for more than eight days or so. While habitats change, increasing use of pesticides and even a growing population of domestic cats and dogs are believed to be driving the Pink Fairy Armadillo to near extinction. Scientists have not been able to determine the status of this elusive species.

(a) What is the smallest armadillo species and what are its length and weight?       2

(b) What is speciality of the smallest armadillo species?               2

(c) Which physical features help the smallest armadillo species adjust to the extreme temperature of Argentina?   2

(d) Why is it difficult to study the Pink Fairy Armadillo?          3

(e) What causes are driving the Pink Fairy Armadillo into extinction?       4

(f) Which word in the passage stand for ‘insect killer’?               1

(g) Which word in the passage stand for ‘disappearance’?        1

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