CBSE Question Paper 2013 class 12 English Elective NCERT

• Question Nos. I-4 are compulsory.
• Attempt either Question 5 or 6.
• Your answers should be to the point. Stick to the given word limit.

SECTION – A (Reading) 20 Marks

1. (a) Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (12)
There is an incident which occurred at the examination during my first year at the high school and which is worth recording. Mr. Giles, the Educational Inspector, had come on a visit of inspection. He had set us five words to write as a spelling exercise. One of the words was “kettle’. I had misspelt it. The teacher tried to prompt me with the point of his boot, but I would not be prompted.

It was beyond me to see that he wanted me to copy the spelling from my neighbor’s slate, for I had thought that the teacher was there to supervise us against copying. The result was that all the boys, except myself, were found to have spelt every word correctly. Only I had been stupid. The teacher tried later to bring this stupidity home to me, but without effect. I never could learn the art of ‘copying.

Yet the incident did not in the least diminish my respect for my teacher. I was by nature, blind to the faults of elders. Later I came to know of many other failings of this teacher, but my regard for him remained the same. For I had learnt to carry out the orders of elders, not to scan their actions.

Two other incidents belonging to the same period have always clung to my memory. As a rule, I had a distaste for any reading beyond my school books. The daily lessons had to be done because I disliked being taken to task by my teacher as much as I disliked deceiving him. Therefore, I would do the lessons, but often without my mind in them. Thus when even the lessons could not be done properly, there was of course no question of any extra reading.

But somehow my eyes fell on a book purchased by my father. It was Shravana Pitribhakti Natak (a play about Shravana’s devotion to his parents). I read it with intense interest. There came to our place about the same time itinerant showmen. One of the pictures I was shown was of Shravana carrying, by means of slings fitted for his shoulders, his blind parents on a pilgrimage.

The book and the picture left an indelible impression on my mind. “Here is an example for you to copy’, I said to myself. The agonized lament of the parents over Shravana’s death is still fresh in my memory. The melting tune moved me deeply, and I played it on a concertina which my father had purchased for me.

There was a similar incident connected with another play. Just about this time, I had secured my father’s permission to see a play performed by a certain dramatic company. This play – Harishchandra – captured my heart. I could never be tired of seeing it. But how often should I be permitted to go? It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number. “Why should not all be truthful like Harishchandra?” was the question I asked myself day and night.

To follow truth and to go through all the ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it inspired in me. I literally believed in the story of Harishchandra. The thought of it all often made me weep. My common sense tells me today that Harishchandra could not have been a historical character. Still both Harishchandra and Shravana are living realities for me, and I am sure I should be moved as before if I were to read those plays again today.

(An extract from Gandhiji’s ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth”)

(a) Why did Gandhiji not correct the spelling of the word, kettle in spite of the teacher’s prompting? (2)
(b) What does it reveal about his nature as a boy? (2)

(c) Did he form any adverse opinion of his teacher after this incident? Why? (2)

(d) Why did he have a distaste for reading beyond his school books? (2)

(e) What was the effect of the book, ‘Shravana’s Pitribhakti on Gandhiji? (2)

(f) How did the play, Harishchandra’ capture his heart? (2)

(b) Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow: (8)
Follow your hopes and dreams while you can.
While the desire is burning.
When the chance comes your Way.
Don’t be a ship that stays in the harbour,
never straying from its safety.
Don’t get tangled up with “maybe …
may be someday”.

Too many folks will tell you that if
you spend your whole life
waiting, … ‘someday’ arrives
too little, too late.
Maybe it’s already a little
later than it seems.
If you really want to do it,
do it while you can.
Be brave …
and sail away on your dreams.
(a) What does the poet inspire us to do? (2)
(b) Why does the poet stress “now and here” of the situation?  (2)
(c) What do many people advise us? (d) Explain: “Don’t be a ship that stays in the harbour. (2)
(e) Which word in the poem means the same as “very involved? (2)

SECTION – B (Writing) 20 Marks

2. (a) Frequent strikes and dharnas create great inconvenience to the common man. Write an essay in 150 – 200 words on “How to curb the menace of strikes and dharnas”. (10)

OR

One hears a lot about crimes against women. This evil is wide-spread in various parts of the country. Write an essay in 150 – 200 words on “Crimes against women’.

(b) It is the work-culture that makes a nation rich and strong. Deeds speak louder than words. Prepare a speech on this topic in 150-200 words. (10)

SECTION – C (Applied Grammar) 10 Marks

3. In the passage given below, one word has been omitted in each line. Write the missing word along with the word that comes before and the word that comes after it in your answer sheet. Ensure that the word that forms your answer is underlined: (5)

Parents should loving                            (a) ……. …….

towards their children. Children             (b) ……. …….

should have respect their parents.        (c) ……. …….

These the basic values which               (d) ……. …….

every human being should cherish life. (e) ……. …….

These are basic                                     (f) ……. …….

values life.                                             (g) ……. …….

If the values of life lost,                          (h) ……. …….

then what the                                         (i) ……. …….

advantage all this progress?                 (j) ……. …….

(b) Read the dialogue given below and using the information complete the following paragraph in your own words: (5)

King: Soldier, hang that prisoner.

Soldier: Yes, Sir.

King (after sometime): Soldier, don’t hang that prisoner.

Soldier: Yes, Sir. But…

King: What is this “but’?

Soldier: Sir, which order should I obey?

King: Both, Both.

The King ordered the solider (a)_____

The soldier respectfully replied (b) _____

Thereafter the King gave another order to the solider (c) _____

The soldier obediently agreed but having got confused he enquired of the King (d) _____

The King commanded (e) _____

SECTION-D (Text for Detailed Study)

4. (a) Choose any two of the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow: (8)
(i) “I only came to tell you that I dreamed about
you last night,” she said. “You must leave right
away and not come back to Vienna for five years.”
(a) Who is the dreamer here? (1)

(b) What is the dream? (1)

(c) What is the effect of the dream on the writer? (2)

(ii) Stand still and I will read to thee
A Lecture, Love, in Loves Philosophy,
………
(a) Name the poet and the poem. (2)
(b) Why is the reader asked to “stand still”? (2)

(iii) At the election two of their rich friends
ask for your vote and you are free to choose which
of them you will vote for to spite the other – a choice
which leaves you no freer than you were before, …
(a) According to the writer, how much are we really free to vote in an election? (2)
(b) Which point is suggested in the expression, “their rich friends’? (2)

(b) Answer any two of the following questions in about 100 words each: (12)
(i) What made Tao Ying decide whether to buy a ticket or not when she rode abus alone?
(ii) Give examples from the poem, “Trees to suggest that great poetry is a result of close observation of natural things.
(iii) How genuine is the love that Manjula expresses for her sister?

(c) Answer any five of the following questions in about 60 words each: (15)
(i) Do you think that for Eveline, conflict between filial duty and personal happiness is really problematic? Give a reasoned answer.
(ii) What was Dr. Margolin’s attitude towards his profession?
(iii) How does Blake find “divine image” in all human beings?
(iv) Does the poet’s attitude in “Time and Time Again represent an average Indian’s feelings towards human violence and Nature’s fury?
(v) Mention three risks that film-making involves.
(vi) Do you think that Sen seeks to dispel some misconceptions about democracy in India? Give a reasoned answer.

(d) Answer the following question in about 100 words: (5)
All human beings are equal, and caste-distinctions are artificial and therefore superfluous. Tagore embodies this universal theme in the first part of Chandalika. Describe with examples from the play.

Fiction

Note: Attempt either question 5 or 6:

5. (a) Answer one of the following in about 100 words: (6)
(i) How was the tiger taken away from the school?
(ii) Justify the aptness of the title, “A Tiger for Malgudi’.
(b) Answer one of the following in about 60 words: (4)
(i) Examine the ending of the novel, A Tiger for Malgudi.
(ii) What is the role of the hermit in the novel, “A Tiger for Malgudi’?

6. (a) Answer one of the following in about 100 words: (6)
(i) “The Financial Expert’ shows that love of money causes all evils. Do you agree? Give a reasoned answer.
(ii) Give a character-sketch of Margayya.

(b) Write a short note on any one of the following in about 60 words: (4)
(i) Margayya’s Lakshmi Puja.
(ii) Margayya’s attitude towards his wife.