Andhra Pradesh Board Class 12 English Core Sample Papers 2008

CLASS - XII
Sub - English Core
Time : 3 Hours       M. Marks : 100
Note : Attempt all questions.
The Question Paper is divided into 4 sections:
Section A Reading 20 Marks
Section B Writing 30 Marks
Section C Grammar 10 Marks
Section D Text Book 40 Marks

SECTION A

Q.1  Read the following passage carefully and answer the question that
follow:-
The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally,  at least most
of us could compile formidable lists of ‘do’s’ and  ‘don’ts’. The same
old favourites recur year in and year out with mono tonous regularity.
We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less , find more time to
play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs  about the house, be
nice to people we don’t like, drive carefully, and  take the dog for a
walk every day. Past experience has taught us that  certain
accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain deep-rooted
liars, it is only because we have so often experien ced the frustration
that results from failure. 
Most of us fail in our of efforts at self-improvem ent because our
schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out.
We also make the fundamental error of announcing ou r resolutions to
everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into
our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this yea r I attempted to keep
my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two m odest ambitions: to
do physical exercise every morning and to read more in the evening.
An all-night party on New Year’s Eve provided me wi th a good excuse
for not carrying out either of these new resolution s on the first day the
year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduous ly to the task.
The daily exercise lasted only eleven minutes and  I proposed to
do them early in the morning before anyone had got  up. The self
discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleve n minutes earlier
than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I manage d to creep down
into the living room for two days before anyone fou nd me out. After
jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human  frame into 6
uncomfortable position, I set down at the breakfast table in an
exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me.  The next morning
the whole family trooped in to watch the performanc e. That was really
unsettling but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good
humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my
enthusiasm wanted, the time I spent at exercises gr adually diminished.
Little by little, the eleven minutes fell to zero.  By January 10th , I was
back to where. I had started from.
Questions
(a) What is the New Year a time for?
(i) enjoying parties
(ii) Sending greetings
(iii) Making resolutions. 
(iv) Watching T.V. Programmes.

(b) Why did the writer not carry out his resolution s on New
Year’s Day?
(i) because he was very busy with his work.
(ii) because he attended an all-night party.
(iii) because he forgot about it.
(iv) because he had to go out of the town.

(c) For how long did his physical exercise last?
(i) eleven minutes 
(ii) eleven hours
(iii) eleven days
(iv) eleven months.
(d) How did the author’s family members treat his r esolution:-
(i) they helped him with his exercise.
(ii) they woke him up regularly. 
(iii) they also did exercise.
(iv) they made a fun of him.
(e) where did the author do his exercise?
(i) on the terrace 
(ii) in the bed-room
(iii) in the living room 
(iv) in a park 
(f) The word in the passage similar in meaning to ‘ deep
disappointment’.
(i) exhausted 
(ii) attainment 
(iii) accomplishment 
(iv) frustration. 
(g) Supply one word for 'unchanging State of affair s' from the
passage 

(i) regularity
(ii) monotonous 
(iii)favorites
(iv) frustration 
(h) The word in the passage similar in meaning to ‘ happen
again and again’.
(i) effort 
(ii) error 
(iii) recur
(iv) attempt.
(i) Why is it a basic mistake to announce our resol utions to
everybody?
(j) Why, according to the writer, most of us fail i n our efforts
for self improvement?    

Q.2  Read the following passage carefully :-
We are lucky to have so many kinds of mountains, h ill ranges
and highlands. Apart from fact that hills and mount ains are visually
exciting, they make the land productive in a way we seldom
consciously realize. 
What, for instance, do the Himalayas do for us, ap art from
giving visual glamour to our northern borders and g iving us status as
possessors of the highest peaks in the world? Well, quite simply, they
keep the cold dry Siberian winds out of the country , and keep the
warm most monsoon winds inside it.
What, else, apart from our climate and rainfall do we owe to the
Himalayas? Well, we owe to them all those giant riv ers which meander
over the wide area of flat land below the Himalayas , and give it life
and fertility. As snow and ice pile on each other i n the higher of these
mountains, the bottom layer continuously melts, and this melted snow
is the source of those permanent rivers which water the North Indian
plains. As against these Himalayan rivers, most oth er are seasonal.
The vegetation found on the Himalayas consists of  different
types of trees, shrubs and grasses, arranged in hor izontal brands at
different heights in the same order in which they o ccur at various
latitudes. Fruits such as most of the apples and pe ars appearing in the
Indian markets can only be grown in the Himalayas.  The conifer trees
are a rich source of timber.
(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passa ge, make
suitable notes giving an appropriate title.
(b) Make a summary using those notes.

SECTION B
WRITING

3.Design and draft a poster to highlight the importan ce of trees in our
life, appealing the people to plant more and more t rees. 
OR
You want to let out a portion of your house. Draft  an advertisement
giving necessary details to be published in the cla ssified columns of a
local daily. 
OR
You are Alok the school captain of Saint Francis Se nior Secondary
School Bhopal. Your School has organised a programm e by Kathak
dancer, 'Padma'. Write a notice informing all the s tudents about it.

Q.4  You are the Press-Reporter of Hindustan Times. You  were sent to
report the bank dacoity in which 10 lac rupees were looted in broad
daylight. Write the report
OR
You are the secretary of the science club of at Xav ier’s convent
School, Gwalior. Write a report of the inter School Science Exhibition
organized in your school. 

Q.5  Imagine yourself to be D.S. Tomar, the P.E.T. of Al l Saints Public
School, Raisen. Your Principal has asked you to pla ce an order for
supply of sports equipments to M/s Olympic Sports,  56, New Market,
Bhopal. Write the letter.
OR
You have read an advertisement for the post of Lect urer (Economics)
in Maharana Pratap Sr. Seco. School, Jaipur. You po ssess the desired
qualification. Write an application for job to the  principal. Sign
yourself as Prateel/ Pratima of 62, Civil Lines, Vi disha. 

Q.6  You are Anurag Anupama, a student of class XII. You r teacher has asked
you to deliver a speech on Importance of English in India in the morning
assembly. Write the speech -
OR
Write an essay on any one of the following:-
a) Science in Daily Life
b) Increasing corruption A Threat to Socirty

SECTION C

Q.7.Fill up the blanks by selecting the most appropriat e option.
(a) How ----------- milk do you buy daily?
      (many / much / any)
(b) ----------- cotton of Egypt is exported to many countries.
      (a / an / the)
(c) My boos wants this report immediately. He deman ded that it----
------  Ready by 5:00.
      (will be / should be / was)
(d) I opened the door ------------ looked out.
      (and / but / nor)
(e) You may get malaria --------- you are bitten by a mosquito.
(i) so that  (ii) though  (iii) if  (iv) before. 

Q.8  DO AS DIRECTED (any five)
(a) work / much / yet / to be / done / is.
(Rearrange to from a meaningful sentence)
(b) The teacher told us to exercise in the open.
(Rewrite using noun clause)
(c) Hurry up. You will miss the show.
(Combine the sentences using appropriate conjuncti on).
(d) Somebody is using the computer at the moment.
(Rewrite in passive from removing some body)
(e) Mohan finished his homework. Then he wrote a le tter to his
father.
(Combine the sentence using past perfect) 
(f) (i)The boy is my friend
(ii) He is sitting in the last row 
(Combine the sentences using relative clause) 
(g) (i) Mohan found the book.
(ii) Mohan was going to school.
(Combine using adverbial clause)

SECTION D
TEXT BOOK
(A)  “Rushing towards the pure domain,
  of the sea
The kingdom of water, water;
  water;
The passionate vigorous spirit 
  of life
The Liquid turquoise of light.”
  with eternal flow.
Questions

(a) These line have been taken from the poem:
(i) Forest and River 
(ii) Teach me to Listen, Lord.
(iii) The Hill Top Temple.
(iv) Wonderful World.
(b) Who is the speaker of these lines: 
(i) River
(ii) The passer by man 
(iii) Forest 
(iv) Water.
(c) Why is water called as the ‘liquid turquoise of light’?
OR
“And get, when I said my prayers to day,
A whisper inside me seemed to say,
“You are more than the Earth, though you are such  a dot:
You can love and think, and the earth cannot”
Questions
(a) Who is the poet?
(i) W.H. Davies
(ii) Sri Aurobindo
(iii) Jalaluddin Rumi
(iv) W.B. Rands.
(b) Whom does ‘you’ refer to?
(i) Air
(ii) Human being
(iii) World 
(iv) Water
(c) What does the whisper inside say to the poet? W hy?

(B) Answer any Three of the following 
(a) Write the central idea of the poem “The English Language.
(b) How could listening to one’s inner voice be hel pful?
(c) What is selfishness according to W.H. Davies? 
(d) How does the secret spirit operate in human bod y?

Q.10 Answer any FOUR of the following question. 
(a) In what way had post independence India influen ced the world?
(b) Make a list of civic duties as suggested by Dr. Kalam.
(c) Describe the structure of brain.
(d) What were the there remarkable things in the st rangers story?
(e) What is the best way to disarm hostility? 
(f) Why did the new passenger not notice the girls  hair? 

Q.11 How did the friend from the sky help Mini?
OR
Can a thief be nobler than a sage? Justify your ans wer on the basis of
“End and means”. 

Q.12 “The ability to motivate other well flows from the  importance that we
attach today”. Justify on the basic of John Wooden’ s story.
OR
Describe the importance of “The Gita”.
Q.13 Answer any Two of the following :
(a) Name the world’s highest water fall. Why is it  called so? 
(b) What accounts for beauty in yourself?
(c) Why did the truck driver say “What goes around  comes around?
(d) What are the benefits of meditation?