CBSE Board Class 12 English Elective Previous Year Question Papers 2009

ENGLISH (Elective) 2009
Time allowed : 3 hours Maximum Marks: 100
General Instructions  :
(i) Answer  all  questions.
(ii) Your answers should be to the point. Stick to the word limit where given.
1. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow :
(a) We have seen how, since the liberation of human thought in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, a comparatively few curious and intelligent men, chiefly in
Western Europe, have produced a vision of the world and a body of science that is now
on the material side, revolutionising life.
(i) When did the liberation of human thought take place in Europe ? 2
(ii) Who brought about this liberation ? 2
(iii) What has been the result of that vision on human life ? 1
OR
The freedom of the press is one of the highly guarded and valued privileges of democracy.
There are laws to protect the privacy and rights of the individual, and the security of
the country but no man is too important, no office too high to escape comment. A well
informed press carrying all degrees of opinion is a vital part of our heritage.
(i) What is a highly valued privilege of democracy ? 1
(ii) What are the laws meant for ? 2
(iii) What is a vital part of our heritage ? 2
(b) Discriminating critics, however, were not wanting. Her work, therefore, became, in
Keats’ fine phrase, “great art unto a little clan”. Yet there were moments when she
was little dismayed; but loyalties to tradition, pluck and abnegation made endurance
possible. Faced with a lack of appreciation she was amongst those talented souls
whose merits had also been ignored.
(i) How did a little clan of critics rate Amrita Sher-Gil’s painting ? 1
(ii) What helped Amrita Sher-Gil overcome the adverse criticism ? 2
(iii) How does the author describe her talent ? 2
OR
In any case, no literature teacher is going to belabour his students with
incomprehensibilities for long. The strain — on the teacher, I mean — is too great. It
seems to me that, whatever the country and whatever the national approach to
literature, the survey courses and the old-style formal lecturing on the philosophy of
Wordsworth or on the Epic, if they have to be done, can best be done by native teachers
in the language of the country.
(i) What can a literature teacher not do for long ? 2
(ii) Why can’t he do it ? 1
(iii) Which topics can best be taught by native teachers in their own language ? 2
2. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each :
(a) Though water pollution is unseen and invisible, its effect is visible. Elucidate. 6
OR
Why are those who tremble to think opposed to change ?
(b) “The  giving of presents would gloriously increase the  happiness  of the  world.”
Elaborate. 6
OR
Why should we refrain from criticising an author before reading him/her fully ?
3. Answer the following questions in about 60 words each :
(a) How do ants find their way home ? 4
                     OR
How do earthquakes occur ?
(b) “Sense of proportion is a sign of wisdom.” How ? 4
                     OR
Describe G.K. Chesterton’s concept of real success in life.
4. Answer the following question in about 150 words :
How did the Captain’s greed lead to his death ? 10
           OR
How was Maxgayya’s loss of red account book a turning point in his career ?
5.
   Answer the following questions in about 60 words each :
(a) Describe the role played by Madan in ‘A Tiger for Malgudi’.          3
                    OR
How did  Margayya negotiate with the Gordon Printery about the printing of his
book ?
(b) Describe the early life of the Master as shown in ‘A Tiger for Malgudi’.         2
                    OR
How did Dr. Pal take revenge on Margayya ?
6. Answer the following question in about 150 words :
What role do the candlesticks play in the lives of the Bishop and the Convict ?     10
                    OR
Give an account of the conversation between the Corporal and the Colonel.
7. Answer the following questions in about 60 words each :
(a) What, according to you, is the message of the play, 'Mother’s Day?            3
(b) Why does the Sergeant (The Rising of the Moon) want to arrest the escaped
prisoner ?                   2
8. (a) Do as directed : 5
(i) Mohan is an architect. He has won international praise.
                      (Rewrite by using ‘relative clause’)
(ii) Safety barriers are used to control traffic. (Identify ‘head’ and ‘modifier’)
(iii) I am a  big idiot.   (Rewrite with exclamatory clause)
(iv) He is  very selfish ... ? (Add question tag)
(v) He won the first prize.   (Change into passive clause)
(b)     Do as directed :                                                                                       .
(i) Break the following words into separate syllables by putting a dot or slash(. /)
after each syllable :              2
gaiety,  identical,    interface,  hypocritical
(ii)    Mark the ‘stress’ on the following words :                2
submerge,  imbue,  ransack,  confiscate
(iii)   What is the rising tone ?  4
9. Read the passage given below and answer in your own language, the questions that
follow :
In the concrete jungle, the Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) is like an
oasis. A group of scientists is attempting to restore the original ecosystem of the Yamuna
flood plains.
The park stands on a plot that was almost barren until the team started the
uphill task of restoration in 2002. The objective was to preserve the flora and fauna
because the species were becoming extinct. However, the experts encountered several
difficulties in their work. For one, the Jharoda villagers allegedly illegally occupy some
part of the site. Besides, as the area was prone to waterlogging, the soil’s salt content
was very high.
To create the wetland, around 2,30,000 cubic metres of soil was dug out of
the low-lying area. The extracted soil has been utilised to form mounds in the central
portion of the 157-acre park. With a maximum width of about 120 metres, the 1-8 km
long, horse shoe-shaped wetland surrounds these landscaped mounds. An arched bridge
stands on its narrowest point. The soil was used to landscape the area in such a
manner that seepage will go down into the wetland.
YBP has a smaller wetland too, and CEMDE plan to create one more. A
month ago, DDA allotted an additional 330 acres of “fertile” land for the second phase
of the project. Lying north east of the park, the new land extends up to the river front.
“There will be a series of wetlands over 80 - 100 acres of the new stretch’. “We will
also create grasslands and flood plain forests, which have become extinct due to
urbanisation,” says Prof. Babu, the Head of CEMDE. The vegetation will include tiger
and lemon grass 90 - 200 cm high, medium grasses 45 - 90 cm in height and smaller
varieties that grow 10-60 cm high.
At present, about six acres are dotted with as many as 400 varieties of trees
including primitive cultivars found along the Yamuna basin. Also being set up is a
butterfly park that’ll have 150 species of honey-producing plants. After the wetland, one
takes a peep into the medicinal garden, where scores of colourful butterflies flap over a
plant.
Says Prof. Babu, “Once the grassland is ready, plenty of wildlife will come
here on its own.” The 500-odd-acre biodiversity spot in the making is a pilgrimage
venue for science students. Delhi University colleges have been asked to visit the park.
“It’s going to be a heaven for birds and a paradise for bird-lovers,” says Prof. Babu.
“By creating more wetlands (more birds can be attracted), we can turn this area into a
bird sanctuary.”
The cormorant’s habitat is disturbed (in Delhi). And the darter is rare in
Delhi because of habitat restriction. This is the first year that these birds have started
nesting here. Between 3.30 - 4 p.m. the bird population goes up to over 400. Their food
requirement is two-three-inch long fish, which are available here.
(i) Which two difficulties did the experts face in developing Yamuna Biodiversity Park
(YBP) ?         2
(ii) What has been done to check the seepage ?                 2
(iii) What different varieties of vegetation are proposed in YBP ?          2
(iv) In  what sense will the YBP be a pilgrimage for science students ?      2
(v) Which birds have started nesting here ? Why ?        2
10. Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow :
If you are sighing for a lofty work,
If great ambitions dominate your mind,
Just watch yourself and see you do not shirk
The common little ways of being kind.
If you are dreaming of a future goal,
When crowned with glory men shall own your power.
Be careful that you let no struggling soul
Go by unaided in the present hour
If you would help to make the wrong things right,
Begin at home, there lies a lifetime’s toil;
Weed your own garden fair for all men’s sight,
Before you plan to till another’s soil.
(i) What should an ambitious person do ? 1
(ii) How should he plan his future ?             1
(iii) Where should an ambitious man make a beginning ?                  1
(iv) Why is it necessary to make a beginning at that place ?              1
(v) What does the poet mean by “weed your own garden” ?   6
11. In the recent times, the terrorists have made their targets places which are crowded. As
a newspaper reporter, draft a report in 100 — 125 words suggesting measures to check
the nefarious designs of the terrorists.                                                                               5
12. Write an essay in 200 — 250 words on any  one  of the following topics : 10
(i) How should we leawi to live together
(ii) Growing violence among the youth
(iii) Performance of Indian cricket team