CBSE Class 12 Question Paper 2026 English Elective

FOR CBSE CLASS 12 EXAM PREPARATION

CBSE Class 12
2026
Question Paper ·
English
EXAM YEAR TYPE SUBJECT

CBSE Class 12 2026 Question Paper English
DETAILS

Elective

Notes · Sample Papers · Previous Year Papers · Mock Tests

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SET-4
Series Q3SPR
Q.P. Code 28

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Roll No. Candidates must write the Q.P. Code on

. c the title page of the answer-book.
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NOTE
(I) Please check that this question paper contains 15 printed pages.

(II) Q.P. Code given on the right hand side of the question paper should be written on
the title page of the answer-book by the candidate.
(III) Please check that this question paper contains 13 questions.
(IV) Please write down the Serial Number of the question in the answer-book
at the given place before attempting it.
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(V)
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15 minute time has been allotted to read this question paper. The question paper
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will be distributed at 10.15 a.m. From 10.15 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., the candidates will
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during this period.
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read the question paper only and will not write any answer on the answer-book

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*2821M19* ENGLISH (Elective)

Time allowed : 3 hours Maximum Marks : 80

General Instructions :
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Read the following instructions very carefully and strictly follow them
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m (i) This question paper has 13 questions. All questions are compulsory.
se (ii) This question paper contains three sections — Section A,agBlaand C.
Section A : Reading, Section B : Grammar and Writing,
Section C : Literature and Fiction.
(iii) Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary.
(iv) Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

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SECTION A
Reading (20 marks)

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 12
(1) On the first clear September day, towards the end of the rains, I
visited the pine knoll, my place of peace and power.
(2) It was months since I’d last been there. Trips to the plains, a crisis
in my affairs, involvements with other people and their troubles, and
an entire monsoon had come between me and the grassy, pine-topped
slope facing the Hill of Fairies (Pari Tibba to the locals). Now I tramped
through late monsoon foliage — tall ferns, bushes festooned with
flowering convolvulus — and crossed the stream by way of its little
bridge of stones before climbing the steep hill to the pine slope.
(3) When the trees saw me, they made as if to turn in my direction. A
puff of wind came across the valley from the distant snows. A
long-tailed blue magpie took alarm and flew noisily out of an oak tree.
The cicadas were suddenly silent. But the trees remembered me. They
bowed gently in the breeze and beckoned me nearer, welcoming me
home. Three pines, a straggling oak and a wild cherry. I went among
them and acknowledged their welcome with a touch of my hand against
their trunks — the cherry’s smooth and polished; the pine’s patterned
and whorled; the oak’s rough, gnarled, full of experience. He’d been
there the longest, and the wind had bent his upper branches and
twisted a few, so that he looked shaggy and undistinguished. But like
the philosopher who is careless about his dress and appearance, the
oak has secrets, a hidden wisdom. He has learnt the art of survival!
(4) While the oak and the pines are older than me and have been here
many years, the cherry tree is exactly seven years old. I know, because
I planted it.
(5) One day I had this cherry seed in my hand, and on an impulse I
thrust it into the soft earth, and then went away and forgot all about
it. A few months later I found a tiny cherry tree in the long grass. I did
not expect it to survive. But the following year it was two feet tall. And
then some goats ate its leaves, and a grass cutter’s scythe injured the
stem, and I was sure it would wither away. But it renewed itself,
sprang up even faster; and within three years it was a healthy, growing
tree, about five feet tall.

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(6) I left the hills for two years — forced by circumstances to make a
living in the city — but this time I did not forget the cherry tree. I
thought about it fairly often, sent telepathic messages of
encouragement in its direction. And when, a couple of years ago, I
returned in the autumn, my heart did a somersault when I found my
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tree sprinkled with pale pink blossom. (The Himalayan cherry flowers
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in November.) And later, when the fruit was ripe, the tree was visited

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by finches, tits, bulbuls and other small birds, all come to feast on the
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sour, red cherries.
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(7) a Last summer I spent a night on the pine knoll, sleeping on the grass
beneath the cherry tree. I lay awake for hours, listening to the chatter
of the stream and the occasional tonk-tonk of nightjars, and watching
through the branches overhead, the stars turning in the sky. And I felt
the power of the sky and the earth, and the power of a small cherry
seed...
(8) And so when the rains are over, this is where I come, that I might

o
feel the peace and power of this place.m
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. I can see everything from here
(9)
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ebehind and above me, the town and the
This is where I will write my stories.

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— my cottage across the valley;s
l to the left, the high mountains and the
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bazaar, straddling the ridge;
a of the great river; below me, the little
twisting road to the source
stream and the path to the village; ahead, the Hill of Fairies and the
fields beyond; the wide valley below, and another range of hills and
then the distant plains. I can even see Prem Singh in the garden,
putting the mattresses out in the sun.
(10) From here he is just a speck on the far hill, but I know it is Prem
by the way he stands. A man may have a hundred disguises, but in the
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end it is his posture that gives him away. Like my grandfather,
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who was a master of disguise and successfully roamed the bazaars as

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fruit vendor or basket maker. But we could always recognize him
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ag of looking up at
because of his pronounced slouch.
(11) Prem Singh doesn’t slouch, but he has this habit
the sky (regardless of whether it’s cloudy or clear), and at the moment
he’s looking at the sky.
(12) Eight years with Prem. He was just a sixteen-year-old boy when I
first saw him, and now he has a wife and child.

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(13) I had been in the cottage for just over a year... He stood on the
landing outside the kitchen door. A tall boy, dark, with good teeth and
brown, deep-set eyes, dressed smartly in white drill — his only change
of clothes. Looking for a job. I liked the look of him, but —
‘I already have someone working for me,’ I said.
‘Yes, sir. He is my uncle.’
In the hills, everyone is a brother or an uncle.
‘You don’t want me to dismiss your uncle ?’
‘No, sir. But he says you can find a job for me.’
‘I’ll try. I’ll make inquiries. Have you just come from your village ?’
‘Yes. Yesterday I walked ten miles to Pauri. There I got a bus.’
‘Sit down. Your uncle will make some tea.’

He sat down on the steps, removed his white keds, wriggled his
toes. His feet were both long and broad, large feet but not ugly. He was
unusually clean for a hill boy. And taller than most.

(14) ‘Your name is ...?’
‘Prem Singh.’
‘All right, Prem, I will try to do something for you.’

I did not see him for a couple of weeks. I forgot about finding him a
job. But when I met him again, on the road to the bazaar, he told me
that he had got a temporary job in the Survey, looking after the
surveyor’s tents.

‘Next week we will be going to Rajasthan,’ he said.

‘It will be very hot. Have you been in the desert before ?’

‘No, sir.’
‘It is not like the hills. And it is far from home.’

‘I know. But I have no choice in the matter.’

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Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any twelve out of the
fifteen questions given below : 12 1=12
(i) Which of the following is not true about the author ?
(A) He visited the pine knoll every year at the end of the rains.
(B)
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His visit was delayed because of his engagement with other
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people’s problems.
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(C)
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He had not visited the pine knoll for months.
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(D) He visited the pine knoll on the first clear day of September.
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(ii) a Choose a word from the passage which is an apt synonym for ‘leaves
of a plant or tree’. (Paragraph 2 and 3)
(A) convolvulus
(B) breeze
(C) cicadas
(D) foliage
(iii) The sentence ‘I went among them and acknowledged their welcome
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with a touch of my hand against their trunks,’ reflects that the author
was _______ to be back.
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(A) happy and nostalgic
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(B)
(C)
confused and scared
conflicted and wary ag
(D) indifferent and detached
(iv) The arrival of the author at the pine knoll disturbed the _________.
(A) Hill of Fairies
(B) monsoon foliage
(C) bubbling stream
(D) blue magpie and the cicadas
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(v) Statement 1 : The oak looked shaggy and undistinguished.
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Statement 2 : The wind had bent his upper branches and twisted a
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few.
Both Statements 1 and 2 are correct and Statement 2 is the ag
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reason for Statement 1.
(B) Both Statements 1 and 2 are correct, but Statement 2 is not
the reason for Statement 1.
(C) Statement 1 is correct, but Statement 2 is incorrect.
(D) Both Statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.

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(vi) The phrase ‘on an impulse’ tells you that the author planted the
cherry tree _________.
(A) after careful research and deliberation
(B) on instructions by the orchard owner
(C) without giving it a thought
(D) after fulfilling certain conditions
(vii) The author was convinced that the cherry tree would wither away
because ________.
(A) there was no monsoon that year
(B) the cicadas had eaten its leaves
(C) the grass cutter had damaged the stem
(D) the branch of the oak tree fell on it
(viii) What literary device is used in the phrase ‘my heart did a somersault’ ?
(A) simile (B) personification
(C) irony (D) alliteration
(ix) The author believes that spending time on the pine knoll gives him
________.
(A) company and friendship
(B) anxiety and restlessness
(C) melancholy and nostalgia
(D) peace and inspiration
(x) Describe the sight that the author sees from the pine knoll.
(xi) The author emphasizes on the vivid and sensorial images of nature in
his writings. Justify with two examples from the extract.
(xii) What was the intention of Prem Singh when he met the author for the
first time ?
(xiii) What is the posture or mannerism of Prem Singh that the author
refers to ?
(xiv) State whether the following opinion is True or False.
The author did not give Prem Singh a job initially because of his
slouching posture.
(xv) Why does Prem Singh tell the author, ‘I have no choice in the
matter’ ?
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2. Read the following poem ‘The Rain’ by Kamala Das : 4
The Rain
We left that old ungainly house
When my dog died there, after

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The burial, after the rose

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Flowered twice, pulling it by its
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Roots and carting it with our books,

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Clothes and chairs in a hurry.
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We live in a new house now,
And, the roofs do not leak, but, when
It rains here, I see the rain drench
That empty house, I hear it fall
Where my puppy now lies.
Alone..
Based on your understanding of the poem, answer any four out of the five
questions given below :
o m 4 1=4
c
. evokes the feeling of :
(i)
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The image of the old ungainly house
e (B) relief
(A) optimism
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(C) comfort
a g (D) melancholy

(ii) The line ‘but, when it rains here, I see the rain drench that empty
house’ indicates that memories are ________.
(A) fading (B) transient
(C) enduring (D) fleeting

(iii) How does the poet contrast the new house with the earlier one ?
(A) sturdy and dilapidated
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(D) large and small

(iv) Complete the sentence appropriately.
The poem ends with the poignant final word ‘Alone’ to emphasize
___________.

(v) Explain how, in the above poem, the image of rain serves as a catalyst
of memory.
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3. Read the passage given below : 4
Modern technology plays a vital role in reducing road accidents and
improving traffic flow. A study in three major cities — Delhi, Bengaluru,
and Mumbai — found that using smart cameras, GPS tracking, and
automated traffic lights improved safety significantly. AI-based monitoring
systems detect traffic violations and alert authorities instantly. Drivers
using navigation apps report fewer delays and accidents. Advanced driver
assistance systems (ADAS), like lane departure warnings and automatic
braking, have made vehicles safer.
City Accidents Before Tech Accidents After Tech Reduction %
Use (per month) Use (per month)
1 Delhi 320 220 31
2 Bengaluru 280 190 32
3 Mumbai 350 240 31
Mobile apps now alert drivers about congested routes and road hazards. In
India, the introduction of e-challan systems has improved traffic rule
enforcement and reduced human error. Moreover, data from surveillance
cameras helps authorities identify accident-prone areas for quick
intervention. Technology not only saves time but also saves lives by
ensuring safer, smarter roads.
Based on your understanding of the passage, answer any four out of the five
questions given below : 4 1=4
(i) Fill in the blank by selecting the appropriate option.
It is important to use technology in road management as it is ________
for decreasing road accidents.
(A) vital (B) obligatory
(C) trivial (D) inessential
(ii) How does AI help traffic management ?
(iii) State True or False :
According to the data given in the table, accidents in Bengaluru were
the lowest among the given cities at 190 and the reduction percentage
was also the least.
(iv) Complete the sentence appropriately.
Technology has helped improve road safety through _________.
(v) State a point in support for the given opinion.
The role of technology in enhancing road safety and traffic
management cannot be undermined.

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SECTION B
Grammar and Writing (28 marks)
4. Transform the following sentences according to the instructions
given against each one. Attempt any eight out of the ten questions that
8  1 =8
follow :
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The police arrived at the spot. The protesters ran helter-skelter.
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(Start with : Hardly ………..)
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(b)
g la dwellers are the worst-hit people in the floods.
Slum a
a (Start with : The worst-hit ………..)
(c) She started reading. She fell asleep.
(Start with : No sooner ………..)
(d) He won’t join the team unless he gets a uniform.
(Start with : If ………..)
(e) If you do not study hard, you will fail.
(Rewrite using : Unless ………..)
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. help.
(f)
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He is very proud. He will not ask for
e
(Rewrite using : ‘too’)
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I have never seen such agbeautiful
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(g) painting before.
(Start with : Never ………..)
(h) Have you seen my car keys, he asked.
(Start with : He asked ………..)
(i) She wants to become a musician. She wants to become a skilled
writer.
(Combine using : as well as)

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(j) The Principal said, “Saturday will be a working day.”
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c.5. o Attempt any three of the following four questions in 120se–m150 words
(Start with : The Principal informed ………..)

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se each :
a g 3  5 = 15
(a) ‘Digital divide’ creates inequalities in access to information, resources
and opportunities, impacting education, employment and social
participation. Write an analytical essay in 120 − 150 words on the
impact of ‘digital divide’ in India and suggest ways to bridge it.
Provide examples to illustrate your point of view.
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(b) Deforestation, urbanization, habitat loss, increased human
population density and competition for resources have led to
human – animal conflict. Discuss the importance of planned
urbanization with reference to wildlife protection and environmental
conservation in an essay of 120 − 150 words. Suggest how habitat loss
can be contained and coexistence be maintained.

(c) ‘Bagless days’ is an educational initiative suggested in various
workshops where students attend school without carrying their usual
school bags and textbooks. Its aim is to reduce physical strain,
enhance mental well-being, reduce academic pressure, encourage
experiential learning and skill development. Write an essay in
120 − 150 words on the advantages and challenges of this new
initiative.

(d) Family and friends are crucial for our well-being, offering emotional
support and a sense of belonging. They are vital for navigating life’s
challenges and maintaining a positive outlook. Write an article on the
role of family and friends in your life in 120 − 150 words. You are
Anoop/Anvita.

6. Read the questions given below and attempt any one of the following : 15=5

(a) Taking cues from Kerala and Tamil Nadu Education Board initiative,
your school conducted a seminar on ‘water bell’ system, providing
short breaks (3 − 4 times a day), allowing students to hydrate and
reduce the risk of heat-induced ailments. Write a report in 120 − 150
words on the event. You are Kanavi/Kanna, a reporter of The Times
of India.
(b) Youth today can serve the nation through civic engagement,
community service, volunteering, and cultivating skills to solve social
problems. Write an article in 120 − 150 words on how youth can play
a crucial role in empowering the nation through service.

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SECTION C
Literature and Fiction (32 marks)

7. (I) Attempt any one of the two extracts (a) and (b) given below : 6

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(a) Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :

m .co 6  1 =6
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s e ‘I only came to tell you that I dreamed about you last night,’ gla
g la she said. ‘You must leave right away and not come back to Viennaa
a for five years.’
Her conviction was so real that I boarded the last train to
Rome that same night. As for me, I was so influenced by what she
said that from then on I considered myself a survivor of some
catastrophe I never experienced. I still have not returned to
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Vienna. (I Sell My Dreams)

(i)
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What prompted her to tell him to leave right away ?

gla go, after leaving Vienna ?
(ii) Where did theaauthor

(iii) Why does the author say, he considered himself a survivor of
some catastrophe he never experienced ?

(iv) What do you infer about her attitude towards the author ?

(v) Why did the author not return to Vienna ?
m
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m .co (vi) Which word is an apt synonym for ‘conviction’ ?
s e m
se (A) principle
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(B) ambiguity ag
(C) submission
(D) certainty

OR

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(b) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that
follow : 61=6

Solomon Margolin regarded her quietly. She had had her
own share of troubles. She had suffered in silence for her two
brothers, even for Hans, the Nazi. She had gone through a
prolonged change of life. Now her face was flushed and covered
with beads of sweat. He earned more than enough to pay for a
maid, yet Gretl insisted on doing all the housework herself, even
the laundry. It had become a mania with her. Every day she
scoured the oven. She was forever polishing the windows of their
apartment on the sixteenth floor and without using a safety belt.
(A Wedding in Brownsville)

(i) Who does ‘she’ refer to ?

(ii) Why does the narrator say ‘Gretl suffered in silence’ ?

(iii) Why was Gretl’s face flushed and covered with beads of
sweat ?

(iv) What do you infer from the statement, ‘He earned more than
enough to pay for a maid, yet Gretl insisted on doing all the
housework herself ’ ?

(v) How does she demonstrate her manic behaviour ?

(vi) Which word is an apt synonym for ‘mania’ ?

(A) apathy

(B) depression

(C) tranquility

(D) obsession

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(II) Attempt any one of the two extracts (a) and (b) given below : 6

(a) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that
follow : 61=6

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What needs my Shakespear for his honour’d Bones,

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The labour of an age in piled Stones,
m Or that his hallow’d reliques should be hid s e m
s e g la
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a Under a Star-ypointing Pyramid ?
Dear son of memory, great heir of Fame,
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name ?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.
(On Shakespear. 1630)
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What does the phrase ‘his honour’d Bones’ indicate about the

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poet’s attitude towards Shakespeare ?

g laquestion the need to bury Shakespeare’s
a
(ii) Why does the poet
hallowed reliques ?

(iii) What is a Star-ypointing Pyramid ?

(iv) What does the poet call as ‘weak witness of thy name’ ?

(v) How has Shakespeare built himself a ‘live-long Monument’ ?
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(vi) Which word is an apt antonym of ‘astonishing’ ?
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(A) surprising

(B) invisible ag
(C) unremarkable
(D) fascinating

OR

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(b) Read the following extract and answer the questions that
follow : 61=6
Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody Poor;
And Mercy no more could be
If all were as happy as we.

And mutual fear brings peace,
Till the selfish loves increase:
Then Cruelty knits a snare,
And spreads his baits with care.

He sits down with holy fears,
And waters the ground with tears;
Then Humility takes its root
Underneath his foot.
(The Human Abstract)

(i) Why, according to the poet, has pity become a necessity ?
(ii) When, according to the poet, would there be no mercy ?
(iii) How long can peace exist ?
(iv) What is meant by ‘Cruelty knits a snare, And spreads his
baits’ ?
(v) ‘Only fears and tears can humble man.’ Do you agree ?
(vi) Which word is the apt antonym of ‘bait’ ?
(A) lure (B) temptation
(C) deterrent (D) ostentatious

8. Answer any one of the following questions in 30 – 40 words : 1  2 =2

(a) In the poem ‘A Lecture Upon the Shadow’, what does the metaphor
‘shadow’ represent ?

(b) How does Tagore address the issue of women’s empowerment in
‘Chandalika’ ?

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9. Answer any one of the following questions in 40 – 50 words : 13=3

(a) In ‘Kubla Khan’, what did the ancestral voices prophesy ?

(b) Eveline had two letters in her lap while she sat by the window and
contemplated her future plans. What message did they contain ?

o m m
. c 1  5 = 5 se
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10. Answer any one of the following questions in 120 – 150 words :
l a
(a) What s
la his audience ?
is Bergman’s approach to film-making and how does he a
connect g
agwith

(b) What is the contrast between the vitality of the swans and the decline
of human life ?

11. Answer any one of the following questions in 30 – 40 words : 12=2

(a) In the novel ‘A Tiger for Malgudi’, why does the tiger say ‘crow is a
treacherous bird ?
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c
. his purse ?
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(b) Why did Margayya refuse to part with

a s
lquestions in 40 – 50 words :
a g
12. Answer any one of the following 13=3

(a) Why did the long-tailed, black-faced langur advise the tiger to take
great care to avoid going near a porcupine ?
(b) Why was Margayya’s house known as ‘Tooth Powder House’ ?

13. Answer any one of the following questions in 120 – 150 words : 15=5
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(a) What was the jungle superstition about how the tiger came to have the

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stripes and whom did he blame for it ? Why did the tiger feel helpless
m as
se
in tackling the situation ?
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(b) Discuss the ‘House of Enlightenment’ and what itasymbolizes for Balu.

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