HBSE Class 11 Sample Paper 2024 English Elective

HBSE
MODEL PAPER
2024
Practice Papers
MODEL PAPERS
Marking Scheme
ANSWER KEY

ENGLISH ELECTIVE
(Subject Code : 520)

Time Allowed: 3 Hours Class XI Maximum Marks : 80
SESSION : 2023- 24

General Instructions:
1. 15-minute prior reading time allotted for Q-paper reading.
2. The Question Paper contains four sections-READING, WRITING, LITERATURE and DRAMA.
3. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part. Write the correct question number in your
answer sheet to indicate the option/s being attempted.

SECTION-A
(Unseen Comprehension)

Read the passage given below. 1X10=10 Marks
Every Republic Day security in the city is beefed up. You can see a lot more of the four-legged,
furry 'canines on duty-everywhere from the Metro to the airport. While these trained dogs are sniffing around
your bags, you might be tempted to pet them, but the CISF officials accompanying them do not approve of
such behavior on the commuters' part. As one official puts it, "People fawn over them and ask us questions,
but we don't entertain anyone. Our dogs are soldiers, not showpieces."
The CISF headquarters in Delhi have three breeds - German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers and
Cocker Spaniels, and the officials claim that these are the best-trained dogs in the country.
We have seen Metro commuters fighting, shouting and arguing for seats and space. But if you have
ever seen these four-legged soldiers in the Metro, you must have noticed how they don't bark or even look at
the commuters. Even in packed Metros, they never lose their cool. A CISF official says, "They won't bark at
or bite people. These dogs don't bite anyone, unless given the command to attack by their trainers."
Usually transported in the women's coaches of the Metro, it is not uncommon to see girls and
children going crazy as soon as they make an entrance. But they just ignore everyone and move only at the
handler's command. An official says, "A dog is obedient by nature. Our dogs and their handlers share a
special bond, which is so strong that if the handler is on leave, the dog won't even eat. They are trained to not
touch or listen to anyone's command except their handlers'. They also don't eat anything given by someone
else. We train three handlers with two dogs, so that when one handler is on leave, the dog doesn't face an
emotional crisis and stop eating or working."
Talking about the training procedure, a CISF official says, "We procure the puppies when they are
only six months old and then they are sent to the Border Security Force Academy, Tekanpur, Gwalior, for a
six-month training period with their handlers (both are trained together). After the training, when the dog is a
year old, he is sent for the appointed service, which he continues for the next nine years. Each dog is named
by his handler and like soldiers, these dogs also have their certificates and service records."
If you think these canines lead a dog's life, you are mistaken. Says a CISF official, "He is not a dog
for us; he is a soldier who assists us in our operations." The official adds, "All the dogs in the kennel are
trained twice a day-morning and evening. They have a fixed diet and feeding time -what the dog will eat at
what time of the day is decided by doctors. As these dogs have to carry out several duties and have to stand
and move for hours, they need to eat healthy."
Pet parents should learn how to take care of their dogs from these CISF officials, who consider the
members of the dog brigade their colleagues. The CISF has four kennels in Delhi and each dog gets a
separate room, which it doesn't have to share with another dog. Each dog also has its own belongings-a
blanket, shampoo, towel-with its name on it. During the winter, they have heaters and during the summer,
they have a personal cooler.
A soldier needs to be fit and if a dog soldier is not fit, its service has to be discontinued. Says an
official, "We can't help it. If a dog becomes bulky, we can't take it for duty because it has to travel a lot and
won't be fit enough for all the activities. At present, we have divided all the Metro lines in two-three sub-
divisions, and each dog has a four-hour duty daily.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements given below with the help
of options that follow:

a) People are forbidden to pet sniffer dogs as they are…………………..
(i) ferocious creatures (ii) their officials' pets
(iii) not metro commuters (iv) soldiers, not showpieces
(b) These dogs do not bite anyone unless…………………….
(i) they are given a command to do so (ii) they are hungry
(iii) someone irritates (iv) their trainers beat them
c) When their handler is on leave they……………….
(i) are given a day off (ii) do not work willingly
(iii) do not eat (iv) eat a lot
(d) The diet and timing of meals is decided by their
(i) handlers (ii) appetites
(iii) duties (iv) doctor
e) 'People fawn over them and ask us questions.' Fawn over in the above line refers to
(i) try to cheat someone (ii) try to please someone
(iii) hate someone (iv) both (i) and (ii)
f) The CISF dogs are showpieces and not soldiers. (True/False)
g) All the dogs of the CISF are trained a day.
h) The daily duty hours for the CISF dogs is hours.
Find words from the passage which mean the same as:
(i) order (para3) (j) obtain (para 5)

Read the poem given below. 1X10=10 Marks

The cloud-backed heron will not move:
He stares into the stream.
He stands unfaltering while the gulls
And oyster-catchers scream.
He does not hear, he cannot see
The great white horses of the sea,
But fixes eyes on stillness
Below their flying team.

How long will he remain, how long
Have the gray woods been green?
The sky and the reflected sky
Their glass he has not seen,
But silent as a speck of sand
Interpreting the sea and land,
His fall pulls down the fabric
Of all that windy scene.

Sailing with clouds and woods behind
Pausing in leisured flight,
He stepped, alighting on a stone,
Dropped from the stars of night.
He stood there unconcerned with day,
Deaf to the tumult of the bay,
Watching a stone in water,
A fish's hidden light.

Sharp rocks drive back the breaking waves
Confusing sea with air.
Bundles of spray blown mountain-high
Have left the shingle bare.
A shipwrecked anchor wedged by rocks,

Loosed by the thundering equinox,
Divides the herded waters,
The stallion and his mare.

Yet no distraction breaks the watch
Of that time-killing bird.
He stands unmoving on the stone;
Since dawn he has not stirred.
Calamity about him cries,
But he has fixed his golden eyes
On water's crooked tablet,
On light's reflected word.
Vernon Watkins

On the basis of your understanding of the above poem complete the statements given below with
the help of options that follow.
(a) Besides the heron the other birds in the vicinity are.............................................
(i) more herons (ii) stream catchers
(iii) oysters and gulls (iv) oyster-catchers and gulls
(b) The heron in flight…………………………………………..
(i) goes over clouds and woods (ii) stones and rocks
(iii) across the stars at night (iv) across the bay
(c) The sea is confused with air when.......
(i) there is a wind blowing (ii) sharp rocks drive back the breaking waves
(iii) the shingles are exposed (iv) the bird flies in the water
(d) The bird on the stone has not stirred.
(i) since daylight (ii) since landing there
(iii) since dawn (iv) since the waves broke
(e) The bird has fixed golden eyes even though ......
(i) there's a disaster around (ii) there's no one around
(iii) there's dark around (iv) none of these
(f) While the heron stands still in the water, the oyster-catchers scream. (True/False)
(g) The heron remains deaf at the sounds of the bay. (True/False)
(h) The heron alighted on a after sailing across the sky.
Find words from the poem which mean the same as:
(i) steady (lines 1-8)
(j) a situation of loud noise and excitement (lines 17-24)

SECTION - B
Creative Writing Skill and Grammar

Q-3 Attempt any one out of the following two questions 1X5=05
Marks
(a) Most of the schools focus on academic excellence and ignore the importance of extracurricular activities.
Participation of extracurricular activities should be made compulsory in schools. Write a debate in 120-
150 words either for or against the motion. You are Ronit/Roni.
(b) The NEP-2020 emphasizes on skill education because skill development is the key to getting a job. As a
career counsellor, write a paragraph in 120-150 words on “Need to promote skill development among
students.” You are Anuj/Anju
Q-4 Answer the questions as per the instruction given within brackets against each sentence. 1X5=5 Marks
(a) One must do one’s duty.
(change into passive voice)
(b) He is a student. He is a farmer.
(Combine the sentence using ‘not only-but also’)

(c) He worked hard so that he pass the exam.
(choose the correct modal: may/might/should)
(d) The teacher said to Mohan, “What is your name?”
(complete the sentence The teacher asked Mohan )
(e) He saw one eyed man.
(Fill in the blank with appropriate article)

SECTION C
(Literature)

Q-5 Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 1X5=5 Marks
It is twilight. A thick wet snow is slowly twirling around the newly lighted street lamps and lying in soft thin
layers on roofs, on horses' backs, on people's shoulders and hats. The cabdriver, Iona Potapov, is quite white
and looks like a phantom: he is bent double as far as a human body can bend double; he is seated on his box:
he never makes a move. If a whole snowdrift fell on him, it seems as if he would not find it necessary to
shake it off. His little horse is also quite white, and remains motionless; its immobility, its angularity and its
straight wooden-looking legs, even close by, give it the appearance of a gingerbread horse worth a kopek. It
is, no doubt, plunged in deep thought. If you were snatched from the plough, from your usual gray
surroundings, and were thrown into this slough full of monstrous lights, unceasing noise and hurrying people,
you too would find it difficult not to think.

Questions:
i) Name the story and its writer.
ii) What is twilight?
iii) What is the name of the cabdriver?
iv) What do you know about the little horse of the cabdriver?
v) In what mood was the cabdriver?
Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow: 1X5=5 Marks

His loud sharp call
seems to come from nowhere.
Then, a flash of turquoise
in the pipal tree
The slender neck arched away from you
as he descends,
and as he darts away, a glimpse
of the very end of his tail.

Questions:

i) Name the poem and the poet.
ii) Who is "he" in the stanza ?
(iii) Where does the loud sharp call come from?
(iv) What does the peacock do as he descends ?
(v) Find words from the stanza which means the same as :
(a) move rapidly & lightly,
(b) a quick look.

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow : 1X5=5 Marks

My beautiful new watch had run eighteen months without losing or gaining, and without breaking any part of
its machinery or stopping. I had come to believe it infallible in its judgments about the time of day, and to

consider its constitution and its anatomy imperishable. But, at last, one night, I let it run down. I grieved
about it as if it were a recognised messenger and forerunner of calamity. But by and by I cheered up, set the
watch by guess, and commanded my bodings and superstitions to depart.

Questions:
(i) Name the chapter and its author.
(ii) For how long has the author's beautiful new watch run?
(iii) How is the new watch infallible ?
(iv) How did the author grieve about the watch ?
(v) What did the author do by and by ?

Answer in about 100-120 words 1X5=5 Marks
Both Ramanand and Azam Khan seem to have very fixed views. How does Ramanand score over Azam Khan
towards the end of the story?
Or
Comment on the relationship shared by Mammachi and Pappachi.

Answer in about 100-120 words 1X5=5 Marks
What two things are compared in the poem (Coming)
Or
Why does the poet prefer to be a primitive pagan rather than a member of society?

Answer in about 100-120 words 1X5=5 Marks
How does Shelley’s attitude to science differ from that of Wordsworth and Keats.
Or
What according to Ruskin, are the limitations of the good book of the hour?

Answer any four out of the following questions in about 30 words each selecting at least two from each part.
2X4=8 Marks
(a) (i) Why do you think Paul’s mother was not satisfied with the yearly gift 1000 pounds for five years?
(ii) What kind of a relationship did Mrs Croft Shore with her daughter Helen?
(iii) Where did the author set forth looking for Garridebs?
(b) (i) Constancy in one of the main theme of the poem '' Let me not to the Marriage of True Minds”. Indicate
words, phrases and images that suggest the theme.
(ii) State the central theme of the poem ''Telephone Conversation''.
(iii) What does the poem “Mother Tongue” bemoan?
Attempt any four of the following in about 30 words each. 2X4=8 Marks
i) Where can the roots of India’s literary traditions be traced?
ii) What is a good book?
iii) Was the author interested in the dance as a child?
iv) Why did the author finally give up on his watch?
v) What is Shelley’s attitude towards science?
Q-13 (i) Define metaphor with example. 1X4=4 Marks
(ii) On the basis of reading “Ode to Nightingale” write the features of an ode”
(iii) What is Satire?
(iv) Difference between Oxymoron and paradox