MBOSE Class 12 Question Paper 2018 for English Alternative

Total No. of Printed Pages—12
HS/XII/A. Sc. Com/Ae/18

2018

ALTERNATIVE ENGLISH

Full Marks : 100

Time : 3 hours

The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions

General Instructions :

(i) Write all the answers in the Answer Script.

(ii) Attempt Part—A (Objective Questions) serially.

(iii) Attempt all parts of a question together at one place.

( PART : A—OBJECTIVE )
( Marks : 50 )

SECTION—I
( Marks : 30 )

1. Fill in the blanks by choosing the right word(s) from
the alternatives given in the brackets (any five) : 1×5=5

(a) _____ was the oldest animal on the farm.
( Benjamin / Old Major )

/17

( 2 )

(b) Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause
of hunger and _____ is abolished for ever.
( labour / overwork )

(c) In half an hour the jaguar had reached the cage
and was _____ at the door, threatening to tear it
from its hinges.
( lashing / hitting )

(d) We retreated a _____ yards or so along the trail
and held a council of war.
( hundred / fifty )

(e) Sethji realized that he was up against a tough
_____, a regular champion.
( opponent / rival )

(f) As soon as I saw your face I knew you were a
man of principle and _____.
( honesty / integrity )

(g) Jenny stopped in her languid stroll, snatched a
bamboo from the border, and hurled it at Snort
like a _____.
( spear / lance )

( 3 )

2. Write whether the following statements are True or
False (any five) : 1×5=5

(a) The Commandments were written on the tarred
wall in great white letters that could be read
forty yards away.

(b) The pigs were generally recognised as being the
cleverest of the farm animals.

(c) Rod and his friends want to capture the jaguar
alive and unharmed.

(d) The farmer who owed Sethji five rupees had paid
neither principal nor interest for five months.

(e) The ekka driver asked twelve annas from Sethji
for the ride in his ekka.

(f) Quick never asked for affection from his girls.

(g) Kate ran up to her father to see his cut and
make sure that the bandage was sticking.

( 4 )

3. Complete the following sentences using the right
word from the alternatives given in the brackets
(any five) : 1×5=5

(a) ‘I, _____ from My sevenfold height,
Will teach thee of My quickening grace.’
( bending / rising )

(b) And pain shall cleanse thee like a flame,
To _____ the dross from thy desire.
( purge / purify )

(c) Or up the mountain springs;
And hers shall be the _____ balm.
( breathing / body )

(d) The stars of midnight shall be _____
To her; and she shall lean her ear,
( near / dear )

(e) Four seasons fill the _____ of the year;
( measure / duration )

(f) Spring’s honied cud of _____ thought he loves
To ruminate.
( youthful / lusty )

(g) We noticed nothing as we went,
A _____ crowd of little hope,
( struggling / straggling )

( 5 )

4. Write whether the following statements are True or
False (any five) : 1×5=5

(a) The Soul’s Prayer is a discussion between the
poet and God about the nature of existence.

(b) Nature describes Lucy as the loveliest flower on
earth.

(c) The floating clouds would imbibe Lucy with
grace.

(d) During his Summer man takes in all beauty with
an easy span.

(e) Autumn comes after Summer in The Human
Seasons.

(f) Two pilgrims part company with the rest of the
group because of the differences among them as
to how to cross a desert patch.

(g) The poem, Enterprise concludes on a note of
exultation and optimism.

( 6 )

5. Answer any five of the following questions in
2/3 sentences each, choosing either from Group—A
or from Group—B : 2×5=10

GROUP—A
(a) What made Persomé lose her temper?
(b) What complaints does Persomé have against her
brother?
(c) How does the convict behave when he
encounters the Bishop?
(d) Why does the convict call the prison a ‘hell’?
(e) How does the Bishop treat the convict?
(f) Who was Jeanette? What was the cause of her
death?

GROUP—B
(a) How does Banquo describe the night sky in the
beginning of Act II, Scene I of Macbeth?
(b) Why does Macbeth refuse to take the daggers
back to the scene of the crime?
(c) What does Macbeth wish the knocking at the
castle door could do? Who was knocking at the
door?
(d) What does Macbeth do to the supposed
murderers of King Duncan and why?
(e) What do Malcolm and Donalbain decide on doing
after the murder of the King? Why do they decide
to do so?
(f) How does Macbeth become the King of Scotland?

( 7 )

SECTION—II
( Marks : 20 )

6. Answer any five of the following questions in
2/3 sentences each : 2×5=10

(a) Who was Old Major?

(b) Why were Rod and his group trailing the jaguar?

(c) How does the debt collector start off his day?

(d) What did Robert Quick think that his ‘small
girls’ would do on his return from work?

(e) Explain the phrase ‘mystic knowledge of the
grave’.

(f) ‘The work was done.’ What work was done by
Nature for Lucy?

(g) What is Winter like in The Human Seasons?

(h) How did the pilgrims react after ‘a section
claimed its liberty to leave the group’?

( 8 )

7. Rewrite the following sentences as directed : 1×10=10

(a) The clerk will give you a cheque.
( Change the voice )

(b) Mary is one who can speak two languages.
( Substitute the underlined words with
one word )

(c) The tree is so high that I cannot climb it.
( Rewrite the sentence using ‘too’ )

(d) There is no rose without a thorn.
( Change into an affirmative sentence )

(e) Everybody will help a man in distress.
( Change into an interrogative sentence )

(f) The boy is void —— common sense.
( Insert an appropriate preposition )

(g) Cars pollute the environment.
( Add a question tag )

(h) He denied that he was not a thief.
( Correct the sentence )

(i) Four million African slaves were emancipated by
Lincoln.
( Change the voice )

(j) I am _____ university student.
( Insert an appropriate article )

( 9 )

( PART : B—DESCRIPTIVE )
( Marks : 50 )

8. Answer any two of the following questions : 5×2=10
(a) Narrate the circumstances that led to the
outbreak of the rebellion in George Orwell’s
The Rebellion.
(b) “Xingu suddenly quit stirring and his jaw
dropped open. An idea was taking possession of
him.”
What was the idea that had taken possession
of Xingu? Was his idea successful? 2+3=5
(c) How does the ekka driver outsmart the miserly
debt collector and make him pay his fare?
(d) “Robert Quick realises that his daughters are
growing up and so is he.” Describe the events
that lead to this realisation and Quick’s emotional
responses.

9. Answer any two of the following questions : 5×2=10
(a) In The Soul’s Prayer, what was God’s reply to the
poet’s prayer?
(b) Discuss Nature’s scheme of Lucy’s education as
prescribed in the poem, The Education of Nature.
(c) How does Keats describe the ‘Four seasons in
the mind of Man’?
(d) What was the mood of the pilgrims at the start of
their pilgrimage? What was their reaction on
arriving at their destination? 2+3=5

( 10 )

10. Explain, with reference to the context, any two, either
from Group—A or from Group—B : 5×2=10

GROUP—A
( The Bishop’s Candlesticks )

(a) My dear, there is so much suffering in the world,
and I can do so little (sighs), so very little.

(b) Ah, that is hard, very hard, I, I — He might have
left me those. They were all I had.

(c) I didn’t believe there was any good in the world —
one doesn’t when one has been in Hell, but
somehow I — I know you’re good and, and it’s a
queer thing to ask but — but could you, would
you bless me before I go — I — I think it would
help me.

GROUP—B
( Macbeth )

(a) Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?

(b) Infirm of purpose !
Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead
Are but as pictures; ’tis the eye of childhood
That fears a painted devil.

(c) You are, and do not know’t :
The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood
Is stopp’d; the very source of it is stopp’d.

( 11 )

11. Write a précis of the following passage and give a
suitable title to it : 8+2=10
Man first appeared on earth half a million years ago.
Then he was little more than an animal. Even so, early
man had certain big advantages over the animals. He
had a large brain, he had an upright body, with
nimble hands; and he had in his brain, special group
of nerve cells, not present in animals, that enabled
him to invent a language and to use it to communicate
with his fellowmen. This ability to speak was of
supreme value because it allowed men to share ideas,
and to plan together; so that tasks impossible for a
single person could be successfully undertaken by
intelligent teamwork. Speech also enabled ideas to be
passed on from generation to generation so that the
stock of human knowledge slowly increased. It was
these special advantages that put men far ahead of all
other living creatures in the struggle for existence.
They can pit their wits against their difficulties and
master them. Since those far-off times when he first
made his appearance, man has achieved a great deal.

12. Read the passage given below and answer the
questions that follow :
As daylight can be seen through very small holes,
so little things will illustrate a person’s character.
Indeed, character consists in little acts, well and
honourably performed, daily life being the quarry from
which we build it up and rough-hew the habits which
form it. One of the most marked tests of character is
the manner in which we conduct ourselves towards
others. A graceful behaviour towards superiors,
inferiors and equals, is a constant source of pleasure.

( 12 )

It pleases others because it indicates respect for their
personality; but it gives tenfold more pleasure to
ourselves. Gentleness in society is like the silent
influence of light which gives colour to all nature and
it is far more powerful than loudness of force and
far more fruitful.

(a) What shows our character best? 1

(b) What does our character consist of? 1

(c) What is one of the most important tests of
character? 2

(d) What is the good of graceful behaviour? 2

(e) Find words in the passage which mean—

(i) to show the meaning or truth of something
more clearly, especially by giving examples;

(ii) dig up, mine;

(iii) behaving in a polite and pleasant way;

(iv) to behave in a particular way in a public or
formal situation. ½×4=2

(f) Give a suitable title for the passage. 2

HHH

8K—8550/17 HS/XII/A. Sc. Com/Ae/18