ISC English Language Previous Year Question Paper 2015 Solved for Class 12
(Candidates are allowed additional 15 minutes for only reading the paper. They must NOT start writing during this time).
Attempt all four questions.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [].
(You are advised to spend not more than 50 minutes on Question 1, 40 minutes on Question 2, 30 minutes on Question 3 and 1 hour on Question 4.)
(You should begin each answer on a fresh page.)
Question 1.
Write a composition (in approximately 450-500 words) on any one of the following subjects: [30]
(You are reminded that you will be rewarded for orderly and coherent presentation of material, use of appropriate style and general accuracy of spelling, punctuation and grammar.)
(a) Courage does not mean the absence of fear, but implies an attempt to conquer fear. Describe some of your worst fears and how you managed to overcome them.
(b) Grandparents are a source of joy to us. Narrate the most memorable experience you have had with your grandparents.
(c) ‘Films should be made to escape from reality, not to remind us of how grim life is.’ Argue for or against this statement.
(d) How far do you agree that nice people are seldom successful and thoroughly successful people are seldom nice ?
(e) Eyes.
(f) Write an original story beginning with the following words :
‘The news came as a pleasant surprise’ ………………………… ”
Answers:
(a) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- courage, an attempt to conquer fear
- swimming, my most dreaded fear
- encouraged by my father, started learning swimming
- much difficulty in the beginning, but finally learnt swimming
- fear of dogs
- would run away from the mere sight of a dog
- father had an idea, bought a small dog as a pet
- slowly overcame this fear too
- fear of going into the darkness alone
- is now under control
(b) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- grandparents, a source of joy to us
- live in a village
- visited them during last summer vacation
- was received with great warmth
- grandmother prepared many dishes of my liking
- grandfather took me to the round of the village
- a novel and pleasant experience
- was given a beautiful pen as a parting gift
(c) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- reality grim, no doubt
- good films connect us with reality
- films that make us escape from reality usually worthless
- derive aesthetic pleasure from watching real tragic scenes
- all great movies like ‘Pather Panchali’, ‘Do Bigha Zamin’, ‘Mother India’ show us reality
- of course, some well-made ‘escapist’ movies quite entertaining
- most of Yash Raj movies escapist but still watchable
(d) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- agree with the statement
- nice people humble, unassuming, sincere, honest
- in our world aggressiveness, insincerity, falsehood, corruption, hypocrisy needed for success
- hence nice people seldom successful
- successful people—people in power—often rude, boorish and aggressive
- success makes them haughty
- so successful people seldom nice
(e) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- eyes, important organs on the face
- blind man knows the value of eyes
- eyes reflect man’s physical as well as mental health
- reflect various emotions — of love, anger, surprise, sorrow, etc.
- eyes of the beloved — the most talked of bodily part for its beauty and mystery by writers, poets
- depicted beautifully in various arts
- saints and philosophers also talk of ‘inner eye’ or even ‘third eye’ (as on the brow of Lord Shiva)
(f) Develop the following value points and complete the essay.
- the news came as a pleasant surprise
- father had been promoted as a General Manager
- atmosphere of celebrations
- a grand party- arranged
- two days later a fax message came
- the news of promotion false
- father almost in tears, mother cried, all were sad
- another message came — the news correct
- this time father rang up the CEO to confirm
- the news of his promotion true
Question 2.
Write an article for your school magazine on a competition that was recently held in your school. Write the article in about 300 words using the points given below :
Name of the competition – nature of event – organisers – number of participants – chief guest – judges – quality of the competition – criteria for judgement – winners – overall experience. [20]
Answer:
Talent Finding Competition
With a view to encouraging the students to shed their shyness and display their hidden talents, a ‘Talent Finding competition’ was held in the school auditorium on the 16th of May. 20…… It was organised by the Department of Extra Mural Activities. The Principal of the school Sh. B.N. Sharma inaugurated the function. In his inaugural speech, he laid stress on holding such functions as they present the students an opportunity to display their skill and special Attainments. The Dean of EMA, Sh. N.K. Gupta announced the names of the judges for the competition and requested them to take their seats. He also mentioned in his brief speech that the standard of performance in all the items was excellent. As many as twenty-six students who had already given their names to the secretary of EMA department participated in the competition.
One by one the participants came on the stage and presented such items as mono-acting, classical dance, instrumental music, ghazal singing, mime and classical singing. Some of the participants performed so well that the spectators were spellbound. At the end of the contest, the judges announced the judgment. Sunita, who had performed classical dance, was adjudged the best performer. Harbhajan, who had played a song on the guitar was considered the second-best performer. Sahil, who had sung a light-classical bhajan, was adjudged the third-best performer. All three were honoured by the Principal. The Principal complimented all the participants for their performance and said a word of encouragement to those who could not be adjudged the best performers. He also praised the EMA department for organising such a decent function;
Question 3.
Answer sections (a), (b) and (c).
(a) In each of the following items, sentence A is complete, while sentence B is not. Complete sentence B, making it as similar as possible to sentence A. [10]
Write sentence B in each case.
Example :
(0)
(A) : If you want to earn well, you must work hard.
(B) : To earn ……………………………….
Answer:
(0) To earn well, you must work hard.
(1)
(A) : Sachin is an outstanding sportsman and a good artist.
(B) : Besides ……………………………….
(2)
(A) : Mother said to Paul, “A courier came for you yesterday.”
(B) : Mother told Paul that ……………………………….
(3)
(A) : As soon as the minister took the oath, the spectators started applauding.
(B) : No sooner ……………………………….
(4)
(A) : He is so short that he cannot be a soldier.
(B) : He is too ……………………………….
(5)
(A) : The lawyer examined the documents with utmost care.
(B) : The documents ……………………………….
(6)
(A) : I will buy the horse if it is quite sound.
(B) : Unless ……………………………….
(7)
(A) : Only Shakespeare could write such a tragedy.
(B) : No one ……………………………….
(8)
(A) : Rita is a journalist and writer.
(B) : Not only ……………………………….
(9)
(A) : Although Lakshmi worked very hard, she failed in the examination.
(B) : Notwithstanding Lakshmi’s ……………………………….
(10)
(A) : No one would deny that he was totally fit before his death.
(B) : Everyone ……………………………….
(b) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not write the sentence). [5]
1. Do you want to __________ take every single object from the box?
2. The plane must take __________ before dark.
3. The children spoke __________ a whisper as they were scared.
4. We must not speak ill about a person __________ his back.
5. He disliked the play so much that he walked __________ in the middle of the first act.
6. Walking barefoot __________ the grass is very good for health.
7. This rule does not apply you as __________ you are less than eighteen years old.
8. You must apply __________ the job immediately.
9. They have been living in Delhi __________ ten years.
10. Mrs. Kapur has been living in Chennai __________ 2000.
(c) Fill in the blanks in the passage given below with the appropriate form of the verb given in brackets. Do not write the passage, but write the verbs in the correct order. [5]
Two carpenters ………………………………. (1) (work) on Mr. Sharma’s roof. When they ………………………………. (2) (stop) work at 6 p.m., they ………………………………. (3) (leave) their ladder ………………………………. (4) (lean) against the house. At 7 p.m., Raju, a thief, passed by the house and ………………………………. (5) (see) the ladder. The house ………………………………. (6) (be) now empty as Mr. and Mrs. Sharma ………………………………. (7) (go) to the market. Raju ………………………………. (8) (climb) up the ladder, ………………………………. (9) (get) in through a first-floor window, and ………………………………. (10) (go) straight to the main bedroom where he stole all of Mrs. Sharma’s jewelry.
Answers:
(a) 1. Besides being an outstanding sportsman Sachin is a good artist.
2. Mother told Paul that a courier had come for him the previous day.
3. No sooner did the minister take the oath than the spectators started applauding.
4. He is too short to be a soldier.
5. The documents were examined by the lawyer with utmost care.
6. Unless the horse is quite sound I will not buy it.
7. No one but Shakespeare could write such a tragedy.
8. Not only is Rita a journalist but she is also a writer.
9. Notwithstanding Lakshmi’s working hard, she failed in the examination.
10. Everyone would agree that he was totally fit before his death.
(b)
(1) away (2) off (3) in (4) behind (5) out (6) on (7) to (8) for (9) for (10) since
(c)
(1) were working (2) stopped (3) left (4) leaning (5) saw (6) was (7) had gone (8) climbed (9) got (10) went
Question 4.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow : [30]
(1) To be encumbered with a corpse is to be in a difficult position. True, any doctor, even one just out of medical school, would have been able to diagnose the cause of death. The man had died of heart failure or what the doctors call cardiac arrest. The cause of his heart having stopped pumping blood was that someone had slid a sharp sliver of steel between his ribs just far enough to penetrate the great muscle of the heart and to cause a serious and irreversible leakage of blood so that it stopped beating. Cardiac arrest, as I said.
(2) I wasn’t too anxious to find a doctor because the knife was mine and the hilt had been in my hand when he died. I stood on the open road with the body at my feet and I was scared, so scared that the nausea rose in my throat to choke me. This particular body had been a stranger — I had never seen him before in my life.
(3) I was unarmed, if you except the ‘sgian dubh’ — the black knife — which I always carry.
The ‘sgian dubh’ is a much underrated weapon. Mine is at least a hundred and fifty years old. The ebony handle is ribbed on one side to give a good grip,’ but smooth on the other side so it draws clear without catching; the blade is less than four inches long; the stone set in the handle balances the knife so that it makes a superlative throwing weapon. I carry it in a flat sheath in my left sock.
(4) This is how it had happened.
(5) A little after I had driven out of the city, I saw a car ahead, pulled off the road, and a man waving the universally recognized distress signal of the stranded motorist. It turned out. quite naturally, that there was something wrong with his car and he couldn’t get it to move. I got out, walked over to his car and peered at the exposed engine.
(6) He didn’t use the gun straight away. He first tried to take a swipe at me with a well- designed little club. I turned my head and saw his upraised arm and dodged sideways. If the club had connected with my skull it would have jarred my brains loose, instead it hit my shoulder and my whole arm went numb.
(7) I hopped back and groped for the ‘sgian dubh’ as I went. Fortunately it’s a left-handed weapon which was just as well because my right arm wasn’t going to be of any use.
(8) He came for me again but when he saw the knife he hesitated. He dropped the club and dipped his hand beneath his jacket and it was my turn to hesitate. But his club had a leather wrist loop and the dangling weapon spoilt his draw and I jumped him just as the pistol came out.
(9) I didn’t stab him. He swung around and ran straight into the blade. He sagged against me with a look of surprise on his face. Then he went down at my feet and the knife came free.
(10) So there I was on a lonely road with a newly created corpse at my feet and a knife in my hand, a bad taste in my mouth and a frozen brain.
(11) From the time I had got out of my car to the moment of death had been less than two minutes.
Adapted from Running Blind by Desmond Bagley
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage : [4]
(1) burdened
(2) enter
(3) not given much importance
(4) most effective
(a) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage : [4]
(1) arrest (line 3)
(2) draws (line 14)
(3) set (line 15)
(4) club (line 23)
(b) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible :
(i) How did the stranger die? [3]
(ii) Why was the narrator scared? [2]
(iii) Describe the narrator’s weapon. [3]
(iv) Why did the narrator stop his car and get out? [2]
(c) Describe the incident of the killing of the stranger in not more than 100 words (Paragraphs 5 to 9). Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. You will be required to:
(z) List your ideas clearly in point form. [6]
00 In about 100 words, write your points in the form of a connected passage. [6]
Answers:
(a) (i)
(1) encumbered
(2) penetrate
(3) underrated
(4) superlative
(ii)
(1) arrest : The police succeeded in arresting most of the persons indulging in drug trade.
(2) draws: Superstar Arnitabh Bachhan is decidedly one of the biggest draws at the film award shows.
(3) set : The fabulous set for the shooting of the historical film suddenly caught fire.
(4) club : On weekends we go together to have our dinner at the Gymkhana club.
(b) (i) The stranger died of cardiac arrest soon after he had been hit with a steel knife that the narrator uscd to defend himself from the stranger ‘s assault.
(ii) The narrator was scared as the dead body of the stranger who had been killed by him with a knife, was still ai his feet on the open road.
(iii) The narrmtors weapon was a black knife, which he called ‘sgian dub, a much underrated weapon. It had the ebony handle ribbed on one side to give a good grip. It was smooth on the other side. The blade was less than four inches long. The stone set in the handle balanced the knife so that it made an excellent throwing weapon. It was a left handed weapon.
(iv) The narrator stopped his car and got out on seeing a man near his car, giving a signal of distress as there was something wrong with the car.
(c) (1) Points
A. The narrator sees a car
(i) coming out of the city. a car seen
(ii) signal of distress given by the car driver
(iii) narrator peers at the exposed engine
B. The narrator attacked
(i) gun not used straight awa
(ii) narrator hit with a little club
(iii) dodging by the narrator
(iv) hit on the shoulder and went numb
C. The narrator using his knife
(i) narrator groping for his ‘sgian dubh’
(ii) a left handed weapon
(iii) the stranger’s hesitation on seeing knife
(iv) the stranger getting at his pistol
D. The narrator’s final stroke
(i) didn’t stab the stranger
(ii) the stranger swung round
(iii) running straight into the blade
(iv) fell down sagging
(v) knife came out
(ii) As the narrator drove out of the city, he saw a car ahead and a man waving a signal of distress as something was wrong with his car. But no sooner did the narrator approach him than he was attacked with a short club which hit him on his shoulder. The narrator groped for his knife at which the stranger hesitated. But before the stranger could execute his plan of shooting the narrator with the pistol, the former swung round and ran straight into the blade. He sagged down against the narrator and was no more, as the narrator drew out the knife.