ISC English Language Previous Year Question Paper 2017 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) Imagine that you visited a remote village untouched by the influence of technology. Describe the village, the people, their routine and at least one person you met there. How did you feel at first? What were your feelings when you had to return?
(b) You were waiting at the ATM booth of Focus Bank, when a white car drew up and four men with masks rushed into the bank. Narrate how an attempted bank robbery was foiled by an alert security guard.
(c) ‘Today’s youth is more practical and less swayed by emotions’. Argue for or against the given statement.
(d) Sacrifice.
(e) ‘It is easier to preach than to practise’. Express your views on the given statement.
(f) Write an original short story beginning with the following words: “Everything went horribly
wrong that evening “ ……………………………..
Answers:
(a) Make use of the hints given below and complete the composition tasks.
Hints :
- in a daydream, visited a remote village, Raiwala
- touch by peace and fresh air
- untouched by technology, no telephone, no internet
- no vehicles, no cars, bikes on muddy lanes
- surrounded by greenery, fields, fruit trees
- people very simple, met Sarpanch Mahinder Singh
- simplicity touched my heart, felt like staying there forever
(b) Hints:
- waiting at ATM booth. Focus Bank, three/four persons
- a white car drew up, four men came out. faces covered
- rushed into the bank, closed main gate, took out their guns
- warned the staff, pointing guns, collected cash from the teller
- security guard, fell down, pretended to haw heartache
- unseen by others, sent message on mobile, police came
- decoits left the cash, ran from the back door, failed to loot the bank
(c) Hints:
- today’s youth, awakened .
- development of science and technology
- youth, more practical, result-oriented perseverance
- approach to problems, pragmatic
- not swayed by emotions, control feelings with reason
- girls too have practical approach, even in love/marriage
- faced with obstacles do not shed tears, try hard and solve them Hints :
(d) Hints:
- spirit of sacrifice, appreciable as a way of life
- parents, elders, make sacrifices for the youngers
- students, sacrifice their games/enjoyments for studies
- sacrifice minor gains for major projects
- sacrifice minor goal for major ones, success will be yours Hints:
(e) Hints:
- an old dictum, as relevant today as it was in the past
- Saint Tulsidas, preachers, endless, few practitioners
- very easy to advise, difficult to put it in practice
- even saints and hermits, failed in the test
- easy to tell tactics to defeat the rival, difficult to wrestle
- should try to put in practice what we preach/advise to others Hints :
(f) Hints:
- everything went horribly wrong that evening
- returning from a marriage party, car broke down
- no workshop close by, left the family, went, brought mechanic
- started, stopped by police, verification of documents
- car registration, missing, rebuked by police officer
- due to tension wife started vomiting, reached home after 1 a.m.
Question 2.
As a reporter you have visited a number of hospitals in your city. Write a newspaper report entitled ‘City’ Hospitals’, based on the following points: [20]
Buildings and infrastructure – maintenance of the hospitals – quality of services – Doctors – nursing staff – waiting period for treatment – emergency’ facilities – other facilities available – medical equipment – overall opinion.
Answer:
City Hospitals
November 25, Nagpur
Directed by the Health Department I visited as many as ten leading hospitals of the city’ last week. Most of the hospitals have double/triple storey buildings with the most modem infra-structure. But the maintenance of the hospitals is not satisfactory. The number of patients in each hospital is more than manageable. As a result of it out-door patients have to wait for hours to see the doctor. The quality of service is very good indeed. The doctors are highly qualified and awakened to their duty. What pinches the patients is the waiting period for treatment. Sometimes the patient is having acute pain or due to extreme old age is not able to wait. The only provision for such cases is that they should pay double fee for seeing the . doctor out of turn. While the rich grab such an opportunity, the poor have to sit in the waiting room for hours. Emergency facilities are available in every hospital. Ambulance service is available to transport patients from any part of the city to the desired place. Almost all the hospitals are fully equipped with modem equipment. The only thing which pinches the patients sometimes is the rudeness of the nurses and the overworked staff. Patients need sympathy sometimes more than even the treatment.
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. Write sentence B in each case. (10)
Example :
(0)
(A) : He always obeys his teachers.
(B) : His teachers ………………………….
Answer:
(0) His teachers are always obeyed by him.
(i)
(A) : Not only did he buy a desktop but also a laptop.
(B) : Besides ………………………….
(2)
(A) : The heavy’ showers of rain revived the plants.
(B) : The plants ………………………….
(3)
(A) : The men were forced to work although the light was poor.
(B) : In spite of ………………………….
(4)
(A) : No sooner did we see a flash of light in the sky than explosion near us.
(B) : As soon as ………………………….
(5)
(A) : As she has not brought a pen, she is writing with a pencil.
(B) : Not ………………………….
(6)
(A) : Mumbai is the most vibrant city in India.
(B) : No ………………………….
(7)
(A) : Their dog is too friendly to be an effective guard dog.
(B) : Thcirdogisso ………………………….
(8)
(A) Saincer said, Ramcsh, can you help me with my homework?”
(B) Sarneer ………………………….
(9)
(A) : All nooks and corners were checked.
(B) : No nook or corner ………………………….
(10)
(A) : How long I shall stay is doubtful.
(B) : The ………………………….
(b) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not write the sentence.) (5)
(1) If we set ____________ early, we can return before sunset.
(2) He left .the company for good and set ____________ his own business.
(3) The teacher jumped ___________ a conclusion and punished the child.
(4) Ramesh jumped ___________ my offer of a job.
(5) 1 am a simple man and have no use ___________ much money.
(6) My father lost the use ___________ his right arm in an accident.
(7) Rahul decided to carry ____________ with tennis and give up ohlev ball.
(8) Dinanath is a good worker and is always ready to carry ____________ his masters orders.
(9) Reena agreed __________ me when I proposed a meeting.
(10) The four sisters could not agree ____________ themselves.
(c) Fill in the blanks in the passage given below with (he appropriate form of the verb given in brackets. Do not write the passage. but write the verbs in the correct order. (5)
The other day we _______ (1 )(discuss) the setting up of a Debating Club in our school. We _______ (2)(talk) about the club and how many students _______ (3)(be) interested in u. Then we _______ (4)(begin) to talk about the rules and regulations _______ (5)(govern) the club. None of us could _______ (6) (agree) and we began _________(7)(argue). Fina1l, our English teacher _______ (8)(have) to be informed and she _______ (9)(coine) and ______ (10)(break) up the meeting.
Answers:
(a) (1) Besides buying a desktop he also bought a laptop.
(2) The plants were revived by heavy showers.
(3) In spite of poor light the men were forced to work.
(4) As soon as we saw a flash of light in the sky we heard a loud explosion near us.
(5) Not having brought a pen she is waiting with a pencil.
(6) No other city in India is as vibrant as Mumbai.
(7) Their dog is so friendly that it cannot be an effective guard dog.
(8) Sameer asked Ramesh if he could help him with his homework.
(9) No nook or comer was left unchecked.
(10) The tenure of my stay is doubtful.
(b)
(1) out (2) up (3) to (4) at (5) for (6) of (7) on (8) out (9) with (10) among
(c)
(1) were discussing (2) talked (3) were (4) began (5) governing (6) agree (7) arguing (8) had (9) came (10) broke
Question 4.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow:
(1) My father and I left the hall and made our way out to walk across to headquarters. There were street lights round the square, but underfoot the cobblestoned ground was dark and lumpy. My father tripped on the uneven surface and went down on one knee, trying not to fall entirely.
(2) At exactly the same moment there was a loud bang and a sharp zinging sound 5 and a scmnch of glass breaking.
(3) I bent over my father and saw that his eyes were stretched w ide and his mouth grim with pain.
(4) ‘’Run/’ he said. ‘ Run for cover. For God’s sake. Ben! That was a gunshot!”
(5) We were halfway across the square, easy immobile targets. He stmggled to get 10 to his feet and told me again to run: and for once I disobeyed him.
(6) ‘’Stay down,” I told him.
(7) “You don’t understand…” His voice was anguished.
(8) “Are you bleeding?”
(9) “What? I don’t think so. I twisted my ankle.” 25
(10) People ran out of the hotel, drawn by the bang that re-echoed around the square. There was confusion and people saying, “What happened, what happened?” and hands stretching down to my father to help him up. When he was well surrounded he finally took my arm. Putting his left foot down caused him much discomfort. 20
(11) “That noise… .” a woman said.
(12) Heads nodded. “It sounded like… Was it… a gun?”
(13) “But where? There’s no one here with a gun.”
(14) Everyone looked round, but it was far too late to see the rifle, let alone the person shooting. My father put his arm round my shoulders for support, and 25 indicated that we should set off.
(15) We walked in a procession to the headquarters and my father called the police.
(16) I went to the open door, looking across the square to the hotel.
(17) I remembered the zing of the bullet. If the bullet had been aimed at my father, and if he’d stumbled at the exact second that the trigger was squeezed, and if 30 the bullet had smashed some glass so that I heard the tinkle, then why was every pane of the window in the headquarters intact ?
(18) I told myself that the whole thing had been a coincidence and turned to go back inside, and saw for an instant a flash of light on broken glass down on the ground. 35
(19) It was a window of the shop next door that had been hit.
(20) Zing. Ricochet. Smash. The straight line could have been deflected by the curve of a cobblestone.
(21) The police arrived at headquarters, and it was nearly two o’clock when I finally closed and bolted the doors and switched off the lights. 40
(22) My father moved him self into one of the single beds in the bedroom. I lay on the second, not at all sleepy.
(23) My father said, “Ben, why didn’t you run?
(24) I answered. “I didn’t want you to get shot.”
(25) “So you stood in the way…” 45
(26) After a while, I said, “I’d say it was a .22 rifle with a high-velocity bullet. Hitting you in the body, it quite likely won’t kill you. You need to hit the head or the neck to be lethal. All I did was shield your head.”
(27) There was a silence. Then he said, “I’d forgotten you could shoot.”
(28) “I was in the school team. We were taught by one of the country’s best 50 marksmen.” I smiled in the dark. “You paid for it, you know .”
Adapted from Penalty by Dick Francis
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage: (4)
(1) unmoving
(2) full of severe pain and agony
(3) complete, not damaged
(4) protect
(ii) 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) feet (line 11)
(2) square (line 16)
(3) ‘ second (line 29)
(4) head (line 45)
(b) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:
(i) What two things happened simultaneously when Ben and his father were walking to the headquarters? [2]
(ii) What did Ben see when he looked at his father on the ground? [2]
(iii) Why did Ben’s father tell him to run and why did Ben disobey him? [2]
(iv) What was Ben’s logical answer to his father explaining why he did not obey him? [4]
(c) Describe the incident of the shooting in not more than 100 words (Paragraphs 1 to 10). Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. You will be required to:
(i) List your ideas clearly in point form. (6)
(ii) In about 100 words, write your points in the form of a connected passage. (6)
Answer:
(a) (i)
(1) immobile
(2) anguished
(3) intact
(4) shield
(ii) (1) He gave mc a three feetiong stick to walk.
(2) He has a firm square jaw shining eyes and a pointed nose.
(3) They have a second home in Mumbai where they go during holidays.
(4) it is duty of the head of the organization to lisien to the grievances of workers.
(b) (i) Ben’s father tripped on the uneven surface and at the same time there was a loud bang and a sharp sound.
(ii) Ben saw’ that his fathef s eves were stretched wide and his mouth was grim with pain.
(iii) Hearing the sound of gun shot. Ben’s father asked him to mn. Ben disobeyed his father because he did not want to leave him in danger.
(iv) When Ben’s father asked him why he liad not run, Ben replied that he didn’t want him to get shot.
c. (i)
- Ben and his father – w alking towards headquarters.
- The ground uneven, dark and lumpy.
- His father tripped on uneven path.
- Loud bang and sound of glass breaking.
- sound of gunshot.
- and when asked again, Ben did not run.
- His father told him, he had a twisted ankle.
- People out of the hotel, great confusion.
- Ben helped his father in getting up.
- Father took courage and put his foot down.
(ii) At night Ben and his father were walking towards headquarters. The ground was dark, lumpy and uneven. His father tripped on the uneven path. At the same time there was a loud bang and the sound of grass breaking was heard. His father asked Ben to run as it was sound of gunshot. Ben did not run. His father who had a twisted ankle tried to get to his feet. Ben tried to help him. People came out of the hotel. There was total confusion. When Ben’s father was well-surrounded by people, taking Ben’s arm, he put his foot down.