ISC English Language Previous Year Question Paper 2018 Solved for Class 12
Maximum Marks: 100
Time allowed: Three hours
(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) You have recently moved to a new neighbourhood in your city. Describe the new neighbourhood, comparing it to the one you have just left.
(b) Relate something unpleasant that happened to you during your childhood that nevertheless helped you to grow up and mature.
(c) ‘The end justifies the means. ’ Argue for a against the statement.
(d) ‘Appearances can be deceptive’. Give your views on this topic.
(e) Dreams
(f) Write a short story that ends with the words “I really doubt if things could have turned out any better.”
Answers:
(а) Make use of the following hints and write your own answer.
Hints:
- quite a new experience with the new neighborhood
- more social and accommodating
- less quarrelsome and more well mannered
- more sacrificing, the previous being too self-centered
- more open-hearted than the previous neighbors who were too narrowminded
- mixed lot, rich and poor, highly educated and less educated living in harmony
- quite happy in the new neighborhood.
(b) Hints:
- was quite frail in childhood
- timid and shy
- easily scared of the bullies
- decided to turn frailties into strength
- started yoga to be fit
- developed strong willpower and the faculty to speak
- now full of confidence and successful
- Learnt how’ to fix the problem and didn’t blame anyone.
(c) (Against the Statement)
- achievement of the goal everybody’s concern
- means to achieve the end more important
- earning money or gaining success through unfair means kills the soul
- only fair means need be adopted
- passing by copying or bribing counter productive
- example of Gandhiji and such other prominent personalities – means justify ends
- only good means inspire people
- to make world happier only good means and intentions desirable.
(d)
- outward glamour and show not the reality or worth of somebody or something
- smiling faces may have devilish minds
- simple appearances may concel godliness or saintliness
- robes of sadhus may hide evil instincts and lusts
- world easily deceived by ornamentation
- all that glitters is not gold
(e)
- dreams – fulfilments of cherished desires
- different dreams interpreted differently
- pleasant dreams bring in cheer
- horrible dreams startle even in sleep.
- day dreaming of armed chair philosophers and idealists.
- some utopian dreams
- dreams very necessary to make the world more charming and worthliving
- dreams not bad, greatmen had great dreams
- alway s dream of good and great things and w orkhard to turn dreams into reality.
(f)
- Kamlesh, promising young boy
- wanted to go abroad for studies for medicine
- father with moderate means couldn’t afford
- Kamlesh worked very hard and stood first in the university
- applied for the scholarship with a philanthropist society for the meritorious and the poor
- selected to pursue studies abroad
- showed talent for research
- awarded the degree
- returned home and started his practice
- philanthropist society exempted his loan
- Kamlesh could not have expected more things could have not turned better than this
- Things could have not turned better than this
Question 2.
You are the editor of your school magazine. You have recently attended a cultural programme in your city. Write an account of this programme (in approximately 300 words) using the points given below : (20)
Date and venue – occasion – Chief Guest – other invitees – inauguration – events – other important features – highlights – reaction of audience – conclusion
Answer:
A Cultural Programme
A very interesting and enlightening cultural programme was held on the eve of the Independence day in the Desh Bhagatyadgar Hall in Jalandhar. It was organised by the artists of Tagore Dramatic club on the request of the Deputy Commissioner of our city. Navjot Singh Siddhu, the minister for Local Bodies, who is himself a talented poet and artist, was the chief guest. Among the other invitees were the principal, of schools and colleges, leading doctors, lawyers and many big industrialists.
Punctually at 6 p.m. the programme started with a devotional song by Hand Raj Hans. After this song the function was formally inaugurated by the Chief guest. The Deputy Commissioner then welcomed the honourable guests. The first item was a skit by the members of Tagore Dramatic Club. It was highly enjoyable skit on the theme of patriotism. The skit highlighted the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters in the struggle for independence.
After this skit, the artists presented patriotic songs which the audience enjoyed very’ much. Thereafter, a poetic competition was held for about an hour. Most of the poems presented on the occasion were full of humour, satire and comedy. The comic sketches presented by Dr Nagpal sent the audience into guffaws of laughter.
Then there was a programme of dance followed by Bhangra by the artists of D.A.V. College, Jal. It was undoubtedly the best item in the whole programme. The audience enjoyed it so much that some young boys and girls started dancing in their seats. In his presidential remarks Siddhuji entertained the audience with revelant verses and poems. The show was a grand success. The Deputy Commissioner, thanked the guests, the organisms and the audience for their co-operation in making the programme a grand success.
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) : The heavy showers of rain revived the plants
(B) : The plants …………………………………
Answer:
(0) The plants were revived by the heavy showers of rain.
(1)
(A) : Ashita is the most beautiful girl in the class.
(B) : No …………………………………
(2)
(A) : As soon as she reached home, she learnt that she had to leave for London.
(B) : Hardly …………………………………
(3)
(A) : Ramesh said. “Rajiv. please bring your physics book to school tomorrow.”
(B) : Ramesh …………………………………
(4)
(A) : Some of the cakes had been caten by the boys before the party began.
(B) : The boys …………………………………
(5)
(A) : If you are not read to come with me. I will not go.
(B) : Unless …………………………………
(6)
(A) : It is such a wonderful opportun ty that we must not miss it.
(B) : lt is too …………………………………
(7)
(A) : We did not know that Mr. Francis was retiring and leaving for ooty.
(B) : Little …………………………………
(8)
(A) : He know the culprit, but refused to admit it.
(B) : Although …………………………………
(9)
(A) : I am afraid you cannot get admission to the college without clearing the admission lest.
(B) : I am afraid you cannot be …………………………………
(10)
(A) : If Rita had finished her work earlier, she would have gone to the market.
(B) : Had …………………………………
(b) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not write the sentence.) (5)
(1) After his parents died in a car accident, his uncle looked ………………………………… him.
(2) The chairman says that he will look ………………………………… their complaints.
(3) The soldiers laid ………………………………… their lives defending their country.
(4) I was laid ………………………………… for three weeks with a broken leg.
(5) This book runs ………………………………… a hundred and fifty pages.
(6) The program ran for………………………………… six hours.
(7) The ailing company was taken ………………………………… by the government.
(8) He takes ………………………………… his grandfather.
(9) I have an appointment ………………………………… the dentist.
(10) The best candidate should be appointed ………………………………… the post.
(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)
One day a millionaire went to a hotel in New York and ………………………………… (1) (ask) for the cheapest room they ………………………………… (2) (have). “What ………………………………… (3) (be) the price of the room ?” he ………………………………… (4) (ask). The manager ………………………………… (5) (tell) him. “Is that that the cheapest room you ………………………………… (6)(have)? I ………………………………… (7) (stay) by myself and only ………………………………… (8) (need) a small room.” The manager said, “Why do you choose a poor room like that? Your son always ………………………………… (9) (stay) in our most expensive room.” “Yes,” said the millionaire, “but his father ………………………………… (10) (be) a wealthy man; mine is not.”
Answers:
(a) (1) No other girl in the class is as beautiful as Ashita.
(2) Hardly had she reached home when she learnt that she had to leave for London.
(3) Ramesh requested Rajive to bring his physics book to school the next day.
(4) The boys had eaten some of the cakes before the party began.
(5) Unless you come with me, I will not go.
(6) It is too wonderful an opportunity to miss.
(7) Little did we know that Mr. Francis was retiring and leaving for Ooty.
(8) Although he knew the culprit yet he did not admit it.
(9) I am afraid you cannot be admitted to the college without clearing the admssion test.
(10) Had Rita finished her work earlier, she would have gone to the market.
(b)
(1) after (2) into (3) down (4) up (5) into (6) for (7) over (8) after (9) with (10) for
(c)
(1) asked (2) had (3) is (4) asked (5) told (6) have (7) shall stay (8) need (9) stays (10) is
Question 4.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow :
(1) I could hear the squeaking that heralded the evening arrival of the hats. I listened to the noises of the approaching night. Every day my hearing grew sharper. I was learning to filter out whatever I did not need to listen to, and giving no sign that I could hear everything that went on in the house.
(2) I could not sleep. The air was heavy and still, the moon hidden behind thick 5 hanks of cloud. Lord Otori was sound asleep. I did not want to leave the house I’d come to love so much, but I seemed to be bringing nothing but trouble to it. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if I just vanished in the night.
(3) Now I heard the hiss of hot water as the bath was prepared, the clatter of 10 dishes from the kitchen, the sliding sigh of the cook’s knife, a dog barking two streets away, and the sounds of feet on the wooden bridges on the canals. I knew the sounds of the house, day and night, in sunshine and under the rain.
This evening I realized I was always listening for something more. I was waiting too. For what ? 15
(4) I began to wonder if I could get out of the house without setting the dogs barking and arousing the guards. I started consciously listening for the dogs. Usually I heard them bark on and off throughout the night, but I’d learned to distinguish their barks and to ignore them. I set my ears for them but heard nothing. Then I started listening for the guards : the sound of a foot on stone or a whispered conversation. Nothing. Sounds that should have been there were missing from the night’s familiar web.
(5) Now I was wide-awake, straining my ears to hear. There came the slightest of sounds, hardly more than a tremor, between the window and the ground.
(6) For a moment I thought it was the earth-shaking, as it so often did. Another tiny tremble followed, then another. Someone was climbing up the side of the house.
(7) My first instinct was to yell out, but cunning took over. I rose from the mattress and crept silently to Lord Otrori’s side. I knelt beside him and whispered in his ear, “Lord Otori, someone is outside.”
(8) He woke instantly, and then reached for the sword and knife that lay beside him. I gestured to the window. The faint tremor came again.
(9) Lord Otori passed the knife to me and stepped to the wall. I moved to the other side of the window. We waited for the assassin to climb in.
(10) Step by step he came up the wall, stealthy and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world. We waited for him with the same patience.
(11) He paused on the still to take out the knife he planned to use on us, and then stepped inside. Lord Otori took him in a stranglehold. The intruder wriggled backwards. I leaped at him, and the three of us fell into the garden like a flurry of fighting cats.
(12) The man fell first, across the stream, striking his head on a boulder. Lord Otori landed on his feet. My fall was broken by one of the shrubs. The intruder groaned, tried to rise, but slipped hack into the water.
(13) “Get a light,” Lord Otori said.
(14) I ran to the house, took a light that still burned in one of the candle stands and carried it back to the garden.
(15) The assassin had died without regaining consciousness. It turned out he had a poison pellet in his mouth and had crushed it as he fell. He was dressed in black, with no marking on his clothes. I held the light over him. There was nothing to tell us who he was.
Adapted from Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage : (4)
(1) Coming near
(2) Disappeared suddenly
(3) Awakening from sleep
(4) Moved slowly and gradually
(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) Bats (line 1)
(2) Sign (line 4)
(3) Banks (line 6)
(4) Back (line 43)
(b) Answer the following questions in our own words as briefly as possible:
(i) What could the narrator hear as he was hing down? [3]
(ii) Why couldn’t the narrator sleep? [2]
(iiI) When did he realise that there was something rong? [2]
(iv) How did the narrator and Lord Otori overpower the intruder? [3]
(c) Describe the incident of the assassination attempt that took place during the night, in not more than loo words (Paragraphs 4 to 15) 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)
Answers:
(a) (i)
(1) approaching
(2) vanished
(3) woke is and
(4) stealthy
(ii) (1) Bats : All the players were given new Bats.
(2) Headache may be a sign of stress.
(3) Banks : There are many private banks in our country.
(4) Back: M’ back has been aching since last night.
(b) (i) As the narrator was lying down he heard the loud cry of the bats.
(ii) The narrator could not speak because there was disturbance of the barking of the dogs and the sound of footsteps.
(ii) The narrator felt that there as something wrong. The earth seemed to be shaking someone was climbing up the side of the house.
(iv) Someone was trying to enter the house secretly. The narrator and Lord Otori took note of the intruder. They planned to capturing. Both of (hein attacked the assassin and overpowered the stranger.
(c (i)
- hearing of the strange movement at night.
- the narrator felt (hat something was wrong.
- noticed the movement outside.
- the narrator and Lord Otori jointly attacked the intruder
- they overpowered him and pushed hini into the water
- The assassin slipped back lillo the water and died.
(ii) The narrator could not sleep at night. He heard strange sounds that kept him awake. At finie, he felt that the earth was shaking. He noticed an intruder outside. He was the assassin. The narrator and Lord Oton planned to overpower him. They attacked and pushed him into the water. The assassin was drowned. Later on (hey discovered that the man had a poison pellet in his mouth and had crushed it as he fell. He died there and then.