INDIAN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE BOARD EXAMINATION

INDIAN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE BOARD EXAMINATION
ISC 2009 Class XII Question Paper
ENGLISH
Paper 1
(Two and a half hours)
Question 1
Write a composition (in approximately 450-500 words) on any one of the following:subjects:
(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.) [30]
(a) “We humans are a peaceful species at heart.” Explore this statement, giving your views.
(b) Rains, which bring the much needed relief from the sweltering heat, can also cause havoc in our lives. Describe how two days of incessant rain caused unlimited problems for the people in your town/city.
(c) Charity.
(d) Children today have become so engrossed in the ‘virtual’ world that they have lost touch with reality. Express your views on this topic.
(e) ‘First impressions are not always the best’. Write for or against this proposition.
(f) Write an original short story which has for its beginning one of the following:
(i) At first glance he seemed a friendly sort of person, yet there was something….
(ii) As soon as I saw his face, I could tell that he had important news. Without pausing to greet me, he…..
Question 2 [20]
Your school had organized an inter-school cultural or literary festival. As one of the organizers of the festival, write a report for your school magazine in not more than 200 words, using the notes given below as a guideline. You may include other relevant details:
Date and venue – purpose of the festival – schools invited – budget – events – chief guest – inauguration – standard of performances – awards won – closing ceremony – experiences gained.
Question 3
(a) In each of the following items, sentence A is complete, while B is not. Complete sentence B, making it as similar in meaning as possible to sentence A. Write down sentence B in each case. [5]
Example : (0)(A) My daughter is too naughty to be taken on the picnic.
(B) My daughter is so …………………
(1) (A) : As soon as the vacation begins, Mr. Chips leaves for the hills.
(B) : No sooner …………………
No sooner does the vacation begin than Mr.Chips leaves for the hills.
(2) (A) : He has his faults, all the same he is a likeable man.
(B) : Notwithstanding …………………
(3) (A) : The Headmaster said to me, “I will deal with you tomorrow.”
(B) : The Headmaster told …………………
(4) (A) : Maya’s attitude to her sister has always puzzled me.
(B) : I have …………………
(5) (A) : I don’t believe he intends to do any more business with your firm.
(B) : It is my …………………
(b) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not write the sentence): [5]
(1) Can she take _______ the additional responsibility?
(2) I have every confidence _______ him.
(3) She had a good reason _______ being angry.
(4) He fell a victim _______ his own greed.
(5) He never seems to be satisfied _______ what is done for him.
(6) That excuse won’t go _______ well with the teacher.
(7) My mother is a good cook, but she won’t give _______ her trade secrets.
(8) We were astonished _______ what he told us.
(9) He took a long time to recover _______ his illness.
(10) The audience showed their approval _______ his speech by prolonged applause.
(c) Fill in each blank with the appropriate form of the word given in brackets. (Do not write the sentence): [10]
(1) My teacher never _______ (give) me a chance to speak.
(2) His voice gradually _______ (sink) to a whisper.
(3) My family and I _______ (suffer) a great deal lately.
(4) I would not tell her about the matter if I _______ (be) you.
(5) I _______ (know) him since we were at school together.
(6) She swam across the river as fast as she _______ (can).
(7) By this time next year, you _______ (forget) all your present troubles.
(8) I _______ (start) my homework before he came.
(9) I _______ (stand) in the rain and waited for the bus.
(10) They _______ (beat) us at football for the last five years.
Question 4
Read carefully the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow:
(1) The night of 14th April 1912, was very cold. There was no moon, and hardly any
wind. The Titanic was in the part of the Atlantic in which icebergs cause trouble. Ice
is hard enough to cut holes in steel, and cannot easily be seen at night.
(2) The wireless officer of the Titanic, J.G. Phillips, had received several signals telling
him that ice was not far away. Most of these important signals were passed on to the officers, but one was not. It was a signal from another ship, the Mesaba, reporting
icebergs in front of the Titanic.
(3) When it arrived, Phillips was hard at work. Many of the travellers had sent news or
information or orders by wireless during the day to their friends in England or
America. Phillips was now doing his best to finish off all this work. He was so busy that he did not report the ice immediately. The signal lay on his table, half forgotten.
(4) The two men who were watching for icebergs, Fleet and Lee, suddenly saw
something dark just in front of the ship. They immediately rang the ship’s bell, and
Lee telephoned to the officer of the watch to report the iceberg.
(5) The necessary orders were given at once, though it is impossible to stop a great ship
immediately, especially if it is moving at about twenty-five miles an hour. But the
officer did his best. The engines were stopped and then started again to pull the ship
backwards. The steel doors were closed. The ship was turned away from its straight
course. But it was all too late. Too late!
(6) The ship struck the iceberg with its side while it was still moving forwards. It struck the ice again with another part of its side. In a few moments six great holes were
made in the steel. Water rushed in, not in one place, but in separate places covering
three hundred feet. The steel doors were therefore useless.
(7) Captain Smith soon understood that nothing could save his ship. At a quarter past
twelve in the early morning he ordered the wireless officer to send out the ship’s position and the letters CQD, which is the call for help. It told the world that the
Titanic was sinking. The impossible was happening.
(8) At first the people on board did not believe that the ship was sinking. They had been
told that it could not sink, but they understood the truth when the captain gave the
order to prepare the boats. Women and children were ordered into the boats first, but
some wives would not leave their husbands and did not go.
(9) Some women had to be pushed into the boats and some, had to be thrown in. It was
hard to leave the big lighted ship, and to go in a small boat on the dark icy sea.
Many brave acts were done that night, but 1,503 people lost their lives. And so the
Titanic went down beside the huge iceberg that destroyed it.
(10) When day came, another ship, the Carpathia, arrived and picked up all those that
could be found. It took to New York only 705 men and women. The wireless officer
Mr. Phillips, and Captain Smith were not among them.
Adapted from “Behind the Headlines”
By G.C. Thornley
(a)
(i) Use each of the following words, as used in the passage, in a sentence of your own construction so as to bring out its meaning very clearly. Using the word in a context very similar to the passage will be penalized.
(1) report (line 14)
(2) course (line 19)
(3) moments (line 21)
(ii) For each of the words given below write a sentence of at least 10 words, using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage:
(1) watch (line 14)
(2) sink (line 29)
(3) acts (line 34)
(iii) Explain, in the context of the passage, in not more than two sentences of your own, the meaning of each of the following expressions taken from the passage. (Merely using phrases will not do).
(1) …on his table, half forgotten. (line 11)
(2) Many brave acts were done that night. (line 34)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:
(i) How did the officers of the Titanic know that there were icebergs in the area? [2]
. (ii) Why was the signal from the Mesaba particularly important?
. (iii) Why was this signal not passed on to the officers?
. (iv) Why were the steel doors useless?
(c) In not more than 60 words and with close reference to the last three paragraphs, give an account of The Sinking of the Titanic.