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School/+2

English Class - XII 1999(CBSE)
You are on questions 1 to 2

 

General Instructions:
 (i) The question paper is divided into three sections - A, B and C. All the sections are compulsory.
 (ii)Separate instructions have been provided with each question, where necessary. Read these instructions carefully and follow them faithfully.
 (iii)Do not exceed the given word limit while answering a question. Marks will be deducted if it iscrossed.
Time allowed : 3 hours
Maximum Marks : 100

 

Question Paper Code 1/1/1

SECTION A-(READING UNFAMILIAR PASSAGE AND NOTE-MAKING)

Q 1.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

People travelling long distances frequently have to decide whether they would prefer to go by land, sea or air. Hardly anyone can positively enjoy sitting in a train for more than a few hours. Train compartments soon get cramped and stuffy. It is almost impossible to take your mind off the journey. Reading is only a partial solution, for the monotonous rhythm of the wheels clicking on the rails soon lulls you to sleep. During the day, sleep comes in snatches. At night when you really wish to go to sleep, you rarely manage to do so. If you are lucky enough to get a couchette, you spend half the night staring at the small blue light in the ceiling, or fumbling to find your passport when you cross a frontier. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost exhausted.

Long car journeys are even less pleasant, for it is quite impossible even to read. On motor-ways you can at least travel fairly safely at high speeds, but more often than not, the greater part of the journey is spent on narrow, bumpy roads which are crowded with traffic . By comparison, trips by sea offer a great variety of civilized comforts. You can stretch your legs on the spacious decks, play games, swim, meet interesting people and enjoy good food-always assuming, of course, that the sea is calm. If it is not, and you are likely to get sea-sick, no form of transport could be worse. Even if you travel in ideal weather, sea-journeys take a long time. Relatively few people are prepared to sacrifice up to a third of their holidays for the pleasure of travelling on a ship.

Aeroplanes have the reputation of being dangerous and even hardened travellers are intimidated by them. They also have the grave disadvantage of being the most expensive form of transport. But nothing can match them for speed and comfort. Travelling at a height of 30,000 feet, far above the clouds, and at over 500 miles an hour is an exhilarating experience. You do not have to devise ways of taking your mind off the journey, for an aeroplane gets you to your destination rapidly. For a few hours, you settle back in a deep armchair to enjoy the flight. The real escapist can watch a free film show and sip a hot or cold drink on some services. But even when such refreshments are not available, there is plenty to keep you occupied. An aeroplane offers you an unusual breath taking view of the world. You soar effortlessly over high mountains and deep valleys. You really see the shape of the land. If the landscape is hidden from view, you can enjoy the extraordinary sight of unbroken clouds, plains that stretch out for miles before you, while the sun shines brilliantly in a clear sky. The journey is so smooth that there is nothing to prevent you from reading or sleeping. However you decide to spend your time, one thing is certain: you will arrive at your destination fresh and uncrumpled. You will not have to spend the next few days recovering from a long and arduous journey.

Q(a)  Answer the following questions briefly in your own words as far as possible:

(i)   Why is it difficult to read on a train in long distance journeys? Give two Reasons. (2 marks)
(ii)   What are the two disadvantages of travelling by sea? (2 marks)
(iii)  What are the two disadvantages of travelling by air? (2 marks)
(iv)  What are the pleasures of air-flight, according to the writer? (2 marks)
(v)   Why does the writer dislike long car journeys? (1 mark)
       

Q(b) Find words in the above passage which convey a similar meaning as the following:

(i) Pieces (1 mark)
(ii) feel around (1 mark)
(iii) causing excitement (1 mark)
 

Q 2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

How you can best improve your English depends on where you live and particularly on whether or not you live in an English speaking community. If you hear English spoken every day and mix freely with English speaking people, that is on the whole an advantage. On the other hand, it is often confusing to have the whole language, poured over you at once. Ideally, a step-by-step course should accompany or lead up to this experience. It will also help a great deal if you can easily get the sort of english books in which you are interested

To read a lot is essential. It is stupid not to venture outside the examination `set books' or the text books you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books' in English as you can, not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not choose the most difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new words as possible; choose what is likely to interest you and be sure in advance that it is not too hard. You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Look up a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead, guessing what words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra-reading and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which extensive reading gives of having some command of the language. As you read you will become more and more familiar with words and sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only slightly from others.

Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe this is to believe that the spoken language and the written language are quite different things. This is not so. There is a very great deal in common between the two . In learning the patterns and vocabulary of the written form we are learning to a considerable extent those of the spoken form too. We are, in fact, learning the language and not merely one form of the language.

Q a)  On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary-minimum 4) and a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.( 5 marks) 

Q b) Write a summary of the above passage. (3 marks)
 

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