English Question Paper' 2023
AHSEC Class 12 Question Papers

Full Marks: 100
Pass Marks: 30
Time: Three hours

The figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions.

SECTION – A

[Reading Skill :10 Marks]

1. Read the following passage carefully:

Air pollution is an issue which concerns us all alike. One can willingly choose or reject a food, a drink or a life comfort, but unfortunately there is little choice for the air we breathe. All, what is there in the air is inhaled by one and all living in those surroundings.

Air pollutant is defined as a substance which is present while normally it is not there or present in an amount exceeding the normal concentrations. It could either be gaseous or a particulate matter. The important and harmful polluting gases are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. The common particulate pollutants are the dusts of various inorganic or organic origins. Although we often talk of the outdoor air pollution caused by industrial and vehicular exhausts, the indoor pollution may prove to be as or a more important cause of health problems.

Recognition of air pollution is relatively recent. It is not uncommon to experience a feeling of ‘suffocation’ in a closed environment. It is often ascribed to the lack of oxygen. Fortunately, however, the composition of air is remarkably constant all over the world. There is about 79 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen in the air; the other gases forming a very small fraction. It is true that carbon dioxide exhaled out of lungs may accumulate in a closed and overcrowded place. But such an increase is usually small and temporary unless the room is really airtight. Exposure to poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide may occur in a closed room, heated by burning coal inside. This may also prove to be fatal.

What is more common in a poorly ventilated home is a vague constellation of symptoms described as the sick-building syndrome. It is characterized by a general feeling of malaise, headache, dizziness and irritation of mucous membranes. It may also be accompanied by nausea, itching aches, pains and depression. Sick building syndrome is getting commoner in big cities with the small houses, which are generally over furnished. Some of the important pollutants whose indoor concentrations exceed those of the outdoors include gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and organic substances like spores, formaldehydes, hydrocarbon aerosols and allergens. The sources are attributed to a variety of construction materials, insulation, furnishings, adhesives, cosmetics, house dusts, fungi and other indoor products.

Smoking of tobacco is the closed environment is an important source of indoor pollution. It may not be high quantitatively, but significantly hazardous for health. It is because of the fact that there are over 3,000 chemical constituents in tobacco smoke, which have been identified. These are harmful for human health.

Obviously, the spectrum of pollution is very wide and our options are limited. Indoor pollution may be handled relatively easily by an individual. Moreover, the good work must start from one’s own house.

On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions:

(a) What is an air pollutant? 1

(b) In what forms are the air pollutants present? 2

(d) What is sick building syndrome? Mention some of its major symptoms. 1+1=2

(e) How is smoking of tobacco an important source of indoor air pollution? 2

(f) Find a word in the passage which means “the state or process of dying from being deprived of air or unable to breathe”. 1

(g) Give an antonym of “reject”. 1

SECTION – B

[Advanced Writing Skill : 25 Marks]

2. You are Anwesha / Anirban, Director of “Scholars’ Academy”, an institute that provides coaching to students for appearing in various competitive examinations. Write an advertisement for publication in a newspaper. (Word Limit: 50 words] 5

Design a poster in not more than 50 words to create awareness about the need of energy conservation. 5

3. You attended a Book Fair in your town organized by a local NGO in which a member of reputed publication houses of the country participated. Write a detailed account of the event in 100-125 words to be published in a newspaper. 10

You are Jahnavi / Javed. Your school has organized a Street Play on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26. Prepare a report on that event in 100-125 words to be published in your school magazine. 10

4. Write a letter to the Manager of a bank reporting the loss of your passbook and requesting him to issue a duplicate one. 10

You are President of the English Literary Forum of your college. Write a formal invitation inviting Dr. D. Baruah, a noted scholar to speak on the occasion of the “World Poetry Day” to be held on March, 21. 10

Draft an application for the post of a Sports Teacher in Udayan Girls’ High School, Dibrugarh in response to their advertisement that appeared in the Assam Tribune dated 10^th February, 2023. Prepare a bio data to be enclosed. You are Sunil / Sunita. 10

SECTION – C

[Grammar : 20 Marks]

5. Change the form of the narration of any two of the following sentences: 2x2=4

(a) The gentleman said to the salesman, “What is the price of this Dictionary?” The salesman said to him, “It is a bit expensive. But I can give it to you at a 10 per cent discount”.

(b) I asked the old lady where Professor Sarmah lived. The lady replied regretfully that she didn’t know.

(c) The girl said to the teacher, “Madam, I am weak in English and seek your advice.” The teacher said, “Read the text thoroughly and try to express your ideas in simple correct English.”

(d) “Let’s buy some milk and prepare milkshake for us”, said Aruna. “The milkshake we’re drinking now is utterly tasteless.”

6. Change the voice of any three of the following sentences: 1x3=3

(a) He was instructed by his coach to play that shot.

(b) Please give me some more time.

(d) Rome was not built in a day.

(e) The girl is reading a novel.

(f) I saw a road accident yesterday.

7. Rewrite any five of the following sentences using the verbs given in brackets in their correct tense forms: 1x5=5

(a) This family (live) in this place since 1970.

(b) She (go) home when we met her.

(d) Ice (float) on water.

(e) If I (be) you, I would not do that.

(f) He suddenly realized that he (leave) the bag in the bus.

(g) We already (have) breakfast.

8. Rewrite any four of the following sentences filing in the blanks with appropriate prepositions: 1x4=4

(a) They will come here _______ a month.

(b) I am sorry _______ what I have done.

(d) He is taller that you _______ three inches.

(e) I am not satisfied _______ my performance.

(f) The police ran _______ the thief.

9. Rewrite any four of the following sentences as directed: 1x4=4

(a) This fact is too evident to require any proof. (Use ‘so… that’ instead of ‘too…to’)

(b) I shall remember your help forever. (Make it negative without changing the meaning)

(d) She is the tallest girl in the classroom. (Change it into comparative degree)

(e) No one can do this. (Make it interrogative)

(f) There is a slight difference between the two shades. (Rewrite the sentence by using the adjective form of ‘difference’)

(g) As he was ill, he could not appear in the examination. (Change it into a simple sentence)

SECTION – D

[Textbooks : 45 Marks]

10. Read the following extracts and the questions that follow:

(a) “But soon

put that thought away and looked out at

Young

Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

Out of their homes’

Questions:

(1) Who looked out at the young trees? 1

(2) Which thought did the speaker put away? 1

(3) What do young sprinting tree signify? 1

(4) What did the speaker see the children doing? 1

(b) “It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.”

Questions:

(1) What does ‘it’ refer to? 1

(2) To whom is the poet speaking? 1

(3) What would be the moment like? 2

11. Answer any three of the following questions in 30-40 words: 2x3=6

(a) Why was the roadside stand built?

(b) How did the travelers on the highways react to the roadside stand?

(d) What kind of images does the poet use to signify her mother’s ageing decay in the poem “My Mother at Sixty-Six’?

(e) What, according to Keats, makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?

12. Answer any five of the following questions: 1x5=5

(a) What creatures did the writer notice on the Peacock Island?

(b) What are epiphytes?

(d) Which book by Louis Fischer has been reviewed as one of the best books ever written on Gandhi by Times Educational Supplement?

(e) Whom did Saheb observe standing at the fenced gate of the neighbouring club?

(f) Who is the writer of the story “The Last Lesson”?

(g) Which is the only occasion that Sophie gets to see Casey in person?

(h) Name the sports for which Sophie’s father had a strong passion.

13. Answer any five in 30-40 words: 2x5=10

(a) Why did Sophie share her feelings with her brother Geoff and not with her father?

(b) Why, according to the writer, the advice she gave to Saheb seems hollow?

(d) What does Rowntree talk often in ‘Memoirs of a Chota Sahib’?

(e) How was a solution to the problems of indigo sharecroppers of Champaran found?

(f) Why did M. Hamel write “Viva La France” before dismissing his class?

(g) What changes came over Frantz after he heard M. Hamel’s announcement?

14. Answer any one of the following questions in 80-100 words: 5x1=5

(a) “Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India” – Show, referring to the prose-piece ‘Indigo’, how this had happened?

(b) Describe the author’s experience with bats in the Rajapara forest bungalow as depicted in ‘Memoirs of a Chota Sahib’.

15. Answer any one of the following questions in 125-150 words: 7x1=7

(a) What are the different ways in which Mr. Lamb tries to change Derry’s attitude to life?

(b) Describe the ironical ending of the story, “The Tiger King”.

(c) There are moments in life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty. Discuss with reference to the story, “The Enemy”.

16. Answer any four of the following questions in 30-40 words: 2x4=8

(a) Why does the Tiger King get his name?

(b) Why did the servants leave Dr. Sadao’s house?

(d) Why did it take Bama to reach home in 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes?

(e) What is the significance of Uruka?

(f) How is the Meji made?