English Question Paper 2014 [AHSEC Class 11 English Question Papers]

English Question Paper 2014
[AHSEC Class 11 English Question Papers]

Full Marks: 90

Time: 3 hours

SECTION - A

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

People travelling long distances frequently have to decide whether they would prefer to go by land, sea or air. Hardly any one can positively enjoy sitting in a train for more then 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 night in the ceiling or fumbling to find your passport when you cross a frontier. Inevitably you arrive at your destination almost exhausted.

Long car journey are even les 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 you legs on the spacious decks, play games, swim, meet interesting people and enjoy good food-always assuming, of course, that the sea is clam. 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 travelers are intimidated by them. They also have 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 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 breathtaking 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, while the sum 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 un-crumpled. You will not have to  spend the next few days recovering from a long and arduous journey.

A. Train compartments soon get

(i) Comfortable and easy

(ii) Crowded and inconvenient

(iii) Troublesome

(iv) Dirty

Ans. ii Crowded and inconvenient

B. When you travel by train you reach your destination

(i) Rather late

(ii) Quite comfortably

(iii) Quite tired

(iv) Quite fresh

Ans. iii Quite tired

C. Trips by sea can be

(i) Quite pleasant when sea is not clam

(ii) Quite risky when the sea is not clam

(iii) Quite exciting when the sea is not clam

(iv) Even worse when the sea is not clam

Ans. ii Quite risky when the sea not clam

D. Nothing can match aeroplanes

(i) For comfort

(ii) For being costly

(iii) For speed and comfort

(iv) For excitement

Ans. iii for speed and comfort

E. Air travel is

(i) Most comfortable form of travelling

(ii) Most dangerous form of travelling

(iii) Most expensive form of travelling

(iv) Most intimidating form of travelling

Ans. ii Most dangerous form of travelling

2. Write a brief summary of the given passage.     10

Ans:

SECTION – B

3. (a) Write a report on a train accident giving imaginary details of the accident and the steps taken by the concerned authorities towards medical relief to the accident victims. (125 words)                10

 

Ans:                 Train Derails near Haridwar-Kills Twenty, Injures More Than Hundred  7th September, Haridwar: In the third derailment within a month in India, seven coaches of the Pooja  Express derailed near Pathankot railway station in Jammu yesterday, around 80 kilo meters away from destination. The accident took place around 8 am in the morning when the train was about to reach Pathankot. Twenty people were killed on the spot whereas more than hundred people were injured. Police, as usual, reached late on the spot but tried their level best to rescue the people who were then stuck inside with the help of gas cutters. People who were critically injured were rushed to the hospital immediately, with the help of local people, where they condition is said to be stable and out of danger. The inquiring committee is still trying to figure out the real cause of the accident. The Railway Department of India has declared a compensation for Rs.5 lakhs for the family members of deceased whereas Rs. 1 lakh for seriously injured people. The Railway authority of India should learn a lesson from these accidents and take proper measures to curb such accidents which are being breaking news in everyday’ newspaper. Reported  by  Amit Thapa

(b) Spring Valley School, Jorhat organized a cultural show in aid of the flood-affected people of Majuli. As the organizer of the program, write a brief report in not more than 125 words for publication in your school magazine. Sign your name as Tridip/Trhisna Gogoi.                                        10

CULTURAL SHOW Jorhat, 12th July, 2014: A group of students from Spring Valley School, Jorhat ventured out to the remote, rural hamlets in the Majuli area on the South Bank river Brahamaputra, 24 km. away from the Jorhat town. Incessant monsoon rain has over flooded the mighty river and the people in the vicinity have been subjected to the ravages of the high flood. More than three hundred people of the area have been rendered homeless and they are in the relief camp set up by the district administration. The group of twenty five students of the college collected two truckloads of rice, dal and clothes for the sufferers which they collected from charity. Their team leader revealed to this writer that they approached the district administration for helping them for smooth distribution of the relief materials and they got one machine to reach their destination. The flood affected people of the locality praised the students for their humanitarian mission and wished them all success in life. Reported by Tridip Gogoi.

 SECTION – C

4. Correct the following sentences using proper tense forms:      ½ x4=2

(a) I am knowing you.

Ans. I know you.

(b) Ram is seeing the bus coming.

Ans. Ram sees the bus coming.

(c) The sun is rising in the east.

Ans. The sun rises in the east.

(d) Two and two are making four.

Ans. Two and two makes four.

5. The following passage has not been edited. There is one error in each line. Write the incorrect word and the correction.         5

(a) The ancient Greeks revered honey so much as

Ans. As much as

(b) That much playwrights conveyed the

Ans. Many playwrights

(c) Luxurious lifestyle with the Athenians

Ans. of the Athenians

(d) With its description of cheese cake

Ans. Their description

(e) Eaten with honey. Honey be known not

Ans. is known not

(f) Only for its sweet and also for

Ans. but also for

(g) Its soothing qualities. Unless sugar

Ans. Until sugar

(h) Became common place in a late 18^th

Ans. the late 18^th

(i) Century, honey is also used in traditional remedies.

Ans. was also used

6. Look at the sentences given below in a disorderly form. Re-order them to form meaningful sentences. 1x3=3

(a) Playing football/for an hour/he/had been/i/when/his house/reached.

Ans. When I reached his house, he had been playing football for an hour.

(b) he/may/get/success/is industrious/since he.

Ans. Since he is industrious, he may get success.

(c) is expected/to do/every man/his duty.

Ans. Every man is expected to do his duty.

SECTION - D

7. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow it:  2x5=10

Some twenty-thirty years later

She’d laugh at the snapshot. ‘See Betty And Dolly’, She’d say, ‘and look how they

Dressed us for the beach’. The sea holiday

Was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry

With the labored ease of loss

(a) The word ‘she’ in the second line stands for

(i) Poet’s mother

(ii) Poet’s aunt

(iii) Poet’s cousin

(iv) The poet

Ans. ii Poet’s mother

(b) ‘Betty’ and ‘Dolly’ are

(i) Poet’s cousins

(ii) Poet’s sisters

(iii) Cousins of the poet’s mother

(iv) Neighbours

Ans. iii Cousins of the poet’s mother

(c) Betty and Dolly were standing with

(i) The poet

(ii) Poet’s mother

(iii) Their uncle

(iv) Their friends

Ans. ii Poet’s mother

(d) The three girls were enjoying

(i) A holiday at a hill station

(ii) A holiday at a river

(iii) A sea holiday

(iv) Swimming

Ans. iii a sea holiday

(e) Compared to the sea, poet’s mother and her cousins were

(i) Very small

(ii) Very weak

(iii) Terribly insignificant

(iv) Terribly transient

Ans. iv Terribly transient

8. Answer the following questions in about 30 words each:   2x10=20

a)      What does the rain do day and night?(N)

b)     What does the goldfinch do while singing?

9. Answer the following in not more than 30 words each:   2x5=10

a)      Explain: ‘Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older’.(N)

b)      How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being ‘pretty’?(N)

c)      What was the first indication of the impending disaster on January 2?

d)      How did the narrator face the disaster in the form of the wave?

e)      What do ‘mountain’ and ‘water’ represent in ‘Shanshui’?(N)

10. What is the Daoist view of the universe? Answer in not more than 100 words.

Or

How are the earth’s principal biological systems being depleted?(N)

11. Answer any one of the following questions in not more than 100 words.  4

i.    Justify the title, ‘Mother’s day’. Does the story end in the final victory for the mother?

ii.    How do you distinguish between the information gathering and insight formula?

12. Answer the following questions:    3+3=6

i.     What was the view of Elsa about Albert?(N)

ii.     Suggest a few instances in the poem, ‘The tale of Melon City’ which highlight humour and irony.