THE WOODS HERITAGE SCHOOL

First Term Examination

Class – XII Subject – English Language MM: 80

Question 1
Write a composition (in 400-450 words) on any one of the following subjects: [20]
(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.)
1. Narrate an experience of yours when your parents went out of station leaving you alone to look after
the house and the dog.
2. What is your best season of the year? Give a vivid description of the season to justify your choice?
3. Animals should not be used for medical research. Argue either FOR or AGAINST the topic.
4. ‘We should not commercialize our festivals’. Discuss.
5. The forbidden cupboard.

Question 2
a) As a captain of your house in your school, you have to write a report (in approximately 250
words) describing the activities and achievements of your house. You may keep the following items
in mind, while writing the report. [15]
Name of the house – members-teacher in charge – office holders – academic achievements
– extracurricular activities – prizes won – social services – comparison with previous years – funds
raised and utilized – improvements to be made in future plans and aims.
b) As the head boy/head girl of your school, you have been assigned the responsibility of setting up a
‘Book Club’ in your school, where students and teachers will be able to deposit their old books.
These books will be sent to a library run in a nearby slum colony by an NGO. Write a proposal in
not more than 150 words, stating the steps you would take to set up this book club. [10]

Question 3
Answer sections (a) & (b) -
a) In each of the following items, sentence A is complete, but sentence 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]
(i) A. Lata failed in the examination though she was clever.
B. Clever though ______________________________
(ii) A. The weather is finer today than it was yesterday.
B. Yesterday, _____________________________
(iii) A. The road repairs carried out on the flyover might delay traffic.
B. Traffic __________________________________________
(iv) A. We considered briefly the long-term solution to the problem.
B. The long-term____________________________________
(v) A. The competition was to have taken place in the hall but had to be
cancelled at the last moment.
B. The competition which __________________________________
b) Fill in each blank with a suitable word. (Do not copy the sentence). [5]
(i) He has taken ______ painting as a hobby.
(ii) She takes ______ her mother in many ways.
(iii) How are you getting ______ with your new business?
(iv) The purpose of this enquiry is to get ______ the facts.
(v) The bus ran ______ a truck.
(vi) He ran ______ of money last year.
(vii) Would you please advise me ______ what kind of computer to buy?
(viii) I hope you will advise Mini ______ her legal rights.
(ix) If the verdict goes ______ him, he could face up to five years in prison.
(x) When you are buying a computer, go ______ the one with a lot of memory.

c) In the following passage, fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in
the brackets. [5]

There is a ………. (1) (startle) experiment done with amoebas in America. Two tanks of amoebas
……….. (2) (set up) in order …………(3) (study) the conditions most conducive to growing ………..
(4) (live) organism.

In one tank, the amoebas ………….(5) (give) ultimate comfort. In the other tank, the amoebas were
subjected to rude shocks.

To the total amazement of the researchers, the amoebas in the more difficult conditions………..(6)
(grow) faster and stronger than those in the comfort zone. Then it ………(7) (conclude) that
……….(8) (have) things too set ………. (9) (cause) decay and death, whereas adversity and
challenge lead to strength and the ………… (10) (build) of the life force.

Question 4
Read carefully the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow:

Explorers are: a special breed. They embody the finest spirit in human nature, which is to seek new
challenges, discover new worlds and create new frontiers. May 29, 2003 marked the 50th Anniversary of
one such rare achievement of the indomitable human spirit - the ascent of Mount Everest by Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

The Himalayas have cast a spell on mankind since time immemorial. The legendary ancient poet Kalidasa
calls them a measuring rod to gauge the world's pride. They seem to sit like a brooding elephant sprawled
over several thousand kilometers. In a world increasingly ravaged by mindless violence, people seek
refuge in the mountains for spirituality and transcendence. Others, for whom religion is not the motivation,
come to seek adventure. The tallest peak in the world is full of awe and mystery, and its legend precedes
the heroic tales of the men of the Everest, who conquered it. In 1852, the then Surveyor General of India,
Colonel Andrew Waugh, based on the findings of the Trigonometrical Society of India, named the highest
found summit - 'Peak XV'. Later, he named it after his predecessor Colonel George Everest. For the
Sherpas, it remains the mountain goddess, Sagarmatha-the forehead of the sky. The famous snow plume
skimming off its top gives it a sense of unrivalled loftiness and almost immediately calls for reverence.
Nature plays out terror and triumph intermittently on these mountains. Moments of glory can turn into
events of tragedy in a few seconds; but one community seems to have mastered the mystery of the
mountains - the Sherpas.

The Sherpas are a Tibetan tribe, who migrated to Nepal about 400 years ago. Their ability to brave the
vagaries of high altitudes has helped them to prosper and they have come a long way from being just
porters to being mountaineers. They are the unofficial gatekeepers of the summit and they are believed to
understand its moods and expressions. They look for ominous signs such as a high soaring raven or a flag
cloud and they offer special prayers to their deities to let the peak be benevolent.

Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa too, who tried seven times to reach the summit but was successful only
once. He was a simple, unlettered man yet spoke seven languages. He couldn't write but authored several
books by dictation. On top of the Everest, he dug a hole in the snow and buried some sweets and a pencil
stub his daughter had given him as offerings to the mountain. Several years later, his son Jamling Tenzing
Norgay also achieved the same feat, followed by Tenzing's grandson Tashi Tenzing Sherpa, the first third
generation man to scale the peak.

Tenzing's companion, Sir Edmund Hillary, was a beekeeper prior to his summit attempt. Several years
hence, his son Peter Hillary, became the first son of a summiteer from the west to conquer the Everest.

a) (i) Given below are four words. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage: [3]
1. represent _______________________________________________
2. measure ________________________________________________
3. thoughtful _______________________________________________
(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. [3]
1. spell _________________________________________________
2. summit _______________________________________________
3. cloud _________________________________________________

b) Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words.

(i) How are the Himalayas fascinating? [2]
(ii) How did the Everest get its name? [2]
(iii) Explain how the Sherpas have transformed themselves from being just porters
to mountaineers. [2]
c) Summarise, in not more than 100 words, the different views of people on the Everest. [8]