RSK HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL, TRICHY

Managed by DAV Group of schools, Chennai

FIRST REVISION EXAMINATION – 2022
ENGLISH CORE
CLASS: XII MAX.MARKS: 80
Date : 03.01.2023 TIME: 3 Hrs

General Instructions:
(i) This paper is divided into three sections: A, B and C. All questions are compulsory.
(ii) Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read
these instructions very carefully and follow them.
(iii) Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.
Section - A - Reading Skills (20 Marks)

1. Readthepassagegivenbelowandanswerthequestionsthatfollow:

1. Governments have traditionally equated economic progress with steel mills andcement
factories, when hundreds of millions of farmers remain mired in poverty.However,
fears of food shortage, a rethinking of anti-poverty priorities and thecrushing recession
in 2008 are causing a dramatic shift in world economic policyin favourofgreatersupport
foragriculture.
2. The last time the world’s farmers felt such love was in the 1970s. At thetime, as food
prices spiked, there was real concern that the world was facing acrisis in which the
planet was simply unableto produce enough grain and
meatforanexpandingpopulation.Governmentsacrossthedevelopingworldandinternationa
laidorganizationsloweredinvestmentinagricultureintheearly1970s, while technological
breakthroughs, like high-yield strains of important
foodcrops,boostedproduction.TheresultwasthegreenRevolutionandfoodproduction
exploded.
3. ButtheGreenRevolutionbecameavictimofitsownsuccess.Foodpricesplunged by some
60% by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid-1970s. Policymakers and aid workers
turned their attention to the poor’s other pressing
needs,suchashealthcareandeducation.Farminggotstarvedofresourcesandinvestment.By
2004, aiddirected atagriculturesankto 3.5%and“Agriculturelost its glitter”. Also, as
consumers in high-growth, giants such as China andIndiabecame wealthier, they began
eating more meat, so grain once used for humanconsumption got diverted to beef up
livestock. By early 2008, panicked buying
byimportingcountriesandrestrictionsslappedongrainexportsbysomebigproducers,
helped drive prices upto heights not seen for three decades. Makingmatters worse, land
and resources got reallocated to produce energy crops suchas bio-fuels and the result
was that voluminous reserves of grain
evaporated.Protestsbrokeoutacrosstheemergingworldandfiercefoodriotstoppledgovern
ments.
4. This spurred global leaders into action. This made them aware that food securityis one
of the fundamental issues in the world that has to be dealt with in order tomaintain
administrative and political stability. This also spurred the US, whichtraditionally
provisioned food aid from American grain surpluses to help needynations, to move
towards investing in farm sectors around the globe to boostproductivity. This move
helped countries become more productive for themselvesand bein
abetterpositiontofeedtheir ownpeople.
5. Africa, which missed out on the first Green Revolution due to poor policy andlimited
resources, also witnessed a “change” poverty-fighting method favoured bymany
policy-makers in Africa who were to get farmers off their farms into
modernjobsinfactoriesandurbancentres.Butthatstrategyprovedtobe highlyinsufficient.
Income levels in the countryside badly trailed those in cities while theFAO estimated
that the number of poor going hungry in 2009 reached an all-
timehighatmorethanonebillion.
6. In India, on the other hand, with only 40% of its farmland irrigated, the
entireeconomicboomcurrentlyunderwayisheldhostagebytheunpredictablemonsoon.
With much ofIndia’s farming areas suffering from drought this year,the government

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 will have tough time meeting its economic growth targets. In
areport,GoldmanSachspredictedthatifthisyear,too,Indiareceivesweakrains,itcouldcausea
griculturetocontractby2%thisfiscalyear,makingthegovernment’s 7% GDP growth target
look “a bit rich”. Another green revolution isthe need of the hour and to make it a
reality, the global community still has muchbackbreakingfarmworktodo.

Answerthe followingquestionsbychoosingthecorrectoption. (1x10=10marks)

(a) What is the author trying to convey through the phrase “making the
government’s7%GDPgrowthtargetlook‘a bitrich’?
(i) Indiaisunlikely toachievethetargetedgrowthrate.
(ii) Allocationoffundstoagriculturehasraised India’schancesof
havingahighGDP
(iii) AgriculturalgrowthhasartificiallyinflatedIndia’sGDPandsuchgrowthisnotreal
(iv) Indiais likelytohaveoneofthehighestGDP growthrates.

(b) Which of the following factors was/were responsible for the neglect of the
farmingsectoraftertheGreenRevolution?

A. Steel and cement sectors generated more revenue for the government
ascomparedtoagriculture
B. large-scale protests against favouring agriculture at the cost of
otherimportantsectorssuchaseducationand healthcare
C. Attentionofpolicy-
makersandaidorganizationswasdivertedfromtheagriculturetoothersectors
(i) OnlyB (ii) OnlyC (iii) Only BandC (iv) OnlyAandB

(c) What promoted leaders throughout the worldto take action to boost
theagriculturesectorin 2008?

(i) Coercivetactics bythe USwhichrestrictedfoodaidtopoor nations

(ii) Therealizationofthelinkbetweenfoodsecurityandpoliticalstability
(iii) Awareness that performance in agriculture is necessary in order to achieve
thetargetedGDP
(iv) Reports that high-growth countries like China and India were boosting
theiragriculturesectorstocapturetheinternationalmarkets

(d) Whatmotivatedthe UStofocusoninvesting inagricultureacrosstheglobe?

(i) Tomakedeveloping countriesbecomemorereliantonUS aid

(ii) Toensure grainsurplusessothattheUSneedtoimportfood
(iii) Tomakethose countries moreself-sufficienttowhomitpreviously provided food
(iv) Tobecomenumber onecountryintheworld

(e) Whatimpactdidtheeconomic recessionof2008haveonagriculture?

(i) Governments equated economic stability with industrial development
andshiftedaway fromagriculture.
(ii) Lack of implementation of several innovative agriculture programmes
owing toshortageoffunds.
(iii) Itpromotedincreasedinvestmentandinterestin agriculture.
(iv) Thebig producersfacedahugeloss.

(f) Whatistheauthor’smainobjectiveinwritingthepassage?

(i) Criticisingdeveloped countriesfornotbolsteringeconomicgrowthin poornations

(ii) AnalysingthedisadvantagesoftheGreenRevolution
(iii) Persuading experts that a strong economy depends on industrialization and
notonagriculture
(iv) Making a case for the international society to engineer a second
GreenRevolution

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 (g) Whatencouraged Africanpolicy-makers to focus onurbanjobs?

(i) Misapprehensionthat it would alleviatepovertyasit did inothercountries

(ii) Ruraldevelopment outstrippedurban development inmanypartsofAfrica
(iii) Breaking outofprotests incountryandthefear thatthegovernmentwouldtopple
(iv) Becauseurbanjobs were easytoget

(h) Whichofthefollowinghad contributedtoexorbitantfoodprices in 2008?

A. Hoarding offoods stocks bylocal

wholesalers,whichinadvertentlycreatedafoodshortage
B. Exportoffoodgrainswasreduced bylargeproducers
C. Diverting resources from cultivation of food grains to that of more
profitablecrops.
(i) OnlyC (ii) OnlyB (iii) Only BandC (iv) OnlyAandC

(i) Choosetheword whichissimilar inmeaningtotheword printedinboldasusedin

thepassage.
STARVED
(i) Deprived (ii) Disadvantages (iii) Hungry (iv) Fasting

(j) Choosetheword whichisoppositein meaningtotheword printedinbold

asusedinthepassage
PRESSING
(i) Unpopular (ii) Undemanding (iii) Unobtrusive (iv) Unimportant

2. Read the passage given below.

1. Online education startup Byju’s is in advanced stages of talks to raise $200 million in fresh
capitalfrom US-based investors T Rowe Price and BlackRock at a valuation of $12 billion, a
persondirectly aware of the matter said. BlackRock is an existing investor in the firm.
MAY USE CAPITAL FOR MORE ACQUISITIONS

2. The development comes

less than two months after Byju’s raised $500 million from top globaltechnology investment
firms Silver Lake Partners, DST Global and others at a valuation ofclose to $11 billion. Once
formally closed, the latest round would take Byju’s total fund-raise to over $1 billion this year as
demand for online education remains high amid thepandemic. T Rowe Price has previously
backed large Indian internet firms like Paytm andFlipkart.
3 The Bengaluru-based Byju’s had announced the investment from Silver Lake Partners
lastmonth, but did not comment on DST Global’s participation.
4. Silver Lake has been in the news for its recent investments in Reliance Retail as well as
Reliance’s Jio Platforms.

5. “This round should be closed in the coming few weeks,” the person mentioned earlier said.
Aspokesperson of Byju’s declined to comment, while emails to T Rowe Price and BlackRockdid
not elicit any response.

6. Byju’s has other marquee investors including Tencent, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia,
MaryMeeker’s Bond Capital, and General Atlantic. The capital being raised would be used

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forglobal expansion as well as to finance acquisitions to strengthen its offerings. Earlier thisyear,
it acquired code-learning startupWhiteHatJr in a $300-million cash deal.

7. With the pandemic accelerating the adoption of online education in India, the sector hasseen
an increase of nearly four times in investments at $1.5 billion in the first nine monthsof
2020,compared to $409 million in the whole of 2019, according to data from
VentureIntelligence. Unacademy, Vedantu and Eruditus are some of the other prominent
namesin the space that have raised capital from investors like SoftBank, US-based Coatue and
South Africa’s Prosus Ventures.

8. Byju’s was started by ByjuRaveendran in 2007 as an offline coaching class for the Common
Admission Test (CAT) to enter IIMs. Later in 2009, several of his students joined him tostart
Think & Learn, which tried the tablet-based format and eventually found significanttraction after
launching as an app in 2015. According to the company, it has doubled itsrevenues from$189
million in the financial year ending March 2019 to $37.8 million in thefinancial year ending
March. 2020. In September, it said it has 64 million registered students,of which 4.2 million are
paid subscribers.

2.1On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, answer the following questions
bychoosing the correct option. (1X10=10)
(a) Byju’s intends to raise fresh capital from the US companies at a valuation of
(i) $ 40 billion . (ii) $ 13 billion (iii) $12 billion (iv) $ 22 billion

(b) Pick the option that lists statements that are NOT true, according to the passage.
1. Byju’s had earlier raised funds from Silver Lake Partners and DST Global.
2. Byju’s is planning to raise $500 billion from T Rowe Price.
3. Byju’s is planning to sell its stake in education sector for $200 billion.
4. Byju’s had earlier raised $500 billion from global technology investment firms.
(i) 1 and 4 (ii) 2 and 3 (iii) 2 and 4 (iv) 1 and 3

(c) The word ‘elicit’ used in para 5 means the same as _______.
(i) explicit (ii) bring out (iii) eccentric (iv) evaluate

(d) Based on the graphical chart in the passage, choose the option that correctly states the
comparative valuation of Byju’s and Oyo.

(i) Option 1 (ii) Option 2 (iii) Option 3 (iv) Option 4

(e) Silver Lake Partners is a famous investment firm known for its investments in
(i) Reliance Retail & Reliance Digital
(ii) Reliance Retail & Reliance Jio Platforms
(iii) Reliance Jio. and General Atlantic
(iv) T. Rovie Price and BlackRock

(f) Pick the options that list TRUE statements, according to the passage.
1. Byju’s investors include Prosus Ventures and Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital.
2. Byju’s had raised $100 billion at a valuation of $10.5 billion in June 2020.
3. Byju’s investors include Sequoia and White Hat Jr.
4. Vedantu and Eruditus have raised capital from Byju’s and BlackRock.
(i) 1 and 2 (ii) 2 and 4 (iii) 1 and 3 , (iv) 1 and 4

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(g) Before running the online education portal, Byju’s used to run
(i) CAT coaching Classes for entry into IIMs
(ii) NEET coaching classes for entry into AIIMS
(iii) CA coaching class for entry into ICWA
(iv) aviation coaching classes for entry into Air India

(h) With the pandemic accelerating, the adoption of online education in India is in high
demand.
Pick out the word that means the opposite of ‘accelerating’.
(i) decreasing (ii) demanding (iii) demoting . (iv) evaluating

2.2 Find words from the passage which mean the following.
(a) obtain (para 5)
(b) endorsement (para 7)

Section B - Creative Writing Skills (20 Marks)

3. Attempt any one of the following. (1 X 5 = 5)
(A) You are SahilSagar, the President of Nehru Yuva Club, Delhi. You have planned to take
atrekking trip for 15 days to Rohtang Pass next month. Write a notice giving
necessaryinformation to invite participants for trekking programme. (Word limit: 50)
Or
(B) An interhouse skit competition is to be held in BalBharati Public School, Bhopal. As Arshil/
Arshi, Head Boy/Girl of the school, draft a notice in about 50 words to be put up on
thenoticeboard inviting entries. Provide necessary information.

4. Attempt any one of the following. (1 X 5 = 5)

(A) Draft an invitation to be sent to all the parents on the eve of your School Annual Day to be
held on 15 December 20XX. Give necessary details in not more than 50 words.
Or
(B) You are Rahul/Ravina. You have been invited to attend the wedding of your friend’s brother.
Respond to the invitation, regretting your inability to attend it. (Word limit: 50)

5.Attempt any one of the following. (1 X 5 = 5)

(A) You are Neeraj/Neerja residing at 11/23, VenusApartments, Amit Colony, Mumbai. You
haveobserved with the increasing concern that peoplewaste a lot of water and it results in
shortage ofwater too. Write a letter in 120—150 words to theeditor of the Hindustan Times,
expressing yourconcern about it.
Or
(B) You are Gaurav/Gunjan residing at 323, Kale Sarai, Delhi. You are keen to join a highly
reputable pharma company as a chartered accountant.You have come across the following
advertisement in a leading newspaper and decide toapply to it. Write a letter in 120—150 words
with your biodata, responding to the givenadvertisement.

Required a qualified CA with 3 years experience 25-28 years , well-versed in finance matters,
fluency in English necessary, pleasant personality, good salary. Send resume within a week to
Manager, CIPLA, Connaught Place, New Delhi.

6. Attempt any one of the following. (1 X 5 = 5)

(A) Today, mobile phone is no longer a means of communication only. Music lovers are so glued
to it that they don’t pay attention even to the traffic while crossing the roads.This leads to
accidents, sometimes even fatal ones.Write an article in 120-150 words for the magazine
,TechnoTimes evaluating the pros and cons of having a mobile phone.You may use the cues
given below along with your own ideas.You are Gyan/Garvita.
Or
(B)You are Manav/Manjari of Maharaja Agrasen Public school, Patna. Your school has recently
organised a blood donation camp on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Write a report as theeditor
of your school magazine on this widely acclaimed activity in 120—150 words. You canuse the
cues given below along with your own ideas.
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 Blood donation camp in school premises
In association with Red Cross Society
Qualified doctors/efficient volunteers and staff
A great success for a great social cause

Section C(40 Marks)

Literature Textbook and Supplementary Reading Text
7. Read the extracts given below and attempt any ONE of the two given by answering the
questionsthat follow. (1 X 6 = 6)
(A) It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

(a) The ‘exotic moment’ means the moment with

(i) silence all around without any rush or noise
(ii) noise all around and with a heavy rush
(iii) chaos all around and no work
(iv) activities all around but without chaos

(b) The ‘moment’ would bring us all together as we would

(i) give up all work and play
(ii) oblige one another
(iii) have no fights and no arguments
(iv) judge people rationally

(c) Pick out the best option to describe the moment.

(i) idle moment (ii) rare moment
(iii) a moment of introduction (iv) a moment of introspection

(d) Pick out the name of the poet and the poem.
(i) John Keats, A Thing of Beauty
(ii) Kamala Das, My Mother AtSitxy Six
(iii) Pablo Naruda, Keeping Quiet
(iv) Robert Frost, A Roadside Stand
(e) In the first line, ‘it’ signifies total stillness. (True/False)

(f) In the absence of engines, the poet expects __________

(B)Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool

Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

(a) Her fluttering fingers are an indication of

(i) her nervous state of mind (ii) her extremely busy life
(iii) her uncomfortable and furious nature (iv) her cool and peaceful temperament

(b) Pick out the lines that show her unhappy married life.
(i) Lines 1 and 3 (ii) Lines 1 and 2 (iii) Line 1 (iv) Lines 3 and 4

(c) Aunt Jennifer creates animals which are ________

(i) timid and small (ii) nervous and idle
(iii) similar to her own character (iv) different from her own character

(d) She makes tigers in order to express her desire for ______.
(i) a lavish life (ii) freedom (iii) solitude (iv) education
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(e) What figure of speech has been used in “massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band sits
heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand”?

(f) The last two lines indicate gender inequality and male _____in society.

8. Read the extracts given below and attempt any one by answering the questions that
follow. (1 X 4 = 4)
(A)Thus agreed, together they lifted the man. He was very light, like a fowl that had been half-
starved—for a long timeuntil it is only feathers and skeleton. So his arms hanging, they carried
him up the steps and into the side door of the house. This door opened into a passage, and down
the passage they carried the man towards an empty bedroom.

(a) Who are ‘they’ in the above passage?

(i) the servants (ii) the general and soldiers
(iii) Sadao and Hana (iv) Sadao and Yumi

(b) Due to extreme weakness of the man, it was clear that the man ______.
(i) was on a recovery diet (ii) was suffering from tuberculosis
(iii) had eaten almost nothing for a long time (iv) was very poor

(c) The empty bedroom was used _______

(i) as a store room to keep unwanted things
(ii) byDr.Sadao’s father before his death
(iii) by the servants last year
(iv) byDr.Sadao’s mother before her death

(d) Pick out a simile from the above paragraph.

(i) half – starved (ii) feathers and skeleton
(iii) into a passage (iv) like a fowl

(B) The first day in the land of a of apples was a bitter-cold one; for the snow still covered the
ground, and the trees were bare. A large bell rang for breakfast, its loud metallic voice crashing
through the belfry overhead and into our sensitive ears. The annoying clatter of shoes on bare
floors gave us no peace. The constant clash of harsh noises, with an undercurrent of many voices
murmuring an unknown tongue, made a bedlam within which I was securely tied. And though
my spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom. All was useless.

(a) ‘The first day in the land of apples was a bitter-cold one.’ This implies that _______
(i) Gertrude Simmons, an Indian American, reached America
(ii) America was not a very cold country
(iii) America was full of apples
(iv) Simmons wanted to study there

(b) ‘A large bell rang for breakfast, its loud metallic voice crashing through the belfry overhead
andinto our senses.’ This _________
(i) reveals that the ringing of the bell was not noisy
(ii) large bell that rang for breakfast was deafening
(iii) sound of the large bell was very sweet
(iv) bell did not disturb Gertrude

(c) ‘The constant clash of harsh noises, with an undercurrent of many voices murmuring an
unknowntongue.’ This means ______.
(i) many harsh voices disturbed Gertrude
(ii) undercurrent of many voices made a bedlam in the class
(iii) Gertrude was not upset in the missionary school
(iv) Gertrude liked the environment of the school

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(d) “And though my spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom, all was useless.” This
impliesthat the writer ______.
(i) did not like freedom
(ii) longed to be free
(iii) felt comfortable in the new environment
(iv) did not pine for lost freedom

9. Read the extracts given below and attempt any one by answering the questions that
follow. (1 X 6 = 6)
(A)With that he picked me up and tossed me into the deep end. I landed in a sitting
position,swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom. I was frightened, but not yet
frightenedout of my wits. On the way down I planned: When my feet hit the bottom, I would
makea big jump, come to the surface, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.

(a) ‘He’ and ‘I’ refer to

(i) the author and the mother (ii) the big boy and the author
(iii) the author and the instructor (iv) the instructor and the big boy

(b) The incident took place in _______.

(i) the Yakima River (ii) the Bumping River
(iii) Warm Lake (iv) the YMCA pool

(c) “Frightened but not yet frightened out of my wits” means the author was _______
(i) timid (ii) efficient (iii) courageous (iv) completely lost

(d) The name of the lesson and its author are .

(i) The Last Lesson, Alphonse Daudet (ii) Deep Water, William Douglas
(iii) Going Places, A.R. Burton (iv) Lost Spring, Anees Jung

(e) The author went to the bottom after being tossed by the big boy. (True/False)

(f) Who is the author of this extract?

(B) “And then we must see that he gets something else to do than to run around the country
sellingrattraps.”
“It is queer that things have gone downhill with him as badly as that,” said the daughter. “Last
nightI did not think there was anything about him to show that he had once been an educated
man”
“You must have patience, my little girl,” said the father.” As soon as he gets clean and dressed
up, you will see something different.

(a) Who is referred to as ‘I’ in the above lines?

(i) Captain von Stahle (ii) Edla (iii) Ironmaster (iv) The peddler

(b) He didn’t look like ‘an educated man’ because _______.

(i) he used to complain about everything (ii) he was unclean and shabbily dressed
(iii) he was not a handsome man (iv) she never liked him

(c) What was the reaction of the ironmaster when he saw him in broad daylight?
(i) He was happy to find his old friend.
(ii) He was shocked to notice his downfall.
(iii) He was angry and concluded that he was not his old friend.
(iv) He asked him to leave the house at once.

(d) Pick out a word that means the same as ‘queer’.

(i) strange (ii) offensive (iii) downfall (iv) difficult

(e) “Things have gone downhill” impliesthat the pedlar’s economic situation had “worsened”.
(True / false)
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(f) “You must have patience my little girl.” This was stated by_______ to his daughter ______.

10.Attempt any FIVE out of the six questions given below in 40-50 words each.(5 X 2 = 10)
(a)What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
(b)Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him?
(c)Why did Gandhiji oppose the help of Charles Andrews in the freedom struggle?
(d)Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
(e)Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death in ‘Keeping Quiet“?
(f)Explain: ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’.

11. Attempt any two of the three questions given below in 40-50 words each.(2 X 2 = 4)
(a) Why does Charley say that Grand Central Station is growing like a tree, in the story.
The Third Level?
(b) How do the servants react to the presence of an American in the house?
(c) What does Zitkala-Sa remember about her first day in the land of apples?

12. Attempt any one of the following questions in 120—150 words. (1 X 5 = 5)

(A) Why does Douglas as an adult, recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering
ofit? What larger meaning does he draw by this experience?
Or
(B) Throw light on the life of ragpickers of Seemapuri. Why is Seemapuri, a place on the
peripheryof Delhi, considered yet miles away from it?

13.Attempt any one of the following questions 120—150 words. (1 X 5 = 5)

(A) How do Mr. Lamb and Derry differ in their thoughts, traits and attitude towards life?
Or
(B) Why did Dr.SadaoHoki go to America? Narrate his experience there.

********

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