Class 12 English (Elective): CBSE Sample Question Papers (2023-24) | CBSE Sample Papers for Class 12 Humanities - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

 Page 1


SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER 
ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
SUBJECT CODE 001 
CLASS XII (2023-2024) 
 
Total Time: 3 hours                                                                                                    Marks: 80 Marks 
 
General instructions 
 
1.This paper is divided in THREE sections. 
 
SECTION A -READING 
SECTION B – GRAMMAR & WRITING 
SECTION C- LITERATURE & FICTION 
 
2. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary. Read the 
instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully. 
 
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. 
 
SECTION A 
READING COMPREHENSION 
1. 
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)   
 
1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his 
porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over 
against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, 
with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 
put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 
I had unwittingly embarrassed him, and in a moment I 
was surprised to find him speaking. 
 
2. "I beg your pardon?" said I. 
"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams." 
"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover. 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing." 
I did not catch his meaning for a second. 
"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face. 
"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams." 
That sort of proposition I never dispute. 
"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly." 
"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year." 
"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts. 
"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly. 
"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?" 
"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and 
then. I suppose few people do." 
"Does he say--?" He indicated the book. 
12 
Page 2


SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER 
ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
SUBJECT CODE 001 
CLASS XII (2023-2024) 
 
Total Time: 3 hours                                                                                                    Marks: 80 Marks 
 
General instructions 
 
1.This paper is divided in THREE sections. 
 
SECTION A -READING 
SECTION B – GRAMMAR & WRITING 
SECTION C- LITERATURE & FICTION 
 
2. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary. Read the 
instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully. 
 
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. 
 
SECTION A 
READING COMPREHENSION 
1. 
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)   
 
1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his 
porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over 
against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, 
with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 
put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 
I had unwittingly embarrassed him, and in a moment I 
was surprised to find him speaking. 
 
2. "I beg your pardon?" said I. 
"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams." 
"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover. 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing." 
I did not catch his meaning for a second. 
"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face. 
"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams." 
That sort of proposition I never dispute. 
"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly." 
"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year." 
"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts. 
"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly. 
"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?" 
"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and 
then. I suppose few people do." 
"Does he say--?" He indicated the book. 
12 
"Says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation about intensity of impression and the like to 
account for its not happening as a rule. I suppose you know something of these theories--" 
"Very little--except that they are wrong." 
 
3. His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time. I prepared to resume reading, and that 
seemed to precipitate his next remark. He leant forward almost as though he would touch me. 
"Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming--that goes on night after night?" 
"I believe there is. There are cases given in most books on mental trouble." 
"Mental trouble! Yes. I daresay there are. It's the right place for them. But what I mean--" He looked at his 
bony knuckles. "Is that sort of thing always dreaming? Is it dreaming? 
Or is it something else? Mightn't it be something else?" 
 
4. I should have snubbed his persistent conversation but for the 
drawn anxiety of his face. I remember now the look of his faded eyes and the lids red stained--perhaps you 
know that look. 
"I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion," he said. 
"The thing's killing me." 
"Dreams?" 
"If you call them dreams. Night after night. Vivid!—so vivid . . . this--" (he indicated the landscape that 
went streaming by the window) "seems unreal in comparison! I can scarcely remember who I am, what 
business I am on . . . ."He paused. "Even now--" 
"The dream is always the same--do you mean?" I asked. 
"It's over." 
"You mean?" 
"I died." 
"Died?" 
 
5. "Smashed and killed, and now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead. Dead forever. I dreamt I was 
another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.I dreamt that night 
after night. Night after night I woke into that other life. Fresh scenes and fresh happenings--until I came 
upon the last--" 
"When you died?" 
"When I died." 
"And since then--" 
"No," he said. "Thank God! That was the end of the dream.. . " 
 
6. It was clear I was in for this dream. And after all, I had an hour before me, the light was fading fast, and 
Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him. "Living in a different time," I said: "do you mean in some 
different age?" 
"Yes." 
"Past?" 
"No, to come--to come." 
"The year three thousand, for example?" 
"I don't know what year it was. I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is, but not now--not now 
that I am awake. 
There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time 
when I was--I suppose it was dreaming. They called the year differently from our way of calling the year . . 
. What did they call it?" He put his hand to his forehead. "No," said he, "I forget." He sat smiling weakly. 
For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream. As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, 
but this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--" I suggested. 
 
7. "It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly. And it's curious that in these dreams I am 
speaking of I never remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it 
Page 3


SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER 
ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
SUBJECT CODE 001 
CLASS XII (2023-2024) 
 
Total Time: 3 hours                                                                                                    Marks: 80 Marks 
 
General instructions 
 
1.This paper is divided in THREE sections. 
 
SECTION A -READING 
SECTION B – GRAMMAR & WRITING 
SECTION C- LITERATURE & FICTION 
 
2. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary. Read the 
instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully. 
 
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. 
 
SECTION A 
READING COMPREHENSION 
1. 
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)   
 
1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his 
porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over 
against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, 
with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 
put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 
I had unwittingly embarrassed him, and in a moment I 
was surprised to find him speaking. 
 
2. "I beg your pardon?" said I. 
"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams." 
"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover. 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing." 
I did not catch his meaning for a second. 
"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face. 
"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams." 
That sort of proposition I never dispute. 
"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly." 
"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year." 
"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts. 
"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly. 
"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?" 
"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and 
then. I suppose few people do." 
"Does he say--?" He indicated the book. 
12 
"Says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation about intensity of impression and the like to 
account for its not happening as a rule. I suppose you know something of these theories--" 
"Very little--except that they are wrong." 
 
3. His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time. I prepared to resume reading, and that 
seemed to precipitate his next remark. He leant forward almost as though he would touch me. 
"Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming--that goes on night after night?" 
"I believe there is. There are cases given in most books on mental trouble." 
"Mental trouble! Yes. I daresay there are. It's the right place for them. But what I mean--" He looked at his 
bony knuckles. "Is that sort of thing always dreaming? Is it dreaming? 
Or is it something else? Mightn't it be something else?" 
 
4. I should have snubbed his persistent conversation but for the 
drawn anxiety of his face. I remember now the look of his faded eyes and the lids red stained--perhaps you 
know that look. 
"I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion," he said. 
"The thing's killing me." 
"Dreams?" 
"If you call them dreams. Night after night. Vivid!—so vivid . . . this--" (he indicated the landscape that 
went streaming by the window) "seems unreal in comparison! I can scarcely remember who I am, what 
business I am on . . . ."He paused. "Even now--" 
"The dream is always the same--do you mean?" I asked. 
"It's over." 
"You mean?" 
"I died." 
"Died?" 
 
5. "Smashed and killed, and now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead. Dead forever. I dreamt I was 
another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.I dreamt that night 
after night. Night after night I woke into that other life. Fresh scenes and fresh happenings--until I came 
upon the last--" 
"When you died?" 
"When I died." 
"And since then--" 
"No," he said. "Thank God! That was the end of the dream.. . " 
 
6. It was clear I was in for this dream. And after all, I had an hour before me, the light was fading fast, and 
Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him. "Living in a different time," I said: "do you mean in some 
different age?" 
"Yes." 
"Past?" 
"No, to come--to come." 
"The year three thousand, for example?" 
"I don't know what year it was. I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is, but not now--not now 
that I am awake. 
There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time 
when I was--I suppose it was dreaming. They called the year differently from our way of calling the year . . 
. What did they call it?" He put his hand to his forehead. "No," said he, "I forget." He sat smiling weakly. 
For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream. As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, 
but this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--" I suggested. 
 
7. "It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly. And it's curious that in these dreams I am 
speaking of I never remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it 
lasted. Perhaps--But I will tell you how I find myself when I do my best to recall it all. I don't remember 
anything clearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia looking out over the sea. I had been dozing, 
and suddenly I woke up--fresh and vivid--not a bit dreamlike—because the girl had stopped fanning me."                                                                                    
(956 words) 
 
-adapted from A Dream of Armageddon by H.G.Wells  
 
On the basis of your reading of the above excerpt, choose the correct option to answer the following 
questions: (Any Twelve) 
 
(a) How did the man with the white face behave as he entered the carriage? 
(i) Excited and enthusiastic 
(ii) Scared 
(iii) Excited and nervous 
(iv) showed no enthusiasm. 
 
(b) What was the name of the book which the narrator was reading? 
(i) Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States 
(ii) Dream States 
(iii) Dreams of the States 
(iv) State of the Dream 
 
(c) What was the man’s opinion about the theory of dreams given in the narrator’s book? 
(i) He felt that it was all correct 
(ii) He felt the book painted a wrong picture. 
(iii) He felt that the book explained nothing. 
(iv) He felt that the book was confusing. 
 
(d) Statement 1: The narrator couldn’t snub the man’s conversation. 
      Statement 2: The man with the white face looked anxious. 
  (i) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is the reason for 1. 
  (ii) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is not the reason for 1. 
  (iii) 1 is correct and 2 is incorrect. 
  (iv) Both 1 & 2 are incorrect. 
 
(e) What is NOT the reason for narrator being interested in listening to the man’s description of his last dream? 
(i) The man’s dream was about an alien. 
(ii) It was getting dark. 
(iii) The narrator had still an hour’s journey left. 
(iv) His book was getting boring. 
 
(f) What did the man NOT say about the last dream which he had? 
(i) It was a dream which wasn’t clear. 
(ii) He was sitting in the loggia. 
(iii) His last dream was very clear. 
(iv) He would wake up in these dreams suddenly. 
 
 
(g) Choose the correct option: 
Which of the following is NOT true for the Man with the white face? 
(i) He moved around slowly. 
(ii) He looked sickly. 
Page 4


SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER 
ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
SUBJECT CODE 001 
CLASS XII (2023-2024) 
 
Total Time: 3 hours                                                                                                    Marks: 80 Marks 
 
General instructions 
 
1.This paper is divided in THREE sections. 
 
SECTION A -READING 
SECTION B – GRAMMAR & WRITING 
SECTION C- LITERATURE & FICTION 
 
2. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary. Read the 
instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully. 
 
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. 
 
SECTION A 
READING COMPREHENSION 
1. 
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)   
 
1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his 
porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over 
against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, 
with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 
put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 
I had unwittingly embarrassed him, and in a moment I 
was surprised to find him speaking. 
 
2. "I beg your pardon?" said I. 
"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams." 
"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover. 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing." 
I did not catch his meaning for a second. 
"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face. 
"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams." 
That sort of proposition I never dispute. 
"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly." 
"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year." 
"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts. 
"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly. 
"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?" 
"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and 
then. I suppose few people do." 
"Does he say--?" He indicated the book. 
12 
"Says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation about intensity of impression and the like to 
account for its not happening as a rule. I suppose you know something of these theories--" 
"Very little--except that they are wrong." 
 
3. His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time. I prepared to resume reading, and that 
seemed to precipitate his next remark. He leant forward almost as though he would touch me. 
"Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming--that goes on night after night?" 
"I believe there is. There are cases given in most books on mental trouble." 
"Mental trouble! Yes. I daresay there are. It's the right place for them. But what I mean--" He looked at his 
bony knuckles. "Is that sort of thing always dreaming? Is it dreaming? 
Or is it something else? Mightn't it be something else?" 
 
4. I should have snubbed his persistent conversation but for the 
drawn anxiety of his face. I remember now the look of his faded eyes and the lids red stained--perhaps you 
know that look. 
"I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion," he said. 
"The thing's killing me." 
"Dreams?" 
"If you call them dreams. Night after night. Vivid!—so vivid . . . this--" (he indicated the landscape that 
went streaming by the window) "seems unreal in comparison! I can scarcely remember who I am, what 
business I am on . . . ."He paused. "Even now--" 
"The dream is always the same--do you mean?" I asked. 
"It's over." 
"You mean?" 
"I died." 
"Died?" 
 
5. "Smashed and killed, and now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead. Dead forever. I dreamt I was 
another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.I dreamt that night 
after night. Night after night I woke into that other life. Fresh scenes and fresh happenings--until I came 
upon the last--" 
"When you died?" 
"When I died." 
"And since then--" 
"No," he said. "Thank God! That was the end of the dream.. . " 
 
6. It was clear I was in for this dream. And after all, I had an hour before me, the light was fading fast, and 
Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him. "Living in a different time," I said: "do you mean in some 
different age?" 
"Yes." 
"Past?" 
"No, to come--to come." 
"The year three thousand, for example?" 
"I don't know what year it was. I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is, but not now--not now 
that I am awake. 
There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time 
when I was--I suppose it was dreaming. They called the year differently from our way of calling the year . . 
. What did they call it?" He put his hand to his forehead. "No," said he, "I forget." He sat smiling weakly. 
For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream. As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, 
but this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--" I suggested. 
 
7. "It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly. And it's curious that in these dreams I am 
speaking of I never remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it 
lasted. Perhaps--But I will tell you how I find myself when I do my best to recall it all. I don't remember 
anything clearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia looking out over the sea. I had been dozing, 
and suddenly I woke up--fresh and vivid--not a bit dreamlike—because the girl had stopped fanning me."                                                                                    
(956 words) 
 
-adapted from A Dream of Armageddon by H.G.Wells  
 
On the basis of your reading of the above excerpt, choose the correct option to answer the following 
questions: (Any Twelve) 
 
(a) How did the man with the white face behave as he entered the carriage? 
(i) Excited and enthusiastic 
(ii) Scared 
(iii) Excited and nervous 
(iv) showed no enthusiasm. 
 
(b) What was the name of the book which the narrator was reading? 
(i) Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States 
(ii) Dream States 
(iii) Dreams of the States 
(iv) State of the Dream 
 
(c) What was the man’s opinion about the theory of dreams given in the narrator’s book? 
(i) He felt that it was all correct 
(ii) He felt the book painted a wrong picture. 
(iii) He felt that the book explained nothing. 
(iv) He felt that the book was confusing. 
 
(d) Statement 1: The narrator couldn’t snub the man’s conversation. 
      Statement 2: The man with the white face looked anxious. 
  (i) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is the reason for 1. 
  (ii) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is not the reason for 1. 
  (iii) 1 is correct and 2 is incorrect. 
  (iv) Both 1 & 2 are incorrect. 
 
(e) What is NOT the reason for narrator being interested in listening to the man’s description of his last dream? 
(i) The man’s dream was about an alien. 
(ii) It was getting dark. 
(iii) The narrator had still an hour’s journey left. 
(iv) His book was getting boring. 
 
(f) What did the man NOT say about the last dream which he had? 
(i) It was a dream which wasn’t clear. 
(ii) He was sitting in the loggia. 
(iii) His last dream was very clear. 
(iv) He would wake up in these dreams suddenly. 
 
 
(g) Choose the correct option: 
Which of the following is NOT true for the Man with the white face? 
(i) He moved around slowly. 
(ii) He looked sickly. 
(iii) He didn’t want to talk about his dream. 
(iv) He didn’t believe in theories of Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States 
 
(h)"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year. This line highlights that 
the narrator did not – 
(i) Have normal dreams. 
(ii) Good sleep pattern. 
(iii) Give much importance to the science behind dreams. 
(iv) like talking to the man with the white face. 
 
(i) How does the use of vivid and descriptive language in the passage enhance th e reader's  
understanding of the man's experience? 
 
(j) Complete the sentence appropriately. 
It is fair to say that the man's experience of consecutive dreaming is similar with being lost 
in a maze because _______________.  
 
(k) Choose the right answer which explains the phrase: 
 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
(i) he was at a loss of words. 
(ii) he was indecisive. 
(iii) he was left hanging because of his indecisiveness. 
(iv) he stayed silent for some time as if he searched for words. 
 
(l) State whether the following opinion is TRUE or FALSE. 
    The author implies that memory and consciousness are not objective, but  rather are 
shaped by our subjective experiences and perceptions.  
     
 
(m) What does the man with the white face, most likely mean by "there are dreams, and dreams"? 
(Reference-paragraph 2) 
 
 
(n) What do the man's "vacant" stare and "spiritless" hand suggest about his condition ? 
    
(o) In paragraph 2, the narrator says , “I did not catch his meaning for a second.” 
      Which of the following expressions correctly display the usage of “catch”? 
 (a) catch a glimpse          (b) catch a hunger             (c) catch an anger 
                   (d) catch a skill                  
2 Read the poem ‘ D i gg i ng’ by Seamus Heaney, given below. 
Between my finger and my thumb 
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. 
Under my window, a clean rasping sound 
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: 
My father, digging. I look down 
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds 
Bends low, comes up twenty years away 
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills 
Where he was digging. 
[1X4
=4] 
Page 5


SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER 
ENGLISH ELECTIVE 
SUBJECT CODE 001 
CLASS XII (2023-2024) 
 
Total Time: 3 hours                                                                                                    Marks: 80 Marks 
 
General instructions 
 
1.This paper is divided in THREE sections. 
 
SECTION A -READING 
SECTION B – GRAMMAR & WRITING 
SECTION C- LITERATURE & FICTION 
 
2. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary. Read the 
instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully. 
 
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions. 
 
SECTION A 
READING COMPREHENSION 
1. 
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (Any Twelve)   
 
1. The man with the white face entered the carriage at Rugby. He moved slowly in spite of the urgency of his 
porter, and even while he was still on the platform I noted how ill he seemed. He dropped into the corner over 
against me with a sigh, made an incomplete attempt to arrange his travelling shawl and became motionless, 
with his eyes staring vacantly. Presently he was moved by a sense of my observation, looked up at me, and 
put out a spiritless hand for his newspaper. Then he glanced again in my direction. I feigned to read. I feared 
I had unwittingly embarrassed him, and in a moment I 
was surprised to find him speaking. 
 
2. "I beg your pardon?" said I. 
"That book," he repeated, pointing a lean finger, "is about dreams." 
"Obviously," I answered, for it was Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States, and the title was on the cover. 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
"Yes," he said at last, "but they tell you nothing." 
I did not catch his meaning for a second. 
"They don't know," he added. I looked a little more attentively at his face. 
"There are dreams," he said, "and dreams." 
That sort of proposition I never dispute. 
"I suppose--" he hesitated. "Do you ever dream? I mean vividly." 
"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year." 
"Ah!" he said and seemed for a moment to collect his thoughts. 
"Your dreams don't mix with your memories?" he asked abruptly. 
"You don't find yourself in doubt; did this happen or did it not?" 
"Hardly ever. Except just for a momentary hesitation now and 
then. I suppose few people do." 
"Does he say--?" He indicated the book. 
12 
"Says it happens at times and gives the usual explanation about intensity of impression and the like to 
account for its not happening as a rule. I suppose you know something of these theories--" 
"Very little--except that they are wrong." 
 
3. His emaciated hand played with the strap of the window for a time. I prepared to resume reading, and that 
seemed to precipitate his next remark. He leant forward almost as though he would touch me. 
"Isn't there something called consecutive dreaming--that goes on night after night?" 
"I believe there is. There are cases given in most books on mental trouble." 
"Mental trouble! Yes. I daresay there are. It's the right place for them. But what I mean--" He looked at his 
bony knuckles. "Is that sort of thing always dreaming? Is it dreaming? 
Or is it something else? Mightn't it be something else?" 
 
4. I should have snubbed his persistent conversation but for the 
drawn anxiety of his face. I remember now the look of his faded eyes and the lids red stained--perhaps you 
know that look. 
"I'm not just arguing about a matter of opinion," he said. 
"The thing's killing me." 
"Dreams?" 
"If you call them dreams. Night after night. Vivid!—so vivid . . . this--" (he indicated the landscape that 
went streaming by the window) "seems unreal in comparison! I can scarcely remember who I am, what 
business I am on . . . ."He paused. "Even now--" 
"The dream is always the same--do you mean?" I asked. 
"It's over." 
"You mean?" 
"I died." 
"Died?" 
 
5. "Smashed and killed, and now, so much of me as that dream was, is dead. Dead forever. I dreamt I was 
another man, you know, living in a different part of the world and in a different time.I dreamt that night 
after night. Night after night I woke into that other life. Fresh scenes and fresh happenings--until I came 
upon the last--" 
"When you died?" 
"When I died." 
"And since then--" 
"No," he said. "Thank God! That was the end of the dream.. . " 
 
6. It was clear I was in for this dream. And after all, I had an hour before me, the light was fading fast, and 
Fortnum Roscoe has a dreary way with him. "Living in a different time," I said: "do you mean in some 
different age?" 
"Yes." 
"Past?" 
"No, to come--to come." 
"The year three thousand, for example?" 
"I don't know what year it was. I did when I was asleep, when I was dreaming, that is, but not now--not now 
that I am awake. 
There's a lot of things I have forgotten since I woke out of these dreams, though I knew them at the time 
when I was--I suppose it was dreaming. They called the year differently from our way of calling the year . . 
. What did they call it?" He put his hand to his forehead. "No," said he, "I forget." He sat smiling weakly. 
For a moment I feared he did not mean to tell me his dream. As a rule, I hate people who tell their dreams, 
but this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--" I suggested. 
 
7. "It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly. And it's curious that in these dreams I am 
speaking of I never remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream life was enough while it 
lasted. Perhaps--But I will tell you how I find myself when I do my best to recall it all. I don't remember 
anything clearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia looking out over the sea. I had been dozing, 
and suddenly I woke up--fresh and vivid--not a bit dreamlike—because the girl had stopped fanning me."                                                                                    
(956 words) 
 
-adapted from A Dream of Armageddon by H.G.Wells  
 
On the basis of your reading of the above excerpt, choose the correct option to answer the following 
questions: (Any Twelve) 
 
(a) How did the man with the white face behave as he entered the carriage? 
(i) Excited and enthusiastic 
(ii) Scared 
(iii) Excited and nervous 
(iv) showed no enthusiasm. 
 
(b) What was the name of the book which the narrator was reading? 
(i) Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States 
(ii) Dream States 
(iii) Dreams of the States 
(iv) State of the Dream 
 
(c) What was the man’s opinion about the theory of dreams given in the narrator’s book? 
(i) He felt that it was all correct 
(ii) He felt the book painted a wrong picture. 
(iii) He felt that the book explained nothing. 
(iv) He felt that the book was confusing. 
 
(d) Statement 1: The narrator couldn’t snub the man’s conversation. 
      Statement 2: The man with the white face looked anxious. 
  (i) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is the reason for 1. 
  (ii) Both 1 & 2 are correct and 2 is not the reason for 1. 
  (iii) 1 is correct and 2 is incorrect. 
  (iv) Both 1 & 2 are incorrect. 
 
(e) What is NOT the reason for narrator being interested in listening to the man’s description of his last dream? 
(i) The man’s dream was about an alien. 
(ii) It was getting dark. 
(iii) The narrator had still an hour’s journey left. 
(iv) His book was getting boring. 
 
(f) What did the man NOT say about the last dream which he had? 
(i) It was a dream which wasn’t clear. 
(ii) He was sitting in the loggia. 
(iii) His last dream was very clear. 
(iv) He would wake up in these dreams suddenly. 
 
 
(g) Choose the correct option: 
Which of the following is NOT true for the Man with the white face? 
(i) He moved around slowly. 
(ii) He looked sickly. 
(iii) He didn’t want to talk about his dream. 
(iv) He didn’t believe in theories of Fortnum Roscoe's Dream States 
 
(h)"I dream very little," I answered. "I doubt if I have three vivid dreams in a year. This line highlights that 
the narrator did not – 
(i) Have normal dreams. 
(ii) Good sleep pattern. 
(iii) Give much importance to the science behind dreams. 
(iv) like talking to the man with the white face. 
 
(i) How does the use of vivid and descriptive language in the passage enhance th e reader's  
understanding of the man's experience? 
 
(j) Complete the sentence appropriately. 
It is fair to say that the man's experience of consecutive dreaming is similar with being lost 
in a maze because _______________.  
 
(k) Choose the right answer which explains the phrase: 
 
He hung silent for a space as if he sought words. 
(i) he was at a loss of words. 
(ii) he was indecisive. 
(iii) he was left hanging because of his indecisiveness. 
(iv) he stayed silent for some time as if he searched for words. 
 
(l) State whether the following opinion is TRUE or FALSE. 
    The author implies that memory and consciousness are not objective, but  rather are 
shaped by our subjective experiences and perceptions.  
     
 
(m) What does the man with the white face, most likely mean by "there are dreams, and dreams"? 
(Reference-paragraph 2) 
 
 
(n) What do the man's "vacant" stare and "spiritless" hand suggest about his condition ? 
    
(o) In paragraph 2, the narrator says , “I did not catch his meaning for a second.” 
      Which of the following expressions correctly display the usage of “catch”? 
 (a) catch a glimpse          (b) catch a hunger             (c) catch an anger 
                   (d) catch a skill                  
2 Read the poem ‘ D i gg i ng’ by Seamus Heaney, given below. 
Between my finger and my thumb 
The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. 
Under my window, a clean rasping sound 
When the spade sinks into gravelly ground: 
My father, digging. I look down 
Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds 
Bends low, comes up twenty years away 
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills 
Where he was digging. 
[1X4
=4] 
The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft 
Against the inside knee was levered firmly. 
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep 
To scatter new potatoes that we picked, 
Loving their cool hardness in our hands. 
                                        Digging by Seamus Heaney 
 
Based on your understanding of the poem, answer FOUR of five given questions .  
 
(a) What is the significance of the comparison of the pen to a gun in the second line of the 
poem? 
 
(i)   It highlights the violence and aggression associated with writing. 
(ii) It emphasizes the power of the written word to bring about change. 
(iii) It suggests that the act of writing can be just as dangerous as using a weapon. 
(iv) It demonstrates the speaker's admiration for their father's skill with both a pen and a 
spade. 
 
(b) Which of the following statements best describes the speaker's attitude towards his 
father's work in the poem? 
 
i. The speaker admires his father's hard work and dedication to his task. 
ii. The speaker is critical of his father's choice of profession and feels it is beneath him. 
iii. The speaker is indifferent to his father's work and does not place much value on it. 
iv. The speaker is resentful of his father for making them participate in the work. 
(c)  Complete the sentence appropriately. 
The poet’s use of a metaphor in the  line "The coarse boot nestled on the lug, ...” compares 
________________________________. 
 
(d) What can be inferred about the setting of the poem based on the description of the sound 
of the spade sinking into the ground? 
 
(i) The setting is rural and quiet. 
(ii) The setting is urban and noisy. 
(iii) The setting is industrial , yet serene. 
(iv) The setting is suburban and bustling. 
 
(e) What is the effect of the repetition of the word "digging" throughout the poem? 
3 Read the passage given below.   
 
Most cities, may not be prohibit hawking as a profession, but do place restrictions on the use 
[1X4
=4]