Class 12 English: CBSE Sample Question Paper- Term II (2021-22)- 5 | Sample Papers for Class 12 Commerce PDF Download

Class-XII
Time: 120 Minutes

General Instructions: 

1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections- READING, WRITING and LITERATURE.
2. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

I. Read the following passage.

1. Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her father was a Professor of Physics. At an early age, she displayed a brilliant mind and a blithe personality. Her great exuberance for learning prompted her to continue with her studies after high school. She became disgruntled, however, when she learned that the university in Warsaw was closed for women. Determined to receive a higher education, she defiantly left Poland and in 1891 entered the Sorbonne, a French University where she earned her master’s degree and decorate in Physics.
2. Marie was fortunate to have studied at the Sorbonne with some of the greatest scientists of her time. One of them was Pierre to whom she was married in 1895 and spent many productive years working together in the physics laboratory. A short time after they discovered radium, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn wagon in 1906. Marie was stunned by this horrible misfortune and endured the heartbreaking anguish. Despondently, she recalled their close relationship and the joy that they had shared in the scientific research. The fact, that she had two young daughters to raise by herself, greatly increased her distress.
3. Curie’s feeling of desolation finally began to fade when she was asked to succeed her husband as a physics professor at the Sorbonne. She was the first woman to be given a professorship at the world- famous university. In 1911, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for isolation of radium. Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a fatal illness from her long exposure to radium, she never became disillusioned about her work. Regardless of the consequences, she had dedicated herself to science and to revealing the mysteries of the physical world.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer ANY EIGHT questions from the nine given below.
Q.1. According to the passage why did Marie’s distress increase?

Because she had two daughters to look after by herself.

Q.2. Which word can replace ‘disillusioned’ in the given sentence?
Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a fatal illness, she never became disillusioned about her work.

Disenchanted/ Disappointed

Q.3. Which word can be used as opposite in meaning to ‘DISGRUNTLED’?

Contended

Q.4. What was so special about Marie according to the passage?

She was the first woman to be appointed as a professor at a world -famous university. She received the Nobel Prize.

Q.5. She had studied and succeeded her husband at:

Sorbonne, a French University

Q.6. She was awarded the Nobel prize ______________.

In Chemistry for isolation of radium

Q.7. The misfortune of losing her husband had endowed responsibility with:

Being a professor after her husband, to care and raise her daughters and to dedicate her services to the science world

Q.8. What can best describe Marie Curie’s personality?

Blithe, happy-go-lucky and light-hearted

Q.9. Marie Curie's doctorate was in which academic discipline?

Physics

II. Read the following passage.

1. The chart below gives information about the amount of carbon emissions in different countries during three different years.
   
   The bar chart compares the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere of six countries, including two of them coming from emerging nations, for three decades starting from 1975 until 2005.
2. As an overall assessment, it can clearly be seen that only Germany and United Kingdom managed to reduce the carbon emissions compared to the other countries.
3. USA, being the number one polluter of all, emitted 1,200,000 thousand metric tonnes in 1975 and this count increased to 1,300,000 and 1,600,000 thousand metric tonnes in 1990 and 2005 respectively. In contrast, the carbon emissions of China was nearly 300,000 thousand metric tonnes in 1975 and it rose by nearly 100% in 1990 and surged dramatically to just below 1,600,000 thousand metric tonnes in 2005. In terms of the percentage increase, China was the largest contributor in carbon emissions of all.
4. The figures for Germany and the United Kingdom remained relatively stable throughout the period of time, and so were for Canada until 1990. The carbon dioxide emissions in India increased exponentially from around 100,000 in 1975 to just below 400,000 thousand metric tonnes in 2005.

Based on your understanding of the passage, answer ANY SIX out of the seven questions given below.
Q.1. In terms of the percentage increase, which country was the largest contributor in carbon emissions of all in year 2005?

China

Q.2. Which country is the most polluted country?

USA

Q.3. What do you think can be the reason for surging of CO₂ emission in million tonnes?

Fast paced industrialisation; lack of sustainable development; the urge to become world’s top most powerful country.

Q.4. Which country has the lowest emission of CO₂ in the graph?

Canada

Q.5. Which country has observed a dramatic rise over its years in CO₂ emission?

China

Q.6. What is the highest quantity unit of global emission of CO₂ by different countries?

1,600,000

Q.7. What can be inferred after studying the given graph?

The countries have achieved meteoric rise in CO₂ emission and they have not been able to reduce their CO₂ emission.

III. On behalf of your parents, draft a formal invitation to be sent to your friends and relatives on the occasion of your brother ’s fifth birthday.

IV. Attempt ANY ONE from (A) and (B) given below.
(A) Ranikhet district, Uttarakhand, on the occasion of Basant Panchami celebrations had organized a three-day cultural festival. You are Bhupinder/ Priyanka Bhisht. Your newspaper had deputed you to cover the inaugural event of this festival. As a newspaper reporter, use the given cues along with your own ideas to write a report about the same in 120-150 words.

• Big crowds -main grounds of the marketplace 
• Colourful decorations 
• Inauguration-local panchayat member to inaugurate. 
• Folk dance and songs 
• Speeches

OR
(B) You are Aami/ Ajoy Sarkar of 83, Model Town, Guwahati, Assam. You are a sports enthusiast. Rangshala School, Guwahati, has advertised the requirement of a Sports teacher, in the local newspaper. You are excited and decide to apply for the post. Write a letter in 100-120 words, responding to the given advertisement, submitting your candidature with a detailed bio-data.

(A) 

Basant Panchami in Ranikhet by Priyanka Bhisht, Staff Reporter

New Delhi, October 11, 20XX: The Uttarakhand Government has organised a three-day cultural event to mark the celebrations of Basant Panchami.
The event was inaugurated on Saturday by the local Panchayat member who had been a professional tourist guide in the past. The entire grounds of the marketplace have been specially decorated for the event. Stalls have been put up to promote the cultural and regional heritage of the state of Uttarakhand as well as the bordering regions of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The stalls of Almora, Chamoli, Haridwar and Uttarkashi won the hearts of the majority. The folk dances of region were showcased to revive the importance of these dances as they bind us to our roots. The event was also marked by speeches of the chief guest, the village sarpanch and a local tour operator.
The popularity of the event can be judged from the presence of thousands of locals and tourists for the entire day even after the formal inauguration ceremony was over.

OR

(B) 
83, Model Town
Guwahati
Assam
October 11, 20xx
The Principal
Rangshala School
Guwahati
Subject: Application for the post of Sports Teacher
Sir,
I am Ajoy Sarkar, a SAI certified coach in hockey and a national level player in the game. I wish to apply for the position of ‘Sports Teacher (P.T.I)’ in your reputed school. I came to know about the vacancy through the advertisement in the local newspaper.
Please find my resume attached for the purpose. I would like to add that I am a very hardworking person with an aim of excelling in the game of hockey. My academic qualifications, age, and other eligibility conditions agree to those specified by the job requirements.
I thank you in anticipation of an early response.
Yours truly
Ajoy Sarkar

V. Attempt ANY FIVE of the six questions given below, within 40 words each.
Q.1. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?

 The ironmaster spoke kindly to the peddler and invited him home because he thought that he was an old acquaintance of his. Due to the dim light and the peddler’s unkempt appearance, he mistook him for Nils Olof, someone he had known a long time back. He thought he could spend Christmas Eve with him. Moreover, he felt that his comrade had not been keeping well, after resigning, so he invited him to his home.

Q.2. According to Keats, what moves away the pall and suffering from human life?

No doubt, that there are things in life that cause suffering and pain like despondence, dearth of noble people, gloomy days and over darkened ways. It is at such times, that objects of beauty, some noble deeds, some powerful narratives remove our tension and sadness and we learn to love life.

Q.3. How does the following quote resemble Gandhi’s ideologies? 

This was the typical Gandhi pattern — his politics were intertwined with the practical, day to-day problems of the millions. His was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was a loyalty to living, human beings. He dwelled deep into the matter of peasants in order to resolve it.

Q.4. How does the poet use the image of ‘fingers fluttering through the wool‘, to highlight Aunt Jennifer’s victimisation?

The poet highlights the victimization of oppressed Aunt Jennifer in his poem. According to him, she is so terrified of her husband that her fingers tremble when she pulls out the needle through wool which is very light. It symbolizes her physical as well as emotional weakness.

Q.5. How does Jo want the story to end? Why?

Jo wants the wizard to hit mommy on her head with his magic wand for not understanding Roger’s feelings. She wishes the smell of roses to be intact because she feels that with that pleasant smell, Skunk will be accepted by his friends happily and play with other animals. Jo wants a happy ending.

Q.6. How do people react to Derry ’s face?

When people looked at Derry ’s burnt face, they kept staring at him. They often reacted as if they were afraid of him. Some of them pitied him and consoled him by saying sympathetic words.

VI. Answer ANY TWO of the following in about 120-150 words each.
Q.1. Which article in McLeery ’s suitcase played perhaps the most significant role in Evans’s escape and how?

Evans was a habitual jail-breaker, who outwitted everyone and escaped from the prison in spite of all the precautions. From the very beginning, when the German teacher entered the prison to the last encounter with the Governor in the hotel, the latter outsmarted everybody. The question paper for the examination served to send a message to Evans. McLeery drew the Governor’s attention to the photocopied sheet super imposed over the last sheet of the question paper. It contained a message for Evans. He had been asked to follow the escape plan. The most important point in time, according to the message was three minutes before the end of the examination. The Governor was unable to decipher the next line of the German text. Then, he was asked to hit McLeery and not to overdo the Scott’s accent. The correction slips also played a crucial role. At first, they hadn’t been able to fix a hotel. The slips gave Evans the name of the hotel where he was to stay.

Q.2. How did Gandhi ji succeed in getting justice for the indigo sharecroppers?

Gandhiji stayed at Muzaffarpur where he met the lawyers and concluded that fighting through courts was not going to solve the problem of the poor sharecroppers of Champaran. He declared that the real relief for them was to be free from fear. With this intention, he arrived in Champaran and contacted the Secretary of the British Landlord’s Association. The Secretary refused to provide him any information. After this, Gandhiji met the Commissioner of the Tirhut Division who served a notice on him to immediately leave Tirhut. Gandhiji accepted the notice by signing it and wrote on it that he would not obey the order. He was even willing to court arrest for the cause of the peasants. After four rounds of talks with the Governor, an official commission of inquiry was appointed in which Gandhiji was made the sole representative of the peasants. Through this commission, Gandhiji succeeded in getting 25% of the compensation award for the poor sharecroppers from the British landowners. The peasants realised that they had rights and defenders. They learnt courage.

Q.3. The peddler believed that the whole world is a rattrap. How did he himself get caught in the same?

The rattrap peddler came up with a theory that the whole world is a rattrap and that all the luxuries are merely baits. It gave him great pleasure to think of the world this way. One night, he took shelter in the house of an old and lonely crofter who was very generous. He gave the peddler a meal, talked to him and even showed him the thirty kronors, he had earned because of his cow. Tempted by the money, the peddler stole the money from the crofter and headed towards a forest. The dense forest was like a maze and he soon got lost, realising that the money was a bait and now he himself was trapped in a rattrap. The peddler soon found refuge at an iron mill, where he was mistaken by the ironmaster for an old friend. Even though, he refused to come to the ironmaster’s house, for fear of being caught, he was ultimately persuaded by Edla, the ironmaster’s daughter. Once again, he regretted being caught, in a trap and wished he hadn’t stolen the money. By not trying to clear his identity, in hope of some more money, he was further trapped when his identity was uncovered the next day; he was still allowed to stay because of Edla’s intervention. Her kindness and faith in him ultimately allowed him to free himself from the trap in which he had been caught. Unlike the other characters in the story, the peddler is the only one who succumbed to loneliness and is far away from the human bonds of love and sympathy that made him a cynic and consider the world as a rat trap.