Sample Paper - 2010

Class- XII

Subject – ENGLISH CORE

Q1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :              12

1. As religious people believing in God, we are all aware of the influence of prayer in our individual lives. It is true our temples, gurdwarus, churches and mosques reverberate with the prayers of the devout on festive occasions and even in the course of daily life. When individuals face dire situations, often they are led into prayer; their faith thus opens for them a source of comfort and encouragement in their hour of need.

2. But how does this nation, as a collective entity, exercise its faith in prayer ? It may be recalled that during; the freedom struggle and subsequently after Independence, the Father of the Nation. used to lead the people in prayer on matters affecting its destiny. The men of different faiths used to take part in such meetings, which gave them a sense of purpose and also a sense of solidarity as people sharing one destiny.

3. Since the Mahatma fell to the bullets of an assassin, no one else probably came forward to provide leadership to an exercise of prayer at the national level. No doubt, people of all faiths had organised prayers at their places of worship in the aftermath of national tragedies like the Gujarat earthquake or the Orissa cyclone. The hijacking of an Indian plane with its passengers to Kandahar in the recent past had moved this nation to pray. The whole nation, again, had taken to prayer en masse on two other earlier occasions- when Amitabh Rachchan fell seriously -ill and also when Mother Teresa was on bed.

4. "Man's need for prayer is as great as his need for bread. As food is necessary for the body. prayer is necessary for the soul. I have not a shadow of doubt that the strife and quarrels with which our atmosphere is so full today are due to the absence of the spirit of true prayer. True prayer never goes unanswered." wrote Gandhiji. According to Vasudevan, secretary of the Rajghnt Samcidhi Samiti, all-religion prayer meetings are held every Friday at Rajghat from 4 p.m. to 5.15 p.m.

5. It is said that the act of prayer changes people and situations. There is a general impression that prayer is an act of seeking favours from God for selfish ends. It is as if all praying people are only interested in taking their shopping lists to their maker! Far from it. The very act of praying teaches one to empathise with those who suffer. It broadens one's vision and outlook . It builds up one's character by imparting a sense of responsibility towards other people and situations.

6. The latest example of a praying nation comes from the United States, which is often labelled as too materialistic. Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast at Washington in the second week of February, President George Bush praised Americans of all faiths for turning to prayer in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He said he had spent much time "on bended knee" since terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing more than 3000 people.

7. Regardless of the religious affiliations, people in the affected areas showed an exemplary sense of togetherness in the hour of tragedy. All differences of religion, ethnicity, race and language were forgotten as volunteers got busy assuaging the pain and sorrow felt by the victims. The American example has several lessons for India which is also a pluralistic society. It has demonstrated that differences of religion and ethnicity need not stand in the way of the nation unitedly facing all its challenges. If it is true that all religious faiths teach tolerance, humility and the value of helping neighbours, then the religious leaders of this nation could also engender unity and oneness of purpose by coming together periodically to pray for the nation. And when they focus on the fact that all people, regardle s of their differences,
share one common destiny, there could be greater communal harmony. Such a consciousness ought to pave the way for peace in society.

(a) Answer the following questions :                    9

(i) When do people generally pray ? Why ? 2

(ii) What is the importance of the nation praying as a collective entity ? 1

(iii) Give two examples from the recent times when the. nation was led to pray for a cause ? 1

(iv) How does the of praying one’s mind and personality?

(v) What lesson does the American example demonstrate to India?

(b) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the same as the ones given below:     3

(i) unity (para 2)

(ii) conflict (para 4)

(iii) commendable (para 7)

Q2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:     8

1. How you can best improve your English depends on where you live and particularly on whether or not you live in an English speaking community. If you hear English spoken every day and mix freely with English speaking people, that is on the whole an advantage. On the other hand, it is often confusing to have the whole language poured over you at once. Ideally, a step-by-step course should accompany or lead up to this experience. It will also help a great deal if you can easily get the sort of English books in which you are interested.

2. To read a lot is essential. It is stupid not to venture outside the examination ‘set books’ or the text books you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many books in English as you can, not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not choose the most difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new words as possible : choose what is likely to interest you and be sure in advance that it is not too hard. You should not have to be constantly looking up new words in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Look up a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead, guessing what words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that normally helps you to get interested in extra-reading and thereby improve your English. You should enjoy the feeling which extensive reading gives of having some command of the language. As you read you will become more and more familiar with words and sentence patterns you already know, understanding them better and better as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only slightly from others.

3. Some people say that we cannot learn to speak a language better with the help of a book. To believe this is to believe that the spoken language and the written language are quite different things. It is not so. There is a very great deal in cannon between the two. In learning the patterns and vocabulary of the written form, we are learning to a considerable extent those of the spoken form too. We are, in fact, learning the language and not merely one form of the language.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations, wherever necessary (minimum 4). Use a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to it.                      5

(b) Write a summary of the above passage.             3

------------------Please Go To Next Page ----------------