Sample Paper 2010

Class- XII
Subject ENGLISH CORE
Q1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :
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1. As religious people believing in God, we are all aware of the influence of pr
ayer in our individual lives. It is true our temples, gurdwarus, churches and mo
sques reverberate with the prayers of the devout on festive occasions and even i
n the course of daily life. When individuals face dire situations, often they ar
e led into prayer; their faith thus opens for them a source of comfort and encou
ragement in their hour of need.
2. But how does this nation, as a collective entity, exercise its faith in praye
r ? 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 mat
ters affecting its destiny. The men of different faiths used to take part in suc
h 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 ca
me 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 Oriss
a cyclone. The hijacking of an Indian plane with its passengers to Kandahar in t
he 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 s
eriously -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 tha
t 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." wr
ote 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 5.1
5 p.m.
5. It is said that the act of prayer changes people and situations. There is a g
eneral 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 shoppin
g lists to their maker! Far from it. The very act of praying teaches one to empa
thise with those who suffer. It broadens one s vision and outlook . It builds up o
ne s character by imparting a sense of responsibility towards other people and sit
uations.
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 Amer
icans of all faiths for turning to prayer in the wake of the September 11 terror
ist attacks. He said he had spent much time "on bended knee" since terrorists at
tacked 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 r
eligion, ethnicity, race and language were forgotten as volunteers got busy assu
aging 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 un
itedly facing all its challenges. If it is true that all religious faiths teach
tolerance, humility and the value of helping neighbours, then the religious lead
ers of this nation could also engender unity and oneness of purpose by coming to
gether 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 consci
ousness 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 f
or 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 give
n 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:
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1. How you can best improve your English depends on where you live and particula
rly on whether or not you live in an English speaking community. If you hear Eng
lish spoken every day and mix freely with English speaking people, that is on th
e 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 accompa
ny or lead up to this experience. It will also help a great deal if you can easi
ly 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 examinati
on set books or the text books you have chosen for intensive study. Read as many b
ooks in English as you can, not as a duty but for pleasure. Do not choose the mo
st difficult books you find, with the idea of listing and learning as many new w
ords 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 wor
ds in the dictionary, for that deadens interest and checks real learning. Look u
p a word here and there, but as a general policy try to push ahead, guessing wha
t words mean from the context. It is extensive and not intensive reading that no
rmally helps you to get interested in extra-reading and thereby improve your Eng
lish. 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 bet
ter as you meet them in more and more contexts, some of which may differ only sl
ightly 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 writt
en 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 writt
en 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 he
adings and sub-headings. Use recognisable abbreviations, wherever necessary (min
imum 4). Use a format you consider suitable. Also supply an appropriate title to
it. 5
(b) Write a summary of the above passage.