English

CLASS XII
Time: 3 hrs. M.M: 100
General Instructions:
1. This paper is divided into three sections: A, B and C.
2. All the sections are compulsory.
3. Read the instructions given with each sectionvery carefullyand attempt
the questions that follow.
SECTION-A (READING)
Q1. Read the passage and on the basis of your understanding of the passage
answer the questionsgiven below: (20)
1.Doing housework, taking care of children and carrying out assorted jobs for the
household and family are work just as much as working in an office or factory.
Ignoring this is to do a disservice to the working women. The reality of house
work is that a woman’s work at home averages 56 hours per week for the full
time homemaker and 26 hours per week for the employed wife and mother. As a
result, an employed woman gives us most of her leisure to carry out the
responsibilities of family life.
2. We realize thatit may sound strange to term women’s activities at home as
work. Since women who do house work and take care of children receive no
salary or wages; managing a home is not considered ‘work’. Economists have
finally helped us to recognize the importance of women’s work in the family by
estimating the monetary value of homemaking. Way back in 1973, it was
estimated to be around $13000 per year. In order to make this calculation, the
work of the homemaker may be considered equivalent to an unskilled, skilled or
professional worker. For example, is a child care comparable to baby sitting at
$0.75 per hour, to a nursery school aid at $3 per hour, or to the care of a child
psychologist at $30 per hour?
3.Some people have proposed that the solution to the problems of the employed
homemaker would be simply to pay women for being homemakers. Hence,
women with heavy family responsibilities would not have to work outside their
homes to gain more income for themselves and their families. This is not a
solution for many reasons – wages provide income but they do not remedy the
isolating nature of the work itself nor the negative attitudes homemakers
themselves have towards housework.
4. Wages for housework would reinforce occupational stereotyping by freezing
women into traditional roles. Unless women and men are paid equally in the
labour force and there is no division of labour based on gender, women’s work in
the home will have no value.
5. Since it is not clear what constitutes housework, and we know that housework
standards vary greatly, it would be difficult to know how to rewardit.
6. Pay for house work might place homemakers (mainly wives) in the difficult
position of having their work assessed by the husbands, while in the case of single
homemakers; it is not clear who will do the assessing.
7. Wages for housework, derived from spouse payments overlook the
contribution women make to the society by training children to be good citizens
and assume their work is only beneficial for their families.
8. Finally, payment for housework does not align itself to the basic reason why
women with family responsibilities work; to increase family income over that
which the employed husband/father makes. Also, single women with family
responsibilities work because they are the family’s bread winners.
9. It may seem perplexing that the hours of women’s activities at home have not
declined because of the availability of many appliances (washing machines, gas.
fridge, etc.) and convenience products (frozen food, soapsetc.). The truth is that
appliances tend to be energy saving, rather than time saving, and lead to a rise in
the standard of housekeeping. Hence, women today spend more time than their
grandmothers, doing laundry since family members demand more frequent
changes of clothing than in the earlier generations. Husbands and children expect
more varied meals.
10. Advertising encourages women to devote an inordinate amount of time and
money to waxing floors, creating rooms free of ‘odour causing’ germs and
seeking to meet other extraordinary standard of cleanliness. Furthermore, the
increasing concern with good nutrition means many homemakers are spending
more time preparing foods that are not available in the market place or which are
available at expensive prices.

1.1 Answer each of the questions given below by choosing the most
appropriate option: (1X5=5)
(i) The average hours per week for a full time homemaker are ____
a) 29 hours
b) 46 hours
c) 56 hours
d) 64 hours
(ii) Home making is not considered at par with paid work because
a) no salary or wages are given
b) it is considered noble
c)it is called insignificant
d) it is one’s duty
(iii) Women work outside the house
a) to while away their time
b) to pursue hobbies
c) to earn money and support families
d) to put their education to use
iv) Why would ignoring housework be a disservice to the working women?
v) What monetary value was assigned to homemaking in 1973?
1.2 Answer the following questions briefly: (1X6=6)
(i) What solution has been proposed to the problem of employed homemaker?
(ii) When will the women’s work in the home acquire recognition?
(iii) What contribution made by women to the society is overlooked if they are
paid wages for house work?
(iv) Why are women busier today than ever before in spite of time saving gadgets
and appliances?
(v) Why is an employed woman deprived of the joys of leisure?
(vi) Why does the increasing concern for better nutrition prove to be a bane for
many homemakers?
1.3 Answer any three of the following questions in 25-30 words: (2X3=6)
(i) Decode – ‘Pay for the house work might place homemakers in the difficult
position of having their work assessed by their husbands.’
(ii) Interpret- ‘inordinate amount of time and money’.
(iii) How has advertising affected housework?
(iv) Explain- “occupational stereotyping”.
1.4 Pick out the words/phrases from the passage which are similar in
meaning to the following:(1X3=3)
(i) different (para 1)
(ii) strengthen (para 4)
(iii) excessive (para 10)
Q 2. Read the passage and answer the questions given below: (10)
1. ‘There is no need to define morality; let man be simply compassionate.’ This
sentence expresses the basic essence of morality: the extent to which it relies on
compassion for its definition. For when we think about it, is not that truly human
feeling of compassion the basis of all morality?
2.Morality rests for its very meaning on the concept of ‘good and ‘bad’ where
good refers to all thoughts and deeds that do not aim at or accomplish any harm
or injury or do not involve any attempt to inflict sufferings on others. Thus
morality is based on man’s ability to understand, being able to sympathize, feel
kindness and sorrow for and identify himself with the sufferings of his fellow
men. So only compassion can give rise to moral thoughts and feelings.
3.Depriving a person of what is his or what must belong to him- what is called
stealing- for selfish ends, taunting or insulting others through words or actions
for the purpose of self-gratification, violence- expressed verbally or as acts of
torture, killing etc.-for the sake of violence contradict morality as well as an inner
feeling of kindness and compassion.
4.When we talk about social morality of any kind, what comes into play is our
ability to feel for the well-being of our society. A certain moral code of conduct
is ultimately necessary to ensure that the society does not fall prey to degeneration
of values, which would lead to rampant sufferings and ultimately chaos. It is a
concern to help the society by safeguarding it from unwanted ills and malaises
and ensuring its well-being. Society’s concerns are our concerns: anything
capable of causing a detrimental effect on it in the short term or in the course of
time is ultimately bound to affect us and our children.
5.There is a need to realize that man must continue to feel compassion for the
sake of himself as well as the society. But like any other human trait, compassion
ought to be continually exercised if it is to remain a dominant force.
Unfortunately, in modern society, what we witness is a complete lack of kindness
and sympathy between fellow beings. One can only shake one’s head and say that
just like other cherished values even compassion is getting eroded in the hustle
and bustle of the mechanical existence of these times. What remains is material
values that look only towards immediate personal gains and in the process rid
man of whatever ‘humanness’ is left in him.
2.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, make notes on
it using headings and sub- headings. Use recognizable abbreviations
(wherever necessary-minimum four) and a format youconsider suitable.
Also supply an appropriate title to it. (5)
2.2 Write a summary of the passage in about 100 words. (5)

SECTION: B (ADVANCED WRITING SKILLS 30 MX)

Q.3 In a recent survey it was found that your city has the highest rate of pollution
in the country. Innumerable vehicles on the road and lack of green cover have
made the air unfit to breathe. Draft a poster in about 50 words, creating awareness
about the need to keep the city clean and green. You are Rakshita/Rohit of MVN
Public School.(4)
OR
You are Simar / Smriti of B 156, Brindaban Colony. You are going abroad and
you want to sell some furniture of your house.Draft a suitable advertisement for
the classified columns of a local daily giving all the relevant details. (50 words)
(4)
Q.4 Due to controversies, poor performance of certain players, selling and buying
of teams, match fixing, corruption etc., public interest and consequently market
value of games like cricket is declining. Write a letter to the editor of a local daily
on ‘restoring the grandeur of sports.’ Also stress on the need to encourage other
sports. (100-125 words) (6)
OR
You are Tarun / Taruna. You want information about French Language Courses
at Alliance Franchaise , New Delhi . Write a letter of enquiry to the Director about
the same.(100-125 words) (6)
Q.5 You are Mukul / Mahima of Alps Public School. Your school has organized
a debate on ‘It is cruel to put stray dogs to sleep’. Prepare your views againstor
in favour of the motion. (150-200 words) (10)
OR
As Mukul / Mahima of Alps Public School, write a speech to be delivered in
school assemblyon ‘Diminishing reading habits among teenagers.’ (150-200
words) (10)
Q.6 With the increasing population in the cities in the country, the rate of crime
is also increasing alarmingly. The police need to be trained in new methodology
of combating crime besides changing its mind-set. Write an article on “The role
of police in maintaining law and order in metropolitan cities’ for the local daily
in 150-200 words. (10)
OR
You are Karan / Kirti of L.M. Memorial Public School, Dwarka. Your school has
adopted a slumas a social responsibility. Students are being taken to teach the
children of that slum on a regularbasis besides telling them the importance of
cleanliness. Write a report, for your school magazine, on the various other
programmes organized therein 150-200 words. (10)

SECTION: C
(LITERATURE: TEXT BOOKS and LONG READING TEXT 40 MX)
Q7. Read the following extract and answer the following questions briefly:
We would be together

In a sudden strangeness.

Fisherman in the cold sea

Would not harm whales

And the men gathering salt

Would look at his hurt hands.

 (a) What is the figure of speech in the second line? (1)
(b) How can ‘we’ all be together? (1)
(c) What do the activities mentioned here signify? (1)
(d) How can the quiet moments tell us observing non-violence? (1)
OR

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie

Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.

The tigers in the panel that she made

Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid

(a) Why are Aunt Jennifer’s hands called ‘terrified’? (1)

(b) What are they ringed with? (1)
(c) What will happen to her tigers after her death? (1)
(d) Find words from the stanza which means:
(i)scared (ii) surrounded by (1)

Q8. Answer any four the following questions in 30-40 words: (3X4=12)

(i) What according to M. Hamel, was the outcome of the neglect of the French
language in the region?

(ii)What are the differences in the ambitions of Saheb and Mukesh?

(iii)Why was Zitkala Sa so averse to the cutting of her long hair? How did she try
to avoid this injustice?

(iv)Why was the Champaran episode a turning point in Gandhi’s life?

(v)How did the poet hide her real feelings at the airport? What were her feelings
at that stage?
(vi)What story did Jo want to hear the next day and why? What was father’s
reaction to it?

Q 9. Answer any one of the following questions in 120-125 words: (6)

(i)“Mukesh is not like the others. Hisdreams loom like a mirage amidst the dust
of streets that fill histown Firozabad‟. Justify the statement in the light of contrast
in the mindsets of Mukesh and thepeople of Firozabad.
(ii) Selma Lagerlof in ‘The Rattrap’ expresses the belief that the essential
goodness of a human being can be awakened through understanding and love.
It is also said that there is nothing noble in being superior to others. True nobility
lies in being superior to your previous self.
Comment on the above statements with examples from the chapter ‘The Rattrap’
(iii)The childhood experience of terror of Douglas made him stronger and more
determined. Elucidatethe above statement supporting it with evidences from the
text.

Q10. Answer any one of the following questions in about 120-150 words: (6)
(i) How does humanity dominate patriotism as per the message given in the lesson
‘The Enemy’?
(ii) Justify the title of the chapter“On the Face of It.”
(iii) There is a hint of marital discord in the story ‘Should the Wizard hit
Mommy’. Elaborate.
Q11. Answer any one the following questions in about 120-150 words: (6)
(i) ‘I do not agree to this. Why dream of playing a game against the race. How
can you hope to gainhappiness? Do not be a lone wolf. Publish your results, take
the world-take the nation at least-intoyour confidence’ said Dr. Kemp. These
words sum up, to a large extent, the downfall of a geniuslike Griffin. Elucidate
from the novel ‘The Invisible Man’.
(ii) Mr. Hall is a carefree man as he has a typical working life-partner in Mrs.
Hall. Such persons arefound in every society. Give a peep into both their
characters. (The Invisible Man)

Q12. Answer any one of the following questions in about 120-150 words: (6)
(i)Illustrate whether the ending of the novel is justified. What is your reaction
when Grifin gets killed and Marvel gets to keep all the stolen money? Are you
glad that the invisibility formula is hidden from Kemp, who could use it?
ii)What made Cuss interview the stranger? What kind of interview was it and
what came out of it ?