CBSE Sample Question Paper – 1, 2019-20
ENGLISH CORE
Class-XII

Time allowed: 3 Hrs.                                                                                                                            Maximum Marks: 80

General Instructions:

1. This paper is divided into three Section A, B, and C. All the sections are compulsory.
2. Separate instructions are given with each section and questions, wherever necessary. Read these instructions very carefully and follow them faithfully.
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

Section A: (Reading) 80 Marks

1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 12 Marks

1. The titanic, in its watery grave, is a great museum of human history and is at risk of being lost forever because of curious voyagers and treasure hunters, fears Bob Ballard, who first discovered the remains of the iconic ship in 1985. Famous for discovering the great ship, Ballard is a former US Navy Officer and a professor of oceanography.

2. “Titanic is a museum of human history without door and guard. I am deeply concerned about not only the Titanic but all the ancient history that is now at risk. If we cannot save this iconic ship, then there is very little hope we can save ancient ships. The world should realize that you don’t have to go down and take everything and you do not have to do a treasure hunt. This is a common heritage of all of us and if we really want to take steps to preserve human history in the ocean, we need to start with Titanic,” Ballard said in a telephonic interview from London.

3. Ballard, as part of a tie-up, is presenting a documentary called “Save the Titanic” on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the great ship – April 15, 1912. The ship and her fate continue to fascinate, largely because of the horror that took place that night, with 1,522 passengers and crew losing their lives.

4. Ballard says that despite being on the ocean floor for 100 years, the ship is full of human footprints. “You will find pairs of shoes everywhere. The sea and the life below has claimed everything but they do not know what to do with shoes so you will find a pair of mother’s shoes next to her little daughter and that’s their gravestone. At her wreckage, we almost felt that we were surrounded by the lifeboats of all the people that were in the water at that spot”.

5. Ballard says that the fate of Titanic continues to fascinate so many years after it sank because it is “irony personified in history”. “The story has all the ingredients to make it timelessly fascinating. You have this revolutionary ship that’s unsinkable, and carrying a cross section of people in society. And then, it goes and hits an iceberg and sinks on its maiden journey. It’s an irony personified in history”.

6. Talking about his discovery, which came after great research and 75 years later, Ballard, says it was a somber moment went they first spotted the boiler o the Titanic. “In the 90s, advanced technology gave us double diving capabilities in the Atlantic Ocean. I knew that the Titanic was sitting at almost 12,000 feet. What led me to her discovery was a simple technique that I followed. We decided to look for the debris trail instead of the ship”.

7. Ballard says the ship, if preserved well and not subjected to constant submarine journeys, will last for a long time on the Atlantic floor. “The deep sea, because of its darkness, its cold temperatures and its great pressure, creates a high state of preservation. With a little caution, we can protect the Titanic for future generations to visit.”

8. Ballard has also connected to the people of Belfast, who refused to talk about the tragedy “The ship’s construction took place at Belfast. After the tragedy, families of the workers refused to talk about it because of the shame and sadness in the loss of life involved”.

1.1 On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best of the given choices:-1×5=5

(a) The Titanic sank on
(i) Its 100th anniversary
(ii) 15th April 1912
(iii) An iconic voyage in 1985
(iv) Leaving the port of Belfast

(b) The Titanic continues to attract attention because
(i) It is irony personified in history
(ii) Its advanced technology gave double diving technologies
(iii) It is a treasure hunt
(iv) It is a common need

(c) Ballard’s documentary on the Titanic is titled
(i) A museum of human history
(ii) The titanic
(iii) Save the Titanic
(iv) 75 years later

(d) Bob Ballard is a
(i) Former US Navy Officer
(ii) A professor of oceanography
(iii) Both (i) and (ii)
(iv) None of the above

(e) What creates a high state of preservation under deep sea? 1
(i) Darkness
(ii) Cold temperatures
(iii) Great pressure
(iv) All the above

1.2 Answer the following question briefly:-1×5=5

(a) What happened on April 15, 1912?
(b) Who is Bob Ballard and what did he discover?
(c) Why does Bob Ballard call it a museum of human history?
(d) Why did the people of Belfast refuse to talk about Titanic?
(e) What did Ballard do as part of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic?

1.3 Find the words from the passage which mean the same as:-1×2

(a) first of its kind (para 5)
(b) very solemn or serious (para 6)

Q2. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:  8

1. In a very short period of time the internet has had a profound impact on the way we live. Since the Internet was made operational in 1983, it has lowered both the costs of communication and the barriers to creative expression. It has challenged old business models and enabled new ones. lt has provided access to information on a scale never before achievable. lt succeeded because we designed it to be flexible and open. These two features have allowed it to accommodate innovation without massive changes to its infrastructure. An open, border less and standardized platform means that barriers to entry are low competition is high, interoperability is assured and innovation is rapid.

2. The beauty of an open platform is that there are no gatekeepers. For centuries, access to and creation of information was controlled by the few. The internet has changed that and is rapidly becoming the platform for everyone, by everyone. Of course, it still has a way to go. Today there are only about 2.3 billion internet users, representing roughly 30% of the world’s population. Much of the information that they can access online is in English, but this is changing rapidly.

3. The technological progress of the internet has also set social change in motion. As with other enabling inventions before it, from the telegraph to television, some will worry about the effects of broader access to information — the printing press and the rise in literacy that it effected were, after all, long seen as destabilising. Similar concerns about the internet are occasionally raised, but if we take a long view, I’m confident that its benefits far outweigh the discomforts of learning to integrate it into our lives. The internet and the world wide web are what they are because literally millions of people have made it so. It is a grand collaboration.

4. It would be foolish not to acknowledge that the openness of the internet has had a price. Security is an increasingly important issue and cannot be ignored. lf there is an area of vital research and development for the internet, this is one of them. I am increasingly confident, however, that techniques and practices exist to make the internet safer and more secure while retaining its essentially open quality.

5. After working on the internet and its predecessors for over four decades, l’m more optimistic about its promise than l have ever been. We are all free to innovate on the net every day. The internet is a tool of the people, built by the people for the people and it must stay that way.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it using recognizable abbreviations (minimum four) wherever necessary. Use a format you consider appropriate. Supply a suitable title. (5 marks)

(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words. (3 marks)

Section B:  (Advanced Writing Skills)  30 Marks

Q3. Godrej Home Appliances, Ghaziabad requires a receptionist for its newly constructed office in New Delhi. Draft a suitable advertisement to be published in the Situation Vacant column of a national daily giving necessary details.    4

OR

You are Sonal Ragini of 12-A, R.K. Puram, New Delhi. You have been invited by the principal of St. Joseph Public School, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi to act as one of the judges at a debate Contest to be held on 29th Sep. 2014. But you are unable to accept this invitation due to a previous engagement. Write an informal reply to the Principal expressing your inability to accept the invitation. 4

Q4. You are Prateek/ Pratiksha staying at 34-C, Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad. Last month, you bought a Telephone Answering System with Facsimile from the Royal Electronics, 56-N, Palika Bazar, New Delhi against a warranty of two years. Now you discover that there is something wrong with the answering machine. It does not record the caller’s message. Write a letter to the dealer complaining about the problem. Also request him to replace it, if needed, against the warranty that goes with it.       6

OR

You are Anita/ Arpan. Librarian of Delhi Public School, Agra. Write a letter to the Sales Manager of P.C.Publishers, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi placing an order for the books that you wish to purchase for your school library.  6

Q5. Abhinav/ Alisha, a reporter with The  News Times  reports about a highway accident involving 2 trucks on the outskirts of New Delhi. Write a report including all necessary details.     10

OR

Indian culture has traditionally sustained a joint family system in which the old have always had a very respectable place. There has been an erosion of these values in these times. Write an article in about 150-200 words on the need for the young to take care of their old instead of sending them to the old age homes.        10

Q6. You are Kiran/ Kailash. You have been selected to represent your school in an All India School Debate Competition organized by the Lions Club, New Delhi. The topic for the debate is: ‘Education is the only remedy for decreasing the crime rate amongst the educated folk.’ Write a speech in not more than 200 words for or against the motion, giving arguments for your stand.    10

OR

You are a student volunteer of National Literacy Mission (NLM) Wing of your school involved in the Adult Literacy Campaign ‘Each One Teach One’. Write out the introductory talk you plan to give at each place you visit. (Word limit: 200 words)        10

Section C: (Text-Books) 30 Marks

Q7. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:  1×8=8

(A) A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

1. Name the poem and the poet.  1
2. What can a beautiful thing do for the human beings?    1
3. Explain: “It will never pass into nothingness”.      1
4. Why do we need sweet dreams, health and quiet breathing in our lives?   1

(B) I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a scolding. Especially because M Hamel had said that he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright ! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school.           4

1. Name the story and its writer.  1
2. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?  1
3. Why was Franz afraid of being scolded?  1
4. What did Franz find much more tempting than the rule of participles?  1

Q8. Answer any five of the following in about 30-40 words each:  2×5 = 10

(a) What kind of host was the old crofter?
(b) Why was Gandhiji impressed with Rajkumar Shukla’s tenacity and determination?
(c) Why does the poet want us to keep quiet?
(d) What does Jack actually want Jo to know and understand in the story?
(e) What had the astrologers predicted about the tiger king?
(f) Why does Derry’s mother not want him to go back to visit Mr. Lamb?

Q9. Answer any one of the following in about 125-150 words each:   6

(a) Bring out the contrast in the ironmaster’s attitude and behavior towards the stranger before and after he realizes his mistake.
(b) Why does Jo want that the Wizard should hit the mommy? Does her stand reflect a child’s perspective on life? What is your choice?

Q10. Answer any one of the following in about 125-150 words each:    6

(a) “All we have to fear is fear itself.” How do these words of Roosevelt apply to the narrator of the lesson ‘Deep Water’?      
(b) Generally persons suffering from a physical impairment feel a sense of alienation and withdraw themselves from the world. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?     

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ASL: Assessment of Speaking & Listening Skills  (Internal Assessment)   20 Marks