JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA, RAVANGLA SOUTH SIKKIM

SUBJECT: ENGLISH (CORE) CLASS-XII QUESTION BANK FOR THE SESSION 2015-2016

TOPICS COVERED: THE LAST LESSON BY ALPHONSE DAUDET

Ë LOST SPRING BY ANEES JUNG

Ë MY MOTHER AT SIXTY-SIX BY KAMALA DAS

Ë THE TIGER KING

Ë THE INVISIBLE MAN BY H. G. WELLS (CHAPTERS IST TO V)

Ë ADVANCED WRITING SKILLS

Ë READING SECTION PASSAGE FOR NOTE-MAKING AND SUMMARY WRITING

§ TEXT BOOKS

LESSON: THE LAST LESSON

1. How does M. Hamel prove to be an ideal teacher? (30-40 words) 3

2. What did the French teacher tell his students in his last French lesson? What impact did it have on them?

(125-150 words) 6

3. How did the order from Berlin change the situation in the school? (125-150 words) 6

4. Everybody during the last lesson is filled with regret Comment. (125-150) 6

5. How different from usual was the atmosphere at school on the day of the Last Lesson? (125-150) 6

6. Why were the elders of the village sitting in the classroom? (30-40) 3

7. What had Franz counted on to enter the class unnoticed? (30-40) 3

8. What changes came over little Franz after he heard M. Hamel’s announcement? (30-40) 3

9. How did M. Hamel say farewell to his students and the people of the town? (30-40) 3

10. Little Franz did not want to go to school that day. Give two reasons. 3

11. How does M. Hamel create a sense of national pride and patriotism among the people of Alsace? 3

12. How did Franz react to the declaration that it was their last French lesson? 3

13. How did M. Hamel conclude his last French lesson? 3

14.” What a thunderclap these words were to me! “Which were the words that shocked and surprised Franz? 3

LOST SPRING

1. Mention the hazards of working in a bangle factory. 3

2. How did the people of Firozabad happen to remain in eternal poverty? 3

3. What did garbage mean to the children of Seemapuri and to their parents? 3

4.” It is his Karam, his destiny”. What is Mukesh’s family’s attitude towards their situation? 3

5. The bangle-makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate. 6

6. Why does the author say that the bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web? 3

7. Why could the bangle-makers not organize themselves into a co-operative? 3

8. Is it possible for Mukesh to realize his dream? Justify your answer. 3

9.’Lost Spring’ explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why/ Why not? 6

10. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ conveys? 3

MY MOTHER AT SIXTY- SIX BY KAMALA DAS

1. READ THE GIVEN EXTRACTS AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW:

(A) and looked out at young------------familiar ache-------4

(a)How can the trees sprint?

(b)Why did the poet look at her mother again ?

(c)What did she observe?

(d)Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.

(B) Driving from my parents’ home------------that she was as old as she looked-----3

(a)Where was she driving to ?

(b)Why was her mother’s face looking like that of a corpse?

©What did the poet notice about her mother?

(C)-------Wan, pale-------all I did was smile and smile and smile----------4

(a)Mention the poetic device used. What does it suggest? 2

(b)What was the poet’s ‘Childhood fear’? 1

© Why did the poet only ‘smile’? 1

THE TIGER KING

1. How did the Tiger king meet his end ? What is ironical about his fate? 6

2. Describe the efforts made by the Tiger king to achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers. 6

3. Even today so many among us believe in superstitions. An astrologer predicted about ‘the Tiger king’ that he would be killed by a tiger. He ‘killed’ one hundred tigers yet was himself ‘killed’ by a tiger. How did the superstitious belief prevail? 6

4. The astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King came to be true .Do you agree with this statement? Explain why/why not? 3

5. What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb? 3

6.” It was celebration time for all the tigers inhibiting Pratibandhpuram “, Comment. 3

7. What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse permission? 3

8. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger? 3

9. Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne? 3

10. How did the Tiger King avoid losing his empire? 3

11. Why did the Maharaja order the Dewan to double the land tax? 3

12. Why did the Tiger King decide to get married? 3

WRITING SECTION

1. Your school. Akash Public school, Agra needs a canteen manager. On behalf of the principal, write an advertisement in 50 words to be published in the classified columns of a local daily. Mention the educational and professional qualifications, other qualities required in the manager, who to apply and the last date for the receipt of applications. 4

2. As you with your family members were holidaying in the valley of Jammu and Kashmir during last summer vacation. One day while you were moving here and there you happened to see a huge plastic bag full of leftovers of food being flung into the middle of the road from a speeding car. You wondered how people can be so devoid of civic sense. Write an article in 120-150 words on why we lack civic sense and how civic sense can be inculcated in children at a very young age. You are Suresh/ Sushma. 10

3. After passing the secondary school examination, a candidate has to make a very difficult choice from a number of streams available to him for further study at the senior school level. There is no valid mechanism to assess the suitability of a candidate for a particular stream. Write a letter to the Editor of a national daily emphasizing the need of educational counselors for guidance in this matter in each school. You are Vivek/ Vinisha, 47, Agra Fort, Agra.

NOVEL CHAPTERS 1 TO 5

1. What were the reasons behind Mrs. Hall showing herself worthy of unexpected guest who had come to stay in her INN? 6

2. How did Mr. Hall, Mrs. Hall, Teddy Henfrey and Fearenside interpret the stranger’s character? Explain with suitable examples. 6

3. What impression do you form of the common people of IPING? 6

4. The burglary episode is an example of building suspense in the story. Explain. 6