ENGLISH-B (New Syllabus)
Special credit will be given for answers which are brief and to the point. Marks will be deducted for spelling mistakes, untidiness and bad handwriting. Figures in the margin indicate full marks for the questions.
Total Time: 3 Hours 15 minutes [Full Marks: 80]
1. Complete the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answers from the alternatives given: [1 x 5 = 5]
(i) Leela lost her –
(a) doll (c) ear ring (b) diamond necklace (d) gold chain
(ii) Lachmi stopped by a hawker’s stall to buy –
(a) Chapatti (b) Pan parag (c) Betel leaves (d) Mango pickle
(iii) The number Jimmy got in the jail was –
(a) 9627 (b) 9276 (c) 9762 (d) 9726
(iv) According to Mother Teresa, the greatest destroyer of peace today is –
(a) abortion (b) divorce (c) drug addiction (d) war
(v) Fine art liberates our mind from –
(a) joy and grief (b) professionalism (c) materialism (d) sorrows and conflicts
2. Answer any five of the following questions in a single sentence each: [1 x 5 = 5]
(a) Why did Sidda leave the old master’s house?
(b) Who asked Sidda to throw the ball into the sky?
(c) Whom did Sir Mohan meet in the compartment of the train?
(d) ‘Get the nigger out’-Whom does the word ‘nigger’ refer to?
(e) In which hotel did Jimmy engage a room in Elmore?
(f) What did the clerk at the prison give Jimmy Valentine?
(g) Who according to Mother Teresa can ‘teach us so many beautiful things’?
(h) What was the age of the boy who wanted to give his sugar to Mother Teresa?
(i) On grounds of utility, what do the educated persons use in place of ‘(elegant) earthen pitchers’?
(j) What, according to Nandalal Bose, has our country’s economic decline followed closely?
3. Answer any two of the following questions in not more than 100 words each: [5 x 2 = 10]
(a) ‘Don’t send him away. Let us keep him in our house.”
Who was the speaker and to whom was it spoken? About whom was it said? How did the person or persons spoken to react? [1+1+1+2]
(b) Give a brief description of the appearance of Lady Lal.
(c) ‘I had the most extraordinary experience with the Hindu family that had eight children.’
Which experience is Mother Teresa speaking of?
(d) How does a poor Santhal express his sense of beauty and order in his daily life?
(e) What did Jimmy write to his old friend in St. Louis? Why did he write so? [3+2]
4. Complete the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answers from the alternatives given: [1 x 5 = 5]
(i) In ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’, the poet views the city –
(a) in the morning(b) at noon (c) in the evening (d) at night
(ii) The invisible worm flies in the –
(a) afternoon (b) morning (c) evening (d) night
(iii) The poet in the poem ‘Brotherhood’ feels that the night is
(a) small (b) enormous (c) very small (d) short
(iv) In the poem ‘Daybreak’, the wind crossed the churchyard with a –
(a) smile (b) about (c) cry (d) sigh
(v) The spurt of a lighted match, as described in ‘Meeting at Night’ is
(a) grey (b) black (c) blue (d) yellow
5. Answer any five of the following questions in a single sentence each: [1 x 5=5]
(a) How does Wordsworth describe the beauty of the morning?
(b) Which city, according to Wordsworth, is the fairest one?
(c) How does Browning describe the half-moon?
(d) What is the colour of the sea in ‘Meeting at Night’?
(e) What destroys the life of the rose?
(D) What does the rose stand for?
(g) What does the poet see when he looks up in the poem ‘Brotherhood’?
(h) Who, according to Octavio Paz, writes the destiny of the man?
(i) Who announces daybreak in the poem ‘Daybreak’?
(j) What did the wind touch in ‘Daybreak’?
6. Answer any two of the following questions in not more than 100 words each: [5 x 2 = 10]
(a) Justify the title of the poem ‘Meeting at Night’.
(b) ‘A sight so touching in its majesty’
What is the sight referred to here? How does the poet describe the ‘sight’? [1 +4]
(c) Bring out the central idea of the poem. ‘The Sick Rose’?
(d) Narrate the wind’s activities as presented in the poem ‘Daybreak’.
(e) Give the significance of the line unknowing I understand’ in ‘Brotherhood’.
7. Complete the sentences which follow, choosing the correct answers from the alternatives given (attempt any five): [1 x 5 = 5]
(i) As soon as the ransom of his life Aegeon was demanded of –
(a) one hundred marks (b) one thousand marks (c) all his belongings (d) five thousand marks
(ii) The Elder Antipholus lived at Ephesus for –
(a) twenty years (b) eighteen years (c) five years (d) two years
(iii) Malcolm and Donalbain were the sons of –
(a) Macduff (b) Banquo (c) the Thane of Cawdor (d) Duncan
(iv) The witches looked like –
(a) charming ladies (b) mad creatures (c) unearthly creatures (d) queens
(v) Othello had promoted Cassio to the rank of –
(a) General (b) Duke (c) Lieutenant (d) Senator
(vi) The Turks had prepared to invade –
(a) Cyprus (b) Africa (c) France (d) Venice
(vii) Rosalind and Celia went to the Forest of Arden –
(a) in a carriage (b) in disguise (c) with an army (d) on horseback
(viii) Orlando was the youngest son of –
(a) Adam (b) Sir Rowland de Boys (c) Frederick (d) Ferdinand
(ix) Viola mourned the loss of her
(a) ship (b) brother (c) valuables (d) relatives
(x) The place of the shipwreck was the coast of –
(a) English Channel (b) Illyria (c) Pacific Ocean (d) Atlantic Ocean b
8 Answer any one of the following questions in not more than 100 words each: [5 x 1 = 5]
(a) What led Desdemona to marry Othello?
(b) What was the mystery behind the moving of Birnam woods?
(c) How was the banished Duke’s life in the Forest of Arden?
(d) Why was Elder Antipholus denied entry into his own house?
(e) Who was Olivia? What saddened her? Why did she not allow any visitors? [1+1+3]
9. (a) Rewrite the following sentences as directed without changing their meanings : [1 x 7 = 7]
(i) ‘Now, Valentine,’ said the warden, ‘you’ll go out in the morning.’ [Change the mode of narration]
(ii) They picked up Sir Mohan’s suitcase. [Change the voice]
(iii) A bearer in white livery appeared through a wire gauze door. [Turn into a complex sentence]
(iv) Earth has not anything to show more fair. [Change into interrogative sentence]
(v) He got his key and went upstairs [Change into a simple sentence]
(vi) The engine gave another short whistle and the train began to move. [Split into two simple sentences]
(vii) Leela’s face became red. [Rewrite using the verb form of ‘red’]
(b) Fill in the blanks with appropriate articles and prepositions: [1/₂ x6 =3]
At dusk he carried her in and she held _____class _____ him. She had a box filled _____ catalogues, illustrated books and stumps _____ pencils. It gave her great joy to play _____ teacher _____ Sidda.
10. Write a paragraph in about 150-200 words on ‘A Film You Have Recently Seen’. [10]
[Hints: Name of the film – its director and cast its subject/story – its effect on your mind – your comment]
OR.
Develop the following outline into a short story in about 150 to 200 words. Add a title to the story. [2+8=10]
A rich old lady becomes blind – calls doctor – doctor asks for huge fee – lady agrees to pay if cured – nothing if not cured – doctor comes daily – admires lady’s furniture – removes a piece everyday – finally lady cured – refuses to pay doctor – doctor goes to court – lady claims she is not fully cured cannot see furniture in her house – judge understands – gives verdict in her favour.
11. You have an old car which you want to sell. Draft an advertisement for the classified columns of an English daily in not more than 50 words announcing the same with necessary details of the car. [5]
OR.
You want to provide accommodation to paying guests in your house. Draft an advertisement for the classified columns of an English daily in not more than 50 words giving details of the accommodation. [5]
12. Prepare in 50 words a commercial leaflet for a health and fitness institute. Mention the different discounts and bonuses available for quarterly, half-yearly and annual membership. [5]
OR.
Design a commercial leaflet in not more than 50 words for a shop advertising discount sales of electrical and electronic products. [5]
You may also follow:
1) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2014, Class XI, WBCHSE
2) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2016, Class XI, WBCHSE
3) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2017, Class XI, WBCHSE
4) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2018, Class XI, WBCHSE
5) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2019, Class XI, WBCHSE
6) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2020, Class XI, WBCHSE
7) Previous Year Annual English Question – 2022, Class XI, WBCHSE