English – Important Question Bank for Maharashtra HSC Board Exam 2017

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English Important Question Bank 2017

Section A prose

Q1. (A). Read following and answer the question given below:

The upshot of these varying tendencies is that such extreme contrasts often exist in the same household. Weeks pas before the younger lot(typically late risers) and the older lot (normally early birds) come face to face. It’s almost as if they live in different time zones and different countries.

All over the country, things are likely to be pretty much the same in this respect, one would think. If the man of the house, any house, decides to take a day off from work, he’d probably find his son emerging from his room at about 10 a.m. and that too in a ‘rubbing-eyes’ mode. After fooling around for a while the lad would probably dash off to college in a rush whilst simultaneously zipping hp his jeans and sending text message o his phone. His father would undoubtedly be left shaking his head and burying himself deeper into his newspaper.

Some lucky families have come to a perfect understanding though. My sister, a teacher and her husband, a doctor, wake up  at 4 a.m. each day in order to be done with their daily chores and to spend quality time together before their frantic schedules begin. She cooks all the meals for the day before the sun rises and is done with all her household work by 6 a.m.!

World has evidently gotten around about their ways. It is learnt that the garbage man turns up at their house every day at five in the morning. And when the good doctor had to undergo a small surgery himself, his operation was actually listed for 5:30 a.m., and unheard of hour for such an intricate activity. One only hopes that the operating team had gone to bed nice and early the previous night!

One thing’s for sure. Five o’clock in the evening is probably the only time of day when one can hope to invite such contrasting creatures together for a celebration. At any other hour, one type or the other probably be found yawing away to glory.

Question

1. When does the writer’s sister finish all her household work?
2. On a day off from work, why would the father be left shaking his head?
3. Why do the writer’s sister and her husband wake up at 4 a.m. each day?
4. What do you think is the purpose of the text?
5. Rewrite the following sentence in the ways instructed:

i) Such extreme contrasts often exist in the same household.

(Rewrite using past perfect continuous tense)

ii) After fooling around for a while,. The lad would probably das off to college in a rush. (Make it a compound sentence)

iii) She cooks all the meals for the day before the sun rises (Change the voice)

6. Write the antonymous of the following words.

I] early II) normal

Q1 .(B). Grammar: (Do as directed)

i) You always wear a helmet for safety while riding a bike.

(Use a modal auxiliary showing compulsion)

ii) I live _____ Mumbai _____ 25, J.P. road, Santacruz.

(Fill in the blanks with proper prepositions)

iii) I saw ___ blind man begging on _____ Street. (Use suitable articles)

iv) How hot the night was! (Make it assertive)

Q2. (A). Read following and answer the question given below:

But being named an ‘Adarsh Goan’ is far from easy. Villages had to give a proposal after which a committee headed by Mr. Pawar inspected the village. “The villages had to show dedication in struggle to fight mediocrity. They had to follow all the conditions of becoming an ‘Adarsh Gaon’. We chose villages with a revolutionary spark,” Mr. Pawar says.

Villages need to follow strict rules. The process begins with effective water management through the watershed technique and water auditing, taking responsibility of the village’s natural resources-planting tress and stopping grazing, contributing labor for the village work, and then expanding to bring about behavioral changes in the people for harboring social changes. Hiware Bazaar is free of any kind of addiction and there are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village. Vasectomy has been made compulsory, as is the pre-marital HIV test.

The ‘Adarsh Gaon’ model prides itself of being based on the joint decisions made by the Gram Sabha. Where all the villagers are present. Even while selecting the new villages under the scheme, Mr. Pawar made sure that the decision to become an ideal village was taken by the entire village together.

The greatest victory of Hiware Bazaar so far has been the reverse migration that the village has witnessed since 1989. As many as 93 families have come back to the village, “from the slums in Mumbai and Pune,” Mr. Pawar says.

Question

1. What features of ‘Adarsh Gaon’ are given in the extract?
2. What is the procedure for selecting ‘Adarsh Gaon’?
3. What is the greatest victory for Hiware Bazaar?
4. Do you think all villages in Maharashtra should follow the ideals of Hiware Bazaar? Why?
5. Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

i) Mr. Pawar inspected the village.

(Rewrite it using the noun form of the word underlined.)

ii) Vasectomy has been made compulsory by the villagers.

(Rewrite it beginning with – “The villagers…….”)

iii) There are no liquor or tobacco shops in the village

(Rewrite it using ‘neither……. nor’)

6.Find out the words from the extract which mean:

a) Causing a great change b) the quality of being average

Q.2. (B) Note Making

Read the following extract and complete the table given about ‘Types of Disease’:

Health is defined as not simply the absence of disease. It involves a state of feeling well, both in body and in mind.

The diseases may be classified into the following types. Some diseases are present at birth. They are called congenital diseases. They may develop during pregnancy or are inherited. Some of them may be caused by environmental factors. Examples of congenital disease are Down’s syndrome, sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, etc.

Some disease are acquired by humans themselves are hence are called Self-Inflicted or Acquired diseases are coronary heart diseases, hypertension.

Some diseases are transmitted from one person to another. They are called as Communicable or Infectious diseases. They are caused by biological agents. Example of communicable disease is cholera, Typhoid, Measles, Malaria, etc.

Non-communicable disease are caused by exogenous factors like physical, chemical, nutritional deficiencies. The examples are kwashiorkor, pellagra, scurvy and rickets, etc.

Title_______

Q.3. (A) Read following and answer the question given below:

With the onset of winter, the picturesque Nalaban Bird Sanctuary inside the Chilika Lake is agog with the presence of thousands of migratory birds from faraway Siberia, Iraq, Iran and central Europe.

The birds arrive at their winter abode inside the bird sanctuary, which is spread over 15.5 sq.km. to stay for five months till monsoon sets in. This year the migration of winter birds has begun two weeks ahead due to disturbances and scarcity of food in their native places.

The birds have taken shelter in artificial mounds inside the sanctuary which had been constructed by the wildlife division as the core area of the sanctuary.

According to wildlife officers, the migration of birds to the Chilika Lake, the second largest in the world, has increased over the years due to the conducive atmosphere prevailing there.

A survey conducted by the Chilika wildlife division has revealed that the number of migratory birds arriving at the lake has increased to over two million.

Many rare birds like the Smew Duck Mallard, Nakta, Marbled Teal and Goliath Heron have also been spotted last year.

Application of pesticides and chemicals in the fields and loss of natural habitat affect bird migration. Birds and animals have a relationship and their harmonious presence is beneficial for the continuity of a sanctuary.

Question

1. What does the extract throw light on?
2. Give a list of the places and birds related with migration.
3. Why is migration essential for the birds?
4. According to you, why are sanctuaries essential for birds and animals?
5. Rewrite the following sentences in the ways instructed:

i) The birds have taken shelter in artificial mounds.

(Frame a ‘Wh-‘ question to get the underlined part as its answer.)

          ii) The birds arrive at their winter abode inside the bird sanctuary.

(Make it a complex sentence )

iii) Many rare birds like the Smew Duck Mallard, Nakta, Marbled Teal and Goliath Heron have also been spotted.

(Rewrite the sentence beginning with ‘They..’)

6. In the passage the ‘core area’ means:

           i) Overflowing area ii) central area iii) isolated area

Q.3. (B) Summary:

Write summary of the above extract with the help of the outline given below and suggested a suitable title.

Winter – Chilika lake – migratory birds – second largest lake – conducive atmosphere – artificial mounds – variety of birds – effect of pesticides / chemicals – harmony.

Section B Poetry

4. (A) Read the following stanzas and answer the question given below:

They whisper like drizzles

as they roam the streets

with a lost gaze as though

something they had thrown up

never returned to earth.

They shiver like December nights

in their dreamless sleep

on shop verandahs

There are swings still

in their half-blind eyes,

lilies and Christmases

in their failing memory.

There is one folktale

for each wrinkle on their skin.

Question

i) What does the line “one folktale for each wrinkle on their skin” means?

ii) Why according to you, are old women seen roaming aimlessly?

iii) Find out examples of ‘Smile’ from the given stanzas.

iv) Which lines in the stanzas show that the old women lived a happy life I the past?

Q.4. (B) Read the following extract and answers the questions:

All the rest of her children, she said,

are on the nuclear

blacklist of the dead,

all the rest, unless

the whole world understands –

that peace is a woman.

A thousand candles then lit

in her starry eyes, and I saw angels

bearing a moonlit message.

Question

i) What appeal does the mother make to the world?

ii) What according to you, are the evils of war?

iii) Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line: ‘A thousand candles then lit.’

iv) Pick out the lines that suggest the hope for world peace.

Section – C : Rapid Reading and Composition

Q.5.(A) Read the following extract carefully and rewrite it from the point of view of Oliver:

You may begin with : 1 had searched for Orlando everywhere……………………

Oliver told them his story. He had searched for Orlando everywhere in the forest, he said, and at last, tired and hungry, he had fallen asleep under a tree. On his way from Rosalind’s cottage, Orlando had seen his brother lying asleep. A big snake had curled round Oliver’s neck and was just going to bite him when it saw Orlando and slipped away into a bush. And then Orlando saw that a hungry lion was waiting under the same bush, ready to kill Oliver as soon as he woke up.

Orland thought of all his brother’s unkindness to him in the past. Why should he risk his own life to save his brother who had always been cruel to him? Twice he turned away to leave Oliver, but he had a kind and noble heart and at last decided that he could not leave his brother to die. So he fought the lion. The fierce animal tore and bit his arm, but he managed to kill it. Oliver, wakened by the noise of the fight, saw that Orlando was risking his own life to save him. He was filled with shame at all his past unkindness to his young brother, and he begged Orlando to forgive him.

Orlando took his brother to the Duke, who gave him food and clothes. Orlando said nothing about the wound the lion had given him, but it had been bleeding all the time, and suddenly he fell to the ground and fainted from loss of blood.

(B) Read the following extract and convert it into a continuous write-up in about 120 words:

You may begin with : George flashed a pocket torch and saw the boys looking about….

(George flashes a pocket torch. The boys look about them but not so far up stage as to notice the white models, nor do they see the skull, towards which their backs are turned.)

Tom :  (crossing R. C.). This is a queer place. I wonder if there’s anybody in the house.

George : You’ve picked three empty houses already, and you let us sing the whole of While Shepherds Watched outside the last one before you found out your mistake.

Tom : Well, that’s better than what you did — you picked the house where they had that bulldog.

George : (contemptuously). I wasn’t afraid of the bulldog.

Tom : No, maybe you weren’t: but I’m not sure that the savage beast hasn’t torn off a bit of young Alfie’s suit, and if he has there won’t half be a row! (Alfie fidgets nervously at the mention of his damaged suit.)

Tom : (down R.C.). How much money have we collected?

Ginger : (crossing C. to George). Let’s have a look under the light. (After counting coppers, with the aid of George’s torch.) Eightpence halfpenny.

Tom : (in a tone of disgust). Only eightpence halfpenny — between four of us —after yelling our heads off all the evening! Crikey! Money’s a bit tight round these parts, isn’t it?

George : I told you it was too early for carol-singing. It’s too soon after Guy Fawkes’ day.

(Faint distant scream off R.)

Tom : (startled). What was that?

George: What was what?

Tom : That noise — it sounded like a scream.

George: Nonsense.

Alfie :   (L). Let’s go home.

(B) Read the following extract and extend it by adding an imaginary paragraph of your own in about 120 words :

OR

“But your father came looking for you. Didn’t you get in touch with him?” said my mother.

“My father and I were never very close. Mother died when I was very young, and the only relative I had was a cousin in West Africa. So that’s where I went — Sierra Leone!” said Mrs Green.

“How romantic!” said my mother.

“It’s hot and steamy in Sierra Leone,” said Mrs Green. “But the climate does wonders for your libido. I lived with a wonderful black man for several years.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“He was killed in a tribal war,” said Mrs Green without any show of emotion. “It was a long time ago.”

“And that skeleton,” I asked. “What about the skeleton in the cupboard?”

Section – D : Written Communication

Q.6. (A) Letter – Writing:

Write any ONE of the following letters:

(1) You come to know that the computer you purchased is of poor quality with blurred images. Its warranty period is not yet over. You want it to be replaced with another

one. Write a letter in this regard to –

The Manager, Global Computers, Link Road, Andheri, Mumbai.

(2) You want a bonafide certificate in order to register your name in the Employment Exchange Office of your district. Write a letter of application to the Principal of your Junior College requesting him/her to issue you the same.

(B) Write on any ONE of the following items :    

(1) Prepare an Appeal for eye-donation with the help of the following points :

Prepare an effective slogan.

Use a logo / picture chart.

Advantages of eye-donation.

Make a persuasive appeal.

(2) The annual day gathering function was arranged in your Junior College. It was a grand function with a variety of activities like fun-fare, games and sports, cultural activities, etc.

Write a report on it in about 120 words.

(C) Answer any ONE of the following:

1] Read the following tabular data and prepare a short paragraph reading the visits of the astronauts to the Moon (in about 120 words)

[2] Prepare a paragraph to be used for the Counter-View section on the following topic in about 120 words:

View Section

College Elections: The need of the time.

• Tanning for practicing democratic values
• Develop political awareness
• Decision making power
• Personality development

Q.7. Answer the following questions as per instructions:

(A) A college in your area is well-known for its innovative academic activities. Imagine

you are a newspaper reporter and assigned to take the interview of the Principal. Frame a set of at least 8 questions regarding Teachers’ Motivation, Students’ Discipline, Academic Excellence, Extra Curricular Activities, etc.

(B) You intend to take part in the intercollegiate elocution contest. One of the topics therein is ‘Stop Cruelty to Animals and Birds’. Prepare a speech on it in about 100 words.