Grade 12 (HISSAN 2079)

 SET-D

HISSAN PRE-BOARD EXAMINATION-2079

Compulsory English [0041]

Grade-12

Time: 3 hours                                                                                               Full Marks: 75

1. Read the text and do the tasks. 15

Imagine living in a 200-ft-tall redwood tree for more than two years. Twenty years ago, Julia Butterfly Hill did just that, to draw attention to the continued clear-cutting of California's remaining redwood forests. Hill did not set foot on the earth for 738 days. Instead, she learned to climb up and down the 1000-year-old redwood tree for exercise. She found she felt safer to climb barefoot, without climbing gear. Her feet developed muscles she hadn't known they possessed. She was cold and wet for much of that two years. There was no heat, no

electricity. No artificial light. She had a sleeping bag, a solar-powered cell phone for media interviews, and a single-burner propane stove to cook that heat water. She had few necessities, and no luxuries.

Hill lived on two platforms, built from wood scraps and covered with tarps to theoretically keep the rain out. One measured 6 ft. by 8 ft. The smaller one, 4 ft. by 8 ft., was mostly used for storage. She had occasional visitors-fellow tree-sitters staying over or bringing supplies, and other visitors including a couple of celebrities, as well as spiders, birds, and mice.

A pair of resident flying squirrels specialized in keeping her awake at night by noisily investigating all her supplies.

Why, you might wonder, would anyone stay in a tree so long?

Hill had survived a bad car accident in Arkansas in 1996. It took a year of therapy for her short-term memory and motor skills to return. She said the experience was a wake-up call. Until then, her main focus had been work.

"It became clear to me that our value as people is not in our stock portfolios and bank accounts, but in the legacies, we leave behind."

When she recovered, she resolved to travel and visit spiritual sites around the world. But first her neighbours invited her to join them on a driving trip to the West Coast. A stranger they met in passing told them they had to see the redwoods in California.

On arriving in the redwood forest, Hill says, "Gripped by the spirit of the forest dropped to my knees and began to sob.... Surrounded by these huge, ancient giants, I felt the film covering my senses from the imbalance of our fast-paced, technologically dependent society melt away.

"I could feel my whole being bursting forth into new life in this majestic cathedral. I sat and cried for a long time. Finally, the tears turned into joy and the joy turned into mirth, and I sat and laughed at the beauty of it all."

Even though Hill had just begun her travels, she felt called to try to protect the remaining majestic redwoods. Less than three percent of the original forests were still standing, yet the logging continued.

At first Hill was unsure whether to trust this new calling. So she prayed to the Universal Spirit for guidance: "If I'm truly meant to come back and fight for these forests out here, Please help me know what I'm meant to do, and use me as a vessel." Soon, she found herself feeling at peace with the plan to stay, and received a sign she saw as the Universe's approval.

A. Choose the best answer. (5X1-5)

a. The words' redwood forests in the lastline of first paragraph mean:

i. Forest that has red leaves in color

ii. Redwood forest in California, called Luna trees

iii. Forest, which has red woods.

b. She learned to climb up and down the 1000-year-old redwood trees

i. To protect them

ii. For her security

iii. For exercise

c. She lived in a 200-ft- tall redwood on

i. 6 ft. by 8 ft. platform

ii. 4 ft. by 8 ft. platform

iii. Both on two platforms

d. The word 'spiritual' in the 1'"line of 9th paragraph is opposite in meaning to:

i. Soul

ii. Corporeal

iii. Mental

e. I am truly meant to come back and fight for these.....

i. evils

ii. forest

iii, logging

B. Order the sentences in order to give sensible meaning of the passage above. (8×0.5=4)

i. A stranger told them to visit and see the redwoods in California.

ii. She did not set foot on the earth for 738 days.

iii. Hill had survived a bad car accident in Arkansas in 1996.

iv. She lived on two platforms built within the size 6 ft. by 8 ft. and 4 ft. by 8 ft.

v. She also learned to climb up and down the trees for her own exercise.

vi. Her first travel was with her neighbours who invited her to visit to the West Coast to California.

vii. When she recovered from her accident, she decided to travel spiritual sites of the world.

viii. Julia Butterfly Hill lived on a 200-ft-tall redwood tree twenty years ago.

 

C. Answer the following questions. (3×2-6)

i. What did Julia Butterfly Hill learn and decide to do after she survived from a bad car accident?

ii. Why did she cry for a long time when she reached to the redwood forest?

iii. What did she do to protect the redwood forest?

 

2. Write short answers to the following questions. (5×2-10)

i. Why was Mrs. Baroda unhappy with the information about Gouvernail's visit to their farm? (A Respectable Woman)

ii. In what condition did the treasure hunters find the dead man? (The Treasure in the Forest)

iii. According to the tourist, why is the West (Western Civilization) indebted to the East (Eastern Civilization)? (The Half-closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun)

iv. When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft. (Soft Storm)

v. Describe the claim of the Chinese nationalists about the human history. (Humility)

 

3. Write long answers to the following questions. (2×5-10)

i. What is the goal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? (Human Rights and the Age of Inequality)

ii. What favour does Earnest Young Woman ask from the Famous Actress? (A Matter of Husband)

iii. What is the goal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? (Human Rights and the Age of Inequality)

 

4. Read the following table and interpret the data on your own language.          7

Members of Different Clubs at PZ School, Brooklin and their activities in 2078 BS

S.N.     Clubs' Name             Members       Activities Annually

1          Readers' Club            225     10 book reviews, 5 poem recitation, 5 oratory

2          Dance Club               175      Two stage performances with 14 dance item each

3.         Music Club                150     Two Stage performances with 10 songs items each

4.         Sports Club               250     One Annual Sports

Total                                      800

 

5. Write a letter to your principal giving some suggestions and solutions about cleanliness of students' toilets and its effects to all students' health. 8

 

6. Stephen L. Nock, on his essay 'Marriage as a Social Institution' clearly mentions, "Marriage is an institution, NOT a private affair" Write a debate argument either for or against of the statement of Stephen L. Nock with strong reasons.

 

7. Do as indicated in the bracket and rewrite the sentences. 10x1 - 10

a. She has left. (Insert time adverbial 'just' appropriately in the sentence)

b. 'Where is the market street? (Change it into indirect question; starting with: 'Could you tell me.......?")

c. It rained heavily yesterday. The streets are muddy. (Join these sentences using 'because of)

d. If she invites me, I certainly (go) to meet her. (Use the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence.)

e. One of the (boy/boys) is working hard. (Choose the correct form of noun from the bracket to complete the sentence)

f. I'd rather go to cinema, …. ..? (Add appropriate question tag)

g. Ram said to Hari, "You must work hard." (Change into indirect speech)

h. Look! Someone (climb) up the window and trying to break into it. (Use the verb in correct tense)

i. Have you prepared Nepalese food? (Change into passive voice)

j. She likes (to eat/eating/is eating) mango. (Choose the correct word to complete the sentence)

 

8. Do as instructed. (5×1=5)

a) 'I don't think he meant to be rude.' 'He.........said sorry." (supply the correct form of verb in the blanks from the list below.)

i) must have

ii) might have

iii) would have

b) People have unethical justification for (each/every/all) their actions. (Rewrite with correct form given in the bracket)

c) Neither the tracksuit nor the pyjamas (fit/ fits) me perfectly. (Rewrite with correct form given in the bracket)

d) My father has touched an alcoholic drink in his life. (Put the adverb, 'never' in an appropriate place of the given sentence)

e) Put the following words in alphabetical order as in the dictionary.

"Samita, Sumina, Sumitra, Subekshya, Sabina, Sabita".

 

Thank you