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INDIAN SCHOOL SOHAR
FIRST TERM EXAM 2015-16
ENGLISH (Core)
Std: XII Marks: 100
Date: 17-09-2015 Time: 3 hrs
General Instructions:
 This paper consists of three sections: Section A,B and C. All the sections are compulsory.
 Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary.
Read these instructions carefully and follow them faithfully.
 Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.
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SECTION A (30 Marks)
READING:
1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (11)
1. Have you ever caught yourself scratching your head, twitching your ear, tapping your foot or
playing with your keys or pen? If you have, you are a sure fidgeter. And it is very likely that the
habit has carried forward from the childhood, when your wriggling probably exasperated and
sometimes amused your parents and teachers. It is not a pleasant sight to see a grown-up person
fidgeting; in fact, it is a distraction.
2. Recently, some doctors in Britain have discovered that not only is fidgeting quite normal, it even
does you good.
3. Almost everybody fidgets when hot, cold, hungry, and thirsty or tired. Being kept waiting also
brings on the fidgets. Most of this is normal but when with some this translates into exaggerated
mannerisms and that is where we have a problem. When the British doctors wired up volunteers
to an electric ‘fidgetmeter’, followed by a grueling interview, some stayed almost completely still.
Others made up to 57 movements in half a minute. Since the rate went up when disturbing topics
were raised, it seemed that those who fidgeted more were the anxious types, needing to release
nervous energy.
4. This is what led to the conclusion that fidgeting has its uses too—since it helps get rid of stress
that could sometimes lead to headaches, muscle pain or even ulcers. Fidgeting is also believed to
fight the flab. Add up all those little movements made by fidgeters during their waking hours and
they burn up as much energy as a jog, the report said.
5. While British doctors may feel that fidgeting is an expression of anxious behaviour, doctors here
do not necessarily agree.
6. Meanwhile, a former assistant professor in Los Angeles opines that fidgeting is a sign of “some
underlying tension which is causing anxiety”. While one cannot make generalized statements,
some experts feel that pencil-suckers yearn for babyhood, teeth- grinders and fist clenchers seem
to be holding back their aggression, foot tappers wish to be on the move and people who scratch
may wish to injure themselves.
7. A leading psychiatrist gives a positive side to the anxiety angle. According to him, “a bit anxiety
is not harmful since it induces one to do better. It often brings out the best in people- while
meeting deadlines, submitting reports or at interviews and examinations.” He gives the example
of Tennis players who play with “manageable anxiety”, but warns that when the fidgets turn to
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 restlessness, it might affect performance. Often, he says, a person suffering from neurological
illness ends up fidgeting deliberately, “mainly to distract his companion from his actual problem.
It could be something as harmless as the shaking of hand or twitching of the eye.”
8. Refuting this, another psychiatrist insists that fidgeting in no way should be considered good. “It
may be innocuous unless it is harming the fidgeter or annoying others, but, what fidgeting really
reveals is a lack of confidence and even social phobia, besides, of course, anxiety. It, in fact,
sends non-verbal messages to people who then treat the person accordingly- as nervous or
anxious individuals,” he adds.
9. Unfortunately, fidgeters often find it hard to kick the habit, even when it’s socially unacceptable.
10.While those fidgeting are themselves perturbed by the habit, efforts in controlling it could cause
other problems, because, “the person could get hypertense or worried about being unable to tackle
it and get more fidgety in the process.” Experts, in the meantime, keep suggesting remedies or
‘tricks’ to get out of fidgeting habits, like playing with a coin in your pocket or glove, or wearing
a ring which you can rub without others noticing. In Greece, many taxi drivers carry worry-beads
which they click while waiting to combat fidgeting, while some stores in London’s West End
once sold pieces of polished stone designed for gently stroking with the thumb.
11.Dr.James Buyers, a neurologist of London, hopes for a more lasting and practical solution.
“Anything that will stop the speed of modern life for even half a minute will definitely be
beneficial,” he says.

A) On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best
of the given choices: (3)

a) Fidgeting becomes a problem when _______________.

i. it annoys other people
ii. grow-ups begin fidgeting
iii. it translates into exaggerated mannerisms
iv. it is carried over from childhood
b) According to a professor from Los Angeles, fidgeting is due to ________________.
i. an underlying tension causing worry
ii. a childhood habit carried over
iii. having an anxious metabolism
iv. disturbing topics being introduced
c) A person suffering from neurological illness _____________.
i. fidgets while shaking hands
ii. deliberately continues to fidget as a way of distracting people
iii. might play with manageable anxiety
iv. considers the habit harmless
B. Answer the following questions briefly: (5)
a) What are some of the things that a fidgeter does?
b) Mention two circumstances when almost everyone tends to fidget.
c) What, according to some doctors, are the advantages of fidgeting? Mention any two.
d) Mention one way in which you can stop yourself from fidgeting.
e) What is the trick to get rid of fidgeting?
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C. Find the words from the passage which mean the same as: (3)

a) incensed (para 1)
b) embellished (para 3)
c) apprehensive (para 8)

2. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: (11)

1. As will be seen later on, Pygmalion needs, not a preface, but a sequel, which I have supplied in its
due place. The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to
speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what its sounds like. It is
impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or
despise him. German and Spanish are accessible to foreigners: English is not accessible even to
Englishmen.
2. The reformer England needs today is an energetic phonetic enthusiast: that is why I have made
such a one, the hero of a popular play. There have been heroes of that kind crying in the wilderness
for many years in the past. When I became interested in the subject towards the end of the
eighteen- seventies, Melville Bell was dead; but Alexander J.Ellis was still a living patriarch, with
an impressive head always covered by a velvet skull cap, for which he would apologize to public
meetings in a very courtly manner. He and Tito Pagliardini, another phonetic veteran, were men
whom it was impossible to dislike.
3. Henry Sweet, then a young man, lacked their sweetness of character: he was about as conciliatory
to conventional mortals as Ibsen or Samuel Butler. His great ability as a phonetician (he was, I
think, the best of them all at his job) would have entitled him to high official recognition, and
perhaps enabled him to popularize his subject, but for his Satanic contempt for all academic
dignitaries and persons in general who thought more of Greek than of phonetics. Once, in the days
when the Imperial Institute rose in South Kensington, and Joseph Chamberlain was booming the
Empire, I induced the editor of a leading monthly review, to commission an article from Sweet on
the imperial importance of his subject. When it arrived, it contained nothing but a savagely
derisive attack on a professor of language and literature whose chair Sweet regarded as proper to a
phonetic expert only. The article, being libelous, had to be returned as impossible: and I had to
renounce my dream of dragging its author into the limelight.
4. When I met him afterwards, for the first time for many years, I found to my astonishment that he,
who had been a quite tolerably presentable young man, had actually managed by sheer scorn to
alter his personal appearance until he had become a sort of walking repudiation of Oxford and all
its traditions. It must have been largely in his own despite that he was squeezed into something
called a Readership of phonetics there.
5. The future of phonetics rests probably with his pupils, who all swore by him; but nothing could
bring the man himself into any sort of compliance with the university, to which he nevertheless
clung by divine right in an intensely Oxonian way. I daresay his papers, if he has left any, include
some satires that may be published without too destructive results fifty years hence. He was, I
believe, not in the least an ill-natured man: very much the opposite, I should say; but he would not
suffer fools gladly.

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6. Those who knew him will recognize in my third act the allusion to the patent shorthand in which
he used to write postcards, and which may be acquired from a four and six-penny manual
published by the Clarendon Press.
(Adapted from Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw)
A) On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the best
of the given choices: (3)
a) While German and Spanish are accessible to all, _______________.
i. English is accessible only to foreigners
ii. English is not assessable to anyone
iii. access to it is for the English alone
iv. English is accessible to all except Englishmen
b) Henry Sweet was an expert in _____________.
i. grammar and spelling
ii. phonetics
iii. Ibsen and Samuel Butler
iv. Satanic academic dignitaries
c) Sweet’s article was rejected by the editor because ________.
i. it was a personal attack on sweet
ii. it was about himself
iii. the contents were libelous
iv. it was full of mistakes.

B) Answer the following questions briefly. (5)

a) What comments does George Bernard Shaw make about the English language?
b) Why, according to the writer, were phoneticians of the past not recognized?
c) What drawbacks did Henry Sweet suffer from?
d) What part if Sweet’s work might be linked to Clarendon Press?
e) What does the phrase ‘open his mouth’ means to any something.

C) Find the words from the passage which mean the same as: (3)
a) vigorous ( para 2)
b) disdainful (para 3)
c) vilifying (para 3)

3. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: (8)

That obesity among today’s teenagers is a growing problem is well-known. However, news that
syndrome X or metabolic dysfunction among school children is on the increase is a matter of concern
since it means the early onset of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease,
polycystic ovarian syndrome and other metabolic derangements. A recent study in five cities (Delhi,
Agra, Jaipur, Allahabad and Pune) by Fortis Hospital, Delhi, in the age group 14-18reveals that one
in four Indian children is overweight and likely to have syndrome X. The study concludes that factors
such as increase in abdominal fat, insulin resistance, hypertension and obesity are all on the upswing

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and this will result in an explosion of diseases like diabetes, infertility and heart disease in people
even when they are in their 20s.

Syndrome X is defined as a combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing
cardiovascular diseases and diabetes leading to premature death. The risk factors that develop because
of syndrome X include: insulin resistance, obesity (especially abdominal obesity), high blood
pressure and abnormalities in lipid levels and blood-clotting. Says Anoop Misra, Director and Head,
Department of Diabetes and Metabolic diseases, Fortis Hospitals: “In children it is very difficult to
identify bio-medical features of these diseases. However, abdominal obesity is a good way of
assessing the risk for up to 80 per cent of the children. We found that this was more common in girls
as they are more sedentary. Insulin resistance was found in 36 per cent of the girls and 24 per cent of
the boys. These children are at the risk of developing serious health conditions in their early 20s and
30s.” The Fortis study was carried out this year and included children from government and private
schools.

Also a member of the WHO expert group on childhood obesity, Misra identifies the rise of syndrome
X in Asian children. In a paper on metabolic syndrome in children in India, Misra notes, “Metabolic
syndrome in children assumes significant importance in view of the current epidemic of childhood
obesity. South Asian children are highly predisposed to develop insulin resistance, metabolic
syndrome and its components when compared with Caucasian children and need more aggressive
prevention and management. The emphasis should be on therapeutic lifestyle changes incorporating
moderate physical activity and dietary modifications.”

Expressing concern over obesity, the government for the first time has officially reduced the ideal
Body Mass Index (BMI) for Indians from 25 kg/m2— the global standard—to 23 kg/m2. The
ministry of health made this the official cutoff after fears of India becoming the global diabetes
capital by 2050. Those with a BMI of 25 kg/m2 will be clinically termed obese as opposed to 30
kg/m2 at the international level. The government’s note on obesity also recognizes that for every 10
kilogram above the normal body weight, life expectancy of a person reduces by three years.

Nearly 22 million children under the age of five are estimated to be overweight across the world. And
in India we need to urgently address the burgeoning syndrome X problem. If not, younger generations
will run the risk of leading lives crippled by various medical complications and their equally
malignant socio-economic repercussions.

3.1 Make notes of the above passage using an acceptable format including abbreviations (minimum4),
with suitable titles. (5)

3.2 Make a summary of the above passage in not more than 80 words. (3)

SECTION B (30 Marks)

WRITING:
4. You want to sell your Computer. Draft a suitable advertisement in not more than 50words to be
inserted in the classified columns of areputed English daily giving all necessary details. You are
Dhananjay, 215, P.P. Apartments, Bangalore. (4)
OR
An educational publication has published averygood book forthe studentsseeking success in the entrance
examinations for various courses after class XII. Prepare a poster in not more than 50 words, for the
launch of the same, giving relevant details.
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5. You are Avinash / Archana, resident of 50 Bank Enclave, Delhi. Your city is going to host
Commonwealth games in the month of October in which participants from more than 70 nations are
expected to participate. You have recently read a report regarding the lack of proper infrastructure and
security measures in the city. You are appalled by the report .Write a letter to the Editor of the newspaper
in 120 words, expressing your concern and suggesting some measures required to be taken in order to
prepare thecity for the games. (6)
OR
You are Kapil / Kavita, resident of 13 Lajpatnagar, Agra.You came across the following advertisement
in a national daily. You consider yourself suitable and eligible for the post. Write an application in
response to the advertisement given below:

SITUATION VACANT
Accounts Teacher
Qualification: M.Com
Experience: Minimum 3 years in a reputed school
Preference: Knowledge of Computers and Fluency in English.
Apply to the Principal: BHARATIYA PUBLIC SCHOOL 62, Kamla Nagar, Agra

6.You are Zubin / Zeba, a social activist, much concerned about the booming crime against women, may
it be eve-teasing, domestic violence or others. Write an article in 150-200 words throwing light on this
problem and giving suggestions on putting an end to it. (10)
OR
Science attempts to explore the secrets of nature while religion wants to reveal the purpose of existence.
The aim of both science and religion is to discover the truth. Write an article in 150-200 words on the
topic, ‘Science and Religion’.

7. You are Anjali/ Anshul, the Head Boy/Head Girl of ABC Public School, Patna. You have to deliver a
speech in your school assembly on the occasion of World Peace Day on the topic, ‘Let’s Practice Non-
violence’. Write the speech in 150-200 words pointing out the recent acts of terrorism that claimed
innocent lives, and highlighting the value of non-violence which is the need of the hour. (10)
OR
Write a speech in 150-200 words, to be given on the occasion of the Republic Day on the topic,
Democracy is alive and well in India.

SECTION C (40Marks)
Text Books and Long Reading Text:
8. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow: (4)
…but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young trees sprinting,
the merry children spilling
out of their homes…

a)What was the poet ‘looking at’? What did she notice?
b) What thought did she try to drive away?
c) Why did the poet start ‘looking out’? What does her gesture suggest?
d) What did the images of ‘young trees’ and ‘merry children’ symbolize?
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 OR
Fishermen in the cold sea
Would not harm whales
And the man gathering salt
Would look at his hurt hands

a) What are the ‘fishermen’ symbolic of?

b) What will happen when fishermen do not harm whales?
c) What would happen in this moment of silence?
d) What image does the poet create in the last line?

9. Answer any four of the following in 30-40 words each: (4x3=12)

a) How did the peddler abuse the hospitality shown by the crofter and the confidence reposed in him?
How did the same become counterproductive for the peddler?
b) “We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with”. Why does M.Hamel goes on blaming the parents
as well as himself?
c) Gandhi’s loyalty was not to abstractions but to living, human beings. How is this idea shown in the
story ‘The Indigo”?
d) “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom”, says Stephen Spender. What does the poet want to
convey in this line?
e) Sahib’s life is a tale of endless struggles’. Explain.

10. Answer the following question in 120 to 150 words: (6)

The chap that threw me in was saying, “But I was only fooling.”

Douglas in the lesson, ‘Deep Water’, was thrown into a pool and he nearly died. The boy whothrew him
into the pool did not even realize the grave danger that he was exposing him to. After reading the lesson,
you realize that very often we do not think about what we are doing to others. We live in a selfish society
where we are self- centered to the extent of hurting other people.

As the School Captain, you decide to deliver a speech to your fellow students, telling them about being
considerate and respecting the rights of others in everyday life, if we want a fair society.
11. Answer any one of the following questions in 120 to 150 words: (6)

What moral questions are raised by the story ‘Should Wizard hit mommy’?
OR
Mr. Lamb died as soon as Derek was beginning to feel positive about life. Do you think that this wouldbe
a setback in Derek’s life? Give reasons for your answer.
12. Answer the following questions in 120 to 150 words: (6x2=12)

a) What kind of inner conflict was Godfrey going through, the night before he met his father at the
breakfast? What can you infer about his character from this behaviour?

b)How does a strangely novel situation of opening his trouble to his Raveloe neighbors’ leave its
influence on Marner, in spite of his passionate preoccupation with his loss?

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