Arts (English Medium) कक्षा १२ - CBSE Important Questions

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Air pollution is an issue which concerns us all alike. One can willingly choose or reject a food, a drink or a life comfort, but unfortunately there is little choice for the air we breathe. All, what is there in the air is inhaled by one and all living in those surroundings.

 2. Air pollutant is defined as a substance which is present while normally it is not there or present in an amount exceeding the normal concentrations. It could either be gaseous or a particulate matter. The important and harmful polluting gases are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ozone and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. The common particulate pollutants are the dusts of various inorganic or organic origins. Although we often talk of the outdoor air pollutions caused by industrial and vehicular exhausts, the indoor pollution may prove to be as or a more important cause of health problems.

 3. Recognition of air pollution is relatively recent. It is not uncommon to experience a feeling of 'suffocation' in a closed environment. It is often ascribed to the lack of oxygen. Fortunately, however, the composition of air is remarkably constant all over the world. There is about 79 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen in the air − the other gases forming a very small fraction. It is true that carbon dioxide exhaled out of lungs may accumulate in a closed and over-crowded place. But such an increase is usually small and temporary unless the room is really air-tight. Exposure to poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide may occur in a closed room, heated by burning coal inside. This may also prove to be fatal.

 4. What is more common in a poorly ventilated home is a vague constellation of symptoms described as the sick-building syndrome. It is characterized by a general feeling of malaise, head-ache, dizziness and irritation of mucous membranes. It may also be accompanied by nausea, itching, aches, pains and depression. Sick building syndrome is getting commoner in big cities with the small houses, which are generally over-furnished. Some of the important pollutants whose indoor concentrations exceed those of the outdoors include gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and organic substances like spores, formaldehydes, hydrocarbon aerosols and allergens. The sources are attributed to a variety of construction materials, insulations, furnishings, adhesives, cosmetics, house dusts, fungi and other indoor products.

 5. By-products of fuel combustion are important in houses with indoor kitchens. It is not only the brining of dried dung and fuelwood which is responsible, but also kerosene and liquid petroleum gas. Oxides of both nitrogen and sulphur are released from their combustion.

 6. Smoking of tobacco in the closed environment is an important source of indoor pollution. It may not be high quantitatively, but significantly hazardous for health. It is because of the fact that there are over 3000 chemical constituents in tobacco smoke, which have been identified. These are harmful for human health.

 7. Micro-organisms and allergens are of special significance in the causation and spread of diseases. Most of the infective illnesses may involve more persons of a family living in common indoor environment. These include viral and bacterial diseases like tuberculosis.

 8. Besides infections, allergic and hypersensitivity disorders are spreading fast. Although asthma is the most common form of respiratory allergic disorders, pneumonias are not uncommon, but more persistent and serious. These are attributed to exposures to allergens from various fungi, molds, hay and other organic materials. Indoor air ventilation systems, coolers, air-conditioners, dampness, decay, pet animals, production or handling of the causative items are responsible for these hypersensitivity − diseases.

 9. Obviously, the spectrum of pollution is very wide and our options are limited. Indoor pollution may be handled relatively easily by an individual. Moreover, the good work must start from one’s own house

(Extracted from the Tribune)

 (a) (i) What is an air pollutant? (1)

(ii) In what forms are the air pollutants present? (2)

(iii) Why do we feel suffocated in a closed environment? (1)

(iv) What is sick building syndrome? How is it increasing? (2)

(v) How is indoor smoking very hazardous? (1)

(vi) How can one overcome the dangers of indoor air pollution? (2)

(b) Find the words from the above passage which mean the same as the following: (3)

(i) giddiness (para 4)

(ii) constant (para 8)

(iii) humidity (para 8)

Answer any three of the following questions in 30-40 words each:

(a) What did M. Hamel tell them about the French language? What did he ask them to do and why?

(b) Why does Asokamitran call Subbu, ‘a charitable and improvident man’?

(c) How did the instructor turn Douglas into a swimmer?

(d) Why did Sophie like her brother, Geoff more than any other person?

Answer the following in 30-40 words each:

(a) Why do you think the booking clerk refused to accept the money? Why did the narrator get out so fast?

(b) Why could the Russian research vessel, ‘The Akademik Shokaskiy’ not move any further? What did the captain decide then?

(c) What sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organize for the high-ranking British officer? What trait of the officer does it reveal?

(d) What did Jo want the wizard to do when Mommy Skunk approached him?

1. Who wore a gold ring?
2. How did she make her living?
3. What state was ‘She’ discovered in?
4. Why did the author mention the snake ring?
5. Why did no one bother about the damaged car?
6. Which word can be a good synonym for brutal?
   1. Brash
   2. ebullient
   3. cruel
   4. crass

1. Who does ‘he’ refer to?
2. What signs of age were evident to him?
3. ‘But in company was quick to straighten up….’ What does this phrase reflect about ‘him’?
4. Pick out the word from the extract which means to conceal one’s appearance by using wigs/glasses etc.
   1. straighten
   2. disguise
   3. monocle
   4. stopped
5. What had happened to his uncle?
6. Give a brief description of him.

Lakshmi Holmstrom in “The Novels of R. K. Narayan” Calcutta: Writers Workshop Publication, 1973, comments “Different abilities and values are opposed and matched until Pal becomes a “nightmare to Margayya”. Keeping the above statement in mind, trace the evolution of Margayya and Mr. Pal’s relationship.

“A man whom the goddess of wealth favours need not worry much. He can buy all the knowledge he requires. He can afford to buy all gifts that Goddess Saraswathi holds in her palm” In the light of the above lines, elaborate on the relation of the human and divine realms in R.K. Narayan’s The Financial Expert.

Describe briefly Margayya’s new found career in the publishing house.

Transform the following sentence as per the given instruction.

The old woman said to Arun, “Can you help me to cross the street?”
(Begin: The old woman asked Arun……………….) 

Transform the following sentence as per the given instruction.

How cruel Shylock was to demand his pound of flesh!
(Begin: It was cruel………………….) 

You are the editor of your school magazine. You have recently attended a cultural program in your city. Write an account of this program (in approximately 300 words) using the points given below:

State any two objectives of problem identification.

How is 'Naturalisation of Humans' different from 'Humanisation of Nature'?

Examine any five factors which are responsible for population flow from rural to urban areas in India.

Match the Column I with Column II and choose the correct option:

Given below are the steps to generate geothermal energy. Arrange the following in correct sequence:

1. It is so hot that when it rises to the earth's surface, it turns into steam.
2. Groundwater in such areas (where the geothermal gradient is high) absorbs heat from the rocks and becomes hot.
3. This steam is used to drive turbines and generate electricity.
4. Geothermal energy exists, because the earth grows progressively hotter with increasing depth.

Classify industries of the world on the basis of raw material. Explain their features with examples.

Differentiate between retail trading and wholesale trading.

"The quaternary sector along with the tertiary sector has replaced most of the primary and secondary employment." Support the statement.

Explain the attractions which promote tourism across the globe.