Commerce (English Medium) इयत्ता १२ - CBSE Question Bank Solutions

Does Amartya Sen see argumentation as a positive or a negative value?

How is the message of the Gita generally understood and portrayed? What change in interpretation does Sen suggest?

This essay is an example of argumentative writing. Supporting statements with evidence is a feature of this kind of writing.

For each of the statements given below state the supportive evidence provided in the essay

(i) Prolixity is not alien to India.

(ii) The arguments are also, often enough, substantive.

(iii) This admiration for the Gita, and Krishna’s arguments, in particular, has been a lasting phenomenon in parts of European culture.

(iv) There remains a powerful case for ‘faring well’, and not just ‘forward’.

Examine the noun phrases in these sentences from the text

• The second woman head of the Indian National Congress, Nellie Sengupta, was elected in 1933.
• This concerns the relation—and the distance—between income and achievement.
• This may be particularly significant in understanding the class basis of the rapid spread of Buddhism, in particular, in India.

What is the parallel drawn between myths and legends of the past and science fiction?

What gives science fiction its validity?

Which literary works does the author have in mind when he refers to ‘Open Sesame’ or the concept of winged horses or flying carpets?

What makes for the distinction between the various genres of fiction—‘a sports story’, ‘a Western story’, ‘a jungle story’ and science fiction?

How does Asimov establish that John Campbell was wrong in his opinion that it is not possible for a science fiction mystery to be fair to a reader in the same way as a classical mystery is?

What are the pitfalls that the writer of science fiction mystery must guard against?

Discuss in small groups

Imagination and fantasy help human beings to speculate upon the possible explanations for the complexity and unpredictability of the phenomena in the universe.

The difference that science and technology have made to everyday life today was visualized in science fiction fifty years ago.

Discuss the author’s attitude towards the pre-scientific imagination and the tone he adopts while talking about it.

Observe how the paragraph, as a form, has been used in the essay. Some paragraphs consist of just one sentence. What purpose do you think the author had in putting them in this manner?

Mark the linkers used by the author to connect the point he makes in one paragraph with that in the next. For example, Let me explain the difference that makes in the last line of para 1 of Section II. These are called discourse markers or discourse signalers.

(i) Look up a literary dictionary or encyclopedia or the internet to understand the references to the following mythical creatures

Find out parallel creatures in Indian mythology.

Find out about the story of Achilles and Hector.

Here is a sentence with transitive verbs, adapted from the text. Identify the noun phrases that are the verbs’ objects, and underline them. Then turn this sentence into a passive form.

• He expected a sudden change of rules.

Here is a sentence with transitive verbs, adapted from the text. Identify the noun phrases that are the verbs’ objects, and underline them. Then turn this sentence into a passive form.

• Nothing prevents writers from using actual science.

Here is a sentence with transitive verbs, adapted from the text. Identify the noun phrases that are the verbs’ objects, and underline them. Then turn this sentence into a passive form.

• He revealed that he didn’t know the difference between the element and the compound.