Science (English Medium) Class 12 - CBSE Question Bank Solutions for English Elective - NCERT

Mental illnesses affect 19% of the adult population, 46% of teenagers and 13% of children each year. However, only half of those affected receive treatment, often because of the stigma attached to mental health. Draft a speech discussing importance of mental health awareness and effective strategies to promote mental health.

Read the poem ‘Digging’ by Seamus Heaney, given below.

Based on your understanding of the poem, answer the given questions.

1. What is the significance of the comparison of the pen to a gun in the second line of the poem?         1
   1. It highlights the violence and aggression associated with writing.
   2. It emphasizes the power of the written word to bring about change.
   3. It suggests that the act of writing can be just as dangerous as using a weapon.
   4. It demonstrates the speaker's admiration for their father's skill with both a pen and a spade.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the speaker's attitude towards his father's work in the poem?      1
   1. The speaker admires his father's hard work and dedication to his task.
   2. The speaker is critical of his father's choice of profession and feels it is beneath him.
   3. The speaker is indifferent to his father's work and does not place much value on it.
   4. The speaker is resentful of his father for making them participate in the work.
3. Complete the sentence appropriately.       1
   The poet’s use of a metaphor in the line "The coarse boot nestled on the lug, ...” compares ______.
4. What can be inferred about the setting of the poem based on the description of the sound of the spade sinking into the ground?      1
   1. The setting is rural and quiet.
   2. The setting is urban and noisy.
   3. The setting is industrial, yet serene.
   4. The setting is suburban and bustling.
5. What is the effect of the repetition of the word "digging" throughout the poem?     1

Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery it transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices:

• Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or more exciting than it really is. For example: Garbage to them is gold.

• A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor “transfers” a quality of one thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.

• Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the words “like” or “as”. For example: As white as snow.

Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you identify the literary device in each example?

1. Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.

2. Drowned in an air of desolation.

3. Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.

4. For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of survival.

5. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.

6. She still has bangles on her wrist, but not light in her eyes.

7. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.

8. Web of poverty.

9. Scrounging for gold.

10. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.

11. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulders.

Pick out one or two other examples of allusion from the story and comment briefly on the comparison made.

Recently your school held a Seminar on the Conservation of Water as a part of World Water Day celebrations. As the Head Boy/Head Girl of your school, who participated in the event, write a report for your school magazine in 120-150 words. You are Ravi/Ravina.

Ways and means Inc. An organization engaged in personality development programmes, organized a leadership Training Workshop in your school recently. Write a report in about 150-200 words for a newspaper.

Notice the use or non-use of the comma in the following sentences.

1. When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, he told me what happened in Champaran.

2. He had not proceeded far when the police superintendent’s messenger overtook him.

3. When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days. 

Take note also that the apostrophe is not used for indicating the possessive form: loves philosophy.

Failure is an inescapable part of life and critically important part of any successful life. Describe a transformative failure you faced and how it changed you.

The prerequisites of being a hero have undergone a huge change over the years. Describe in about 120-150 words what qualities do GEN Z admire and looks for when they envision their hero.

Notice the adjectives in phrases such as ‘infant loves’ and ‘brave clearness. What is the meaning of these adjectives

(i) in isolation

(ii) as part of these phrases.

Notice the rhyme scheme in the poem. Do you notice a consistent pattern? We use a new letter for every new sound at the end of the lines. The rhyme scheme for the first stanza is given alongside the lines. Do it for the rest of the poem.

Letter writing.

Mr. and Mrs. Agarwal of Pushp Farms, Kolkata, are hosting a party on the occasion of the twenty-first birthday of their daughter, Vinita. Write a letter of invitation to Sonakshi, their niece, giving details of the date, time and venue in about 50 words.

Write the sound sequences for the following words

Find out and write down the definitions of the following terms used in the film industry

script -

project -

montage -

flashback -

stage -

prop -

footlights -

Certain words in the poem have been capitalized. Can you think of reasons for this?

1. He made them himself at odd moments.

2. He raised himself.

3. He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught.

4. … a day may come when you yourself may want to get a big piece of pork.

Notice the way in which these reflexive pronouns have been used (pronoun + self)

In 1 and 4 the reflexive pronouns “himself” and “yourself” are used to convey emphasis.

In 2 and 3 the reflexive pronoun is used in place of personal pronoun to signal that it refers to the same subject in the sentence.

Pick out other examples of the use of reflexive pronouns from the story and notice how they are used.

Notice the sentences in the text which are in ‘direct speech’.

Why does the author use quotations in his narration?  

“Do you want some more ice cream or a slice of cake?” asked my aunt.

(Begin: My aunt asked.....)