HSC Arts Class 11 - Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education Question Bank Solutions

Fill in the blank with suitable modal verb.

There is a lot of time left, so you ______ not panic.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Peter always refuses alcohol, when it is offered to him at parties and takes a soft drink instead. He says he always has abstained and will always abstain from alcohol as it is a matter of principle for him. We can call Peter a ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Aruna always looks at the bright side of things. Even in the face of misfortune, she firmly believes that everything will work out for the best in the end. Aruna is an ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

The rich industrialist donated a huge sum of money to set up a public library in his native village. He is a ______ and a social reformer.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Antony has the amazing ability to use both his hands, equally well. He can write, draw and perform various other tasks with equal speed and efficiency with his left as well as his right hand. Antony is ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

The Chairperson of our company keeps travelling all over the world to attend conferences and we call her a ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Due to some disturbing incidents in her childhood, Neetu grew into a reclusive adult. She tends to keep aloof and avoids all kinds of social activities. Neetu is a ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Tharini acts as an interpreter at meetings between statesmen from different countries. She is also a much sought-after tour guide, as she is wellversed and fluent in multiple languages. Tharini is a ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

Richard Burton was a gifted theatre artist. He donned several roles with ease and is especially famous for the Shakespearean parts he played on stage. Mr. Burton is a born ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

The Chairman of this concern seems to derive pleasure from inflicting pain on others. He humiliates and hurts his subordinates for no reason. He is a real ______.

Fill in the blank choosing the word from the box. Refer to a dictionary if required. 

My grandparents are in their nineties. I am glad that this ______couple is active, cheerful and in good health.

Find the antonyms of the following words in the puzzle and shade them with a pencil. The first one has been done for you.

Spot the word

First, read the incomplete sentences given below. Listen to two interesting anecdotes about two scientists, that your teacher will read aloud or play on the recorder. Then, based on your understanding, complete the sentences suitably.

Thomas Alva Edison stepped from a train in Orange, New Jersey and walked down the platform. The station master knew how forgetful the famous inventor was. Therefore, he would always ask him a customary question. He asked Edison if he had left anything behind. Edison confidently replied that he had not left anything and everything was safe with him. Then, he began taking a count of his suitcases. As he was doing so, he happened to look up at the train. With a start, he dropped his bags and raced back to the car in which he had been travelling. What prompted that burst of activity was the face of his bride, with whom he had just married and returned from a honeymoon trip, staring from a window.

Albert Einstein was working at the Princeton University. One day when he was going back home he forgot his home address. The driver of the cab aid not recognize him. Einstein asked the driver if he knew Einstein’s home. The driver exclaimed that there could be no one who did not know Einstein’s address. He added that everyone in Princeton knew where Einstein lived and asked him if he wanted to meet Einstein. Einstein with a sheepish grin replied that he was Einstein and he had forgotten his residential address. He requested the cabbie if he could take him there. The astonished driver drove him home and dropped him safely. The cabbie considered driving Einstein a great honour and refused to charge him for the service.

1. Edison travelled to New Jersey by ______.
2. The station master enquired Edison if ______.
3. Edison raced back to the car when he saw ______.
4. Albert Einstein was working in ______.
5. One day, when he was going back home, he ______.
6. Einstein asked the cab driver if he knew ______.
7. The driver was so good that he ______.

You are travelling by train. When the Train Ticket Examiner enters your compartment, much to your shock, you realize you have forgotten to bring your train ticket. How will you handle the situation?

Now, read the following biographical extract on Sujatha Rangarajan, a Sciencefiction writer, and answer the questions that follow.

1. Sujatha is the allonym of the Tamil author S. Rangarajan and it is this name that is recognised at once by the Tamil SciFi reading community. You might have seen the Tamil movie ‘Endiran’ where the robot Chitti exhibits extraordinary talents in an incredible manner. The robot could excel a human being in any act, beyond one’s imagination. Jeeno, a robotic dog which appeared in Sujatha’s science fiction novel “En Iniya Iyandhira” (My Dear Robot) formed the basis of Chitti’s character. Like Chitti, Jeeno was an allrounder who could cook, clean and fight. High-tech computer technology terms are used in the story. Jeeno, a pet robot, plays an important role throughout the story. As the story proceeds, it behaves and starts to think on its own like a human and instructs Nila, a human being, on how to proceed further in her crises.
2. In the preface of ‘En Iniya Iyandhira’, the writer states the reason for his attraction to the genre: “Science gives us the wonderful freedom to analyse thousands and thousands of alternative possibilities. While using it, and while playing with its new games, a writer needs to be cautious only about one thing. The story should draw some parallels or association from the emotions and desires of the present humankind. Only then it becomes interesting. Jeeno, the robot dog, was intelligent. But the character became popular only because of the robot’s frequently displayed human tendencies.” It is no wonder that all his works echo these words and will remain etched in the minds of the readers who enjoy reading his novels to have a wonderful lifetime experience.
3. It was Sujatha, who set the trend for sci-fi stories. He had tracked the origin from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to his short stories. He has written 50 sci-fi short stories and these were published in various Tamil magazines. His stories have inspired many readers to extend their reading to English sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov. The themes were bold, even if there was a dependence on a very well-established characterization of English fiction. Sujatha opened up a new world to us with his writings on holograms, computers and works like ‘En Iniya Iyanthira’ inspire many to study computer science.
4. He has been one of the greatest writers for more than four decades. He combined reasoning and science in his writings. Being a multifaceted hi-fi and sci-fi humanistic author, he expressed his views distinctively. He was the one who took Tamil novels to the next level. As an MIT alumnus and an engineer at BHEL, he was very good at technology. He could narrate sci-fi stories impressively. His readers always enjoyed reading all his detective and sci-fi novels which featured the most famous duo ‘Ganesh’ and ‘Vasanth’.
5. Sujatha has played a crucial role as a playwright for various Tamil movies which have fascinated movie lovers. Hence, it is fathomable that the writer’s perspective of future India enthuses every reader and paves a new way to reading sci-fi stories in English.

A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. How was Jeeno different from other robots?
2. What precaution should one take while writing Science fiction stories?
3. What inspired Sujatha’s themes?
4. Why were Sujatha’s sci-fi stories impressive?

B. Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following.

1. difficult to believe (para 1)
2. a style or category of art, music or literature (para 2)
3. having many sides (para 4)
4. capable of being understood (para 5)

You forget to wish your best friend on his/her birthday. He gets very angry. How will you try to pacify him/her? Construct a dialogue of about 4 to 5 exchanges and enact a role play

‘Forgetfulness is the beginning of happiness’- Do you agree or disagree? Discuss in class.

Is there a link between intelligence and absent-mindedness? Share your views on this subject, with the class.

Identify the change in these pair of active and passive construction.

The pilot flew the airplane to Bengaluru. The airplane was flown to Bengaluru by the pilot.

Identify the change in these pair of active and passive construction.

The bananas were eaten by the monkey. The monkeys ate the bananas.