BSEB Class 12 English Question Paper 2021

Board-pattern practice paper modelled on the BSEB 2021 Class 12 English (Core) paper: 50 objective marks + 50 subjective marks.

100 marks 195 minutes51 questions

Attempt a timed mock

Section A — Objective (50 marks)

1. Who says 'A clean knowledge of the past is a prerequisite to the building of a great future'?
1. (A) Mahatma Gandhi
2. (B) Jawaharlal Nehru
3. (C) Dr. Zakir Husain
4. (D) S. Radhakrishnan
2. Dr. Zakir Husain delivered the speech 'Bharat is My Home' after taking the oath of the ____.
1. (A) Prime Minister
2. (B) President
3. (C) Chief Minister
4. (D) Governor
3. According to 'A Pinch of Snuff', Daya's wife was ____.
1. (A) very talkative
2. (B) very quiet
3. (C) very intelligent
4. (D) very foolish
4. Martin Luther King Jr. belonged to ____.
1. (A) America
2. (B) Africa
3. (C) England
4. (D) India
5. Bertrand Russell was a famous ____.
1. (A) Poet
2. (B) Novelist
3. (C) Philosopher and Writer
4. (D) Scientist
6. The Artist' is a story about the life of a ____.
1. (A) Teacher
2. (B) Doctor
3. (C) Painter
4. (D) Musician
7. Which book is mentioned in 'A Child is Born' that talks about the new life?
1. (A) The Bible
2. (B) The Quran
3. (C) The Holy Vedas
4. (D) The Upanishads
8. The writer of 'How Free is the Press' is ____.
1. (A) Dorothy Parker
2. (B) D.H. Lawrence
3. (C) John Keats
4. (D) Doris Lessing
9. John Donne is a renowned ____ poet.
1. (A) Romantic
2. (B) Metaphysical
3. (C) Victorian
4. (D) Modern
10. Walt Whitman is the author of ____.
1. (A) Sweetest Love I Do Not Goe
2. (B) Ode to Autumn
3. (C) Song of Myself
4. (D) The Soldier
11. The poem 'Now the Leaves are Falling Fast' speaks about the ____ of life.
1. (A) Joy
2. (B) Sorrow
3. (C) Cycle
4. (D) Beauty
12. John Keats is famous for his ____.
1. (A) Odes
2. (B) Sonnet
3. (C) Ballads
4. (D) Epics
13. Who wrote 'An Epitaph'?
1. (A) Walter de la Mare
2. (B) John Donne
3. (C) Walt Whitman
4. (D) Rupert Brooke
14. 'The Soldier' is a ____ poem.
1. (A) Love
2. (B) Patriotic
3. (C) Nature
4. (D) Sad
15. T.S. Eliot is the author of ____.
1. (A) Snake
2. (B) Macavity: The Mystery Cat
3. (C) Fire-Hymn
4. (D) My Grandmother's House
16. The poet of 'Fire-Hymn' is ____.
1. (A) Keki N. Daruwalla
2. (B) D.H. Lawrence
3. (C) John Keats
4. (D) Walt Whitman
17. D.H. Lawrence wrote the poem ____.
1. (A) Snake
2. (B) The Soldier
3. (C) An Epitaph
4. (D) Song of Myself
18. Kamala Das wrote ____.
1. (A) Snake
2. (B) Fire-Hymn
3. (C) My Grandmother's House
4. (D) Macavity: The Mystery Cat
19. The passive voice of 'He is writing a letter' is:
1. (A) A letter is written by him.
2. (B) A letter was written by him.
3. (C) A letter is being written by him.
4. (D) A letter has been written by him.
20. Choose the correct form of the verb: She ____ to Delhi yesterday.
1. (A) go
2. (B) goes
3. (C) went
4. (D) gone
21. He is proud ____ his achievements.
1. (A) of
2. (B) on
3. (C) in
4. (D) about
22. The train ____ before I reached the station.
1. (A) will leave
2. (B) leaves
3. (C) had left
4. (D) has left
23. The opposite of 'ancient' is ____.
1. (A) old
2. (B) modern
3. (C) new
4. (D) recent
24. Someone who knows everything is called ____.
1. (A) Omniscient
2. (B) Omnipotent
3. (C) Optimist
4. (D) Pessimist
25. The synonym of 'curious' is ____.
1. (A) Bored
2. (B) Indifferent
3. (C) Interested
4. (D) Lazy
26. He said, 'I am ill'. He said that he ____ ill.
1. (A) is
2. (B) was
3. (C) were
4. (D) had been
27. The idiom 'to cut a sorry figure' means ____.
1. (A) to be very happy
2. (B) to be unsuccessful
3. (C) to be very rich
4. (D) to be very brave
28. The adjective form of 'beauty' is ____.
1. (A) beautify
2. (B) beautiful
3. (C) beauteous
4. (D) beautyful
29. She is ____ honest.
1. (A) a
2. (B) an
3. (C) the
4. (D) no article
30. Select the correct spelling.
1. (A) Achivement
2. (B) Achievment
3. (C) Achievement
4. (D) Acheivment

Section B — Short answer questions

1. What does the narrator mean by 'I have had my share of life'?
2 marks
2. Explain the significance of the title 'The Portrait of a Lady'.
2 marks
3. What does the phrase 'My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains my sense' suggest about the speaker's state of mind?
2 marks
4. How does the speaker contrast his fate with that of the nightingale?
2 marks
5. What is the meaning of 'a thing of beauty is a joy for ever'?
2 marks
6. Why does the poet consider beauty a boon for mankind?
2 marks
7. What is the central theme of 'The Earth is Rich'?
2 marks
8. Explain the irony in the title 'The Earth is Rich'.
2 marks
9. What is the significance of the banyan tree in 'The Children's Song'?
2 marks
10. What does the speaker mean by 'the fields of grain are no longer green'?
2 marks

Section C — Long answer questions

1. Provide the central idea of the poem 'An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum'.
6 marks
2. Explain the following passage: 'The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.'
6 marks
3. Discuss the message of R.C. Hutchinson in his essay 'The Adventure of Education'.
6 marks
4. What is the significance of the title 'Politics and the English Language' by George Orwell?
6 marks
5. Explain the writer's viewpoint on the importance of 'roots' in the essay 'Indian Civilization and Culture'.
6 marks

Section D — Writing & grammar

1. (1) You are Rohan/Riya, a resident of Kankarbagh, Patna. Write a letter to the Editor of a reputed daily newspaper about the problem of waterlogging in your locality during the monsoon season. OR (1) You are Anil Kumar, a student of Class XII, residing at Mohalla - Rampur, Gaya. Write an application to the Principal of your school for issuing a character certificate for your higher studies.
5 marks
2. (2) Write a paragraph on 'The Importance of Discipline in Student Life' in about 100 words. OR (2) Write a report on 'A Visit to a Historical Place' in about 100 words.
5 marks
3. (3) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: Reading maketh a man complete; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies; that is, like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So, if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they differ more than any. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt. (a) What does Bacon mean by 'reading maketh a man complete'? (b) According to Bacon, what is the benefit of conference? (c) How can cunning be a substitute for reading?
5 marks
4. (4) Translate the following Hindi sentences into English: (i) भारत एक महान देश है। (ii) हमें अपने पर्यावरण को स्वच्छ रखना चाहिए। (iii) महात्मा गाँधी अहिंसा के पुजारी थे। (iv) कल मैं दिल्ली जाऊँगा। (v) क्या तुम कल विद्यालय आए थे?
5 marks
5. (5) Change the voice of the following sentences (Active to Passive or Passive to Active): (i) The thief was caught by the police. (ii) Open the door. (iii) She has completed the project. (iv) The ball was thrown by the boy. (v) They are building a house.
5 marks
6. (6) Write a composition on any one of the following topics in about 150-200 words. (a) The Person I Admire Most (b) Science and Human Happiness (c) The Book I Like Most
5 marks