SET A

CENTRAL CLUSTER EXAMINATION (2022-23)

TIME: 3 HRS CLASS XII MARKS: 80
ENGLISH CORE(301)

SECTION A (READING – 20 MARKS)

I. Read the passage given below:

1. When you grow up in a place where it rains five months a year, wise elders help you to get
acquainted with the rain early. They teach you that it is ignorant to think that it is the same rain falling
every day. Oh no, the rain is always doing different things at different times. There is rain that is gentle,
and there is also rain that falls too hard and damages the crops. Hence, the prayers are for the sweet rain
that helps the crops to grow.
2. The monsoon in the Nagahills goes by the native name, khuthotei (which means the rice-growing
season). It lasts from May to early or mid-October. The local residents firmly believe that Durga Puja in
October announces the end of rain. After that. One might expect a couple of short winter showers, and the
spring showers in March and April. Finally, comes the “big rain” in May; proper rainstorms accompanied
by heart-stopping lightning and ear-splitting thunder. I have stood out in storms, looking at lightning arc
across dark skies, a light and-sound show that can go on for hours.
3. This is the season when people use the word sezuo or sizu to refer to the week-long rains, when
clothes don’t dry and smell of mould, when fungus forms on the floor and when you can’t see the moon or
the stars because of the rainclouds. But you learn not to complain. Rain, after all, is the farmer’s friend and
brings food to the table. Rituals and festivals centre around the agricultural rhythm of life, which is the
occupation of about 70 per cent of the population.
4. The wise learns to understand its ways. I grew up hearing my grandfather say, “It’s very windy this
year. We’ll get good rain.” If the windy season was short and weak, he worried there might not be enough
rain for the crops. I learned the interconnectedness of the seasons from childhood, and marvelled at how
the wind could bring rain. Another evening, many rainy seasons ago, my paternal aunt observed the new
moon and worried, “Its legs are in the air, we’re in for some heavy rain.” She was right. That week, a storm
cut off power lines and brought down trees and bamboos
5. Eskimos boast of having a hundred of names for snow. Norwegians in the north can describe all
kinds of snow by an equal amount of names: pudder, powder snow, wet snow, slaps, extra wet snow, tight
snowfall, dry snow, and at least 95 more categories of snow. Likewise, in India we have names and names
for rain. Some are common, some are passing into history.
6. The rains are also called after flowering plants and people believe that the blossoming of those
plants draws out rain. Once the monsoon’s set in, field work is carried out in earnest and the work of
uprooting and transplanting paddy in flooded terrace fields is done. The months of hard labour are June,
July and August. In August, rain, also called phrogü, is a sign that the time for cultivation is over. If any
new grain seeds are sown, they may not sprout; even if they do sprout, they are not likely to bear grain.
The rain acts as a kind of farmer’s almanac.
7. The urban population of school-goers and office-goers naturally dislikes the monsoon and its
accompanying problems of landslides, muddy streets and periodic infections. For non-farmers, the month
of September can be depressing, when the rainfall is incessant and the awareness persists that the monsoons
will last out till October. One needs to have the heart of a farmer to remain grateful for the watery days,
and be able to observe from what seems to the inexperienced as a continuous downpour-the many kinds of
rain. Some of the commonly known rain-weeks are named after the plants that alternately bloom in August
and September. The native belief is that the flowers draw out the rain.
8. Each rain period has a job to fulfill: October rain helps garlic bulbs to form, while kümünyo rain
helps the rice bear grain. Without it, the ears of rice cannot form properly. End October is the most beautiful
month in the Naga hills, as the fields turn gold and wild sunflowers bloom over the slopes, all heralding
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the harvest. Prayers go up for protecting the fields from storms, and the rains to retreat because the grain
needs to stand in the sun and ripen. The cycle nears completion a few weeks before the harvest, and the
rain does retreat so thoroughly from the reaped furrows that the earth quickly turns hard. The months of
rain become a distant memory until it starts all over again.

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements given
below with the help of options that follow:

(i) The rains are called after flowering plants because (1)
(a) Heavy rains kill plants.
(b) Blowers grow in the rainy season
(c) it is believed that the plants bring the rain.
(d) flowers grow all the year round.

(ii) The rain is like a calendar for farmers because (1)

(a) it tells them when to sow and when to harvest.
(b) it tells them the birthdays of their children.
(c) each month has a time for plantation.
(d) different kinds of rain tell different things

(iii) People who live in cities don’t like rain because (1)
(a) It brings mud and sickness with it.
(b) they are not bothered about the farmers.
(c) They don’t like the plants that grow during the rain.
(d) going shopping becomes difficult.

(iv) People pray asking the rain to retreat because (1)

(a) The fungus and mould to dry.
(b) children don’t get a chance to play.
(c) the crops need the sun and heat to ripen.
(d) they like to pray.

Answer the following questions briefly : [1x6 = 6]

(v) Why do the elders want you to understand the rains in the Naga hills? (1)
(vi) What does Durga Puja mean to the farmers of the Naga hills? (1)
(vii) What kind of rain is called sezuo? (1)
(viii) What is the occupation of more than half the population of the Naga hills? (1)
(ix) How is the heart of the farmer different from that of the city person? (1)
(x) When does rain become a memory in the minds of the people of the NagaHills? (1)

II. Read the passage given below

1. Every morning Ravi gives his brain an extra boost. We’re not talking about drinking strong cups of
coffee or playing one of those mind-training video games advertised all over Facebook. “I jump into my
stationary bike and cycle for 45 minutes to work,” says Ravi. “When I get to my desk, my brain is at peak
activity for a few hours.” After ho mental focus comes to a halt later in the day, he starts it with another
short spell of cycling to be able to run errands.

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2. Ride, work, ride, repeat. It’s a scientifically proven system that describes some unexpected benefits
of cycling. In a recent study in the Journal of Clinical and. Diagnostic Research, scientists found that people
scored higher on tests of memory, reasoning, and planning after 30 minutes of spinning on a stationary bike
than they did before they rode the bike. They also complete the tests faster after pedalling
3. Exercise is like fertilizer for your brain. All those hours spent on exercising your muscles, create
rich capillary beds not only in leg and hip muscles, but also in your brain. More blood vessels in your brain
and muscles mean more oxygen and nutrients to help them work. When you pedal, you also force more
nerve cells to fire. The result: you double or triple the production of these cells-literally building your brain.
You also release neurotransmitters (the messengers between your brain cells) so all those cells, new and
old, can communicate with each other for better, faster functioning. That’s a pretty profound benefit to
cyclists.
4. This kind of growth is especially important with each passing birthday, because as we age, our
brains shrink and those connections weaken. Exercise restores and protects the brain cells. Neuroscientists
say, “Adults who exercise display sharper memory skills, higher concentration levels, more fluid thinking,
and greater problem-solving ability than those who are sedentary.”
5. Cycling also elevates your mood, relieves anxiety, increases stress resistance, and even banishes
the blues. “Exercise works in the same way as psychotherapy and antidepressants in the treatment of
depression, maybe better,” says Dr. Manjari. A recent study analyzing 26 years of research finds that even
some exercise as little as 20 to 30 minutes a day-can prevent depression over the long term.
6. Remember: Although it’s healthy, exercise itself is a stress, especially when you’re just getting
started or getting back into riding. When you first begin to exert yourself, your body releases a particular
hormone to raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels, says Meher Ahluwalia, PhD, a
professor of integrative physiology. As you get fitter, it takes a longer, harder ride to trigger that same
response.
On the basis of your understanding of the passage, complete the statements given below with
the help of the options that follow:

(i) Ravi gets his brain to work at peak level by (1)

(a) Drinking three cups of coffee.
(b) playing games that need brain activity
(c) cycling on a stationary bike.
(d) taking tablets to pump up his brain.

(ii) When the nerve cells work during exercise (1)

(a) the body experiences stress
(b) the brain is strengthened
(c) you start to lose your temper
(d) your stationary cycle starts to beep

(iii) ‘Banishing the blue’ is an idiom. Pick up the blue colour idiom which is nor correct. (1)
(a) Bold from the blue
(b) Once in a blue moon
(c) Caught blue-handed
(d) Out of the blue

(iv) Why does Ravi do a circuit of ‘ride, work, ride’? (1)

(a) He wants to shed his weight.
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 SET A

(b) He wants to put on weight.

(c) His brain gets elicited after that.
(d) His brain gets soppy after that.

(v) Why is exercise so important for adults? (1)

(a) 1 & 4
(b) 1, 2, and 3
(c) 2 & 3
(d ) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer the following questions briefly:

(vi) What is the work of neurotransmitters? (1)
(vii) What is the minimum duration of exercise per day to see a significant change in one’s health? (1)
(viii) How is exercise itself a stress, for the beginners? (1)
(ix) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
Manure (para 3) 2. inactive (para 4) (2)

SECTION B (WRITING- 20 Marks)

III. Attempt any one from each of the following
1. Attempt any ONE from A and B given below. (5)
A.Very soon your school is going to be a centre for CBSE examination have seen that during lunch break
students of junior classes keep going around the examination rooms and make all kinds of noises. You are
Suraj/Sudeepta, Head Boy/Head Girl, Akash Public School, Amirtsar. Write a notice in about 50 words
warning such students not to go near the examination rooms.
OR
B.You are Smrithi/Saran of Victoria Public school. Your school has organised a Science Exhibition in
connection with the death anniversary of Dr.Ramanujam. Write a notice in not more than 50 words inviting
students to participate in it. Provide all the necessary details.

2. Attempt any ONE from A and B given below. (5)

A. You are Balan/Brinda. You have just cleared NEET admission test and wish to throw a party for your
friends. Write an informal invitation for your friends giving all details.
OR

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B. Your school is going to organize the Annual English debate. You wish to invite noted journalist,
Mr.Vikram to judge the competition. Write a formal invitation in 50 words to Mr.Vikram requesting him
to judge the debate. You are Karthik/Kiran, Secretary, English Debate Society.

3. Attempt any ONE from A and B given below. (5)

A. Write an application including the resume in 120-150 words for the post of receptionist advertised in a
National Newspaper by JK publishers, Peshwaroad, Pune. You are Karuna, N10,Mall Road, Pune,
agraduate from SSN University and have done a Secretarial Practice course from TMCA, Mumbai.
OR
B.Public Demonstration causes a lot of disturbance in the daily routine of common man. You almost missed
your important entrance examination as people blocked the highway. As Tarun/Tanvi, a student aspiring
to be a doctor, write a letter to the Editor of The Hindu highlighting the need to discourage such
demonstration and disturbance by public on highways which causes a great loss of time and opportunity
for many.

4. Attempt any ONE from A and B given below. (5)

A. You are Kamal/Saroj. You suddenly realize that indoor pollution is also a potential health hazard. You
decide to write an article about it for your school magazine. Taking cues from the following verbal input
along with your own ideas write an article in about 120-150 words.
OR
B. MMD School,Nasik, recently organised a science symposium on the topic: “Effect of pollution on
quality of life. You are Amit/Amita, editor of the school magazine. Write a report on the event for your
school magazine in about 120-150 words.

SECTION-C LITERATURE - 40
IV Read the given extracts to attempt the questions with reference to context.

1. Attempt ANY ONE of two extracts given. (1x6=6)

1.A Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
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 SET A

in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.

i) The poet highlights

A. the devastating consequences of war
B. the kinds of wars
C. the difference between wars
D. how these wars are fought

ii) Victory is precious only when

A. it can be celebrated
B. it cannot be celebrated
C. it lies silent with the blood all around
D. it asks if all those who wanted to win are dead

iii) The poet _____ war.

A. condemns B. appreciates C. encourages D. favours

iv) What is the significance of ‘put on clean clothes’?

A. The warmongers will clear themselves from their sins and the stigma of waging wars.
B. The warmongers have clean character
C. They fought the war of evil and devil
D. They replaced their blood-spattered clothes with the white ones.
v) It is ironical that victory cannot be celebrated. True/False
vi) ‘Shade’ here refers to _______________.(protection/shadow)
OR
1.B The little old house was out with a little new shed,
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled.

i) Why had a new shed been put up?

A. to make a living
B. to make a house
C. to make an office
D. to make a market
ii) Who made roadside stand?
A. the sarpanch
B. the government
C. the social agencies
D. the poor rural people

iii) What does Frost’s poem deal with?

A. human tragedies, fears and their solutions
B. humans
C. nature
D. humans and nature
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 SET A

iv) ‘That too pathetically pled’. Name the figure of speech used.
A. simile
B. personification
C. hyperbole
D. metaphor
v) Why is the stand’s existence said to be ‘pathetic’?
A. because their ambition is never achieved
B. because their needs are not fulfilled
C. because their votes are of no value
D. because their views are not considered
vi) What is/are sold in the roadside stand?
A. wooden quarts
B. gallon of gas
C. golden squash
D. silver warts
2. Read the extracts given below and attempt any one of the two extracts that follow by choosing
the most appropriate options. (1x4=4)
2.A He remembered his old teacher of anatomy, who had been so insistent on mercy with the knife, and
then he remembered the face of his fat and slatternly landlady. He had had great difficulty in finding a place
to live in America because he was a Japanese. The Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter
to live in it, knowing himself their superior. How he had despised the ignorant and dirty old woman who
had at last consented to house him in her miserable home! He had once tried to be grateful to her because
she had in his last year nursed him through influenza, but it was difficult, for she was no less repulsive to
him in her kindness. Now he remembered the youthful, haggard face of his prisoner — white and repulsive.
“Strange,” he thought. “I wonder why I could not kill him?”
i) The tone of the above extract is-
A. nostalgic and satire
B. patriotic and perplexed
C. perplexed and gloomy
D. nostalgic and patriotic

ii) ‘mercy with knife’ means

A. mercy while killing the fowl
B. mercy while mowing the wild moss
C. mercy while trimming the chrysanthemums
D. mercy while operating the patients

iii) Sadao found the Americans

A. hateful people
B. merciless and unkind
C. full of prejudice towards the Japanese
D. B and C

iv)‘Slatternly’ does not correspond to

A. filthy
B. grimy
C. polluted
D. charming
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 SET A

OR
2.B A large bell rang for breakfast, its loud metallic voice crashing through the belfry overhead and into
our sensitive ears. The annoying clatter of shoes on bare floors gave us no peace. The constant clash of
harsh noises, with an undercurrent of many voices murmuring an unknown tongue, made a bedlam within
which I was securely tied. And though my spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom, all was useless.

i)“And though my spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom, all was useless”Which of the
following would most closely describe emotions of author as represented in this sentence?
A. austere
B. resignation
C. revolt
D. aggression

ii) Which of the following word as used in the extract is synonym of ‘chaos’?
A. crashing
B. undercurrent
C. clatter
D. bedlam
iii) “many voices murmuring an unknown tongue”-In this part what does ‘unknown tongue’ imply?
A. unseen tongue
B. unfamiliar language
C. illegible writing
D. inaudible voice

iv)Which of the following sound has not been mentioned in the extract?
A. metallic sound
B. clatter of shoes
C. spoken language
D. beats of heart\

3. Attempt ANY ONE of two extracts given. (1x6=6)

3.AEvenin the matter of education, especially formal education, Subbu couldn’t have had an appreciable
lead over our boy.But by virtue of being born a Brahmin- a virtue, indeed!-he must have had exposure to
more affluent situations and people.

i) Ashokamitran recounts his years at Gemini Studios in

A. his book ‘My Years with Boss’
B. his film ‘My Years with Boss’
C. his book ‘My Experiment with Boss’
D. ‘The Encounter’

ii) What does Ashokamitran’s book talk of?

A. his job
B. explain the nature of boss
C. explains his environment
D. impact of movies on every aspect of life in India

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 SET A

iii) Who are being compared here?

A. Ashokamitran and Vasan
B. office boy and Subbu
C. Stephen Spender and Vasan
D. Subbu and Ashokamitran

iv) Subbu looked cheerful evn after giving a flop film-True/False

v) Find out the word which means the same as ‘opulent’.

vi) When was the Gemini Studio set up?

A. 1920 B. 1930 C.1910 D. 1940
OR
3.B He yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?” With that he picked me up and tossed me
into the deep end. I landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to the bottom. I was
frightened, but not yet frightened out of my wits.
i) Who is ‘he’ in the above lines?
A. William Douglas
B. Douglas’ coach
C. An eighteen year old boy
D. Douglas’ best friend

ii) The water in the pool had a:

A. dirty yellow tinge
B. a blue reflection
C. green colour
D. no colour

iii) Which is an antonym of ‘wit’?

A. quip
B. jocularly
C. shrewd
D. absurdity
iv) The chap that threw me in was saying, ’But I was only fooling.” Choose the option mentioning the
personality traits of this ‘chap’.
1. persuasive 2. irresponsible
3. domineering 4. manipulative
5. callous
A. 1,2,4 B. 2,4,5 C. 2,3,5 D. 1,3,5
v) The word ‘dunk’ is a synonym for ‘ducked’. True/False
vi) ‘Deep water’ is an excerpt from which book?
A. Of Men and Mountains
B. Of Mountains and Men
C. Memories of Yakima
D. Memories of Y.M.C.A
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 SET A

V. Answer any FIVE out of the given six questions in 40-50 words each. (5x2=10)
i. What makes Mukesh different from other boys of his age?
ii. What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
iii. What did Edla notice about the stranger?
iv. Why was Franz not scolded for reaching the school late that day?
v. What is the childish longing that the poet refers to? Why is it in ‘vain’?
vi. Why did Gandhiji oppose C.F. Andrews helping him in Champaran?

VI. Answer any TWO out of the three questions in 40-50 words each. (2x2=4)
i. What were the two restricting outside forces that checked the kings in those days from
doing exactly what they wished?
ii. What measures did Sadao take for the safety of the American?
iii. Why do you think Zitkala was so opposed to cutting of her hair?

VII. Answer any ONE out of the given two questions in 120-150 words each. (1x5=5)
i. Give a character sketch of Umberto Eco on the basis of the chapter ‘The Interview’.
OR
ii. What are the hazards of working in a glass bangle industry?

VIII. Answer any ONE out of the given two questions in 120-150 words each. (1x5=5)
i. The author calls her two-week stay in Antarctica, ‘a chilling prospect’. How far do you think is she
justified? What other features of the Antarctic environment are highlighted?
OR
ii. How is the Derry we meet at the beginning different from the Derry we meet at end?

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