SAMPLE QUESTION
PAPER SET –1
CLASS XI SEMESTER II
Short Answer Type
SUBJECT: ENGLISH B
Questions
Time: 2 hours Full Marks: 40
PROSE
1. Answer the following questions in your own words, each in about 40 words. (Answer any two).
2×2=4
(a) How did Laura behave when she first met the workmen?
(b) What was Jimmy’s profession before his arrest?
(c) According to Bacon, what do studies serve for?
(d) What does Mother Teresa say about the greatest destroyer of peace?
(e) What change had come about in Woodifield’s life since his retirement and stroke?
(f) What was Jimmy doing when the guard came to the shoe shop?
(g) How was the weather in the morning on the day of the garden party ‘
VERSE
2. Answer the following questions in your own words, each in about 40 words. (Answer any two).
2×2=4
(a) Who wrote the poem “My Last Duchess”? To which age did he belong?
(b) Why does the speaker use the symbol of dust in the poem “Still I Rise”?
(c) Who is the speaker of the poem “My Last Duchess”?
(d) What does Angelou mean by “You may write me down in history”?
Long Answer Type Questions
PROSE
3. Answer the following questions in your own words, each in about 120 words. (Answer any one). 1×6=6
(a) “You’ll have to go, Laura; you’re the artistic one.” – Who said this and to whom? What was the
occasion of this remark? (2+4)
(b) What was the warden’s advice to Jimmy? What was Jimmy’s reply? [3+3]
(c) “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.” — Where has the line been taken from?
Who wrote it? What does the essayist mean by it? [1+1+4]
(d) Narrate the experience Mother Teresa had when there was a great difficulty in getting sugar.
(e) Describe the boss’s office. What does it suggest about his personality and emotional state?
(f) How does the ‘garden’ in the story reflect the characteristics of modern society? Comment
VERSE
4. Answer the following questions in your own words, each in about 120 words. (Answer any one). 1×6=6
(a) Write a note on the significance of the title of the poem *‘My Last Duchess’.
(b) “Does my sassiness upset you?”– Who asks this question to whom? Why does the speaker’s sassiness
upset others? [1+2+3]
(c) What made the Duke unhappy with his Duchess?
RAPID READER
5. Answer the following questions in your own words, each in about 120 words. (Answer any one). 1×5=5
(a) Consider ‘The Ghost-Brahman’ as a supernatural short story.
(b) Comment on the significance of the title of the story ‘A Ghostly Wife’.
(c) “This tree is my life.”—Who said this, and how was this proved to be true? [5]
(d) What is a curriculum? How was the curriculum of Subhas’s school framed? [1+4]
(e) What does the story ‘The Parrot’s Tale’ satirise? What message does Tagore convey through this
satire?
NON-TEXTUAL GRAMMAR
6. Do as directed: 1×5=5
(a) It is raining for a week. (Correct the error)
(b) The old man was tired. He sat down on the road. (Join into a simple sentence)
(c) The Ganges is the longest river in India. (Make it into a positive degree)
(d) We are proud of him. (Use the noun form of proud)
(e) He said, “Goodbye, my friends”. (Turn it into indirect speech)
WRITING
7. Write a paragraph in about 150 words on “Digha’s Jagannath Temple” using the given points: 10×1=10
[Points: Introduction – located near New Digha – deities worshipped – inspired by Puri temple and Odia
architecture – inaugurated on April 30, 2025, by West Bengal Chief Minister – built with red sandstone
brought from Rajasthan – peaceful environment-temple complex ideal for worship and reflection-
promotes tourism and culture- festivals and celebrations – conclusion. ]
OR
8. (a) Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper highlighting reckless driving and the indiscriminate use
of a microphone on the road. 5×1=5
(b) Write a report on “Health Awareness Camp Organised by WHO,” using the given points: 5×1=5
[Points: Health awareness camp – organised by WHO – date – time – volunteers chosen from local clubs-
responsibilities of the volunteers.]