Subject Code 107 & 108
B A F Shaheen College Dhaka Half-Yearly Examination 2018
Class XI
Subject : English 1st & 2nd Paper
Time : 3 Hours Full Marks 100
Part A : Seen Comprehension (20 marks) 1. Read the passage and answer the questions A and B.
I caught sight of her at the play, and in answer to her beckoning, I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her, and if someone had not mentioned her name, I hardly think I would have recognized her.
She addressed me brightly. "Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time does fly! We’re none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon."
Did I remember?
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment in the Latin quarter overlooking a cemetery, and I was earning barely enough money to keep body and soul together. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and presently I received from her another letter saying that she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me; but her time was limited, and the only free moment she had was on the following Thursday; she was spending the morning at the Luxembourg and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot's afterwards? Foyot's is a restaurant at which the French senators eat, and it was so far beyond my means that I had never even thought of going there. But I was flattered, and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman... I had eighty francs (gold francs) to last me the rest of the month, and a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen.
If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks, I could manage well enough.
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives. 15 = 5 a. The term 'Latin quarter' refers to .
i) a posh area
ii) an ordinary place where common people live iii) a section of Paris popular with students and writers
iv) a busy area
b. The word 'modest' stands for .
i) tolerable ii) humble iii) attractive iv) moderate c. "I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman." What does the
writer mean by this?
i) He was flattered by her proposal ii) He did not know what to say iii) He wanted to meet her
iv) He had enough money d. A play is .
i) a game ii) a picture
iii) a theatre performance iv) activities of children e. The word 'overlook' stands for .
i) command ii) have a view of iii) notice iv) fail to
B. Answer the following questions. 15=5
a. What was the financial condition of the writer when he lived in a small apartment in Pairs?
b. Why couldn't the writer recognize the lady at the play?
c. What did the admirer write in her first and second letters?
d. Where was the lady supposed to be on Thursday morning?
e. How did the writer calculate on spending his money before meeting his admirer at Foyot's?
2. Read the following text and make a flowchart showing the conditions of Anne Frank
from her birth to death. (One is done for you). 15=5
Anne Frank is perhaps the most well-known victim of the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. Anne, born on 12 June, 1929, was given a diary at the age of 13, in which she chronicled her life from 1942 to 1944. During this time, Anne spent two years in hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam in a secret annex with four other Jews. Betrayed and discovered in 1944, Anne was sent to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, where she died of typhus in 1945. Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only occupant of the secret annex to survive the war. In 1947, he published Anne’s diary as The Diary of a Young Girl.
1. Born on 12 June
1929 2 3 4 5 6
3. Summarize the following text. 5
When you are in the driving seat of a car, you have the steering and the horn in your hands, the brake and accelerator under your feet, eyes open looking ahead, left and right. The same can be said about a motorcycle rider, with some modifications.
These are all very visible. But, behind all, there is something that keeps working unseen. And that is the Central Processing Unit (CPU), your brain. CPUs are artificially intelligent machines that are programmed to do specific jobs under fixed conditions and judgements. But the human brain is intelligent by nature. It is the most sophisticated machine that is able to operate on ever-changing conditions and standards of judgement. As conditions in the traffic keep invariably changing, this virtue of sophistication of your brain must be at work when you are driving. The difference between traffic in the roads and highways and racing circuit must not be blurring inside you. Never imagine yourself to be a Michael Schumacher driving an F-1 at 300 mph. Leave no room for fantasy. You must always be ready to encounter unexpected behavior from any vehicle or pedestrian. ‘Keep your cool’ is easy to advice but difficult to maintain. Still you must always restrain yourself because, at the end of the day, you don’t want to be regarded as a killer. Now you see, the last thing that differentiates you from a computer is your conscience.
Part B : Vocabulary (25 marks)
4. Fill in the following gapes using the clues given in the boxes. Make grammatical
changes if needed. 0.510=5
skills social development transition intervene
members both pressures arise communities
Adolescents depend on their families, their (a) , schools, health services and their workplaces to learn a wide range of (b) that can help them to cope with the (c) they face and make a successful (d) from childhood to adulthood. Parents, (e) of the community, service providers, and (f) institutions have the responsibility to (g) promote adolescent (h) and adjustment and to (i) effectively when problems (j) .
5. Fill in the following gaps with the suitable words: 110=10 Although Tereshkova experienced (a) and physical discomfort for much of the flight, she (b) the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space. With a (c) flight, she logged more flight time than the (d) times of all American astronauts who had flown (e) that date. Tereshkova also maintained a flight (f) and took photographs of the horizon, which were (g) used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere. Vostok-6 was the (h) Vostok flight and was (i) two days after Vostok-5, which carried Valary Bykovsy into a similar orbit for five days, (j) three hours after Tereshkova.
6. The following sentences are jumbled. Rearrange them in proper sequence. 10 i) They were aliens in their own country and were subjected to all sorts of
indignities.
ii) The blacks were treated cruelly.
iii) The great leader vowed to put an end to the inhuman practice.
iv) They were denied all basic human rights.
v) Even dogs received a much better treatment than the blacks.
vi) Eventually, the great leader realised the goal of liberating his own people.
vii) He was thrown behind the prison bar.
viii) Nelson Mandela was the greatest leader of South Africa.
ix) But the oppressive rulers could not break the spirit.
x) In fact, he was one of the greatest leaders of the world who struggled against apartheid throughout his life.
Part C: Grammar (20 marks)
7. Complete the sentences using clauses/phrases. 0.510=5
a) Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. You must go to bed early so that .
b) Moontaha was expecting a brilliant result. Hardly had the result been published when .
c) The poem was too difficult for . The teacher told the students to listen to him carefully.
d) Climate change is so alarming that it . We must be aware of this fact.
e) Trees are very important for our existence on earth. We should stop cutting trees. It is high time we .
f) We can ensure a healthy and comfortable life by .
g) If you , you will never understand the agony of failure.
h) Dola and MIthila did not know anything about the matter. If , they would have told Primo.
i) Planting trees must be our priority. We have to plant more trees lest we .
j) We must try to maintain a good health. Though a healthy man is an , an unhealthy man is a liability.
8. Read the text and fill in the gaps with correct form of verbs as per subject and
context. 0.510=5
Change is the order of nature because we know the proverb that old order changes (a) (yield) place to the new. So, nothing (b) (remain) new forever. The same we (c) (notice) in the entertainment also. Old and traditional forms (d) (change) by new, modified and modern forms of entertainment. Many of them (e) (not, exists) any longer. Today TV channels and satellite have superseded radio, similarly band and pop music (f) (replace) our popular old songs. Football (g) (lose) its appeal day by day. Cricket and other games (h) (become) more and more popular. Our ideas about the popularity of entertainment also (i) (change).
We've started (j) (look) upon our forms of life in a new way.
9. Identify the unclear pronoun references in the following text. Where necessary, rewrite the sentences so that all pronoun references are clear. 5 Greenhouse effect is an alarming phenomenon for our country. It occurs because of the production of carbon-di-oxide in our environment. Its amount is increasing day by day. The main cause of it is the burning of fossil fuels. Since the end of the 19th century, industrial activities increased rapidly giving rise to many factories. They required energy which was produced through the combustion of coal. Besides coal, other sources of it such as mineral oil and natural gas were also burnt to heat the house, move cars and airplanes or to produce electricity. Unless and until we control it, we have to face more disastrous consequences in days to come.
10. Read the following text and use modifiers as directed in the blank spaces : 0.5×10=05 Ayesha Begum has three sons and two daughters. Her husband was a (a) (pre- modify the noun) farmer who used (b) (post-modify the verb by using infinitive) on other people's land. With great effort they married (c) (use a pronoun) daughters off by the time they reached teenage. The sons also started (d) (use present participle to modify the verb) with their father as (e) (pre-modify the noun) labourers when they were old enough to help. By the time they were seventeen, they left for towns (f) (use infinitive to post modify the verb) money.
At first they used to send money to their parents (g) , (use an adverb to post modify the verb) but after getting married they barely had enough to support their (h) (pre-modify the noun) families. Out of desperation, Ayesha Begum started (i) (post-modify the verb) in the village to feed her old, (j) (pre-modify the noun) husband and herself.
Part D: Writing (35 marks)
11. Write a report on the Celebration of Independence Day at your college. 10 12. The graph below shows the "The increasing trend in Internet Users in Bangladesh from 2001 to 2011. Describe the graph in at least 80 words. You should highlight the information and the main features given in the graph. 10
13. Suppose you are Azam from West Nakhalpara ,Tejgaon,Dhaka and your friend, Mahin, lives in Bhanga,Faridpur. Now, Write a letter to her describing to be aware
of the negative use of facebook . 5
14. Write down the theme of the following extract: 10
BLOW, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh ho! sing, heigh ho!
unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp, Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remember'd not.
Heigh ho! sing, heigh ho!
unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
