The document provides a model paper for the 2nd PUC English Mid-Term Exam. It includes the following sections: portions from literary works to be covered on the exam, topics in the Springs section worth 50 marks, short answer questions to test reading comprehension, longer answer questions, a passage for reading comprehension, exercises on grammar and vocabulary, and options for report writing or a speech.
2. Portions for the Midterm Exam
( Springs (50)+ Streams (50) = 100)
ROMEO AND JULIET (William Shakespeare)
TOO DEAR (Leo Tolstoy)
ON CHILDREN (Kahlil Gibran)
A SUNNY MORNING (Serafin and Joaquin Alvarez Quinter)
WHEN YOU ARE OLD (W B Yeats)
THE GARDENER (P Lankesh)
HEAVEN, IF YOU ARE NOT ON EARTH (Kuvempu)
4. I Answer the following in a word, phrase or a sentence each. (12x1=12)
1.When, according to Juliet, would all the world be in love with
night?
Ans. When Romeo is cut into little stars/makes the face of heaven so
fine.
2. How does Juliet address Romeo?
Ans. Juliet calls Romeo ‘day in night’.
3. What would people do after losing in gaming houses?
Ans. They would either shoot or drown themselves
4. How much did the king spend annually?
Ans. The king spent 600 francs on the criminal annually. .
5.According to the speaker in ‘On Children’, what may be given to children?
Ans. According to the speaker love may be given to the children .
6. Where according to the speaker in ‘On Children’ does the archer see the mark?
Ans. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite.
5. 7. Who according to Petra belongs to the park in ‘A Sunny Morning’?
Ans. The Guard with whom she used to chat .
8. What could Gonzalo show as evidence to prove his skill at hunting in ‘A Sunny
Morning’?
Ans. A wild boar's head (displayed in his study) .
9. Who according the speaker in 'When you are old' fled and hid his face ?
Ans. According to the speaker in 'When you are old' ,Love fled and hid his face .
10. Where according to the speaker in 'When you are old' did love his face ?
Ans. Hide his face amid a crowd of stars .
11. Whose name is said to be Sangoji and later corrected as Basavaiah in ‘The
Gardener’?
Ans. Basavaiah's name.
12. Where does the tender sunshine lean on according to the speaker in ‘Heaven, If
You Are Not Here On Earth’?
Ans. The tender sunshine lean on the verdant gardens.
6. II.Answer any eight of the following in 80-100 words. (4x8=32)
Between Romeo and Juliet, whose love do you think is more passionate and
intense?
Ans. It is Juliet whose love is more passionate and intense. When he sees Juliet for
the first time, he is spellbound by her beauty. Romeo only talks about Juliet’s
external beauty. He compares her to the jewel hanging on the cheek of night or in
Ethiope’s ear. He calls her dove among crows. It is clear that he is captivated by
her beauty. Nowhere does he talk about anything beyond her external beauty. In
contrast to this when we read Juliet’s invocation of night, we can feel the intensity
of her love. She does not talk about the physical characteristics of Romeo. She goes
much beyond that. In her invocation, we can feel the yearning of a lover. In her
request to night to set Romeo as stars, we get to see her premonition of their
impending death. It is her who talks about immortalizing their love in the form of
stars. Also, she was the one who proposed marriage. Thus, clearly, Juliet’s love was
much more passionate and intense than that of Romeo.
7. 8 Why did the king of Monaco keep changing his mind in dealing with the criminal?
Ans. The prisoner was given a death sentence by the jury members. The king accepted
the judgement but the king couldn’t execute the judgment there was no guillotine and
trained soldiers to kill the man. He tried getting the machine and trained people from
neighboring countries but it was too expensive so the king changed his death sentence
to life imprisonment But the cost of keeping the prisoner in jail was also too high so
the king set the prisoner free. The prisoner refused to go so to make him agree an
annual lifelong pension of 600 francs was promised to him.
8. III Answer the following in about 200 words:-
1. You can’t earn stone palaces by honest labour. In what context is the statement
made?
Too Dear!” is a story written by count Leo Tolstoy, a famous Russian writer, master of
realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the world’s greatest novelists. The
story “Too Dear!” is a parody of one of the modern systems of governance. It ridicules
the ways of punishing criminals and dispensing justice in modern states. The story is
narrated in a matter-of fact-tone but with an undercurrent of sarcasm.
The statement put simply means that one cannot enjoy a royal life or a life of luxury
by working hard and through only honest means. One can sustain himself and live
simply through honest means but to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, one has to resort to
means which are not ethical or honest.
9. In this context of the kingdom of Monaco, the king levied taxes on wine and
tobacco and people also paid those taxes. But those taxes were not enough to
maintain king’s officials and courtiers and his lifestyle so the king found a special
source of revenue which was gaming houses where people would play roulette.
A part of the income of the gaming houses would come to the king’s treasury as
taxes. This was a substantially big amount because
Monaco was the only kingdom which allowed gaming houses, resorted to it and
earned his taxes through then as he had to maintain his royal lifestyle, while
gambling and then, kill themselves. But as the narrator says though it was a
dirty business, the king Made money through gaming houses was not ethical and
caused much harm. people would often run themselves Thus stone palace or a
royal life cannot be earned through honest means. One has to resort to unethical.
10. IV . 24. (10x1=10)
Read the following passage and answer the questions set on it. (Skimming &
Scanning)
25. Read the following lines and answer the questions. (3x1=3)
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
i. Where according to the speaker is the bird?
Ans. in a cage
ii. What does the bird sing of?
Ans. unknown things
iii. Whose tune is heard on the distant hill?
Ans. the bird’s tune
11. 26. Complete the following by filling in the blanks using the right form of the verb
given in brackets. (3x1=3)
Dona Laura said that many stories _were told__ (tell) by the fishermen about how
the ‘Silver Maiden’ __was washed___ (wash) away by the tide. They affirmed that
the name that ____was written_____ (write) by her on the sand remained for a long
time.
27. Report the following conversation. (5x1=5)
Minister : Why do you not run away? There is no guard to keep you.
Criminal : I will not run away. I have nowhere to go.
You have ruined my character by your sentence.
Ans.The minister asked the criminal why he did not run away. He said that there
was no guard to keep him. The criminal replied that he would not run away. He said
that he had nowhere to go. He further said that they had ruined his character by
their sentence.
12. 28. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate expressions given in the
brackets: (2x1=2)
The owner’s wife became apprehensive about her husband’s life style. She thought
that their life was getting ____out of hand____The old man met her and narrated
his story when she was _____In a fix_____ like this. (out of hand, hit upon, in a
fix)
13. 29. Write a letter of application in response to the following advertisement which
appeared in ‘The Indian Express’ dated 18-12-2021.
WANTED Lecturers For a reputed residential colleges
Qualification : M.Sc Chemistry , Knowledge of Computer, Knowledge of Kannada and
English
Apply within 10 days
To: Administrator ABC Education Society Outer Ring Road No. 15, Sardar Nagar,
Bangalore- 580002
Note: No marks are awarded for mere format. Format .
__________________________________________ is for 2 marks Content / body of the
letter / text _________________3 marks Bio-data can either be written separately or
included in the body of the letter.)
OR
14. Report Writing (Note: 2 marks for presentation of data 2 marks for analysis of data and
1 mark for expression)
16. 32. Imagine that you are the secretary of the Sports Club of your
college and on the Annual Sports Day you are required to speak on
the importance of sports and physical fitness.
Write a speech in about 100 words using the points given below.
Physical fitness leads to mental fitness – physical activity keeps
one healthy – scope for athletes state and national level –
sportsmanship – interaction – healthy
(Note: 1 mark for greeting. 2 marks for correct language usage. 1
mark for cohesion. 1 mark for leave taking.)
17. 33. What do the underlined words in the following paragraph refer to? (4x1=4)
Hans offered to go with volunteer team which was going back into the sea to
rescue the lone survivor who had been left behind. Hans’s mother pleaded him
not to go, as he was all that she had in the world
Which: refers to volunteer team
Who :refers to lone survivor
Him :refers to Hans
She :refers to Hans’s mother
34. Rewrite the jumbled segments to form a meaningful sentence (1x1=1)
The most important among all his possessions was his rival.
Ans. Among all his possessions the most important was his rival.
