NEB - GRADE XII
Compulsory English
2079 (2022)
Bagmati Province
Candidates are required to give their answers in their own
words as far as practicable.
The figures in the margin indicate full marks.
Time: 3 hrs. Full Marks: 75
Attempt all the questions
1. Read the following text and complete the tasks that
follow. [15]
Today, bicycles are elegantly
simple machines that are common around the world. Many people ride bicycles for
recreation, whereas others use them as a means of transportation.
The first bicycle, called a draisienne, was invented in Germany in 1818 by
Baron Karl de Drais de Sauerbrun. Because it was made of wood, the draisienne
wasn't very durable nor did it have pedals. Riders moved it by pushing their
feet against the ground. In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith,
invented a much better bicycle. Macmillan's machine had tires with iron rims to
keep them from getting worn down. He also used foot-operated
cranks, similar to pedals, so his bicycle could be ridden at a quick pace. It
didn't look much like the modern bicycle, though, because its back wheel was
substantially large than its front wheel. Although Machmillan's bicycles could
be ridden easily, they were never produced in large numbers. In 1861, Frenchman
Pierre Michaux and his brother Ernest invented a bicycle with an improved crank
mechanism. They called their bicycle a velocipede, but most people called it a
"bone shaker" because of the jarring effect of the wood and iron
frame. Despite the unflattering nickname, Velocipede was a hit. After a few
years, the Michaux family was making hundreds of the machines annually, mostly
for fun-seeking young people.
Ten years later, James Starley,
an English inventor, made several innovations that revolutionized
bicycle design. He made the front wheel many times larger than the back wheel,
put a gear on the pedals to make the bicycle more efficient, and lightened the
wheels by using wire spokes. Although this bicycle was much lighter and less
tiring to ride, it was still clumsy, extremely top-heavy, and
ridden mostly for entertainment. It wasn't until 1874 that the first truly
modern bicycle appeared on the scene. Invented by another Englishman,
H.J.Lawson, the safety bicycle would look familiar to today's cyclists. The
safety bicycle had equal-sized wheels, which made it much less prone
to toppling over. Lawson also attached a chain to the pedals to drive the rear
wheel. By 1993, the safety bicycle had been further improved with
air-filled rubber tires, a diamondshaped frame, and easy braking. With the
improvements provided by Lawson, bicycles became extremely popular and useful
for transportation. Today, they are built, used, and enjoyed all over the
world.
A. Look at the highlighted words in the text. Complete the
following sentences using them. Two of them are not necessary. [5x1=5]
a. The invention of bicycle ……….. travel.
- improved
b. The invention of bicycle …….. the way of life.
- revolutionized
c. The fields next to the school are always used for ……….
- recreation
d. Unfortunately, her movements were rather ……………
- clumsy
e. The old stone steps had been ……………. by years of use.
- worn down
B. Read the text again and write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the
information given in the text.
FALSE if the statement contradicts the
information given in the text.
NOT GIVEN if there is no information in the
text. [5x1=5]
a. The pedalled bicycle was first invented in Germany.
- FALSE
b. Macmillan's bicycle resembled today's bicycle.
- FALSE
c. The alternation of velocipedes made the life of people
much easier.
- NOT GIVEN
d. The changes made by British inventors altered the wheels
to make pedalling more efficient.
- TRUE
e. Chain-driven bicycles were first made in France.
- FALSE
C. Answer the following questions. [5x1=5]
a. How did the riders move 'draisiene'?
Ans: The riders moved 'draisiene' by pushing their feet against
the ground.
b. What improvements were made to the bicycle invented in
1839?
Ans: The following improvements were made to the bicycle invented
in 1839.
- It had tires and iron rims to keep them from getting worn down.
- It had foot-operated cranks, similar to pedals.
c. Why do you think Macmillan used iron rims in his machine?
Ans: I think Macmillan used iron rims in his machine to keep it from getting worn down.
d. What can be assumed from the text?
Ans: From the given text, we can be assumed that the following
things :-
- We can assume that many inventors are paying their great contribution to inventing luxurious bicycle.
- We can assume that to do tremendous development of the bicycle was not that much easy to all the inventors.
e. What is the purpose of the text?
Ans: The purpose of the text is to spread information to all the
readers that how the bicycle was invented and what they had improved to make
more comfort to ride the bicycle in present time.
2. Write short answers to the following questions based on
the textbook. [5x2=10]
a) What does 'fractured dialogue' mean in the story?
(Neighbours)
Ans: The "fractured dialogue" in the story means the
broken and colloquial language which the neighbours of the new couple speak
most of the time. During winter, the new couple hear their varieties of stories
and seem so intoxicated in their fractured dialogues and even involve
themselves in shouting along with them.
b) What in your opinion is the moral of the story The
Treasure in the Forest'?
Ans: The moral of the story "The Treasure in the Forest" is that
people can do anything for money. People become more selfish in the greed of
money. In the story, Evans and Hooker's greed increases as they come to know
about the treasures. They murdered the Chinese man Chang-hi brutally because of
their greed for money and at the end, they lost their lives due to the grred. So,
“we shouldn’t be greedy” is the main moral of this story.
c) Explain the following lines with reference to the
context: (I Was My Own Route)
At each advancing step on my route forward
my back was ripped by the desperate flapping wings of the old guard.
Ans: In the second stanza, the speaker encounters several male - made
social conventions as hurdles in her freshly forwarded path, but she overcomes
all limits and old determined feet. She describes how, with her shattered heart
and old blogs, she was thrown back to view the old traditional way.
d) In what way is marriage an institution? Explain.
(Marriage as a Social Institution)
Ans: Marriage is an institution because the relationship between
the couples is recognised by law as a means of meeting social, economic,
physical, and family requirements, and it is linked to other institutions such
as education, the economy, and politics.
e) What are the universal human abilities? (Humility)
Ans: According to the essay, the universal human abilities are
morality, art, spirituality and creativity.
3. Write long answers to the following questions. [2x5=10]
a) How can you say that 'Facing Death' is a modern tragedy?
(Facing Death)
Ans: By modern tragedy, we mean a play that deals with tragic
circumstances and has an unfortunate ending, particularly one that involves the
demise of the main character. The drama ‘Facing Death’ is a modern tragedy
since it concludes with the sad death of the protagonist, Mr Durand. Modern
tragedy is concerned with accurate portrayals of prevalent issues. Modern drama
is characterized by realism and naturalism. A common man is the protagonist of
a modern tragedy. Furthermore, modern tragedy addresses contemporary issues
such as broken family connections, socio-cultural issues, loneliness, and so
on. Characters suffer as a result of their socio-cultural surroundings, fate, economic
status, gender, external environment, and so on. This play contains all of the
characteristics of modern tragedy.
This play depicted the lives of a regular modern man going
through a major life crisis. He and his three daughters have suffered greatly
as a result of economic troubles. We may readily detect issues of bad
relationships and low economic standing in the play. Mr Durand, a typical
modern man, has suffered much as a result of economic hardships. This drama
concludes with the terrible demise of the main character, Mr Durand. For the
sake of his three kids, he murders himself and even burns down his house. This
drama offered both realism and naturalism.
b) Gabriel Gracia Marquez illustrates the themes of abuse and cruelty in the story 'An Old Man with Enormous Wings'. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give your opinion with reference to the context. (An Old Man with Enormous Wings)
Ans: Yes, I agree with this statement. Here, the story's author
Gabriel Gracia Marquez illustrates the theme of abuse and cruelty by presenting
an old weak man with enormous wings and his plight in front of many people. Due
to old man's strange appearance, the crowd of people queue in front of Pelayo
and Elisenda's house. The story has examined the human response to those who
are weak, dependent, and different. The story shows human nature-related
curiosity, greed and cruelty.
Here, we find abuse and cruelty of people who come to watch
the old man from different places. They try to harass the old man doing various
bad deeds. Their curiosity makes them do bad things against the old man. As a
weak and old guy, the old man remains motionless inside his coop. But the crowd
of people try their best to disturb him.They prod him with hot iron pokers when
they find him inactive. They try to pull out his feathers to touch defective
parts and throw stones at him to make him stand. The miserable old man responds
in anger, flapping his wings and yelling in his strange language. Here, the
nature of humans has presented the bitter reality that powerful beings always
show their cruelty and abuse against weak as well as powerless beings.
4. 'Social Media' can have both positive and negative
effects. Write your views on social media in about 150 words. [7]
Ans: Social media plays a big role in our lives today. We have
the access to any kind of information at just a button push away. Anything that
is so vastly expanded has both positives and negatives related to it. The power
of social media is very high and has its effects on each individual. It is
difficult to imagine our lives with social media today and we do pay a price
for excessive use. There is a lot of debate about the effects of social media
on the society as a whole. Some feel that it’s a boon whereas other feels that
it is a curse.
Positive Effects of Social Media.
When we look at the positive aspect of social media, we find
numerous advantages.
- Students can educate themselves on various topics using social media. Moreover, live lectures are now possible because of social media. You can attend a lecture happening in different place while sitting in home.
- Furthermore, as more and more people are distancing themselves from newspapers, they are depending on social media for news. You are always updated on the latest happenings of the world through it.
- Social media helps people to strengthens bonds with your loved ones. Distance is not a barrier anymore because of social media. For instance, you can easily communicate with your friends and relatives overseas.
- Social media also provides a great platform for young budding artists to showcase their talent for free. You can get great opportunities for employment through social media too.
- Social media helps many companies who wish to promote their brands by advertising.
Negative Effects of Social Media.
Despite huge benefits, it has some unfavorable consequences
:-
- Users of social media are becoming victims of fraudulent and online scams that seem to be genuine.
- The productivity of people is getting hampered due to extreme usage and indulgence in these social media sites.
- The rise of social media has made not only the young generation but also the former generation more social and has thus, reduced the real-life communication between everyone.
- Harmful activities like murder, blackmailing, misbehaving, etc are being done in different platforms of social media. Even, Social media can cause the number of people’s death.
Social media has both benefits and drawbacks. Using it
productively can be a tool of immense help, but over usage can become a silent
enemy. Thus, we as users have to learn to balance and not control ourselves by
this technology.
5. Write a letter to the editor of a national daily
newspaper on environmental pollution in about 180 words. [8]
Ans:
Birgunj, Nepal
Bhadra 17, 2022
To
The Editor
National Daily Newspaper
Subject: About Environment
Pollution
Respected Sir/Madam,
Through the esteemed column of
your newspaper, I would like to draw attention of the public as well as the
concerned authorities to the problem of environmental pollution in my locality.
Environment is the surroundings
in which we live. But the contamination of our environment by pollutants is
environmental pollution. The current stage of the earth that we are seeing is
the cause of centuries of exploitation of earth and its resources. Moreover,
the earth cannot restore its balance because of environmental pollution. The
human force has created and destroyed life on earth. Human plays a vital role
in the degradation of the environment. The environmental pollution, directly
and indirectly, affects the lives of humans and other species. These living
beings co-existed on the earth with human from centuries.
At present our environment is getting polluted every moment,
causing extensive damage to all sorts of life on earth. Environmental pollution
is a direct consequence of industrial progress. It is, therefore, more
pronounced in larger cities and industrial belts. In these areas, the air is
getting polluted by the exhausts of automobiles, furnaces, industrial soots,
emission of smoke from boilers, etc. Decomposition of garbages and other
refuses make the atmosphere heavy. Indiscriminate burning of all sorts of
conventional and unconventional fuels are responsible for large-scale
accumulation of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the air We breathe. Green
forests purify the air, but with the random felling of trees, the percentage of
these highly poisonous gases in the air increases. With the development of
industries, large amount of industrial wastes are discharged into rivers or
lakes. Thus water gets polluted with toxic chemicals resulting death of marine
lives. Emission from refineries float on seas destroying marine lives and
coastal vegetation. However, the greatest contributors to environmental
pollution are carbon emissions and radioactive wastes which pollute the
atmosphere beyond imagination.
So, the air we breathe, and the
water we drink are not always healthy or pure. The necessary steps must be
taken to root out the causes of pollution. People should be encouraged to plant
more trees to purify the air. Smoke iced for general consumption. Laws should
be enforced to refrain the industries from discharging any poisonous or noxious
matter into any stream or river. Strict measures must be taken to prevent the
emission of harmful gases. Heavy penalties should be imposed for violating the
rules & regulations.
The price of pollution could be the death of mankind. We
have to take every step to save this planet from environmental pollution.
I hope the concerned authorities will take the convenient
steps to overcome the aforementioned problem.
Yours sincerely,
Aditya Sharma
6. Compared to online teaching and learning, students
learn much better with their physical presence in the classroom. To what extent
do you agree with this statement? Write an essay in about 300 words expressing
your opinion. [10]
Yes, I am agreed with this
statement. If we come to compare between online as well as physical teaching
and learning, the physical teaching and
learning method with presence of students in the classroom is best choice for
every students.
Physical classrooms create a
face-to-face environment for students and teachers. They refer to a classroom
set-up where everyone can communicate with each other and engage. A physical
classroom has different materials and furniture in them. This includes
projection screens, board, teachers, class monitors, etc. Moreover, many of the
elements in a physical classroom bring positivity and concentration to students
regarding studies. They also help the students to feel less distracted. This is
because an academic environment surrounds them. However, only books, lessons,
and various class works don’t have to keep students engaged. Other things like
furniture, classroom decorations, teacher’s behaviour, peers- play an essential
role in indulging students into the classroom environment. It creates an
ambience to make students feel inclined to study and focus more.
Followings are the points to get
more engaged in physical classroom than online classroom. They are:-
- Physical classrooms involve interacting with different teachers face to face, ask more questions if there is any confusion in a topic. Moreover, it allows students to interact with their peers. This builds up their team working and team-building skills. Students can brainstorm ideas amongst each other as well as get feedback from others.
- Classroom teaching inculcates conflict resolving skills, presentation skills when it comes to presenting their ideas confidently in front of peers, develops team spirit and teaches them to get along with those from different cultural backgrounds.
- Classroom teaching teaches students how to develop organizational skills, beginning with the basics, such as arriving to school on time.
- Inside a classroom, students experience social interactions with peers and establish rapport with teachers. Helping children develop socially is an important aspect within the realm of their academic education.
- Classroom teaching inculcates conflict resolving skills, presentation skills when it comes to presenting their ideas confidently in front of peers, develops team spirit and teaches them to get along with those from different cultural backgrounds.
- Teachers can modify their teaching style based on types of learners in their classroom i.e. classroom activities can help visual learner, interactions can help auditory learners, etc.
- In physical presence, collaborative learning increases a student's self-awareness about how other students learn and enables them to learn more easily and effectively, transforming them into keen learners inside and beyond classroom.
- These are the reasons why number of students prefer to the physical teaching and learning method. Because it enables the students to develop resolving skills, presentation skills, increase social interaction with various people and also develop face to face communication skills. That’s why, I prefer physical teaching and learning method instead of online learning.
7. Do as indicated in the brackets and rewrite the
sentences. 10x1=10
a) The cool breeze blew ..... on her face. (Complete the
sentence with an appropriate adverb.)
- gently
b) All the celebrations and parties were
called..................because of the tragic accident. (Put the correct
preposition in the blank.)
- off
c) The food is really good at that restaurant. They.........
(will/can/must/should) have a great chef. (Choose the correct option from the
bracket to complete the sentence.)
- must
d) The master along with his three servants................
(is/am/are) going to the court. (Choose the correct verb from the bracket to
complete the sentence.)
- is
e) His company is greatly.............after. (Complete the
sentence using the correct form of the verb 'seek'.)
- sought
f) We look forward to........ (hear/hearing) from you soon.
(Choose the correct option from the bracket to complete the sentence.)
- hear
g)..................he is rich, he is always dressed in
rags. (Put correct conjunction in the blank to complete the sentence.)
- Although
h) He is the man......... (who/whom/whose) son plays
football for Three Star Club. (Choose the correct option from the bracket to
complete the sentence.)
- whose
i) I want my students to respect me. (Change into passive.)
- I want to be respected by my students.
j) Did you hear me? (Report this with the reporting clause:
She asked.........)
- She asked if I had heard her.
8. Choose and copy the correct answer. [5x1=5]
a) Which of the following words has a different final sound?
(ii) boys
(i) cats
(iii) girls
(iv) houses
- cats
b) The initial sound in the word 'maple' is transcribed as
.............
(i) /m/
(ii) /n/
(iii) /p/
(iv) /s/
- /m/
c) Prices seem to....... every year.
i) raise
(ii) rise
(iii) raised
(iv) rose
- rise
d) The word 'attire' means......................
i) extremely good
(ii) clothes, especially fine or formal ones,
(iii) thin and easily torn
(iv) clear
- clothes, especially fine or formal ones.
e) My car broke down while I was driving.
i) broke up
ii) broke off
(iii) broke down
(iv) broke in
- broke down
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