Q.2. Write a précis of the following passage and suggest a suitable title. (20+5=25)
One of the most ominous and discreditable symptoms of the want of candour in present-day sociology
is the deliberate neglect of the population question. It is, or should be, transparently clear that, if the state is
resolved, on humanitarian grounds, to inhibit the operation of natural selection, some rational regulation of
population, both as regards quality and quantity, is imperatively necessary. There is no self-acting adjustment,
apart from starvation, of numbers to the means of subsistence. If all natural checks are removed, a population
in advance of the optimum number will be produced and maintained at the cost of a reduction in the standard
of living. When this pressure begins to be felt, that section of the population which is capable of reflection and
which has a standard of living which may be lost will voluntarily restrict its numbers, even to the point of
failing to replace death by an equivalent number of new births; while the underworld, which always exists in
every civilized society The failure and misfits and derelicts, moral and physical will exercise no
restraint and will be a constantly increasing drain upon the national resources. The population will thus be
recruited in a very undue proportion by those strata of society which do not possess the qualities of useful
citizens.
The importance of the problem would seem to be sufficiently obvious. But politicians know that the
subject is unpopular. The urban have no votes. Employers are like a surplus of labour, which can be drawn
upon when trade is good. Militarists want as much food for powder as they can get. Revolutionists
instinctively oppose any real remedy for social evils; they know that every unwanted child is a potential
insurgent. All three can appeal to a Quasi-Religious prejudice, resting apparently on the ancient theory of
natural rights which were supposed to include the right of unlimited procreation. This objection is now chiefly
urged by celibate or childless priests; but it is held with such fanatical vehemence that the fear of losing the
votes which they control is a welcome excuse for the baser sort of politicians to shelve the subject as
inopportune. The socialist calculation is probably erroneous; for experience has shown that it is aspiration, not
desperation, that makes revolutions.
Q.3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Use your own language. (5×4 = 20)
Human Beings feel afraid of death just as children feel afraid of darkness; and just as children’s fear of
darkness is increased by the stories which they have heard about ghosts and thieves, human beings’ fear of
death is increased by the stories which they have heard about the agony of the dying man. If a human being
regards death as a kind of punishment for the sins he has committed and if he looks upon death as a means of
making an entry into another world, he is certainly taking a religious and sacred view of death. But if a human
being looks upon death as a law of nature and then feels afraid of it, his attitude is one of cowardice.
However, even in religious meditation about death there is something a mixture of folly and superstition.
Monks have written books in which they have described the painful experience which they underwent by
inflicting physical tortures upon themselves as a form of self-purification. Such books may lead one to think
that, if the pain of even a finger being squeezed or pressed is unbearable, the pains of death must be
indescribably agonizing. Such books thus increase a Man’s fear of death.
Seneca, a Roman Philosopher, expressed the view that the circumstances and ceremonies of death
frighten people more than death itself would do. A dying man is heard uttering groans; his body is seen
undergoing convulsions; his face appears to be absolutely bloodless and pale; at his death his friends begin to
weep and his relations put on mourning clothes; various rituals are performed. All these facts make death
appear more horrible than it would be otherwise.
Questions:
(1) What is the difference between human beings’ fear of death and children’s fear of darkness?
(2) What is a religious and sacred view of death?
(3) What are the painful experiences described by the Monks in their books?
(4) What are the views of Seneca about death?
(5) What are the facts that make death appear more horrible than it would be otherwise?
Q.4. Write a comprehensive note (250 – 300 words) on any ONE of the following: (20)
(i) Self done is Well done.
(ii) The Bough that bears most bend most.
(iii) Nearer the Church, farther from God.
(iv) Rich men have no fault.
(v) Cut your coat according to your cloth.
Q.5. Use ONLY FIVE of the following in sentences which illustrate their meaning: Extra attempt shall
not be considered. (05)
(i) Wool gathering (ii) Under the harrow (iii) Cold comfort
(iv) A gold digger (v) Walk with God (vi) On the thin ice
(vii) A queer fish (viii) Unearthly hour
Q.6. (a) Correct ONLY FIVE of the following: Extra attempt shall not be considered. (05)
(i) A ten-feet long snake made people run here and there.
(ii) We are going to the concert, and so they are.
(iii) Enclosed with this letter was a signed Affidavit and a carbon copy of his request to our
main office.
(iv) Fear from God.
(v) Pakistan has and will support the Kashmiris.
(vi) He has come yesterday.
(vii) Arshad’s down fall was due to nothing else than pride.
(viii) Do not avoid to consult a doctor.
(b) Change the narration from direct to indirect or indirect to direct speech. (DO ONLY FIVE) Extra
attempt shall not be considered. (05)
(i) He said to us, “You cannot do this problem alone”.
(ii) The beggar asked the rich lady if she would not pity the sufferings of an old and miserable
man and help him with a rupee or two.
(iii) The Commander said to the soldiers, “March on”.
(iv) He entreated his master respectfully to pardon him as it was his first fault.
(v) “Do you really come from America? How do you feel in Pakistan?” Said I to the stranger.
(vi) The officer threatened the peon to come in time otherwise he would be turned out.
(vii) People wished that the Quaid-i-Azam had been alive those days to see their fate.
(viii) They said, “ Bravo! Imran, what a shot”.
