Q.1. (a) Choose the word that is nearly similar in meaning to the word in Capital letters. (Do only FIVE)
Extra attempt of any Part of the question shall not be considered. (05)
(i) CHRONICLE:
(a) Daily ritual (b) Widely held belief (c) Account of events.
(ii) FLUME:
(a) Sea bird with a wing span four times its body length
(b) Narrow gorge with a stream running through it
(c) Warm summer wind.
(iii) EPITAPH:
(a) Editorial (b) Clever head line (c) Tomb stone inscription.
(iv) LACONIC:
(a) Concise (b) Weekly (c) Circular.
(v) SHINGLE:
(a) Gravelly beach (b) Exposed sand bar (c) Group of dolphins.
(vi) FILIAL:
(a) Related by marriage (b) Of sons and daughters(c) Of brothers.
(vii) MISOPEDIA:
(a) A hatred for children (b) Middle age (c) Family history.
(viii) MENAGE:
(a) Marriage vow (b) Household (c) Golden years.
(b) Choose the word that is nearly most opposite in meaning to the Capitalized words. (Do only FIVE)
Extra attempt of any Part of the question shall not be considered. (05)
(ix) ANNIHILATE:
(a) Supplement (b) Augment (c) Append (d) Contract.
(x) BRACE:
(a) Prop (b) Knock (c) Invigorate (d) Refresh.
(xi) BRUSQUE:
(a) Gruff (b) Curt (c) Smooth (d) Discourteous.
(xii) CONCORD:
(a) Amity (b) Accord (c) Variance (d) Unity.
(xiii) CONSCIENTIOUS:
(a) Uncorrupt (b) Honourable (c) Principled (d) Profligate.
(xiv) DIPLOMATIC:
(a) Sagacious (b) Shrewd (c) Bungling (d) Prudent.
(xv) HYPOCRISY:
(a) Uprightness (b) Pretence (c) Cant (d) Deceit.
(xvi) ONEROUS:
(a) Burdensome (b) Wearing (c) Difficult (d) Fluent.
Q.2. Make a précis of the given passage and suggest a suitable heading: (20 + 5 = 25)
The Psychological causes of unhappiness, it is clear, are many and various. But all have something in
common. The typical unhappy man is one who having been deprived in youth of some normal satisfaction, has
come to value this one kind of satisfaction more than any other, and has, therefore, given to his life a one-sided
direction, together with a quite undue emphasis upon the achievement as opposed to the activities connected
with it. There is, however, a further development which is very common in the present day. A man may feel so
completely thwarted that he seeks no form of satisfaction, but only distraction and oblivion. He then becomes a
devotee of “Pleasure”. That is to say, he seeks to make life bearable by becoming less alive. Drunkenness, for
example, is temporary suicide; the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of
unhappiness. The narcissist and the megalomaniac believe that happiness is possible, though they may adopt
mistaken means of achieving it; but the man who seeks intoxication, in whatever form, has given up hope
except in oblivion. In his case the first thing to be done is to persuade him that happiness is desirable. Men, who
are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact. Perhaps their pride is like that of the fox
who had lost his tail; if so, the way to cure it is to point out to them how they can grow a new tail. Very few
men, I believe, will deliberately choose unhappiness if they see a way of being happy. I do not deny that such
men exist, but they are not sufficiently numerous to be important. It is common in our day, as it has been in
many other periods of the world’s history, to suppose that those among us who are wise have seen through all
the enthusiasms of earlier times and have become aware that there is nothing left to live for. The man who hold
this view are genuinely unhappy, but they are proud of their unhappiness, which they attribute to the nature of
the universe and consider to be the only rational attitude for an enlightened man. Their pride in their
unhappiness makes less sophisticated people suspicious of its genuineness; they think that the man who enjoys
being miserable is not miserable.
Q.3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow: (5 x 4 = 20)
Knowledge is acquired when we succeed in fitting a new experience in the system of concepts based
upon our old experiences. Understanding comes when we liberate ourselves from the old and so make possible
a direct, unmediated contact with the new, the mystery, moment by moment, of our existence. The new is the
given on every level of experience – given perceptions, given emotions and thoughts, given states of
unstructured awareness, given relationships with things and persons. The old is our home-made system of ideas
and word patterns. It is the stock of finished articles fabricated out of the given mystery by memory and
analytical reasoning, by habit and automatic associations of accepted notions. Knowledge is primarily a
knowledge of these finished articles. Understanding is primarily direct awareness of the raw material.
Knowledge is always in terms of concepts and can be passed on by means of words or other symbols.
Understanding is not conceptual and therefore cannot be passed on. It is an immediate experience, and
immediate experience can only be talked about (very inadequately), never shared. Nobody can actually feel
another’s pain or grief, another’s love or joy, or hunger. And similarly no body can experience another’s
understanding of a given event or situation. There can, of course, be knowledge of such an understanding, and
this knowledge may be passed on in speech or writing, or by means of other symbols. Such communicable
knowledge is useful as a reminder that there have been specific understandings in the past, and that
understanding is at all times possible. But we must always remember that knowledge of understanding is not the
same thing as the understanding which is the raw material of that knowledge. It is as different from
understanding as the doctor’s prescription for pencitin is different from penicillin.
Questions:
(i) How is knowledge different from understanding?
(ii) Explain why understanding cannot be passed on.
(iii) Is the knowledge of understanding possible? If it is, how may it be passed on?
(iv) How does the author explain that knowledge of understanding is not the same thing as the
understanding?
(v) How far do you agree with the author in his definitions of knowledge and understanding? Give
reasons for your answer.
ENGLISH (Précis & Composition)
Page 3 of 3
Q.4. Write a comprehensive note (250 – 300 words) on any ONE of the following: (20)
(i) Child is the father of man.
(ii) Life succeeds in that it seems to fail.
(iii) Yellow Journalism.
(iv) The violence of war can be diluted with love.
(v) Love is a beautiful but baleful god.
Q.5. (a) Use ONLY FIVE of the following in sentences which illustrate their meaning: Extra attempt shall not
be considered. (05)
(i) To eat one’s words. (ii) Dog in the manger (iii) A close shave
(iv) A Freudian Ship (v) A Gordian knot (vi) A cog in the machine
(vii) A sugar daddy (viii) A wet blanket.
(b) Use ONLY FIVE of the following Pairs of words in sentences which illustrate their meaning: Extra
attempt shall not be considered. (10)
(i) Capital, Capitol (ii) Assay, Essay (iii) Envelop, envelope
(iv) Decree, Degree (v) Desolate, Dissolute (vi) Species, Specie
(vii) Tortuous, Torturous (viii) Wet, Whet
Q.6. (a) Correct ONLY FIVE of the following: Extra attempt shall not be considered. (05)
(i) Please speak to the concerned clerk.
(ii) You have got time too short for that.
(iii) Not only he was a thief, but he was also a murderer.
(iv) They thought that the plan would be succeeded.
(v) It is unlikely that he wins the race.
(vi) My uncle has told me something about it yesterday.
(vii) I hoped that by the time I would have got there it would have stopped raining.
(viii) They prevented the driver to stop.
(b) Change the narration from direct to indirect or indirect to direct speech. (DO ONLY FIVE) Extra
attempt shall not be considered. (05)
(i) “I couldn’t get into the house because I had lost my key, so I had to break a window”, he
said.
(ii) “Would you like to see over the house or are you more interested in the garden”? She asked
me.
(iii) “Please send whatever you can spare. All contributions will be acknowledged immediately”,
Said the Secretary of the disastrous fund.
(iv) She asked if he’d like to go to the concert and I said I was sure he would.
(v) I told her to stop making a fuss about nothing and said that she was lucky to have got a seat
at all.
(vi) The teacher said, “You must not forget what I told you last lesson. I shall expect you to be
able to repeat it next lesson by heart.”
(vii) He asked me if he should leave it in the car.
(viii) He said, “May I open the window? It’s rather hot in here.”
