Solved Board Paper For ICSE Class 12 English

(a)

It was the dream of my parents to migrate to Australia. They had been striving to get a permanent residency visa for several years. They approached many agencies helping people to migrate and appeared for IELTS test and passed with good scores. Last year they got an invitation from the Canadian Embassy to apply for PR. They got their visas in February. Their only regret was to leave me in a boarding school. They couldn’t take me with them as they had to find some work and a place to stay in Australia.

I was very sad. I never stayed away from my parents. Being their only child, I was pampered a lot. I stayed with my parents and the school was very near to our house. My father used to drop me every day for classes. I had many friends in the neighbourhood. I was a happy child.

My parents were very much worried, but there was no other option. My father got me admission in a prestigious boarding school in Dehradun. The school was built on a hill. The scenery was breath taking. My new school – St. Francis Academy was founded by German Missionaries in 1886.

The first day in the boarding was very bad. I felt all alone. The night was chilling. I was given a room which was shared by three other boys. The school warden was a priest. Each student had a table, a chair, a bed and a cupboard to keep the clothes and other belongings. The toilets were common.

At home I used to sleep till 7 AM. Mom used to get everything ready for me. I never did anything on my own. She used to pack my books for the day. In the boarding I had to wake up at 5. 30 AM. We had the prayers at 6 AM followed by study at 6.30 AM. The breakfast was served at 7.30 and the classes began at 8. I had to do everything myself. There was no time to waste.

The classes used to get over at 1.30 PM every day. After lunch we had some time to relax. At 3 PM we had the games followed by bath and study. A life according to a timetable was very strange for me. It was very difficult to adjust in the beginning. Soon I got accustomed to the daily routine in the boarding. Within a short time I made many friends. The academic standard of the school was excellent. Slowly, I began to perform well in my studies.

When my dad and mom came to visit me at the end of the year I was completely transformed. They were surprised to see a well behaved, studious, active young man who was capable of doing everything by himself.

Now I have grown mentally and intellectually. I am very confident of doing any difficult task. I am much more disciplined and focused. I am happy that one and a half years in the boarding has been a positive transforming experience.

(b)

As usual I was waiting for my school bus in the busy junction near my house. It was getting a bit late and I was impatient. It was a typical working day morning with people rushing to their offices and students to their schools. There was a steady stream of traffic from all directions.

Suddenly I heard a loud ‘screeching’ sound and a loud ‘boom’. Just fifty meters from where I stood, I saw two cars rammed into each other and got smashed completely. There were broken pieces of glass strewn everywhere. The bonnets of both the cars were completely squeezed by the power of the collision.

“My God, what happened to the people inside the cars? Are they alive?” I thought.

Suddenly many people gathered at the site of the accident. To my horror I saw blood oozing out through the jammed front door of one of the cars.

“People are trapped inside, pull them out,” someone shouted from the crowd.

“Call the police, call the ambulance,” some others said.

I ran towards the site of the accident. I saw a man at the driver’s seat in one of the cars. His face was full of blood. He was unconscious. Inside the other car, there were two people, a man and a woman. The woman was conscious. She was crying in a feeble voice. The man was unconscious. His head was jammed between the seat and the steering.

“Somebody help them. Take them to the hospital,” I heard myself shouting at the top of my voice.

Some people broke open the doors of the cars and pulled the passengers trapped inside. Some people laid them on the footpath. Two men lay unconscious and the woman sat on the footpath. Somebody gave her some water to drink. A man sprinkled some water on the faces of injured men lying unconscious on the footpath.

“Thank God, they are breathing,” a woman standing near me said.

Suddenly I heard the loud siren of an ambulance. A Good Samaritan had dialed the ambulance, I thought. As people were trying to take the injured onto the ambulance I heard another siren. A police car came in full speed. The policemen helped the people to take all injured inside the ambulance. The ambulance sped away with the injured.

I went back to the waiting shelter and soon my school bus arrived. As I was sitting on my seat, my mind was very much disturbed by the sight of the accident.

I saw two types of people today. Some people were mere onlookers. Some even took videos and photos of the injured on their cell phones. They didn’t do anything to help the injured. On the other hand there were people who promptly reacted and helped the injured. I imagined myself in the place of the people injured in the accident. When I grow up what kind of a person I would become, a Good Samaritan or a mere onlooker?

(c)

There is a lot of talk about equality in the modern world. People, especially women’s organisations seek equal rights for women in every field. The relevant question today is, ‘are men and women equal in all respects?’

In my opinion women and men are not equal in all respects. They are different in many ways. Physically and mentally men and women are not equal. nature has endowed men with a strong body and strong mind. Whereas, women are not as strong as men. Nature has endowed both with different roles and responsibilities. A mother carries her child in her womb and takes care of her children until they grow up. A father looks after the family with his hard work.

This doesn’t mean that a woman is inferior to man in any aspect. Biological functions of man and woman are not a ground for discrimination. Women have proved that they are able to perform any difficult task that a man is able to do. Women have climbed the top of Mount Everest. They have conquered the space. There are women pilots who fly fighter jets and bombard the enemy posts during wars. Take any occupation or mission that a man undertakes, a woman also is capable of doing it.

But the society at large is unable to digest the fact that woman and man are equal. They cling on the age old argument that a woman is a weaker person when compared to man. Her role is just looking after children. They think that she must be obedient to man. In a traditional society a women is under the protection of her father when she is young, under the protection of her husband when she is married and under the protection of her son when she is old.

This attitude should go. A woman is not a slave anymore. She is capable of achieving great success in every field. She is capable of doing everything a man can do. As I have already mentioned there are women working in every field. There are women astronauts, women pilots, women cave divers, and what not?

A woman’s role in the family is different. That doesn’t mean that she is a slave to anyone. She should be given equal rights in everything. The society is not willing to give equal rights to woman. In many countries women do not have the right to drive and the right to take decision in her own affairs. Some religions consider women as inferior to men. They don’t allow her to perform the rituals, or even to enter the holy places.

All discriminatory practices against women should end. It is time that we acknowledge that men and women are not equal but they have equal rights and they should be treated equally with respect.

(d)

Honesty

I remember reading an incident from the life of Mahatma Gandhi. He was studying in a lower class. One day, Mr. Giles, the Educational Inspector, came to Gandhi's school for inspection. He asked the students to write the spellings of five words that he dictated. One of the words was 'kettle' and Gandhi mis-spelt it. The teacher tried to prompt him with the point of his boot behind the Inspector's back to copy the word from his neighbuor's slate. Gandhi ignored his prompts. The boys wrote all five words correctly but Gandhi wrote only four words. After the Inspector left, the teacher got angry and scolded Gandhi saying that he had asked him to copy from his neighbour’s slate. 'Why couldn't you even do that correctly?" he said angrily. Everyone laughed but Gandhi was not sad. What saddened him was the fact that his teacher asked him to cheat.

Look at today’s politicians. People are aware of the fact that it is hard to see an upright politician like Mahatma Gandhi today. There is a proverb, ‘Honesty is the best policy’. The new version of this proverb seems to be, ‘Profit is the best policy'. In every field of life we see the resonance of this new ideology. Honesty is not the best policy any more.

Look at any field of life. Many politicians say something today and they deny it tomorrow. Even when confronted with evidence such as recorded videos, they deny their own statements. Many of them lie at will. They spread fake news to create communal disharmony, because they believe only in vote bank politics. They will do anything to come to power and continue in power.

We have heard the confession of a Cambridge Analytica Ltd. which was a British political consulting firm that combined data mining, data brokerage, and data analysis with strategic communication during the electoral processes around the world. Cambridge Analytica was in the midst of a media firestorm after an undercover sting operation caught its senior executives boasting about psychological manipulation, entrapment techniques and fake news campaigns. Political parties all over the world took their help in winning elections.

Look at the health care industry. Their mission is a very noble one - to save human life. Now it has become a business for profit. Doctors make poor patients pay for expensive, unnecessary investigations, procedures and medicines. Who will think about questioning the doctor’s suggestion when it is a question of saving the life of the patient?

Think about education. Even education has become a business for profit. People make money by selling expensive books and learning materials. Parents send their children to prestigious schools paying exorbitant amount of money.

Even priests and the so-called holy men exploit the faith of the ordinary people to cheat people in order to make money. There are many ‘holy men’ who exploited their innocent followers.

In a world steeped in corruption and dishonesty, it is difficult to live honest life. But, the examples set by great people like Mahatma Gandhi and people like him will continue to inspire and challenge us to live an upright life.

(e)

When asked for his message for the world, Mahatma Gandhi responded with the famous quote, "My life is my message."

Once a mother took her son who was obsessed with eating sugar to Mahatma Gandhi. On meeting him she said, 'Bapu, my son eats too much sugar. It is not good for health. Would you please advise him to stop eating it?"

Gandhiji listened to her patiently and he told her, "Go home now and come back after two weeks."

The mother was highly disappointed. One sentence from him would have been enough to change the mind of the boy.

After two weeks she returned to Gandhiji with her son. This time Gandhiji told the boy with firm conviction.

"Stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.”

The boy readily agreed. The mother was surprised. "Why didn't you tell him the same two weeks ago," she asked.

Gandhiji smiled and told her, "Two weeks ago, I too was eating too much sugar."

There is no better example to demonstrate the fact that a person’s life is his message. Today very few people can say with conviction that his/her life is his/her message. There is no dearth for preachers. But, there are very few who practice what they preach. Be it political leaders or religious leaders, very few people practice what they preach.

Religious leaders preach on the merits of simple life style. They say that we should love each other. We should forgive our enemies. We should be honest. We should never tell a lie. But there are many religious leaders who incite people to do violence. There are religious leaders who live in extreme luxury but never help a poor man in need.

Political leaders appear to be untouched by corruption. They accuse their opponents saying they are steeped in corruption. But, one fine morning we wake up hearing the news that a particular anti-corruption crusader was arrested for corruption.

Some religious and political leaders appear to be ‘avatars’ of morality. But many of them are behind bars for atrocities committed against women.

Perhaps that is the reason why Jesus told his disciples to listen to the words of their religious leaders (priests) but not to imitate their life. We should be prudent enough to follow leaders who can say with conviction, ‘My life is my message.’ In our lives too we should strive to practice what we preach. In other words never advise any one to do anything that we don’t practice in our lives.

(f)

“Sir, please give me some money to buy food. It is two days since I have eaten something.” I turned and looked at the source of the voice.

A poor young boy in his teens!

It was a busy Monday evening. I was waiting for the green signal at a traffic island. I was working as the marketing manager of a software giant. Usually I ignored beggars, that too at a busy traffic island. But somehow, the sad voice and the tragic look in his eyes touched my heart.

“Come with me, I’ll get something for you to eat,” I said, opening the car’s door.

To my surprise he got into the car without hesitation.

‘What’s your name?” I asked.

“Rahul,” he replied.

I drove him to a nearby restaurant. As I we entered, the people looked at him with disdain in their eyes. I didn’t mind.

We headed towards an empty table in a corner. I ordered two biriyanies. As soon as the food was served he devoured it. He was not lying. I’ll never forget the greed in his eyes as he saw the food. Seeing his hunger, I couldn’t eat the food I ordered for myself. He emptied his plate within five minutes. I pushed my plate towards him and he grabbed it and ate it in another five minutes.

“Do you want some more?” I asked him.

“Yes, something to drink,” he said.

I ordered a bottle of Coca Cola. Within a moment the bottle was empty.

“Anything more?” I asked him.

“No, Sir, my stomach is full,” he replied.

I took him home that night. He narrated his story. He was the only child of his parents. Both of them died in an accident, a year ago. His uncle took care of him for some time. But his aunt treated him like an enemy. She made him to do all household chores. She used to beat him mercilessly. He was not allowed to go to school.

“If I send you to school, will you go?” I asked.

“That is my dream. I want to study,” he replied.

He stayed with me ever since. I sent him to school and bore all his expenses. He passed all the exams with good score. After his senior secondary he told me that it is his dream to join the Indian Air Force.

Today was his passing out parade. The newly commissioned officers were marching in the parade ground.

‘Sir…,” two drops of tears fell on my hands.

I woke us suddenly from my dream. There stood my beloved Rahul, in his white uniform. A tall, lean, young man with graceful eyes.

My tears fell on his forehead as I hugged and kissed him.

(a)

Performance of Government Schools in Delhi

By Ujjwal Malhotra

Delhi government has given special care for education and healthcare sector in the recent years. Last year government allotted around 30 per cent of its budget for improving the conditions of government schools. These efforts have been highly successful. Last year the pass percentage has risen to 95.3 percent from 63.8 percent. It is a remarkable feat as the pass percentage of private schools is below the government schools, a mere 83.8 percent.

With the inflow of government funds the building and infrastructure of government schools has a tremendous makeover. The government has developed the infrastructure of the schools which includes world class swimming pools, football, hockey and racing stadiums, etc. The has also developed classrooms, auditoriums, libraries and other basic facilities like toilets in all schools.

Eighty per cent schools have good play grounds and twenty percent schools have mini stadiums. The participation of students in sports and arts has considerably improved. The school buildings are well maintained. Most of the schools have a Parents' Teachers' Committee to oversee the maintenance of school buildings and other activities. Parents’ participation in the school affairs has improved a lot. A few years ago only a few schools conducted the parents' teachers' meeting regularly. Now all the government schools regularly conduct PTMs. More teachers have been appointed to fill the vacancies. Only those who have qualified NET and SET are appointed as teachers. This has improved the quality of teachers. As stated earlier all these have a positive impact on the students' performance.

The following are some highlights of government schools' performance this year.

Out of 895 CBSE schools 211 schools achieved 100% pass percentage. Girls performed better than boys in most of the schools with a pass percentage of 91.2%. The number of schools achieved above 90% pass percentage has gone up to 489 from 336 last year.

The government schools performed better in sports events too. Delhi bagged silver trophy in the national school athletics championships. Sixty nine percent of the athletes participated in the athletic championship were students from government schools.

Nothing like this was thought possible. Delhi government has revolutionized education and the performance of the government schools speaks volumes.

(b)

PROPOSAL FOR SETTING UP A NEW SCIENCE CLUB FOR THE SENIOR SECTION

Based on the interest of the Students' Council and particularly the senior section, it is a proposal to set up a Science Club in our school for the Senior Boys and Girls, especially those who are perusing science stream. The main goal of this club is to provide opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge in contemporary science and to interact with other students who share the same interests. As such the proposed club's members would participate in group discussions and projects. The club would also organize symposiums and exhibitions based on scientific themes.

It will take minimum two weeks to set up a science club in our school as we need to conduct awareness programs and to get the interested students enrolled as members.

Around fifty thousand rupees is required to conduct awareness programs, printing pamphlets and banners, buying equipment for a students' lab, etc. Around twenty thousand rupees can be collected as contribution from students and well-wishers. Thirty thousand rupees should be contributed by the school.

We require a room for meetings and discussions. Part of the room can be used as the student's lab. We also require a senior science teacher as Staff Coordinator.

It is our hope that this proposal will be approved by the Principal.

Regards

XXXXXXX

(Students' council Secretary)

(a)

1. The happy people are loved by all.

2. Francis is more honest than his brother Robert.

3. No sooner does the bell go than students rush to their classrooms.

4. This is the most boring film I have ever seen.

5. John said that he would definitely discuss the matter with the principal.

6. If he hadn't apologized, he would have been punished.

7. Jasmine complained that she was not able to concentrate in her studies due to constant headache.

8. All illegal constructions are being demolished by the municipal authorities.

9. No other season in our country is as good as spring.

10. Rakesh was too tired to keep himself awake.

(b)

(1) down

(2) to

(3) off

(4) out

(5) up

(6) to

(7) since

(8) to

(9) of

(10) until

(c)

1) had walked

2) saw

3) peeped

4) looking

5) would/could guide

6) found

7) was

8) hung

9) seemed

10) were

(a) (i)

(1) correlates

(2) consistently

(3) fiercely

(4) significant

(ii)

(1) We should not allow our prejudices to blind us towards the real facts.

(2) Only those who are able to swim against the current can survive in this competitive world.

(3) I used to race against my brother when we were kids.

(4) You should not forget to practice your scales every day.

(b)

(i) The optimistic outlook of the people on the economic growth was based on what has happened recently in terms of their country's economic improvement.

(ii) The survey found that black South Africans tend to be consistently more optimistic than white and mixed-race South Africans. Blacks were more positive regarding the economy and the future of the country.

(iii) According to the survey 47% of Nigerians with higher incomes think the economy to improve substantially over the next year.

(iv) The comparison drawn in the survey is that those of lower income feel more positively about economic growth than those of higher income.

(c)

Notes:

• Pew Research Centre Survey
• South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya
• Measuring optimism in these countries
• Optimistic about a bring economy in near future
• Based on recent economic growth
• Long term optimism and concerns about the current economy
• Corruption
• Education and health care
• Race - Black and white South Africans
• Kalenjin and Luhya, Luo
• Muslims and Christians
• Rich and poor
• Nigeria at high end, Kenya middle and South Africa lowest

Summary

A Pew Research Centre survey found that Nigerians, Kenyans and South Africans are highly optimistic about achieving a better economy in the near future. This optimism is based on recent economic growth. The long term optimism coexists with concerns about the negative current economy due to wide spread corruption. The people are also optimistic about education and healthcare. Black South Africans are more optimistic than the Whites. Kalenjins are more optimistic than Luhyas and Luos. Muslims are more optimistic than Christians and poor than the rich. Nigerians have the highest long term optimism followed by Kenyans and the South Africans.