DON BOSCO SCHOOL, PARK CIRCUS

ISC PRE- BOARD EXAMINATION 2024 - 25

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

TIME: 3 hrs. FULL MARKS: 80

Attempt all four questions.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ).

(You are advised to spend not more than 45 minutes on Question 1, 55 minutes on
Question 2, 30 minutes on Question 3 and 50 minutes on Question 4.

Question 1

Write a composition (in approximately 400 - 450 words) on any one of the
following subjects:

(You are reminded that you will be rewarded for orderly and coherent
presentation of matter, use of appropriate style and general accuracy of
spelling, punctuation and grammar.) (20]

(i) Describe a school event which you enjoyed participating in or watching as a

member of the audience.

(ii) Narrate an incident in which an animal helped in the rescue of a human from a
situation which could prove fatal for him.

(iii) Gender should not be a parameter for judging a person's worth. Discuss.

(iv) Opportunities

(v) Good fences make good neighbours. Present your reflections on this statement.

(vi) Write an original short story that begins with the following words : The aroma of
good food invaded my nostrils as I walked down the street.

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Qu esti on 2

(i) Use the following gui del ine s to.

wri te a new spa per rep ort on a cyc
240 wo rds : lon e, in

l.Pr edic tion of cyclone mad e 2.w arn

ing s issu ed in adv anc e 3. Pre cau tion
4.heavy rain fall acc om pan ied by stro s tak en
ng win ds 5.c oas tal are as affected 6.e
damage of pro per ty 7 .cau se of cyclone stim ate d
8. any oth er rele van t poi nts.
[15)
(ii) As the Pre side nt of the Stu den
t cou ncil of The XYZ School, you hav
to organize a inter- school football mat e bee n ask ed
ch. Write a pro pos al in not mo re tha
words, out lini ng the step s you wou n 150
ld tak e to mak e this eve nt a suc ces
s. [10)
Qu esti on 3

Answer sec tion s (i), (ii) and (iii).

(i)Re-wrlte the foll owi ng sen ten ces

according to the ins tru ctio ns giv
eac h of the m in bra cke ts. en afte r
[5)
Example:
z. As soo n as she fini she d eating, the
visitors came.
z. Begin : Har dly ...
Answer: Har dly did she fini sh eati ng
whe n the visitors came.
(a)(i) If you sub mit you r resi gna tion
you will not be cha rge she eted .
(II) Unl ess .....

(b)(i) Rak esh was ins truc ted not to

rea d a story boo k in clas s but he still did
it.
(ii) Des pite ..... . .

(c)(i) The Prin cipa l told Rak esh " I defi

nitely enc our age you to rea d stor y
boo ks but not wh en a less on is bei
ng imp arte d in class."
(ii) The Prin cip al told Rak esh tha t

(d)(i) Only freq uen t pra ctic e will mak

e you skilful.
(ii) If you ....

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pages 2

,t
 l
swit ch off the lights.
(e)(i) • Eve ryon e, unfo rtun atel y, forgot to
(ii) The ligh ts ...
Incorrect und erli ned words to mak e
il)ln the foll owi n• sen ten ces, replace the
ically· corr ect. [SJ
the sen ten ces mea ning ful and grammat . .

(a) Do not go into exte rnal app eara nces .

He gave his Park er pen im thou gh it mad
e him sad.
(b)

(c) She got ll.. her anx iety quit e soon.

(d) The boy acce pted resp onsi bilit y about spre adin g the rum our.
was turn ed QJl....
(e) He app lied for the pos t of a man ager but

(ij The doc tors told him that he was livin

g with borrowed time.

called bac k.
(g) Whe n the stor m brok e, the sear ch was
..
(h) The bus skid ded and ran acro ss a wall

(i) He is inte llige nt but. seem s to be wan ting for com mon sens e.
.

(j) His so-c alle d frien ds hav e a bad influ

ence above him .

n belo w with the appropriate form of

(iii) Fill in the blan ks in the pass age give
the pass age but write the verb s in the
the verb give n in bra cke ts. Do not write (5]
corr ect order.
les bn clim ate chan ge rece ntly and the
The re ... 1... {has) been a num ber of artic
3 ... (be) loud and clear; our plan et ... 4 ...
war ning that ... 2 ... (come) from them ...
chan ge that .... 5 .... (be) bein g ... 6 ... (bring)
(head) for disa ster bec ause of the clim ate
the emi ssio n of gase s like carb on dioxide.
abo ut by the green hou se effect thro ugh
y area s .... 8.... (become) drie r and
As the eart h ... 7... ( get) war mer , man
10 .... (be) good agri cult ural land .
dese rts .... 9 ..... (be) spre adin g over wha t ...

s
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Question 4
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (i), (ii) and (iii) that
follow:

On the Indian side, the memory that dominates, indeed overwhelms, all others in
relation to China is that of the Sino - Indian war of 1962,in which India suffered a
resounding defeat.

The issues that catalyzed the 1962 war are by no means settled. The conflict has
continued over decades and is still ongoing, with clashes between Chinese and
Indian troops occuring regularly along the border. Nor is there an end in sight to
these clashes: China is today an increasingly assertive and bellicose neighbour and
India has no option but to stand its ground as best as it can.

There can be no doubt that this ongoing confrontation has added many layers of
fear, resentment and hostility to Indian attitudes towards China. The extreme
rancour against China that is now increasingly evident in the United States has
existed in India for most of my life.

The roots of India's Chinese communities go back to the late eighteenth century,
when the first Hakka migrants settled near Calcutta. Over time the community
thrived; it ran several schools, temples and newspapers, and many of its members
became successful professionals and entrepreneurs. Many Chinese Indians never
visited China and had no connections with the country; a substantial number were
anti - communists. But still, the 1962 was no sooner over than the Indian
government passed a law allowing for the ' apprehension and detention in custody
of an person [suspected] of being of hostile origin'.

Thousands of ethnic Chinese were forced to leave India; many became stateless
refugees. Thousands more were interned within India, remaining in internment
camps for years, without trial. When they were released, most returned to find that
their homes and businesses had been seized or sold off. For years afterwards they
had to report monthly to police stations. The atmosphere of suspicion extended even
to the few Indian scholars who studied China.

In the years after the war, Calcutta's ethnic-Chinese population halved in

number, falling from 20,000 to 10,000. Many of those who remained were forced to
relocate from the old Chinatown, in the city centre, to Tangra, a swampy marshland
on the urban periphery. It is a testament of the community's resilience and

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e~terprise _that this neighbourhood has become a vibrant new Chinatown, dotted
With factones, workshops, temples and restaurants.

The scapegoating of the Chinese Indian community after 1962 is, without a
~ou bt, a very ugly chapter in the history of India. But India too has paid a price for
it, Calcutta most of all. The 1960s and 1970s were exactly the time when diasporic
Chinese communities were bringing about an economic transformation in many
parts of Southeast Asia by funnelling in foreign capital, and by creating new
businesses and industries. Had the Sino- Indian community not been devastated by
the 1962 war it might have helped revitalize Calcutta too.

I was forcibly reminded of this in 201 O when my wife and I spent a few days in
Coloane, at the southern most tip of the Macau peninsula. Our tranquil, sunbathed
hotel stood above a sandy beach, commanding a spectacular view of the sea; its
kitchens produced some of the finest Macanese fare in that famously epicurean city.
One morning I discovered to my surprise, that the hotel's proprietor, a woman in
her mid-fifties, had grown up in Calcutta: she spoke fluent English, Bengali and
Cantonese ( but not Mandarin). Her family had owned restaurants in Calcutta she
told me, and they had always wanted to run a hotel as well. But after 1962 they had
been compelled to leave. It had taken many years of struggle before they finally
managed to realize their dream - except that their hotel was in Macau, not Calcutta.
( Smoke and Ashes by Amitava Ghosh)

(i) (a) Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the
underlined word or words in the following sentences. (3]

(1) The man's aggressive attitude was disliked by his family members and
colleagues.

(2) Though a difference in political loyalties had made the two friends part ways
many years back, they spoke without resentment about each other.

(3) Her amiable attitude towards the children brought about a chan1e in their
conduct.

(b) For each of the words given below, choose a sentence which has used the
same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it
carries in the passage: [3)

(1) passed

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a. The institution passed a law forbidding any one who was not a graduate to be a
member of its administrative body.

b. A law was passed by the organization to nab the miscreants.

c. The parents of the boy had passed away when he was very young.

d. A two-third majority was needed for the law to be passed by the council.

(2) view

a. The view from the window filled my mind with tranquility.

b. The fort was constructed at a strategic position and provided a clear view of the
surroundings.

c. He refused to stay in the hotel roon1 because it didnot accord to him a view of the
hills.

d. I wanted his view on the issue that had created a controversy.

(3) leave

a. The student was asked to leave the school on grounds of indiscipline.

b. The employee was unwell and asked for sick leave from his boss.

c. "Leave the room at once" said the father to the errant son.

d. Many qualified people had to leav~ the c?untry for lack of opportun~ties.

(il)Answer the following questions in your own words ·as briefly as possible:
(a)What's tells us that India and China had cordial relations in the past? (2)

(b) How do we know that the Chinese are industrious and have good entrepreneurial
abilities? [2]

(c)What kind of a relation does India share with China at present? [2]

(ill) Write a summary which describes how the Sino - Indian community was
devastated by the war of 1962. [8]
You are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about
100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised.

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