ISC Board Class 12 Elective English Sample Paper 2024-25: Download Free PDF Here

Question 1:

Choose the most appropriate option from among those given for any ten of the questions or statements from any three of the prescribed textbooks.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Harper Lee

(i) How old was Jem when he broke his arm?

(a) Nearly thirteen

(b) Nearly fourteen

(c) About nine

(ii) The first chapter focusses on telling stories. This primarily serves to

(a) lengthen the novel with introductory background.

(b) tie characters to family and history.

(c) make the story appealing to a wider audience.

(iii) What literary significance does Mr Radley’s sealing the knot-hole in the tree

have? 

(a) It is ironical.

(b) It is descriptive.

(c) It is symbolic

(iv) Which one of the following lines from the novel is thematically significant?

(a) “Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts.”

(b) “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love

breathing.”

(c) “You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and

walk around in it.”

THE HUNGRY TIDE: Amitav Ghosh

(v) According to legend, who was Bon Bibi’s father? 

(a) Mahadev

(b) Ibrahim

(c) Dokkhin Rai

(vi) Read the two statements given below from the novel and choose the correct

option from the ones that follow.

Statement 1: There was no bindi on her forehead and her arms were free of

bangles.

Statement 2: Kanai was convinced that she was a foreigner.

(a) Statement 1 is independent of Statement 2.

(b) Statement 1 is the reason for Statement 2.

(c) Statement 1 is the result of Statement 2.

(vii) Why was Nirmal obsessed with Morichjhapi?

(a) Because he was a revolutionary at heart

(b) Because Kusum lived there and he was fond of her

(c) Because he was writing a book about the place

(viii) What was the fate of Lucy Hamilton?

(a) She died in an island tidal wave.

(b) She never reached the island as her ship capsized.

(c) She spent her life on the island aiding refugees financially.

A DOLL’S HOUSE: Henrik Ibsen

(ix) Why does Nora reveal her secret to Mrs Linde in Henrik Ibsen in A Doll’s

House? 

(a) To ensure that Mrs Linde can also borrow money to support herself

(b) To show Mrs Linde can be trusted to never reveal her secret to Torvald

(c) To demonstrate her own capability of taking care of her family like a man

(x) “A wife hasn't a right to save her husband's life?” How does the statement

present a conflict between love and law?

(a) Nora must borrow money through unfair means for the love of her husband which is not a sin, but the law will punish her for this offence.

(b) Nora loves Torvald but is aware that if she borrows money from the bank, she has to repay it with interest as per law.

(c) Nora wanting to save her husband is love, and the conflict is with marital law that does not permit secrecy from the husband.

(xi) The play ends with 

(a) the door shutting.

(b) the wind whistling.

(c) Nora sobbing.

(xii) What does the Tarantella reveal?

(a) A perfectly obedient wife in Nora

(b) A cold lack of desire in Torvald

(c) Fiery passion in Nora

DEATH OF A SALESMAN: Arthur Miller

(xiii) Willy [after a pause]: I suddenly could not drive any more.” What does this

confession establish about Willy right in the beginning of the play?

(a) Willy is getting older and his eyesight is failing.

(b) Willy is physically and mentally exhausted.

(c) Willy is dejected about shifting to Florida from New England

(xiv) What does Linda call Happy?

(a) A philistine

(b) A real travesty

(c) A philandering bum

(xv) What is the dramatic effect of Linda’s words, “We’re free” in the Requiem?

(a) Sad irony

(b) Lamentable rhetoric

(c) Frustrating hyperbole

(xvi) Ben went to _____ looking for their father but ended up in _____. 

(a) Antarctica; Australia

(b) Arctic; Alaska

(c) Alaska; Africa

NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY VERSE – Ed. Chris Woodhead

(xvii) Ted Hughes’ Pike expresses the narrator’s deep-rooted feeling of

(a) discontent.

(b) melancholy.

(c) terror.

(xviii) Which of the following is NOT true of Lawrence’s Bavarian Gentians?

(a) The poem uses flowers as symbols.

(b) It was written when Lawrence was staring at an early death due to

tuberculosis.

(c) A previous visit to the Etruscan tombs, Italy, had inspired Lawrence to

compose the poem.

(xix) Edward Thomas’ As the team’s head brass talks of the impact of

(a) the First World War on rural England.

(b) the Potato Famine on Great Britain.

(c) the Plague across Europe.

(xx) In The Whitsun Weddings, the poet’s train 

(a) left at three forty-five.

(b) left at one twenty.

(c) reached at one twenty

Question 2 

Briefly answer any five of the following questions from any three of the prescribed textbooks.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Harper Lee

(i) According to Miss Stephanie, what happened when Boo was pasting items in his

Scrapbook?

(ii) What lesson did Atticus want Jem to learn from Mrs Dubose? 

THE HUNGRY TIDE: Amitav Ghosh 

(iii) Explain any one reason that, in your opinion, makes the Sundarbans symbolic of

human life.

(iv) Why does Kanai say that Nirmal had risen from his ashes to summon him?

A DOLL’S HOUSE: Henrik Ibsen

(v) What does Nora expect Torvald to do when he learns of her crime?

(vi) Mention any two terms of endearment Torvald uses to address Nora. Why are these terms thematically significant? 

DEATH OF A SALESMAN: Arthur Miller

(vii) With the help of two distinct examples from the text, appraise Charley as a

Friend.

(viii) Identify any two symbols in the play and briefly explain one point of significance

of each. 

NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY VERSE – Ed. Chris Woodhead

(ix) What did the poet learn about himself from the “friend in specs” in Wild Oats?

(x) In The Shield of Achilles, what was Thetis’ reaction to “what the god had

wrought”? Why did she feel this way?