Page 1 Sample Paper 4 CBSE XII English-Core

Sample Paper 4
Class XII Exam 2023-24
English-Core (301)
Time Allowed : 3 Hrs. Maximum Marks: 80
General Instructions:
1. The Question Paper contains THREE sections READING, WRITING and LITERATURE.
2. Attempt question based on specific instructions for each part.

SECTION A-READING SKILLS 22

Reading Comprehension Through Unseen Passages
1. Read the following text. 12
1. Many of us believe that ‘small’ means ‘insignificant’. We believe that small actions and choices do
not have much impact on our lives. We think that it is only the big things, the big actions and the big
decisions that really count. But when you look at the lives of all great people, you will see that they
built their character through small decisions, small choices and small actions that they performed every
day. They transformed their lives through a step-by-step or day-by-day approach. They nurtured and
nourished their good habits and chipped away at their bad habits, one step at a time. It was their small
day-to-day decisions that added up to make a tremendous difference in the long run. Indeed, in matters
of personal growth and character building, there is no such thing as an overnight success.
2. Growth always occurs through a sequential series of stages. There is an organic process to growth. When
we look at children growing up, we can see this process at work: the child first learns to crawl, then to
stand and walk and finally to run. The same is true in the natural world. The soil must first be tilled and
then the seed must be sowed. Next, it must be nurtured with enough water and sunlight and only then
will it grow, bear fruit and finally ripen and be ready to eat.
3. Gandhi understood this organic process and used this universal law of nature to his benefit. Gandhi
grew in small ways, in his day-to-day affairs. He did not wake up one day and find himself to be the
‘Mahatma’. In fact, there was nothing much in his early life that showed signs of greatness. But from
his mid-twenties onwards, he deliberately and consistently attempted to change himself, reform himself
and grow in some small way every day. Day-by-day, hour-by-hour, he risked failure, experimented and
learnt from mistakes. In small and large situations alike, he took up rather than avoiding responsibility.
4. People have always marvelled at the effortless way in which Gandhi could accomplish the most difficult
tasks. He displayed a great deal of self-mastery and discipline that was amazing. These things did not
come easily to him. Years of practice and disciplined training went into making his successes possible.
Very few saw his struggles, fears, doubts and anxieties or his inner efforts to overcome them. They saw
the victory, but not the struggle.
5. This is a common factor in the lives of all great people: they exercised their freedoms and choices in
small ways that made great impact on their lives and their environment. Each of their small decisions
and actions, added up to have a profound impact in the long run. By understanding this principle, we
can move forward with confidence in the direction of our dreams. Often when our ‘ideal goal’ looks too
far from us, we become easily discouraged, disheartened and pessimistic. However, when we choose to
grow in small ways, taking small steps one at a time, performing it becomes easy.
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Page 2 Sample Paper 4 CBSE XII English-Core

Answer the following questions, based on the passage above.

i. Gandhiji followed a process of growth. Which of the following is the third step in this process? 1
(a) Experimentation (b) Learning from mistakes
(c) Risking failure (d) Attempt to change

ii. The main idea in the first paragraph is that 1

(a) overnight success is possible for all of us
(b) small actions and decisions are important in one’s life
(c) big things, big actions and big decisions make a person great
(d) personal changes are not important

iii. What is the one common thing that Gandhiji did in small and large situations? Answer in about 40
words. 2

iv. Complete the following sentence with reference to the extract. 1

The phrase _____ in the first paragraph means ‘to steadily give up bad habits’.

v. Select the option that conveys the opposite of ‘unintentionally’ from words used in paragraph 3. 1
(a) Organic (b) Consistently
(c) Risked (d) Deliberately

vi. Comment on the writer’s reference to the way in which great people transform their lives. Answer in
about 40 words. 2

vii. Describe the ‘universal law of nature’ mentioned in the passage. Answer in about 40 words. 2

viii. What did Gandhiji try to do after he was 25 years old? 1

ix. Pick the option that correctly lists the tone of the writer with reference to the passage. 1
1. Sympathetic
2. Encouraging
3. Wonder
4. Regret
5. Matter of fact
Codes
(a) Only 3 (b) Only 4
(c) Only 2 (d) 1 and 5

2. Read the following text. 10

1. The United States Postal Service (also known as USPS, the Post Office, informally known as the P.O.,
or the U.S. Mail) is the third largest employer in the United States, after the Department of Defence and
Walmart. It employs over 785,000 workers in over 14,000 U.S. postal facilities.


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2. The Postal Service has certainly grown and changed since 1775 when the first Postmaster General
-Benjamin Franklin - was named to head the Post Office Department, the forerunner of the current
USPS. At that time, members of the Second Continental Congress agreed that the Postmaster General
headquarters, or most important offices, would be stationed in Philadelphia, and that the Postmaster
would be paid $1,000 a year for his or her service.
3. As the country grew westward, it became necessary for the railroad system to carry the mail. The Railway
Mail Service (RMS) was initiated in 1862. The RMS workers sorted mail on the train, and became some
of the fastest workers in the system. They sorted about 600 pieces of mail per hour. All the mail had to
be sorted before the train reached the first stop, since some of the mail was destined for that first stop on
the route.
4. By 1918, the Post Office took over air mail from the U.S. Army. The first airplanes used in U.S. air mail
were surplus planes from World War I. The Post Office started with only four pilots flying these leftover
planes in August 1918, but by the end of that year, the Post Office had hired 36 more pilots. By 1920,
over 49 million air mail letters had been delivered.
5. The Post Office has used alternate methods of transmission during its history. It owned and operated the
first telegraph lines from 1884 to 1887 - when the lines were privatized. It utilized “V-Mail” (Victory
Mail) during World War II when U.S. military mail was put on microfilm in the U.S. and printed near
its destination, in order to save space on military transport. During the 1980s, Electronic Computer
Originated Mail, called ECOM, was used for some bulk mailings. Computer generated mail was printed
near its destination, and bore a blue ECOM logo on its special envelopes.
6. In 1970, the Postal Reorganization Act, signed by President Richard Nixon, replaced the Post Office
Department (a Cabinet-level department) with the independent US Postal Service. The independent
US Postal Service has streamlined its workload and modernized operations. Today’s multi-line optical
character readers (MLOCRs) can read the entire address on an envelope, print a barcode on the envelope,
and sort the mail at the rate of nine letters per second. The zip code +4, a four digit code added to the end
of the existing 5-digit code, has decreased the number of times a piece of mail needs to be handled.
7. Special barcode sorters assign an 11-digit zip code to each address, apply a barcode to each letter, and sort
the mail in order of delivery. The Postal Service has installed automated customer-service equipment in
lobbies, and is planning to automate even more of its work, including more machines which will process
parcels and forwarded mail. The price of a first-class stamp-recently approved at 44 cents and good for
up to one-ounce domestic mail- seems relatively inexpensive compared to its predecessor; the first U.S.
postage stamp, issued in 1847. The first stamps, adorned with a picture of Benjamin Franklin, sold for
5 cents apiece. They were used for letters weighing less than one ounce with a travel distance of less
than 300 miles. By way of comparison, pay records available for the 1890s indicate that a typical year’s
pay for a schoolteacher was around $500, or 10,000 times the price of a stamp. Stamp prices then seem
relatively high when compared to today’s average teacher pay, in the $40,000 per-year range, or about
1,000,000 times the price of a postage stamp!
Answer the following questions based on the passage above.
i. How did the mail sorting work in RMS? Answer in about 40 words. 2

ii. The railway mail service was established in 1

(a) 1884 (b) 1980
(c) 1862 (d) 1775

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iii. How did the RMS become some of the fastest workers in the service? 1
(a) By using pigeons
(b) By sorting the mail on the train before every stop
(c) By inviting people to sort the mail.

iv. What was the system of transporting mail called? 1

v. Who was the first Postmaster General? 1

vi. The second largest employer in the US is 1

(a) Walmart
(b) Department of Defense
(c) United States Postal Service
(d) Domino’s

vii. How does the independent US Postal service work Answer in about 40 words. 2

viii. State TRUE or FALSE. 1

The price of first-class stamp-recently approved at 5 cents apiece.

SECTION B- CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS 18

Note : All details presented in the questions are imaginary and created for assessment purpose.

3. Attempt ANY ONE of two, in about 50 words. 4

A. Water supply will be suspended for eight hours (10 am to 6 pm) on 6th of March for cleaning of the
water tank. Write a notice in about 50 words advising the residents to store water for a day. You are
Karan Kumar/Karuna Bajaj, Secretary, Janata Group Housing Society, Palam Vihar, Kurnool.

O
B. You are Mahender, Sports Captain, St. John’s School, Lucicnow. Write a notice in 50 words for the
school notice board informing students about an Inter School Football match to be played in your school.
Invite them to watch and cheer the teams.

4. Attempt ANY ONE of two, in about 50 words. 4

A. The literary club of your society is putting up the play ‘Macbeth. As secretary of the club, draft an
invitation inviting the famous writer Rohit Sharma to be the guest of honour at the function. Write the
invitation in about 50 words. You are Gaurav/Garima.

O
B. You have been invited as a judge for a debate competition by New Hope public School. Draft a formal
refusal in about 50 words.

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5. Attempt ANY ONE of two, in about 120-150 words. 5

A. Write a letter to Editor of local daily, New Delhi about water scarcity in you locality suggesting ways to
improve the condition of water supply. You are Bobby/Babita of Ghaziabad.

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B. As a regular commuter by bus from Noida to Delhi, you have been witnessing rash driving by the bus
drivers daily without an exception. Write a letter to the Editor, ‘The Times of India’ drawing the attention
of the General Manager, Delhi Transport Corporation to this problem. You are Priti/Prakash, 15, Udyog
Vihar, Noida.

6. Attempt ANY ONE of two, in about 120-150 words. 5

A. Incessant rain has caused irrecoverable damage in your area. As an active participant in the flood relief
programme, write a report in 120-150 words on the different flood relief measures carried out. You are
Krishan/ Krishna.


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B. Accidents happen when people violate traffic rules. Careless drivers cause suffering to themselves and
to others. Write an article in 120-150 words on “Safe Driving”.

SECTION C- LITERATURE 40

7. Read the given extracts and answer the questions for ANY ONE of the two, given. 6
A. And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
(A Thing of Beauty)

i. Which of the following themes is best represented in the given extract? 1

(a) The immortality of art and literature
(b) The power of imagination
(c) The beauty of nature
(d) The inevitability of death

ii. State whether the given statement is TRUE or FALSE, with reference to the extract. 1
By referring to the dead as “mighty”, the poet emphasizes their importance and the power they exerted
on the people.

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iii. Complete the sentence appropriately. 1

The “endless fountain of immortal drink” is an apt analogy for the tales of the mighty dead because
_____.

iv. The use of the word “brink” in the extract suggests that the immortality that is being poured onto us is
on the verge of overflowing. This creates a powerful image of _____. 1

v. Based on the poem rhyme scheme, evident in lines 2-5, of the given extract, which word would rhyme
with line 1? 1
said think tombs

vi. Select the option that is NOT true about the lack of punctuation at the end of line 1 in the extract. 1
(a) Encourages a revisit to the ideas in the preceding lines.
(b) Encourages the reader to continue reading seamlessly without any pause.
(c) Creates a sense of anticipation and expectation for the reader.
(d) Creates a sense of continuity and flow that connects the line with the second line.

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B. “Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.”
(Keeping Quiet)

i. What do the given lines tell us about mankind? 1

(a) Selfish nature (b) Greed
(c) Materialistism (d) All of these

ii. What does the poet expect of the fisherman? 1

iii. What figure of speech has been used in the first line of the stanza or in words ‘Cold Sea’? 1
(a) Personification (b) Metaphor
(c) Transferred epithet (d) Simile

iv. State whether the given statement is TRUE and FALSE. 1

The selfish nature of man is leading to environmental degradation.

v. How is ‘keeping quiet’ going to help the man who works as ‘salt gatherer’? 1

vi. Complete the sentence appropriately. 1

The tone of the poet in the given lines is _____.

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8. Read the given extracts and answer the questions for ANY ONE of the two, given. 4
A. In the afternoon the second thing happened. Hana, working hard on unaccustomed labour, saw a
messenger come to the door in official uniform. Her hands went weak and she could not draw her breath.
The servants must have told already. She ran to Sadao, gasping unable to utter a word. But by then the
messenger had simply followed her through the garden and there he stood. She pointed at him helplessly.
Sadao looked up from his book ....
“What is it?” he asked the messenger and then he rose, seeing the man’s uniform. “You are to come to
the palace,” The man said. “the old General is in pain again.” “Oh”, Hana breathed, “is that all?”
(The Enemy)
i. Give one reason for the following. 1
The messenger had come to Sadao’s house

ii. The above extract has been taken from 1

(a) Going Places
(b) The Enemy
(c) The Third Level
(d) Lost Spring

iii. The phrase ‘unaccustomed labour’ means _____. 1

iv. What was Hana’s fear in the given extract? 1

O
B. Have you ever been there? It’s a wonderful town still, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and
tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. And in 1894, summer evenings
were twice as long, and people sat out on their lawns, the men smoking cigars and talking quietly, the
women waving palm-leaf fans, with the fire-flies all around, in a peaceful world. To be back there with
the First World War still twenty years off and World War II over forty years in the future... I wanted two
tickets for that.
(The Third Level)
i. The author wants two tickets to a place which he refers to in the last two lines of the extract. Which year
does he wish to go back to? 1

ii. At the beginning of the extract, the author addresses the question to _____. 1
(a) Louisa, Charley’s wife
(b) Sam Weiner, Charley’s psychiatrist
(c) the reader
(d) nobody in particular as it’s a rhetoric question

iii. Complete the sentence appropriately. 1

‘Tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets’ is an example of _____.

iv. How has life been described in the given extract? 1

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9. Read the given extracts and answer the questions for ANY ONE of the two, given. 6
A. To do anything else would mean to dare. And daring is not part of his growing up. When I sense a flash
of it in Mukesh I am cheered. “I want to be a motor mechanic,” he repeats: He will go to a garage and
learn. But the garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk,” he insists. “Do you also dream of flying
a plane ?” He is suddenly silent. “No,” he says, staring at the ground.
(Lost Spring)
i. What was Mukesh supposed to be if not his dream to be a motor mechanic? 1

ii. “I will walk” this line shows Mukesh’s. 1

(a) disappointment
(b) determination
(c) shyness
(d) helplessness

iii. With whom was the speaker sharing his dream? 1

iv. Did Mukesh sound unreasonable? 1

(a) Maybe
(b) No
(c) Yes
(d) Can’t be determined

v. Why did the writer ask, “Do you also dream of flying a plane?” 1

vi. What can we understand from the line, “And daring is not part of his growing up:’? 1

O
B. Then I started down a third time. I sucked for air and got water the yellowish light was going out. Then
all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out
fear; it wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of
This is nice... to be drowsy... to go to sleep... no need to jump... too tired to jump... it’s nice to be carried
gently... to float along in space... tender arms around me... tender arms like Mother’s... now I must go to
sleep... I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.
(Deep Water)
i. The author ends the given paragraph about the seemingly long struggle of little Douglas with the words
‘and the curtain of life fell.’ How does he involve the reader into it? 1

ii. The line, ‘After a while, Douglas gave up being anxious and fearful in water’ can be best classified as: 1
(a) an effect
(b) a cause
(c) a fact
(d) an opinion

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iii. Infer from the given extract, the author shows gradation of various stages of fear. 1

iv. Identify the line from the given extract that bears evidence to the fact that the author was now not much
afraid. 1

v. The author has used this figure of speech with this meaning in- tender arms around me ... tender arms
like Mother’s ... 1
(a) metaphor, softness
(b) simile, comfort
(c) repetition, anxiety
(d) paradox, the arms don’t belong to his mother

vi. Complete the sentence in ONE word. 1

When the curtain of life fell, Douglas surrendered before death and with _____ crossed to oblivion.

10. Answer ANY FIVE of the following six questions, in about 40-50 words. 5 # 2 = 10
i. Is the society in any way affected by Aunt Jennifer’s death?
(Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers)

ii. Why did Gandhiji feel that it was useless for the peasants to go to law courts?
(Indigo)

iii. For Franz, what was much more tempting than going to school and why?
(The Last Lesson)

iv. What different image does the poet use to convey the idea of her mother’s age?
(My Mother at Sixty-Six)

v. At the crofter’s home, why did the peddler feel very happy?
(The Rattrap)

vi. How can suspension of activities help?

(Keeping Quiet)

11. Answer ANY TWO of the following three questions, in about 40-50 words. 2#2 = 4
i. How did the gardener react when Dr. Sadao told him about the wounded American soldier?
(The Enemy)

ii. If you were to give a different ending to the story, “On the Face of It” how would you end it?
(On the Face of It)

iii. What is common between Zitkala-Sa and Bama?

(Memories of Childhood)

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12. Answer ANY ONE of the following two questions, in about 120-150 words. 5
A. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for independence?
(Indigo)

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B. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the poor rural people but do them no
good. Pick out the words and phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards.
(A Roadside Stand)

13. Answer ANY ONE of the following two questions, in about 120-150 words. 5
A. What benefits did Derry reap from his association with Mr. Lamb?
(On the Face of It)

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B. Why is Antarctica the place to go to, to understand the earth’s past, present and future?
(Journey to the End of the Earth)


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