Final Model Question
English 2^nd Paper

HSC 2017

Time : 3 Hours                          Full Marks: 100

Part A: Grammar (60 Marks)

 01. Fill in the blanks in the following texts with articles (a/an/the) as necessary. Some of the blanks may not require an article. Put a cross (x) in those blanks.      .5×10=05

Every student wants to do better in (a) ___ examination. But it is not (b) ___ easy work. (c) ___ student has to do something for this. From (d) ___ very beginning, he must be serious. He should read (e) ___ texts again and again. He must not memorize (f) ___ answer without knowing the meaning. He must not make notes from (g) ___ common source.  He should have a good (h) ___ command over English. By doing all these things, (i) ___ student can hope to make a good (j) ___ .

02. Complete the text with suitable preposition.   .5×10=05

A good student is never indifferent (a) ___ his studies. He always adheres (b) ___ his studies. He does not learn things (c) ___ rote. He does not hunt (d) ___ traditional guide books. Moreover, he has great thirst (e) ___ knowledge. For this, he does not confine himself (f) ___ the traditional studies. He is always aware (g) ___ the current affairs (h) ___ the world. He abides (i) ___ his teachers’ advice and jots (j) ___ their lectures.

03. Complete the sentences with suitable phrases / words given in the box.       .5×10=05

would rather	as if	has to	had better	as soon as
there	what’s it like	it	let alone	what if

1. To be successful, one ___ be disciplined. For, without maintaining a disciplined life, none can succeed in life.
2. He cannot express his ideas in Bangla, ___ in English. He is not studious at all.
3. I ___ lead a simple life than earn a lot of money illegally and lead an aristocratic life. I always hate corruption and the corrupt.
4. While taking exam, students should check if they have attempted all the questions ___ they finish writings. But unfortunately some students do not do it.
5. Today it is drizzling. So, ___ taking kedgeree at lunch?
6. Rahim is meritorious but poor. He ___ do a private tuition in the afternoon to afford his educational expenses.
7. Touhid is a good singer. We have invited him only to our cultural function, ___ he misses?
8. My friend always talks ___ he knew everything. Actually, he is not a learned man.
9. ___ is unfortunate that many students spoil most of their time by using Facebook.
10. Now we get information within seconds. Cell phones are doing this miraculous thing. But ___ was a time when we had to wait days after days for a letter to come and bring the news about our near and dear ones.

04. Complete the sentences using suitable clauses / phrases.    .5×10=05

1. Garment industry in Bangladesh is one of the major sources____. But this sector is afflicted with many problems.
2. Once Taimur attacked the province of a powerful prince. When the prince heard the news___.
3. Mr. Karim is a hardworking man. ___ he cannot turn the wheels of his fortune.
4. Success does not come to a man automatically. When a man works in a systematic way ___.
5. Female education is a crying need for our country. It is a good sign that nowadays ___.
6. Motherland is like haven. It is our sacred duty ___ our motherland.
7. Life should not be considered ___. It is full of sorrows and sufferings.
8. When you ___ work, you will go home.
9. The thief was afraid of police. He ran away lest ___ arrested.
10. He is an honest worker. Despite his honest work ____.

05. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of verbs as per subject and context. .5x 10=05

One very conspicuous change in our society (a) ___ (be) the presence of working women outside the home. Of course, it (b) ___ (acknowledge) that women have always (c) ___ (work) within the household but this commonly (d) ___ (count) as ‘work’. Even their role in agricultural societies (e) ___ (recognize) either. From the urge (f) ___ (establish) their own identity, many of them are now (g) ___ (enter) the outside work force. They (h) ___ (join) a wide range of professions. Moreover, it is not only educated women who (i) ___ (opt) to work but women with little or no education (j) ___ (come) out of their cocoons to become self–reliant.

06. Read the text and change the sentences as directed.     1×5=05

Child labour is a great problem in our country. (a) In fact, it is one of the biggest curses (Make it positive). It is the violation of human rights. (b) Unfortunately, this has been accepted in our society (Make it complex). (c) In a family of five or six children, the parents have to send some of their kids to work so that they can fill their empty stomachs (Make it simple). (d) Though these poor children have to work hard all day long, in return they are rewarded with all kinds of abuses. (Make it compound). (e) Child labour should be stopped (Make it active).

07. Change the narrative style by using indirect speeches.    1×5=05

“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della. “I buy hair,” said Madame. “Take your hat off and let’s have a sight at the looks of it.” “Twenty dollars,” said Madame. “Give it to me quick,” said Della.

08. Identify the unclear pronoun references in the following paragraph. Where necessary, rewrite the sentences so that all pronoun references are clear.     1×5=05

Life is full of struggles. These are quite normal in anyone’s life as it is not a bed of roses. Certainly, it has ups and downs. A man has to face innumerable barriers in his life. Sometimes he can overcome those but sometimes he fails to combat them. He may be born with silver spoon without any trouble. But even then he has to overcome a lot of such to be successful in life. In other words, life is full of challenges. If he cannot fight them successfully, his life becomes full of sorrows. Though the scholars differ in giving the definition of life, they are unanimous that obstacles are the ways of life. In fact, a man has to undergo many in his life.

09. Read the following text and use modifiers as directed in the blank spaces.      .5×10=05

Afforestation is (a) ___  [use an intensifier to pre–modify the adjective] beneficial to us. We all know about (b) ___ [use a determiner] harmful effects of deforestation. Deforestation (c) ___ [use a relative clause to post–modify the noun] is one of the causes of global warming. Not only that, it (d) ___ [use a quantifier to pre–modify the noun] negative impacts on our daily life. Deforestation has caused the extinction of various (e) ___ [pre–modify the noun] animals. On the other hand, afforestation has a (f) ___ [use a compound adjective to pre–modify the noun] positive impact on life, animals and environment. In Bangladesh, tree plantation programme is conducted by both the government and private firms. (g)___ [use a possessive] Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. (h) ___ [use an infinitive phrase], public awareness is also important. We all know that trees, (i) ___ [use an appositive] provide us food, shelter, oxygen, timber etc. They also protect us from different (j) ____ [pre–modify the noun] calamities.

10. Use appropriate sentence connectors in the blank spaces of the following passage. .5×10=05

Long ago there was a mighty old king in England named Lear. He had three daughters Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. He was tired of ruling the country. (a) ___ he made up his mind to step down and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. (b) ___ at first he wanted to know how much they loved him. (c) ___ Lear asked his eldest daughter, “How much do you love me?” (d)___, Goneril declared. Sir, I love you more than I can say. Lear was satisfied. (e) ___, he called for the map of his kingdom and drew his finger, round one–third of it. (f) ___ Lear asked his second daughter, Regan how much she loved him. She said, “My love for you shall never change.” (g) ___ Lear was pleased and gave her a third of his kingdom. (h) ___, it was the turn of Cordelia, the youngest and most loved daughter, (i) ___ asked, Cordelia said, “Nothing.” (j) ___ Lear was shocked and said, “Nothing comes of nothing.”

11. Read the passage and then write the antonym or synonym of the words as directed below. .5×10=05

The pioneer of Bangladeshi modern art Zainul Abedin is widely acclaimed for his Bengal ‘Famine Sketches’. Through a series of sketches, Zainul not only documented the harsh famine of 1940 but also showed its sinister face through the skeletal figures of the people destined to die of starvation in a manmade plight. He depicted these extremely shocking pictures with human compassion. He made his own ink by burning charcoal and using cheap ordinary packing paper for sketching. He produced a series of brush and ink drawings, which later became iconic images of human sufferings. 

1. modern (antonym); (b) wide (synonym); (c) harsh (antonym); (d) die (antonym); (e) plight (synonym); (f) shocking (antonym); (g) human (antonym); (h) compassion (synonym); (i) cheap (antonym); (j) suffering.

12. There are ten errors in the use of pronunciation marks in the following text. Rewrite the text correcting the errors. .5×10=05

Tourist        : How old is the edifice guide

Guide          : Madame its a 15th century edifice

Tourist         : What a wonderful edifice it is

Guide          : It was built by Akbar the emperor of India.

Tourist         : Oh! I see

Guide          : Madame we should move now. The sun is about to set. It would be dark.

Tourist         : Isn’t the place safe?

Guide          : It is. But the security does not allow anybody after the sunset.

 

Part B: Composition (40 Marks)

13. Suppose you are Sameen, a student of Class XII in ‘X’ college in Mymensingh. You don’t have the multimedia facility in the classrooms. Now write an application to the Principal requesting him to install multimedia system in the classrooms. 08

14. Imagine many students in a college fall sick due to food poisoning from tiffin snacks provided by college management. You are Sadman, a reporter of a national daily. Now write a report of about 120 words on it. 08

15. Social Networking Services like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. occupy a great part in our everyday life. Write a paragraph on Social Networking Services within 150 words. 10

16. The number of satellite TV channels is increasing day by day in Bangladesh. Even, many foreign TV channels are also telecast in the country. However, it has been observed that wasting a long time on these channels has been addiction to many. Write a composition on Merits and Demerits of Satellite Channels. Write at least 200 words but don’t exceed 250 words. 14

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