HSC Examination
Jessore Board
English (Compulsory) First Paper
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Time: 3 hours: Full Marks:100
[N.B. The figures in the margin indicate full marks.]
Part A: Reading Test (60 marks)
1. Read the passage and answer the questions A and B:
One of the sources of water in our country are the rivers. Rivers are everywhere in our life, literature, economy and culture. But are the rivers in good shape? Unfortunately, they are not. A few are already dead and several are going through the pangs of death. The river Buriganga is an example of a dying river. A report published in the Daily Sun describes what has happened to the river Buriganga and why. Its water is polluted and a perpetual stench fills the air around it. But that is not what it was like before. The report says that the river had a glorious past. Once it was a tributary of the mighty Ganges and flowed into the Bay of Bengal through the river Dhaleshwari. Gradually, it lost its link with the Ganges and got the name Buriganga. The Mughals marveled at the tide level of the Buriganga and founded their capital Jahangirnagar on its banks in 1610. The river supplied drinking water and supported trade and commerce. Jahangirnagar was renamed Dhaka which grew into a heavily populated city with a chronic shortage of space.
The city paid back the bounty of the river by sucking life out of it! According to newspaper report, Buriganga is dying because of pollution. Huge quantities of toxic chemicals and wastes from mills and factories, hospitals and clinics and households and other establishments are dumped into the river everyday. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4500 tons of solid waste every day and most of it is directly released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of the Environment (DoE), 20,000 tons of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials, are released into the river everyday. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.
[Unit-8, Lesson-1, Page-93]
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives: 1×5=5
(a) What could be the closest meaning for ‘shape’?
(i) Condition (ii) Form
(iii) Model (iv) Body
(b) Which one of the following statements is false?
(i) The rivers are the only sources of water in our country.
(ii) The tide-level of the Buriganga was surprising.
(iii) It was connected with the river Dhaleshwari.
(iv) The humans are responsible for pollution.
(c) How are the rivers related to 'literature'?
They are related to "literature" as they __
(i) are being polluted
(ii) are a very important water source
(iii) can inspire the poets, novelists, etc.
(iv) constitute two-thirds of our country
(d) Buriganga is on death-bed due to __
(i) water vehicles
(ii) pollutions
(iii) the Mughals
(iv) the report published in the newspaper
(e) The Buriganga __ the Ganges.
(i) has a link with
(ii) has nothing to do with
(iii) was a branch of
(iv) was once called
Answer to the question No. 1.A
(a) i. condition; (b) i. The rivers are the only sources of water in our country; (c) iii. can inspire the poets, novelists, etc. (d) ii. pollutions; (e) iii. was a branch of.
B. Answer the following questions: 2×5=10
(a) Do you think rivers attract people to urbanization? How?
(b) In what sense rivers are going through the pangs of death?
(c) What should we do to bring back the glorious past of the rivers?
(d) Do you think industrialization is responsible for river pollution?
(e) We, the people are responsible for the catastrophe of our rivers. Do you agree? Why/why not?
Answer to the question No. 1.B
a. Yes I think so. Rivers support trade and commerce and supply drinking water. Expanding trade and commerce help develop a city economically. That's how, rivers attract people to urbanization.
b. Rivers are going through the pangs of death in the sense that they are getting polluted by the industries and factories. They have become unable to sustain living organisms. Their ecosystem is getting destroyed due to the heavy pollution.
c. We need to have strict laws to stop city’s waste disposal in our rivers. We need to relocate industrial areas that are located near the major rivers so that they cannot pollute the rivers. Besides, we need to control the numbers of steamers, ferries and other means of water transportation.
d. I think uncontrolled industrialization is responsible for river pollution. For instance, 20000 tons of tannery wastes, including some highly toxic materials are released into our rivers every day. Industrial areas in and around the capital city have been identified as the primary sources of river pollution. That's why, uncontrolled industrialization is responsible for river pollution.
e. Yes, I do agree that we the people are responsible for the catastrophe of our rivers. Every day, we discharge tons of waste material into the rivers. On the other hand, we are not taking appropriate measures to stop pollution of the rivers. By this way, we are destroying our rivers.
2. Read the following text and make flow-chart showing important aspects of craftwork. (No. 1 has been done for you): 10
A craftwork is an applied form of art, a social and cultural product reflecting the inclusive nature of folk imagination. A craftwork, which usually doesn’t bear the signature of its maker, retains a personal touch. When we look at a thirty year old nakshikantha we wonder at its motifs and designs that point to the artistic ingenuity and the presence of the maker in it. The fact that we don’t know her name or any other details about her doesn’t take anything away from our appreciation of the artist. Indeed, the intimate nature of the kantha and the tactile feeling it generates animate the work and make it very inviting.
A craftwork is shaped by the interaction of individual creativity and community aesthetics, utility functions and human values. It is distinguished by its maker’s desire to locate himself or herself in the wider and ever-changing cultural aspirations of the community, and subsequently of the market.
[Unit-14, Lesson-3, Page-187]
1. An applied form of art Providing economic benefits | → | 2 | → | 3 | → | 4 | → | 5 | → | 6 |
Answer to the question No. 2
1. An applied form of art |
↓ |
2. A social and cultural product |
↓ |
3. A reflector of folk imagination |
↓ |
4. Not bearing the signature of the maker |
↓ |
5. A product holding a personal touch of the maker |
↓ |
6. An interaction of individual creativity, community aesthetics, utility functions and human values |
3. Summarize the following text: 10
“I'm not in the least hungry,” my guest sighed, “but if you insist I don't mind having some asparagus.”
I ordered them. “Aren't you going to have any?” “No, I never eat asparagus.”
“I know there are people who don't like them. The fact is, you ruin your palate by all the meat you eat.”
We waited for the asparagus to be cooked. Panic seized me. It was not a question now of how much money I should have left over for the rest of the month, but whether I had enough to pay the bill.
The asparagus appeared. They were enormous, succulent and appetizing. The smell of the melted butter tickled my nostrils.......
“Coffee?” I said.
“Yes, just an ice-cream and coffee,” she answered. I was past caring now. So, I ordered coffee for myself and an ice-cream and coffee for her. “You know, there's one thing I believe in,” she said, as she ate the ice-cream. “One should always get up from a meal feeling one could eat a little more.”
[Unit-3, Lesson-2, Page-35]
Answer to the question No. 3
The text is about a conversation between a guest and a host who are having lunch in a grand restaurant. The guest wanted to have asparagus and so, the host ordered the dish for her. The host, however, is anxious because the bill of the lunch is getting heavier each time the guest likes to eat a new cuisine. The host is also panicked to realize that he may not have enough money to pay the bill. After the asparagus, the guest again ordered coffee and ice cream. At the end, the guest tells the host that she thinks one should always get up from a meal feeling one could eat a little more.
4. Read the following text and fill in the blanks with suitable words from the box. There are more words than needed. (Make any grammatical change if necessary): 0.5×10=5
poisonous | of | preserve | greatest |
be | more | refresh | stern |
by | production | contamination | health |
Food adulteration is one of the (a) __ problems in the recent time in our country. Different food and food products, vegetables, fruits and fishes are being (b) __ (c) __ the unscrupulous and profit monger businessmen and green grocers. However, we, the general people (d) __ the victims (e) __ all sorts of pangs and serious diseases. The businessmen use (f) __ chemicals such as DDT, Aldrin, Heptachlor just to make their products (g) __ attractive or to (h) __ them for a longtime. So it is time the authority concerned took (i) __ steps to stop such food adulteration. Proper monitoring, supervision, and public awareness should be compulsory from (j) __ level to consumers.
Answer to the question No. 4
a. greatest; b. contaminated; c. by; d. are; e. of; f. poisonous; g. more; h. preserve; i. stern; j. production.
5. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words in each gap: 1×10=10
Beauty is easy to appreciate but difficult to define. If we look around, we will discover beauty in (a) __ objects and sight in nature, in the (b) __ of children, in kindness of strangers. But asked to define, we run into (c) __. Does beauty have an independent identity? Is it (d) __ or relative? Is it dependent on our sense (e) __? Does it lie in the (f) __ the beholder? Thus their will arise a number of (g) __ in our mind. However, poets, artists, philosophers and thinkers (h) __ always in search of beauty in their works and arts. But most of them have the common and undisputed opinion that where there is beauty, there is (i) __ that is a thing of beauty is a joy (j) __.
Answer to the question No. 5
a. pleasant; b. laughter; c. difficulty; d. universal; e. perception; f. eyes; g. questions; h. are; i. joy; j. for ever.
6. Rearrange the following sentences to make a coherent order: 10
(a) He asked him where God was.
(b) He praised him highly.
(c) Once a lad went to a famous teacher.
(d) The teacher thought highly of the boy's understanding.
(e) The lad replied that he would answer if he would tell where He is not.
(f) The boy devoted himself to earning knowledge.
(g) He begged to instruct him in the arts and sciences.
(h) He agreed to teach the lad.
(i) He had expressed his desire to acquire knowledge.
(j) The teacher wished to find out the ability of the boy.
Answer to the question No. 6
(c)→ (i)→ (g)→ (j)→ (a)→ (e)→ (d) → (b)→ (h)→ (f)
Once a lad went to a famous teacher. He had expressed his desire to acquire knowledge. He begged to instruct him in the arts and sciences. The teacher wished to find out the ability of the boy. He asked him where God was. The lad replied that he would answer if he would tell where He is not. The teacher thought highly of the boy's understanding. He praised him highly. He agreed to teach the lad. The boy devoted himself to earning knowledge.
Part B: Writing Test (40 marks)
7. Write a paragraph on "My Best Friend" in about 200 words based on the answers to the following questions: 10
(a) Who is your best friend? (b) Why do you like him? (c) Do you like to gossip with him? (d) What are the topics that you always discuss with him? (e) What is his aim in life and why?
8. The following is the beginning of a story. Complete it in your own words. Give a title to it: 7
One day a crow stole a piece of meat. It flew away and sat on the branch of a tree. Suddenly a fox.......
9. Suppose, you are Tanzim. Now write an e-mail to your friend telling him about how you have prepared yourself for the ensuing HSC Examination. 5
10. The graph below shows "The number of people living Below the Poverty Line from 1995 to 2010". Describe the graph in 150 words. You should highlight and summarize the information given in the graph. 10
The number of people living below the poverty line (%)
11. Write down the theme of the following poem (Not more than 50 words). 8
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
HSC English 1st Paper Board Question with answer: Rajshahi Board
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