Set

Series: WXYZ/S

Q.P. Code

28/S

Roll No.

Candidates must write the Q.P. Code on

the title page of the answer-book.

ENGLISH (Elective)

Time allowed: 3 hours

Maximum Marks: 80

Please check that this question paper contains 15 printed pages.

Q.P. Code given on the right hand side of the question paper should be written on the title page of the answer-book by the candidate.

Please check that this question paper contains 13 questions.

Please write down the Serial Number of the question in the answer-book at the given place before attempting it.

15 minute time has been allotted to read this question paper. The question paper will be distributed at 10.15 a.m. From 10.15 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., the candidates will read the question paper only and will not write any answer on the answer-book during this period. #

General Instructions:

Read the following instructions very carefully and strictly follow them:

1. This question paper has 13 questions. All questions are compulsory.
2. This question paper contains three sections — Section A, B and C. Section A: Reading, Section B: Grammar and Writing, Section C: Literature and Fiction.
3. Separate instructions are given with each part and question, wherever necessary.
4. Do no exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.

28/S

π P.T.O.

Page 1 of 15

SECTION A Reading

<math>(20 \text{ marks})</math> 12

1. Read the following passage given below carefully:

Recently, when I visited the US, I had to speak to a crowd of both students and highly successful people. I always prefer interacting with the audience, so I opened the floor to questions.

After several questions were asked, a middle-aged man stood to speak. 'Ma'am, I believe that you have studied abroad as you are very confident and clear in communicating your thoughts. You are absolutely at ease while talking to us...'

My mind went back to 1968. I was a seventeen-year-old girl with an abundance of courage, confidence and the dream to become an engineer. I came from an educated, though middle-class, conservative Brahmin family. My father was a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology in Karnataka Medical College at Hubli, while my mother was a schoolteacher before she got married.

I finished my pre-university exams with excellent marks and told my family that I wanted to pursue engineering. I had always been fascinated with science, even more so with its application. Engineering was one of those branches of science that would allow me to utilize my creativity, especially in design. But it was as if I had dropped a bomb inside our house.

My grandfather, a history teacher and my first guru to teach me reading and writing, only mildly opposed it. 'My child, you are wonderful at history. Why can't you do something in this field? You could be a great scholar one day.'

My mother, who was extremely proficient in mathematics, said, 'You are good in math. Why don't you complete your post-graduation in mathematics and get a job as a professor? You can easily work in a college after you get married instead of being a hard-core engineer struggling to balance family and work.'

28/S # Page 2 of 15