Series: EFGH/S Set Q.P. Code

2/S/1

Roll No.

Candidates must write the Q.P. Code

on the title page of the answer-book.

ENGLISH (Language and Literature)

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.

<math>\blacktriangle</math> Please check that this question paper contains 11 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 instructions very carefully and strictly follow them:

1. This question paper comprises 11 questions. All questions are compulsory.
2. The question paper contains three sections:

Section A – Reading Skills

Section B – Grammar and Creative Writing Skills

Section C – Literature

1. Attempt questions based on specific instructions for each part.

2/S/1

P.T.O.

Page 1 of 15

SECTION A

Reading Skills

20 marks 10

1. Read the following passage carefully:

1. On a Sunday full of possibilities, I'm confused by too many choices. I unlock my phone and innumerable choices pour : movies, music, podcasts, games, and this truly perplexes me. Amidst my indecision, a dust-ridden copy of 'The Bell Jar' falls from the bookshelf. My guilt finds respite in the puddle of addictive videos online.

1. In a hyperconnected world, books are left to age pale yellow. Reading is seen by the newer generations as mundane. Though the benefits of reading are common knowledge, the privilege of choice overpowers. Many publishers and bookstores have now shut down.

1. 'The blast of the digital' has made everything catering to shrinking attention spans, with overwhelming choices from online poetry to captions to tweets. The reading fabric of Gen Z is brief. They are reading rapidly and recklessly. Reading for sole bliss seems to be a thing of the past. Though digital reading might be a new avenue for better comprehension.

1. The Reading Manifesto of October 2023 rightly argues that digital reading is 'superficial' and confined to mere text decoding. Reading text, on the other hand, helps cultivate better cognitive abilities, attention span and vocabulary. We live in an age where fake news prevails. The much required ability to distinguish between fact and

fiction can only be developed by critical reading of printed texts.

2/S/1 # Page 2 of 15