Compulsory English: Unit-wise Subjective Question Bank

The subjective part of the English paper is 60 of the 75 marks: the unseen passage (15), the short literary questions (5 x 2 = 10), the long literary questions (2 x 5 = 10) and the three writing tasks (7 + 8 + 10 = 25). This chapter gives, for the texts of the Grade 12 book, the questions that can be asked and a model answer, then one model for each writing task. Answers are written at the length that earns full marks: short answers about 60 to 80 words, long answers about 150 to 200 words.

18.1 Short stories

Neighbours (Tim Winton)

Q. How do the narrator and his wife change their attitude to their neighbours? (5) At first the young couple find the street strange: its people are European migrants whose habits and language are unfamiliar. Over one year the neighbours share their lives, and a vegetable patch is dug, a henhouse falls down and a baby is born. By the end the couple are part of the street. The story shows that strangers become neighbours through small shared acts, not big events.

A Respectable Woman (Kate Chopin)

Q. Why does Mrs Baroda change her mind about Mr Gouvernail? (5) Mrs Baroda expects to dislike her husband's quiet guest. One night on the garden bench she discovers that his presence disturbs her in a way she did not expect. Nothing is confessed and nothing is done; the story is about a woman learning a hidden truth about herself.

A Devoted Son (Anita Desai)

Q. Is Rakesh a truly devoted son? Give reasons. (5) Rakesh becomes the most successful doctor in town and looks after his father with great care. But his medical judgement overrules every wish of his father's old age, so the father feels more a patient than a father. The title is therefore ironic: Rakesh is devoted in duty but lacks understanding of his father's real needs, which are freedom and affection.

The Treasure in the Forest (H. G. Wells)

Q. How does Wells show that greed destroys? (5) Two men paddle to an island with a stolen map. In the first pages they are thirsty and eager; by the last page they are dying in a silent forest beside a heap of gold. Wells uses small details, such as the map's "little dashes" and a "little prick" on a thumb, to prepare the ending. The gold beside the dead men is a symbol of greed.

My Old Home (Lu Xun)

Q. How has Runtu changed between boyhood and the narrator's return? (5) In memory Runtu is a lively boy with a silver necklet. When they meet again he is old before his time, shivering, and calls the narrator "Master". Poverty and a rigid social order have put a wall between the friends. The narrator is sad but hopes that the next generation will live differently.

The Half-closed Eyes of the Buddha and the Slowly Sinking Sun (Shankar Lamichhane)

Q. What does the guide show the tourist, and why? (5) The tourist, warmed by whisky, praises Nepal's peace, gods and smiles. The next day the guide takes him to a farmer's house and shows what his words left out. The story criticises visitors who see a poor country only as a beautiful picture.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Q. How do the villagers treat the old man, and what does this show? (5) A neighbour calls him an angel, a priest calls him an impostor, a doctor calls him a wonder of nature, and the villagers pay five cents to stare at him. They turn a miracle into a show and soon drift away. The story shows how quickly people lose wonder and how cruel curiosity can be.

18.2 Poems

A Day (Emily Dickinson). Q. What is the difference between the two halves of the poem? (5) The first half is a child's excited report of how the sun rose. In the second half the speaker slows down and says, "But how he set, I know not." The shift shows that beginnings are easy to describe and endings are not.

Every Morning I Wake (Dylan Thomas). Q. What does the speaker ask of God? (5) He asks God to keep an eye on "all poor creatures born to die", to notice that the townspeople are "not wholly bad or good", and to let them have one more day. The prayer is humble and full of sympathy.

I Was My Own Route (Julia de Burgos). Q. In what way is the poem a rebellion? (5) The woman admits she once tried to be what men wanted, and ends by not turning up to the ceremony that would honour her in the old way. Nothing is smashed; the rebellion is walking her own road.

The Awakening Age (Ben Okri). Q. What is the main idea? (5) The poor are described only by what they lack, and this description harms them. The poem hopes for an age in which all people share a vision of light and harvest.

Soft Storm (Abhi Subedi). Q. Why is the storm called soft? (5) The storm is a violent political decade whose violence appears in quiet scenes: hungry children, a man beaten in front of his family, a blood-stained shirt. The contradiction shows how ordinary people suffer while the city hardly notices.

18.3 Essays

On Libraries (Oliver Sacks). Q. What did libraries mean to Sacks? (5) They were the places where he became himself: the home library, the public library and the school and museum libraries. The essay ends in grief, because a library is also connected with loss.

Marriage as a Social Institution (Stephen L. Nock). Q. Why is marriage called an institution? (5) Nock says marriage is never only two people. It comes with rules, expectations and helpers already attached: law, religion, custom and relatives.

Knowledge and Wisdom (Bertrand Russell). Q. How does Russell separate knowledge from wisdom? (5) Knowledge is facts and skills; wisdom adds a sense of proportion and a concern for human life. More knowledge has not made us wiser, because facts used without wisdom can produce harm.

Humility (Yuval Noah Harari). Q. Why does Harari say each group thinks it is the centre of history? (5) He collects examples from Greeks, Chinese nationalists, some Hindu nationalists and Aztecs, each sure that their own story is the most important. He argues that humility is needed to see that no single group is the centre.

Human Rights and the Age of Inequality (Samuel Moyn). Q. What question does Moyn ask? (5) He asks why the gap between rich and poor has grown although human rights have spread since 1948.

18.4 Plays

A Matter of Husbands (Ferenc Molnar). Q. Where does the comedy come from? (5) There are only two speaking characters in one room: a frightened wife and a glamorous actress. A great deal of acting and a last line that turns everything upside down make the comedy.

Facing Death (August Strindberg). Q. Why does Monsieur Durand take his terrible decision? (5) He is a widowed innkeeper in a ruined boarding house, with unpaid bills, no bread and three ungrateful daughters. He has no hope of a better life, and the play is a tragedy of poverty and despair in one room.

The Bull (Bhimnidhi Tiwari). Q. Why are the caretakers afraid when the bull dies? (5) The king, Ranabahadur Shah, is known to be fond of the royal bull called Male. The caretakers fear punishment, and the play laughs at fear of power.

18.5 Long answers (2 x 5 marks)

Q. Discuss the theme of social division in "My Old Home" and "The Half-closed Eyes of the Buddha...". Both stories show a gap between people hidden behind polite words. In Lu Xun's story it lies between a master and a servant's son; in Lamichhane's it lies between a foreign tourist and a poor farmer. In both, a meeting makes the gap visible, and both writers want the reader to feel uneasy and to hope for change.

Q. Compare the endings of "A Devoted Son" and "The Treasure in the Forest". Both endings reverse what a character wanted. Varma wanted comfort and respect and is given obedience without freedom. The treasure hunters wanted gold and die beside it. Desai ends softly and ironically in a home; Wells ends suddenly in a forest.

18.6 Writing tasks (Questions 4, 5 and 6)

Q4 Guided writing (7 marks)

Task: The chart shows the percentage of students using different sources to study: textbooks 50, internet 25, teachers' notes 15, friends 10. Write a paragraph describing it.

The chart shows how students prepare for their studies. Half of the students (50 per cent) depend on textbooks, which is the largest share. The internet comes second at 25 per cent, exactly half the textbook figure. Teachers' notes follow with 15 per cent, while only 10 per cent learn mainly from friends. The figures show that textbooks remain the main source, with online study as a clear second choice.

Q5 Functional writing (8 marks)

Task: Write a letter to the editor about the problem of plastic waste in your town.

The Editor The Himalayan Times Kathmandu

24 Poush 2082

Sir,

Through the columns of your newspaper I wish to draw the attention of the municipality to the growing problem of plastic waste in our town. Plastic bags lie in drains and on roadsides, block the water in the rainy season and harm the cattle that eat them.

I request the authorities to ban thin plastic bags, to place waste bins along the main streets and to start a campaign for cloth bags. Citizens too must take their own bags when shopping.

I hope you will kindly publish this letter.

Yours faithfully, Anil Sharma

Q6 Free writing (10 marks): essay plan

Task: Write an essay of about 250 words on "The Value of Reading". Use five paragraphs: (1) introduction on how reading shapes a person; (2) reading gives knowledge and ideas; (3) reading builds imagination and language; (4) reading in the age of phones and how to make it a habit; (5) conclusion that links back to the introduction. Keep each paragraph to about 50 words in simple, correct sentences.

18.7 Unseen passage (Question 1, 15 marks)

Chapter summary

• Subjective marks total 60 of 75; practise writing, not only reading.
• Literary answers need the point, evidence from the text and a line of meaning.
• Short answer about 70 words; long answer about 170 words.
• Learn the central idea of each text in one sentence.
• Writing tasks: follow the format (letter parts, paragraph order) and keep to the word limit.
• Unseen passage: read the questions first and answer in your own words.