SECOND YEAR HIGHER SECONDARY
Part – I
ENGLISH FIRST TERMINAL EXAMINATION, AUGUST – 2026
Time: 2½ Hours
Cool-off Time: 15 Minutes
Maximum: 80 Scores
- General Instructions to Candidates:
- There is a ‘Cool-off time’ of 15 minutes in addition to the writing time.
- Use the ‘Cool-off time’ to get familiar with questions and to plan your answers.
- Read questions carefully before answering.
- Write answers to the specific number of questions as instructed.
Questions 1 to 8. Attempt all questions. (8 × 1 = 8)
Questions 1 to 4. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries 1 score.
“God has given me two ears to listen to others. I hear them out with sympathy and without any judgement. When a person in trouble or under a lot of strain finds an outlet for his worries, it relieves half his burden.”
1. The passage is taken from __________.
2. Who is the speaker?
3. Name the author.
4. Pick out the word from the passage that means ‘to reduce something that is painful’.
Questions 5 to 8. Read the lines of the following poem and answer the questions that follow. Each question carries 1 score.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
5. These lines are taken from the poem __________.
6. Name the poet.
7. Name the season mentioned in the poem.
8. “Spring is the mischief in me,” what is the figure of speech employed in this line?
(Personification, Simile, Oxymoron)
9. What is a Horegallu and what is its meaning?
10. What does the title ‘Amigo Brothers’ refer to?
11. Add suitable prepositions from the bracket:
Then, Look carefully __________ that enormous three-storey house __________ front of us.
(in, on, at, of)
12. “Thou whom a woman laid in a manger,”. What does the term ‘manger’ refer to?
Questions 13 to 19. Attempt any FIVE of the following. Each question carries 4 scores.(5 × 4 = 20)
13. Elaborate the idea of the following lines:
“I am the twist that holds together
The children in its sacred ring,
Their knot of love, from whose close tether
No lost child goes a-wandering.”
14. What is the main conflict in the story ‘Amigo Brothers’?
15. How did Ashapurna Debi compare women to Matchboxes?
16. “Good fences make good neighbours”. Elaborate.
17. Imagine that you are the reporter for a reputed newspaper and have been given an opportunity to interview Sri. Mohanlal – Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner. Draft any four relevant questions that you would ask him during the interview.
18. The English Club of your school is celebrating World Book Day. As the convenor of the club, you have decided to stage the play The Hour of Truth. Prepare an announcement informing the school community about the event.
19. Edit the following:
Later on, at life, I get to see something that remind me about that stone bench once again.
Questions 20 to 25. Attempt any FIVE of the following questions. Each question carries 6 scores. (5 × 6 = 30)
20. Prepare a write-up on ‘Mother Love’ based on the poem Any Woman.
21. Sketch the character of Nomita in Matchbox.
22. Prepare an essay on the theme of friendship portrayed in the story ‘Amigo Brothers’.
23. Prepare a blurb on the short story Matchbox.
25. Attempt a critical appreciation of the poem Any Woman.
Questions 26 to 28. Answer any TWO of the following questions. Each question carries 8 scores. (2 × 8 = 16)
26. Prepare an essay discussing the space of women in a family.
27. Discuss how ‘Amigo Brothers’ and ‘Mending Wall’ explore the breakdown of harmony, unity and human relationships.
28. Read the following poem carefully and attempt a critical appreciation of the same:
Cradle Song
— by Sarojini Naidu
From groves of spice,
O’er fields of rice,
Athwart the lotus-stream,
I bring for you,
Aglint with dew,
A little lovely dream.Sweet, shut your eyes,
The wild fire-flies
Dance through the fairy neem;
From the poppy-bole
For you I stole
A little lovely dream.Dear eyes, good-night,
In golden light
The stars around you gleam;
On you I press,
With soft caress,
A little lovely dream.
Hints: poem of motherly love and care – innocence of childhood – peace and comfort – unconditional love of a mother – nature’s beauty.