DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, DHAMTARI

Practice paper 2018-19

Class : XII
Subject: Reading Skills Date: 22.09.2018

Q1. A) Read the following passage carefully:

How does television affect our lives? It can be very helpful to people who carefully choose the shows that they watch.
Television can increase our knowledge of the outside world, there are high quality programs that helps us to
understand many fields of study, science, medicine, the arts and so on. Moreover, television benefits very old people,
who can't often leave the house as well as patients in hospitals. It also offers non native speakers the advantage of
daily informal language practice. They can increase their vocabulary and practice listening. On the other hand, there
are several serious disadvantages of television. Of course, it provides us with a pleasant way to relax and spend our
free time, but in some countries, people watch the 'blood tube' for an average of six hours or more a day. Many
children stare at a television screen for more hours each day than they do anything else including studying &
sleeping. It's clear that the tube has a powerful influence on their lives and that its influence if often negative.

Questions:

A. Read the above passage carefully & on its basis make notes and supply a title. 03

B. Prepare an abstract or summary of the above passage. 02

Q2. B)Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

The walls of high-rises in cities are a favorite canvas for the practitioners of street art, all over the world. As
the popularity of this artistic trend keeps growing, the capital of India is fast becoming an attractive spot for
artists of this genre to show their talent. The chosen district’s walls are painted by artists who come from
around the world. The location chosen for such festivals is usually the central areas that are pedestrian
friendly. Once the location is identified, artists begin working on the walls in collaboration with the civic
authorities, transforming the place into a vibrant art district.
The current street art movement in India is being supported by 12 international artists from Australia, the
United States, Japan, France, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, Uruguay, Iran, Poland, Spain and Italy.
One of the most attractive of their creations is a mural which is more than 90 feet wide.
The foremost among the artists is the Australian artist Reko Rennie who explores the Aboriginal identity,
using traditional geometric patterning. ‘I’ve always been drawn to hand-painted signage. India has an
amazing variety of artists who specialize in this art form — from local signs to hand painted trucks carrying
freight. That was another reason to use patterning,’ says Rennie.
Meanwhile, a Japanese artist from Hiroshima, Suiko, is working on his take on the lake in Lodi Gardens —
a pink lotus blooming — in broad graffiti strokes at Khanna Market, while French artist Chifumi, paints his
interpretation of the Padma Mudra, on a wall in Meherchand Market.
On this platform, Indian artists are resuscitating regional art forms on large scales. Rakesh Kumar, a Delhi-
based street artist, is working on a Gond-art inspired mural that depicts ‘an elephant’ whose tusks represent
the forests, showcasing the bond between animals and nature. He has made a 25 by 80 ft mural. ‘The
difficult part of doing this large-scale painting, especially Gond art style, is the details. It takes time to fill
them in,’ he surmises.
Each mural typically takes over 10 days to complete. The artists battle pollution, winds and busy streets as
they use ladders or trolleys to finish their enormous artworks. Most people stare at us as we work. Before it
is complete, most people think we are just killing time,’ says Kumar. Their idea behind creating these murals
is to make Delhiites proud of their public spaces. Besides, the artworks also discourage people from spitting
and littering the streets and instil a sense of ownership among them.
Besides the wall art, plans are on to set up walk-through installations, based on the continuous stream of
constructions in the city. The installation will provide an open lab to artists to work under the public eye
over the next two months. Once the exhibition has closed, the containers used to transport equipment for the
installations shall remain painted and used for transporting goods.
The makeover has been just in time, according to Delhi’s citizen onlookers. With the onset of spring, the
walls in their locality will have a whole new flash of colour to flaunt.

(a) On the basis of your reading of the above passage make notes on it, using headings and
subheadings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary — minimum four) and a format
you consider suitable. Also supply a title to it. 5
(b) Write a summary of the passage in about 80 words. 5

3. C) Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

1. Thackeray reached Kittur along with a small British army force and a few of his officers. He thought that the very
presence of the British on the outskirts of Kittur would terrorise the rulers and people of Kittur and that they would
lay down their arms. He was quite confident that he would be able to crush the revolt in no time. He ordered that
tents be erected on the eastern side for the fighting forces and a little away on the western slopes tents be put up
for the family members of the officers who had accompanied them. During the afternoon and evening of 20th
October, the British soldiers were busy making arrangements for these camps.
2. On the 21st morning, Thackeray sent his political assistants to Kittur fort to obtain a written assurance from all the
important officers of Kittur rendering them answerable for the security of the treasury of Kittur. They, accordingly,
met Sardar Gurusiddappa and other officers of Kittur and asked them to comply with the orders of Thackeray. They
did not know that the people were in a defiant mood. The commanders of Kittur dismissed the agent’s orders as no
documents could be signed without sanction from Rani Chennamma.
3. Thackeray was enraged and sent for his commander of the Horse Artillery, which was about 100 strong, ordered
him to rush his artillery into the fort and capture the commanders of the Desai’s army. When the Horse Artillery
stormed into the fort, Sardar Gurusiddappa, who had kept his men on full alert, promptly commanded his men to
repel and chase them away. The Kittur forces made a bold front and overpowered the British soldiers.
4. In the meanwhile, the Desai’s guards had shut the gates of the fort and the British Horse Artillery men, being
completely overrun and routed, had to get out through the escape window. Rani’s soldiers chased them out of the
fort, killing a few of them until they retreated to their camps on the outskirts.
5. A few of the British had found refuge in some private residences, while some were hiding in their tents. The Kittur
soldiers captured about forty persons and brought them to the palace. These included twelve children and a few
women from the British officers’ camp. When they were brought in the presence of the Rani, she ordered the
soldiers to be imprisoned. For the women and children she had only gentleness, and admonished her soldiers for
taking them into custody. At her orders, these women and children were taken inside the palace and given food and
shelter. Rani came down from her throne, patted the children lovingly and told them that no harm would come to
them.
6. She, then, sent word through a messenger to Thackeray that the British women and children were safe and could
be taken back any time. Seeing this noble gesture of the Rani, he was moved. He wanted to meet this gracious lady
and talk to her. He even thought of trying to persuade her to enter into an agreement with the British to stop all
hostilities in lieu of an inam (prize) of eleven villages. His offer was dismissed with a gesture of contempt. She had no
wish to meet Thackeray. That night she called Sardar Gurusiddappa and other leading Sardars and after discussing all
the issues came to the conclusion that there was no point in meeting Thackeray who had come with an army to
threaten Kittur into submission to British sovereignty.
3.1 On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the statements given below with the help
of options that follow: ( 1 X 2 = 2)

(a) Thackeray was:

(i) a British tourist (ii) an army officer
(iii) an adviser to Rani of Kittur (iv) a treasury officer

(b) British women and children came to Kittur to:

(i) visit Kittur (ii) enjoy life in tents
(iii) stay in the palace (iv) give company to officers

3.2 Answer the following questions briefly. ( 1X 6 = 6)

(c) Why did Thackeray come to Kittur?
(d) Why did the Kittur officials refuse to give the desired assurance to Thackeray?
(e) What happened to the Horse Artillery?
(f) How do we know that the Rani was a noble queen?
(g) How, in your opinion, would the British women have felt after meeting the Rani?
(h) Why did the Rani refuse to meet Thackeray?

(i) Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following: ( 1X 2 = 2)
(i) entered forcibly (para 3)
(ii) aggressive / refusing to obey (para 2)