Dhaka Board-2016

English (Compulsory) 2nd Paper 

Part-A: Grammar (40 Marks)

1. Fill in the blanks in the following text with articles (a/an/the) as necessary. Some of the blanks may not require an article. Put a cross (×) in those blanks: 
Michael Madhusudan Dutt was (a) — popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in (b) — Sagardari on (c) — bank of (d) — Kopotaksho river, (e) — village in Keshobpur Upazilla under Jessore district. From (f) — early age, Dutt aspired to be (g) — Englishman in form and manner. Though he was born in (h) — sophisticated Hindu family, he took Christianity arousing (i) — anger of his family. He contributed much to (j) — development of Bengali literature.

2. Complete the text with suitable prepositions: —

A good stock (a) — words is necessary (b) — anybody who wants to use a language. Vocabulary is an essential component (c) — successful communication. It is an integral part (d) — reading skill. While grammar is important, a lack (e) — vocabulary may result (f) — complete failure to convey a message. Vocabulary includes conceptual knowledge (g) — words that go well (h) — an ordinary dictionary meaning. Students' vocabulary knowledge is a building process that occurs (i) — time as they tend to make connections (j) — other words.

3. Complete the sentences with suitable phrases/words given in the box: —             

unless let alone it there would you mind as if neither will had better as fast as the older.... the more

(a) When my brother was a child, he wouldn't look at all like my father, — he gets, — he looks like him. (b) — are hundreds of languages spoken regularly by human beings. But everywhere of the world people speak English. (c) A: They won't be enjoying a holiday this year. B: — we. (d) It is admitted by all that a deer can run fast. But it cannot run — a Cheetah. (e) He loves his garden very much. He does not allow his sons to pluck any flower, — other children. (f) I cannot carry the box on my back. — taking the box into the room? (g) — is very difficult to get good grade in Bengali and English. (h) It is getting dark. You — go home right now. (i) The man was seriously injured in an accident. He would have died — he had been taken to a nearby hospital. (j) The boy talks too much of himself. He talks — he knew everything.

4. Complete the sentences using suitable clauses/phrases: —                                 

(a) Physical exercise keeps us healthy and strong. If you take regular physical exercises, —. (b) They came to you with a view to —, but you scolded them without any reason. (c) Please wait here until —. I have a serious matter to discuss with you. (d) I was not hungry at all. If I had been hungry, —. (e) Trees are essential for our existence. So, we should plant —. (f) There goes a proverb that —. So, we must make proper use of time. (g) We should drink pure water. Since the water of this bottle is not pure, —. (h) The two brothers are not on good terms. Yesterday when we went to their house, —. (i) Air is polluted in many ways. It is high time —. (j) The martyrs laid down their lives in 1971. They did it so that —.

5. Read the text and fill in the gaps with the correct form of verbs as per subject and context: 

Football is a favourite game in our country. It (a) — (arrange) between two teams (b) — (contain) eleven players each. The captains of both teams (c) — (lead) their groups. This is the most exciting and enjoyable game ever (d) — (play) across the world. It (e) — (run) for an hour and a half with an interval after half of the time (f) — (be) over. Any football tournament (g) — (arrange) between two strong teams can be exciting. The result (h) — (remain) almost unpredictable till the end because any team might win the other team (i) — (score) a goal within seconds. The referee is to see whether rules and order (j) — (maintain) by the players.

6. Read the text and change the sentences as directed: — 

(a) Pohela Baishakh is undoubtedly the most celebrated festival in Bangladesh. (Complex) (b) It is the first day of the Bengali year when the city roads get so jam packed. (Simple) (c) Almost everyone enjoys the day in his own way. (Passive) (d) Although I do not like gathering, I enjoy the activities of this day. (Compound) (e) It is one of the most interesting days of the year. (Positive)

7. Change the narrative style by using indirect speeches: — 

"Where do you come from?" I asked him. "From San Carlos," he said, and smiled. "I was taking care of animals." "Oh," I said, not quite understanding. "Yes," he said, "I stayed, you see, taking care of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos."

8. Identify the unclear pronoun references in the following text. Where necessary, re-write the sentences so that all pronoun references are clear: —  

A cook once roasted a duck for its master. He looked so delicious that he could not resist the temptation and ate up one of the drumsticks. When he sat down to eat the meal, he quickly noticed the missing leg. He asked him what had happened to the other leg. The cook told him that it had one leg only. The master said that there was no such thing as a one-legged duck but the cook insisted that every duck had only one leg.

9. Read the following text and use modifiers in the blank spaces as directed: — 

Rabindranath Togore was a (a) — (pre-modify the noun) poet of Bangali literature. He was born in a (b) — (pre-modify the noun) family at Jarasanko, Kolkata. He went to school (c) — (post-modify the verb). He wrote his (d) — (pre-modify the noun) verse at the age of eight. At the age of seventeen, he went to London (e) — (post-modify the verb with an infinitive) school there. He was put up in a lodging house under the care of a (f) — (pre-modify the noun) coach, Mr. Scott. He was lucky (g) — (post-modify the adjective with an infinitive) an English family of Mr. Scott. He also visited the House of Parliament (h) — (post-modify the verb with an infinitive) Gladstone and John Bright's debates on Irish rule. He wrote letters to Kolkata (i) — (post-modify the verb with a present participle) English society. At this, his family thought that they might lose their son (j) — (post-modify the verb). So, he was called back to Kolkata.

10. Use appropriate sentence connectors in the blank spaces of the following text: 

A lion was drinking water from a brook. (a) — a lamb was also drinking water from the down stream of the same brook. The lion saw the lamb and decided to devour it. (b) — he was thinking about how to accomplish his evil design. (c) — he hit upon a plan. (d) — the lion complained that the lamb was disturbing him by muddying water. But the lamb said that he was drinking water from down stream. (e) — the question of muddying water on his part did not arise here. (f) — the lamb argued that it was the lion that was muddying the water for him as he was drinking water upstream. (g) — the lion retorted that the lamb spoke ill of him a year ago. (h) — the lamb said that he was not born a year ago. The lion grew into a rage. (i) — he said that perhaps his farther spoke ill of him last year. (j) — the lion had the right to take revenge and kill the lamb.

11. Read the following passage and then write the synonym or antonym of the words as directed below 

Social values underline a set of principles of generally accepted norms and behaviour of a society. Our forefathers practised a good number of social values like simplicity, honesty, sincerity, responsibility, and piety. We have replaced those good aspects with complexity, dishonesty, corruption, conspiracy, faithlessness and envy. Our materialistic attitude has made us self-centered and corrupted. We must get rid of these vices and create awareness among all about the negative impacts of our wrong doings. In order to make a better society, we should create awareness among people about the out-come of their misdeeds. We must have distinctive social values once practised by our forefathers. We should give importance to the past moral values to bring peace and harmony in the society and make the world better for living. (a) accepted (Antonym); (b) sincerity (Antonym); (c) responsibility (Synonym); (d) complexity (Antonym); (e) envy (Antonym); (f) vice (Antonym); (g) impact (Synonym); (h) outcome (Synonym); (i) importance (Synonym); (j) awareness (Synonym).

12. There are ten errors in the use of punctuation marks in the following text. Re-write the text correcting the errors: 

A : Whats solar energy? 

B : Its one of the renewable energy sources. 

A : Why is it called green energy. 

B : Well its green energy because it helps us keep the earth green I mean it doesn't emit any pollutant in the atmosphere when we produce and use it. 

A : I see then it must be a clean source of energy. 

B : Exactly. And thats why its also called clean energy.

Part B: Composition: 40 Marks

13. Suppose, you are a student of class XII in 'X' college. Your college is in Dhaka. Recently your father has been transferred to Chittagong. But you want to continue your study up to HSC Examination in Dhaka. Now, write an application to the Principal of your college requesting him to sanction you a seat in the college hostel. 8

14. Suppose, that you are a reporter of a newspaper published from Dhaka. Now, you are asked to write a report on the devastating consequences of drug addiction in the context of Bangladesh. 8

15. Write a paragraph of about 150 words showing importance of learning English. 10

16. Is our population a prospect or a problem? What do you think? Write at least 200 words on it. 14