XII Standard(+2) English - Previously asked questions - Unit 5,6 - Samacheer Kalvi

 

Unit – 5

Poem – 5

A Father to his Son 

 Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow

1. “Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.”

i) How should one face life?

ii)  Identify the figure of speech in the above line.

 

2. “Life is a soft loam; be gentle; go easy.”

       And this too might serve him.

i)  Why does the poet suggest to take life easy?

ii)  Identify the figure of speech in the above line.

Iii) What does ‘soft loam’ mean?

 

3. "Tell him too much money has killed men

      and left them dead years before burial:"

i) Who is addressed here?

ii) What has left men dead before burial?

 

4. "-----------------------Free imaginations 

     Bringing changes into a world resenting change".

 i)  How does free imagination help the world?

5. "Let him have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.

      Let him seek deep for where he is born natural".

 i. Why does the poet advise his son to have lazy days?

ii. What is the figure of speech in the above lines?

 

6. "Tell him solitude is creative if he is strong 

      and the final decisions are made in silent rooms".

i)  Can being in solitude help a strong human being? How?

ii)  Identify the figure of speech in the above line.

 

7. "whatever the white lies and protective fronts"

 i. Explain the term ‘white lies’

ii. Find out the alliteration in the above lines.

ii)  Identify the figure of speech.

 

 

Explain the following lines with reference to the context.

1. Tell him too much money has killed men.

2. Let him have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.

3. “Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.”

      And this might stand him for the storms

4. Yet learning something out of every folly

    hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies

 

 

 Unit - 6

Prose –  6

  On the Rule of the Road 

Synonyms

1. Insolence - rudeness

2. Indifferent – unconcerned

3. Contract – commitment

4. Anarchy - lawlessness/ rebellion

5. Curtailed – reduced

6. Perils – danger

7. Preserved – protected / maintained

8. Fancy – desire

9. Chaos - confusion

 

 

Antonyms

1. Chaos – orderliness

2. Ridiculous – sensible

3. Stout x thin

4. Social x civil

5. Anarchy x lawful

6. Tyranny x liberality / kindness

 

Short Answers

1. What is ‘liberty’ according to the old lady?

2. ‘Curtailment of private liberty is done to establish social order’ – Do you agree?

3. What does the ‘rule of the road’ mean?

4. Define Liberty as perceived by the author.

5. Why should individual liberty be curtailed?

6. Why did the lady think she was entitled to walk down the middle of the road?

7. How can we sweeten our life’s journey?

8. What does the traffic policeman symbolize?

9. How would ‘liberty’ cause universal chaos?

 

Poem – 6

Incident of the French Camp 

Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow

1. "Legs wide, arms locked behind,

      As if to balance the prone brow

      Oppressive with its mind".

i. Whose action is described here?

ii. What is meant by prone brow?

iii. What is his state of mind?

2. "A film the mother-eagle’s eye

    When her bruised eaglet breathes"

i. Who is compared to the mother eagle in the above lines?

ii. Explain the comparison

iii. What is the figure of speech employed in the first line.

3. ‘You’re wounded!’ ‘Nay’, his soldier’s pride

      Touched to the quick, he said:

 i.  Why did the boy contradict Napoleon’s words?

ii.  Why was his pride touched?

 

4. "Full-galloping: nor bridle drew

      Until he reached the mound".

i.Who came galloping on a horse to Napoleon?

ii. What does the phrase ‘full galloping’  suggest?

 

5. "You know, we French stormed Ratisbon"

i. Where is Ratisbon?

ii. Who took the city of Ratisbon?

 

Explain the following lines with reference to the context.

1.  Then off there flung in smiling joy,

     And held himself erect

2. ‘I’m killed, Sire!’ And, his Chief beside, 

     Smiling, the boy fell dead.