Sample Question paper for Practice only
Higher Secondary Examination – 2026
Subject – English
Instructions:
- Read all the questions carefully.
- Read the instructions given with the questions before attempting them.
- Marks of each question are indicated against them.
Section-A (Reading)
1×10=10
Q.1. Read the passages and answer the questions that follow.
The choices we make on a daily basis – wearing a seatbelt, lifting heavy objects correctly or purposely staying out of any dangerous situation – can either ensure our safety or bring about potentially harmful circumstances.
You and I need to make a decision that we are going to get our lives in order. Exercising self-control, self-discipline and establishing boundaries and borders in our lives are some of the most important things we can do. A life without discipline is one that’s filled with carelessness. We can think it’s kind of exciting to live life on the edge. We like the image.
“Yeah! That’s me! Living on the edge! Woo-hoo!” It’s become a popular way to look at life.
But if you see, even highways have lines, which provide margins for our safety while we’re driving. If we go over one side, we’ll go into the ditch. If we cross over the line in the middle, we could get killed. And we like those lines because they help to keep us safe. Sometimes we don’t even realize how lines help to keep us safe.
I’m not proud of this, but for the first 20 years of my life at work, I ignored my limits. I felt horrible, physically, most of the time. I used to tell myself “I know I have limits and that I’ve reached them, but I’m going to ignore them and see if or how long I can get by with it.” I ran to doctors, trying to make myself feel better through pills, vitamins, natural stuff and any I could get my hands on. Some of the doctors would tell me, “It’s just stress.” That just made me mad. I thought stress meant you don’t like what you do or can’t handle life, I love what I do. and me mad. I thought stress meant you don’t like what you do or can’t handle life, and simply exhausting myself, Finally, I understood I was living an unsustainable life and needed to make some changes in my outlook and lifestyle.
You and I don’t have to be like everyone else or keep up with anyone else. Each of us needs to be exactly the way we are, and we don’t have to apologize for it. We’re not all alike and we need to find a comfort zone in which we can enjoy our lives instead of making ourselves sick with an overload of stress and pressure.
Questions-
(i) (a) Which of the characteristics are suitable about the writer in the following context :”I know I have limits and that I’ve reached them, but I’m going to ignore them and for how long I can get by with it.”?
(a) Negligent(b) Indecisive
(c) Spontaneous(d) Purposeless
(ii) The reason why living on the edge has become popular is because of the :
(a) constant need for something different(b) population being much younger
(c) Efforts to make changes(d) tendency to stay within limits
(iii) The phrase “ potentially harmful circumstances” refers to circumstances that can :
(a) Possibly dangerous(b) certainly be dangerous
(c) fairly dangerous(d) not at all dangerous
(iv) The author explains the importance of discipline and boundaries in our lives using the example of :
(a) road accident(b) traffic rules.
(c) Highway lanes.(d) safe driving.
(v) Which of the following is the noun form of “unsustainable”:
(a) Unsustain(c) sustainer
(b) unsustainability(d) sustainability
(vi) What does the author mean when he says “to get our lives in order” ?
(a) to resume our lives(b) to organize our lives
(c) to rebuild our lives(d) to control our lives
(vii) Noun form of dangerous is:
(a) danger(b) dangerful
(c) endanger(d) dangersome
(viii) Which of these is the main idea of the above passage?
(a) Do not worry ‘be happy(b) Discipline
(c) Importance of doctors(d) Importance of safe driving
(ix) According to the writer we can enjoy life by:
(a) avoiding pills, vitamins, etc(b) by getting pills ,vitamins etc
(c) By avoiding stress and pressure(d) by getting stress and pressure
(x) According to passage which is not important ?
(a) self-control(b) self-discipline
(c) establishing boundaries(d) selfishness
4
Q.2. Read the following passage carefully and make notes on it also give a suitable title to it.
Violence has played a great part in the world’s history. It is today playing an equally important part and probably it will continue to do so for a considerable time. It is impossible to ignore the importance of violence in the past and present. To do so is to ignore life. Yet violence is undoubtedly bad and brings an unending trail of evil consequences with it. And worse even than violence are the motives of hatred, cruelty, revenge and punishment which very often accompany violence. Indeed, violence is bad, not intrinsically, but because of these motives that go with it. There can be violence without these motives there can be violence for a good object as well as for an evil object. But it is extremely difficult to separate violence from these motives, and therefore, it is desirable to avoid violence as far as possible. In avoiding it, however someone cannot accept a negative attitude of submitting to bad and far greater evils. Submission to violence or the acceptance of an unjust regime based on violence is against the spirit of non-violence. The non-violent method, in order to justify itself, must be dynamic and capable of changing such a regime of social order.
Section-B (Writing)
4
Q.3. You are Nakul Sehgal. You want to sale house hold items . Draft an advertisement to be published in the classified column of a newspaper.
Or
You are Rohit Rajak, student of class XII of Govt. HSS, Kolaras. You have found a bag in the school playground. Prepare a notice for the school notice board giving the information about the bag.
4
Q.4. Write a letter to the collector of your district about the lack of facilities and malfunctioning of the government hospital of your area.
Or
Write a letter to your friend advising him to study English, Maths, General Knowledge and Reasoning for upcoming NDA exam.
4
Q.5. You have witnessed an accident. Write a report for a newspaper about the accident using the following inputs:
(a) Where, when and how did the accident happen
(b) People, vehicle involved, loss of life and property
(c) The scene of the accident,
(d) details of casualties-deaths, injured, hospitalized
(e) role of the police
Or
Write a short paragraph on any one of the following topics in about 120 words.
A- Women Empowerment
B- Value of Games and Sports
C- Social Media and Its Role in Students’ Lives
D- Online Education: Boon or Bane
Section-C (Grammar)
1×5=5
Q.6. Fill in the blanks (any five)
i. Work hard, lest you ——— fail. (should, will, can)
ii. This table is made ———— wood. (with. from, of)
iii. Would you like to have ——— coffee? (any, some, many)
iv. I ——— anything since morning. (haven’t eaten, didn’t eat, don’t eat)
v. Where is ——— book that I gave you yesterday. (a, an, the)
vi. Walk carefully ——— you will fall down. (else, but, and)
1×5=5
Q.7. Do as directed (any five)
i. He failed. He did not study well. (Combine the pair of sentences using ‘so’)
ii. Mumbai is larger than Bhopal. (Change into positive Degree)
iii. As soon as the Sun rises, I wake up. (Rewrite the sentence using ‘no sooner ——- than’)
iv. He is the boy who has won the race. (Identify the underlined clause.)
v. He said to me “You have been selected.” (Change the narration)
vi. Unless you work hard, you can’t win the match. (Rewrite the sentence using ‘if’)
Section-D (Text Books)
1×5=5
Q.8. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
“My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlinto teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new Master comestomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.” What a thunderclap these words were to me! Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town hall! My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn anymore! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books,that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, andmy history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up.
Questions
(i) Which of these orders has come from Berlin?
(a) closure of school(b) no French to be taught
(c) rustication of Franz(d) transfer of M. Hamel
(ii) Why does M. Hamel want the students to be attentive?
(a) because the order has come from Berlin(b) because it is his last French lesson
(c) because he is about to tell important questions for their exam d.(d) because the government officer is on a visit
(iii) Which of these seemed ‘old friends’ to Franz?
(a) M. Hamel(b) the blackboard
(c) his classmates(d) his books
(iv) “What a thunderclap these words were to me!” Which of these expresses the meaning of the underlined word in the above line?
(a) loud and clear(b) startling and unexpected
(c) pleasant and welcome(d) encouraging and full of zeal
(v) Which of these moods did Franz express when he was told that it was his last French lesson?
(a) inspired and cheerful(b) repenting and sorrowful
(c) optimistic and serious(d) romantic and humorous
1×3=3
Q.9. (A) Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow.
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
Questions:
(i) Who is the poet of Keeping Quiet?
(a) Kamala Das(b) Stephen Spender
(c) Pablo Neruda(d) John Keats
(ii) What does the poet want others to do?
(a) to keep quiet and introspect(b) to make noise and find fault
(c) to spread wars all around(d) none of these
(iii) Why should we keep quiet according to the poet?
(a) for attaining peace(b) for maintaining brotherhood
(c) for silence(d) all of these
1×4=4
(B). Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow.
The injured man was an American. As his cap fell off, they saw his wet, yellow – coloured hair which had not been cut for a long time. He was young, his face had such marks which indicated that he had been tortured. He had a rough, unkempt yellow – coloured beard. As he had fainted, he did not know of the presence of Sadao and Hana.
Now Sadao remembered the wound, and with his expert fingers he began to search for it. Blood flowed freshly at his touch. On the right side of his lower back Sadao saw that a gun wound had been reopened. The flesh was blackened with powder. Sometime, not many days ago, the man had been shot and had not been tended. It was bad chance that the rock had struck the wound.
Questions:
(i) Who was the injured man?
(a) British(b) American
(c) Japanese(d) Indian
(ii) How did the man get injured?
(a) by gun(b) by stones
(c) by sword(d) none of the above
(iii) Who was Sadao?
(a) soldier(b) a fisherman
(c) a doctor(d) a farmer
(iv) The face of the injured man indicated
(a) that he was in pain(b) that he was tortured
(c) that he was old(d) that he was handsome
2×5=10
Q.10 Answer the following questions in about 30 words. (any five)
- What did Franz notice that was unusal about the school that day?
- In the lesson ‘The lost Spring’, who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
- Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
- From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
- Why did the servants think Gandhi to be another peasant?
- Why is Pancakes related to Gemini Studios?
- What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of?
2×3=6
Q.11. Answer the following questions in about 30 words. (any three)
- In the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’, why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
- In the poem ‘Keeping Quiet, what does What does the poet mean by saying ‘victory with no survivors?
- In the poem ‘A Road Side Stand’, why does the poet call the car selfish?
- Of whom is Aunt Jennifer terrified with in the third stalza?
2×2=4
Q.12. Answer the following questions in about 30 words. (any two)
- What does ‘The Third Level’ refer to?
- In what condition did Dr. Sadao and Hana find the white man at the seashore?
- How does Derry get his face burnt?
3×2=6
Q.13. Answer the following questions in about 75 words. (any two)
- Justify the title of the story ‘The Last Lesson’.
- What made the peddler finally change his ways?
- In the lesson ‘Indigo’, Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers?
3×1=3
Q.14. Answer the following question in about 75 words.
Explain the central idea of the poem ‘A Thing of Beauty’.
Or
How does Aunt Jennifer express her bitterness and anger against males?
3×1=3
Q.15. Answer the following question in about 75 words.
How did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he able Ito avoid the danger? Explain.
Or
Write a character sketch of Dr. Sadao.