CBSE Class 12 English Core Sample Paper 2019 Set B

SECTION A

READING 

1. Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. That large animals require luxuriant vegetation has been a general assumption which has passed from one work to another; but I do not hesitate to say that it is completely false, and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some points of great interest in the ancient history of the world. The prejudice has probably been derived from India, and the Indian islands, where troops of elephants, noble forests, and impenetrable jungles, are associated together in every one's mind. If, however, we refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions in almost every page either to the desert character of the country, or to the numbers of large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many engravings which have been published of various parts of the interior.

2. Dr. Andrew Smith, who has lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn, informs me that, taking into consideration the whole of the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its being a sterile country. On the southern coasts there are some fine forests, but with these exceptions, the traveler may pass for days together through open plains, covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. Now, if we look to the animals inhabiting these wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk immense.

3. It may be supposed that although the species are numerous, the individuals of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr. Smith, I am enabled to show that the case is very different. He informs me, that in lat. 24', in one day's march with the bullock-wagons, he saw, without wandering to any great distance on either side, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses - the same day he saw several herds of giraffes, amounting together to nearly a hundred.

4. At the distance of a little more than one hour's march from their place of encampment on the previous night, his party actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and saw many  extraordinary, to see so many great animals crowded together, but it evidently proves that they must exist in great numbers. Dr. Smith describes the country passed through that day, as 'being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about four feet high,and still more thinly with mimosa-trees.'

5. Besides these large animals, anyone the least acquainted with the natural history of the Cape has read of the herds of antelopes, which can be compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. The numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hyena, and the multitude of birds of prey, plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds: one evening seven lions were counted at the same time prowling round Dr. Smith's encampment. As this able naturalist remarked to me, the carnage each day in Southern Africa must indeed be terrific! I confess it is truly surprising how such a number of animals can find support in a country producing so little food.

6. The larger quadrupeds no doubt roam over wide tracts in search of it; and their food chiefly consists of underwood, which probably contains much nutriment in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. There can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparent amount of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated. The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant, is the more remarkable, because the converse is far from true.

7. Mr. Burchell observed to me that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the splendour of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. In his Travels, he has suggested that the comparison of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely curious. If we take on the one side, the elephants hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, elan, five species of rhinoceros; and on the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capybara (after which we must choose from the monkeys to complete the number), and then place these two groups alongside each other it is not easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size.

8. After the above facts, we are compelled to conclude, against anterior probability that among the mammalia there exists no close relation between the bulk of the species, and the quantity of the vegetation, in the countries which they inhabit. (809 words)

Adapted from: Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin (1890)

1.1 On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option:

1. The author is primarily concerned with

A. discussing the relationship between the size of mammals and the nature of vegetation in their habitats 

B. contrasting ecological conditions in India and Africa

C. proving that large animals do not require much food

D. describing the size of animals in various parts of the world

2. According to the author, the "prejudice? (Para 1) has lead to

A. errors in the reasoning of biologists

B. false ideas about animals in Africa

C. incorrect assumptions on the part of geologists

D. doubt in the mind of the author

3. The flocks of migratory birds (Para 5) are mentioned to

A. describe an aspect of the fauna of South Africa

B. illustrate a possible source of food for large carnivores

C. contrast with the habits of the antelope

D. suggest the size of antelope herds

4. Darwin quotes Burchell?s observations in order to

A. counter a popular misconception

B. describe a region of great splendor

C. prove a hypothesis

D. illustrate a well-known phenomenon

1.2 Answer the following questions briefly:

1. What prejudice has vitiated the reasoning of geologists?

2. Why does Dr. Smith refer to Africa as a sterile country?

3. What is the "carnage? referred to by Dr. Smith?

4. What does Darwin?s remark, "if there were sufficient data?, indicate?

5. To account for the "surprising? number of animals in a "country producing so little food?, what partial explanation does Darwin suggest?

6. What does the author conclude from Dr. Smith and Burchell?s observations?

1.3 Pick out the words/phrases from the passage which are similar in meaning to the following:

a) Dense (Para 1)

b) Barren ((Para 2)

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

1. Iive always held the belief that rationale or logic has no place in faith. If you have faith in the Supreme then you must also accept that you are not out there to defend your faith based on any scientific evidence. Those who don?t share your belief have an equal right to their opinion. What matters is your personal stand. If you feel peaceful and joyous, if you feel inspired to do good deeds by having your faith, then by all means keep it, there?s no reason to abandon it.

Please click the link below to download CBSE Class 12 English Core Sample Paper 2019 Set B