2024-25 SOLVED MBOSE SAMPLE PAPER OF ADDITIONAL ENGLISH (PROSE, POETRY & PLAY)

 

SECTION – B

Short Answer Questions. Answer any five:                                         2x5=10

Q31. What had the princess seen or imagined she had seen the beautiful damsel do?

Answer: The princess had seen, or imagined she had seen, the beautiful damsel throwing glances of admiration toward her lover. She also believed that sometimes these glances were noticed and even returned by him. This perception fueled her jealousy and inner turmoil since she had the semi-barbaric blood running in her character too.

Q32. Why did the circus manager’s chest muscles twitch under his thin shirt?

Answer: The circus manager’s chest muscles twitched under his thin shirt when his wife suggested to introducing a dangerous act to attract audiences, especially the “Wall of Death”. The circus manager became nervous at the mention of this dangerous act because previously one of their performers had died while performing the wall of death.

Q33. How would Rama Rao try to pacify the news – agent?

Answer: On the day of the solution, Rama Rao stayed near the newsagent's shop. He tried to win the newsagent's favour so he could read the latest issue of The Captain without paying. He was too impatient to wait for it to be available at the Jubilee Reading Room. Sometimes the newsagent complained, but Rama Rao would pacify hum by assuring that he would pay him three years’ subscription in advance once he won the crossword puzzles.

Q34. What decision did the postmaster make after he recovered from his illness?

Answer: When the postmaster recovered from his illness, he immediately applied for a transfer to the head office in Kolkata. But when his transfer was rejected, he decided to resign from his job as a postmaster.

Q35. Why did Queen Titania not want to part with the boy?

Answer: Queen Titania did not want to part with the boy because Tiania was the patroness to the boy. The boy’s mother died while giving birth and the queen decided to raise him on her own.

Q35. Who was Hippolyta?

Answer: Hippolyta was the Queen of Amazon who married Theseus, the Duke. She was gentle and quiet.

Q36. Where did Lysander’s aunt live?

Answer: Lysander’s aunt lived in a village which was seven leagues or twenty miles away from Athens. She considered Lysander as her only son.

Q37. Why did the craftsmen of Athens want to stage a play during the Duke’s wedding festivities?

Answer:  The craftsmen of Athens wanted to stage a play during the Duke’s wedding festivities because they expected to get a good reward from the Duke in case they were able to win his heart with their performance. Moreover, the reward depended if the Duke accepted and enjoyed their play.

 

Read and extracts and answer the questions that follow (any one):                        1x3 = 3

And on his back the burden of the world who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes, Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?

i. Whom do these lines refer to ?

ii. What is the burden he is carrying on his back?

iii. Why has he been called a ‘brother to the ox’?

Answer:

i.                 These lines refer to the man with the hoe.

ii.                He carries the burden of all the world’s injustice and hardship on his back.

iii.               He has been called a ‘brother to the ox’ because he has become dull and unresponsive, like an animal used for farm work, stripped of his humanity.

 

‘He was there for a day’

i. Who is ‘he’ referred to here?

ii. Where is he for a day?

iii.   What did he see?

Answer:

i.                 He is referred to the poet.

ii.                The poet was there for a day when flood came in town and people everywhere talked about the rising waves.

iii.               The poet witnessed the destructions caused by flood. The water level was so high that it was touching places where people used to take a bath from river. On the way, the flood carried three houses of the village, one pregnant woman and two cows named Gopi and Brinda into the water.

 

SECTION-C

Long Answer Questions:            5

Q41. “She had lost him, but who should have him?” What do you think that she would like the youth to meet – the lady or the tiger? Give reasons to justify your answer.

Answer: The princess in Frank Stockton's story "The Lady, or the Tiger?" is a complex and passionate character. She is the daughter of a semi-barbaric king and has inherited her father's fiery temperament. Deeply in love with a young man of lower status, she is intelligent, determined, and fiercely emotional. However, her feelings are not purely noble. When her lover is forced to choose between two doors—one hiding a tiger that will kill him, and the other concealing a beautiful lady he would be obliged to marry—the princess faces an intense internal conflict.

She knows what lies behind each door because of her cunning and resourcefulness. However, her emotions are torn between her love for the young man and her jealousy of the lady behind the other door, whom she despises. The princess's struggle highlights her dual nature—capable of love but also driven by possessiveness and pride. Her final decision, whether to save her lover or doom him, is left ambiguous, making her one of the story's most intriguing and morally ambiguous characters.

Q42. “It’s a first – rate act, that, and will put money in our pockets.” What made the speaker consider it a first – rate act’ and why did he desperately need it for his circus?

Answer: The speaker of the above line, who is the circus manager, considered the act as “first-rate” because the stranger who had come to seek a job in the circus performed the dangerous feat by jumping from a height of forty feet into a tank which was eight foot long by four foot wide by four foot deep.

The regular decline in attendance became a matter of concern for the circus manager. There were several significant reasons for this. The jokes of the clowns fell flat as those did not produce much laughter and were out of fashion. Moreover, the audience seemed to be more sophisticated and had seen or heard those before. Therefore, they needed an act or performance that could attract the audience. Thus, this act by the stranger would definitely earn them a lot of money.

Q43. Describe the swimmer’s struggle in the sea.

Answer: The swimmer dives into the cool, dark waters, feeling the powerful rush of waves around him. Initially filled with excitement and strength, he rises to face the fierce, cat-like sea, which attacks like a hundred sharp claws. The sea waves toss him up and down as if playing with him and challenging his strength. The swimmer keeps struggling and swimming against the towering waves. With determination, he dives headfirst into the biggest wave, fighting the water’s fury. The wind and foam surround him, but he refuses to surrender. He grinned at the sea thinking it to be his slave and he himself its master Finally, he emerges victorious on the beach.

Q44. ‘And treat those two imposters just the same’. Who or what are these two imposters and why should we treat them the same?

Answer: The poem IF by Rudyard Kipling is a beautiful and inspiring piece of writing that gives advice on how to live a successful and meaningful life. The poem is structured as a father’s advice to his son, but its teachings are meaningful for everyone. Through simple but powerful words, Kipling shows us how to become strong, wise, and admirable individuals.

               In Rudyard Kipling's poem IF, "Triumph" means success, and "Disaster" means failure. These are the two impostors. These are called "impostors" because they are temporary and not the real measure of a person's worth. Kipling advises treating both success and failure equally because neither should control our emotions or decisions. Staying calm and balanced in both good and bad times shows true strength and wisdom.

Q45. Why were Oberon and the Queen of Fairy land quarrelling and how did their quarrel affect nature?

Answer: In A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, and Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, argue over a young boy. Oberon wants the boy as his servant, but Titania refuses to give him up because she loved the boy's mother, who passed away. Their quarrel causes chaos in nature — the seasons get mixed up, crops fail, rivers flood, and diseases spread among people and animals. This disrupts life for everyone. When they finally make peace, nature returns to balance, showing how love and harmony are important for keeping the world in order.

Q46. ‘Believe me, King of shadows, these mistakes are accidental’. What was the speaker talking about and what were the consequences of his mistakes?

Answer: These lines are spoken by Puck in the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. The speaker has smeared the love-in-idleness juice on Lysander instead of Demetrius. He mistakes Lysander to be the only Athenian man in the forest. Oberon is angry at Puck when he realises that a mistake has been made and says that he and Puck would have to remedy it.

               When Puck mistakenly applies the love potion to Lysander's eyes instead of Demetrius', the consequence is that Lysander suddenly falls deeply in love with Helena, causing chaos and conflict among the lovers, as both men now pursue Helena, leading to a major disruption in the relationships between the four main characters – Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena. Both Lysander and Demetrius become infatuated with Helena, creating a chaotic love triangle. Hermia becomes extremely jealous and angry at Helena, leading to tension and potential violence between the women. Helena is initially confused and suspicious, believing the men are mocking her.

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