Amity International School

Viraj Khand-5, Gomti Nagar

Revision Test –2 (2023-2024)
Class: XII, ENGLISH (301)

Time allowed: 1 hour Max. Marks: 30

Instructions:

 Check that this question paper contains six main questions.

 All questions are compulsory.
 Write the question numbers against the attempted questions.

QN Marks
Q1. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions. 8M

PAPER YOGA

The newest stress buster is paper yoga. Adults are now changing over from
their smartphones to colouring books to beat anxiety and relax. They spend
hours hunched over the drawing of mandalas filling in their words into the
circle, with colours. These adult colouring books are classified in the adult
category and are becoming fast selling items as people reach out to them to
relax their minds. And it is not just mandala drawings that are in vogue.
Others settle for elaborate landscapes, cultural tableaux, brimming with
images of dancers, singers and concerts. Involutes of various shapes also
make up this list.

Just as the demand has kept growing, there are also authors who are much
in demand for their relaxing creations. Leading in this field is Johanna
Basford, who has sold 1.4 million copies of her books ‘Secret Garden’,
‘Enchanted Forest’ and ‘Lost Ocean’, in a matter of just two years. More
bookstores have now started stocking such books as customers are asking
for them. Publishers now contend that it is not just celebrity authors in this
category but any book with the tag-line de-stress’ has a readymade market
for it.

Another reason for the success of these books is that they are multilingual
in the way that they speak to adults of all age groups, cultures and

1
dispositions. Even nursery teachers are fast becoming customers of these
books not because they are overworked but because of the fun that even
five-year olds are having with these colouring books.

The new trend has been dubbed ‘Paper Yoga’. While the junior versions of
these books hold simple generously proportioned patterns, that allow for a
child’s broad strokes, the adult variants typically have tight kaleidoscopes
that require a fine pen and a staunch eye. As they do not require special
skills to execute, publishers are marketing it with the tag-line that their
target customer is anyone who can draw satisfaction from something
beautiful. The skills of drawing and colouring or conceptualization,
essentials for the art of drawing, are not in this list of requirements. Thus
the phobia of being an expert or amateur is not a deterrent.

So far, publishers have had to import their stock as there are not sufficient
titles available. But illustrators are fast catching up with this trend and some
have even ventured into self-publishing in this line. Others are innovating
still more meaningful inputs into this work by asking customers to bring
their own experiences to the book.

Individual stories of success are making an appearance too. Illustrator Indu

Harikumar started her self-published colouring book, ‘Beauty Needs Space’,
on social media. She priced a copy of 12 artworks at 1500 each and sold 155
of the 200 she had printed. ‘People have written to say that they connected
with the book as they worked on it.’

While adults are discovering their inner selves through this creative pursuit,
art-based therapeutics warn against expecting too much from these books
for saving lives or minds. At best, they calm the mind and are a temporary
diversion, for the mind and cut off the noise of clamouring thoughts. These
books they claim can offer therapeutic returns only when used in
conjunction with a therapist’s counsel. As yet the entire process is
undergoing a testing time but whatever little of it has emerged, is being
hailed as a step in the positive direction.

2
Answer the following questions and choose the most appropriate option:

On the basis of your understanding of the above passage, complete the

statements given below with the help of options that follow.
(a) Adults spend hours over their mandalas …………………………. .
(i) colouring them
(ii) filling in the words into them
(iii) filling in messages into them
(iv) writing their life history in them

(b) Johanna Basford named her colouring books …………………………. .

(i) Basford Gardens, Secret Garden
(ii) Paper Yoga, Beauty Needs Space
(iii) Enchanted Forest, Paper Boats
(iv) Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest, Lost Ocean

(c) Indu Harikumar started her colouring book …………………………. .

(i) on the social media
(ii) in public spaces
(iii) in school classrooms
(iv) in international meets

(d) Colouring books can serve best if combined with …………………………. .

(i) a temporary diversion of the mind
(ii) working on social media
(iii) a therapist’s counsel
(iv) without a therapist’s advice

(e) People wrote to Harikumar saying that they …………………………. .

(i) could not connect with her books
(ii) found the price of the books steep
(iii) connected with the books as they worked on it
(iv) lost their interest while going through the books

Answer the following.

(f) The title of Indu Harikumar’s self-published colouring book is ‘Beauty
Needs Space’. (True/False)
(g) The colouring books are called ‘multi-lingual’ because they are writen in

3
 different languages. (True/False)
(h) Give one word for vast and detailed (para 1)

Q2. Imagine that you are an educationist and feel strongly about the flaws in 5
the existing system of education especially examination. You feel that the
present system of education neglects the talents and skills of students and
is restricted to classroom teaching. Write a letter to the Editor of an English
daily making a case for education beyond classroom teaching. Sign yourself
as Dr. Sudeep Roy.

Q3. Choose the correct option: 5M

Through the thoughts of the poet in my Mother at Sixty-Six, the poem
i. comes to a __________

a. Cyclic order
b. Vicious order
c. Monotony
d. Despondency

ii. The poet builds up a contrast in the poem My Mother at Sixty-Six by

a) juxtaposing merry children with her old mother

b) juxtaposing peapods with merry children
c) contrasting sprinting trees with the car
d) contrasting her own youth with the old age of her mother
iii.
The two contrasting emotions that Douglas felt in ‘then all efforts ceased’
are

a) Fright and peace

b) Peace and quietness
c) Fright and quietness
d) Courage and fright
iv.

What was Douglas’s last memory in the pool?

a) Douglas felt the yellowish light going out and then all his attempts
stopped.
b) He felt drowsy in the pool
c) He lost consciousness when he was drowned last time
d) He felt quiet and peaceful

4
v. Under whose thumb rule were the Indian kings living in The Tiger King?

a) Sovereign rule
b) Queen’s rule
c) King’s rule
d) Under the thumb rule of the British

Q4. The story Deep Water talks about Douglas’ attempts to overcome his fear of 4M
water. The story can also be viewed as a figurative manifestation of life’s
many challenges. Elaborate with reference to the text.

Q5. With fear and ache inside her heart and words of assurance on lips and 4M
smile on the face, the poet presents two opposite and contrasting
experiences. Why does the poet put on a smile? Also describe the poetic
device used in the end lines in My Mother at Sixty- Six.

Q6. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards 4M
him in The Tiger King? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are
they driven by fear.

**************