Unhappiness fills the precis passage of the English Precis and Composition past paper 2011. The passage traces unhappy people to a youth that denied them one normal satisfaction, so they chase that single satisfaction ever after and give life a one-sided direction. The comprehension passage separates knowledge from understanding. Knowledge fits a new experience into old concepts, while understanding frees a person to meet the new directly, moment by moment. The old split still governs this paper: 10 MCQ marks in Part-I, 90 in Part-II. Part-I asks candidates to answer only five synonyms and five antonyms from longer lists. The note topics mix proverbs with debate: “Child is the father of man” sits beside “Yellow Journalism”. Pairs of words carry a full 10 marks at Q.5(b).
What this paper contains
- Part-I (Q.1) — Synonyms, choose five (5 marks); antonyms, choose five (5 marks)
- Q.2 — Precis of a passage on the psychological causes of unhappiness, with a heading (20+5 = 25 marks)
- Q.3 — Comprehension: a passage on knowledge and understanding, five questions at four marks each (20 marks)
- Q.4 — Note of 250–300 words on one of the given topics (20 marks)
- Q.5 — (a) Use five idioms in sentences (5 marks); (b) use five pairs of words in sentences (10 marks)
- Q.6 — (a) Correct five sentences (5 marks); (b) change the narration of five sentences (5 marks)
English Precis and Composition Past Paper 2012 · All English Precis and Composition Past Papers · English Precis and Composition Past Paper 2010