Part A: Reading Test (50 Marks)

Read the passage. Then answer to the questions below (1-2).

‘Heritage’ is what we inherit from the past, live with them in the present and then pass on to our children or future generation. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of ‘World Heritage’, it indicates places and sites that we got from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The ‘Shat Gambuj Mosque’ in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as ‘Khalifatabad’. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town-not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint  and a warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was distinctly dominated by Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There are about 360 mosques in the city. Among them, the most remarkable is the multi-domed shat Gambuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes on the roof as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall.

The west wall in the interior has 11 ‘mihrabs’ (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah). These mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

1. Choose the correct answer from the following alternatives :            1x7=7

(a) The word ‘inherit’ in the first line best reflects the meaning.................................

(i) to search      (ii) became heir to

(iii) to run after            (iv) to see

(b) ‘Habitable’ in line 15 means...............

(i) habituated   (ii) worthless

(iii) liveable     (iv) sincere

(c)  The word ‘slender’ in line 20 stands for...............................

(i)  thick   (ii) wide   (iii) modest   (iv) lean

(d) A Muslim colony was founded near the seacoast in Bagerhat which was a………

(i) barbarous place            (ii) desolate place

(iii) welcoming place  (iv) inhuman place

(e) The word ‘reveal’ stands for………

(i) close (ii) disclose (iii) secret (iv) obscure

(f) Ulugh Khan was………………………

(i) a saint                     (ii) a general and a saint           (iii) a mighty ruler        (iv)  a liberal monarch

(g) The breadth of the arches is……………

(i)  8 yards       (ii) 7 yards

(iii) 6 yards      (iv) 2 yards

2. Answer to the following questions.    2x5=10

(a) What do you mean by heritage?

(b) When and where was the muslim colony founded?

(c) What does the infrastructure of the city reveal?

(d) What did Khan Jahan Ali adorn the city with?

(e) For what purposes the shat Ganbuj Mosque were used?

3. Read the following text and fill in each gap with a suitable word based on the information of the text.      5

Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari on the bank of the Kapotaksho River, a village in Keshobpur Upozila under Jessore district. From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Though he was born in a sophisticated Hindu family, he took Christianity as a young man. In his childhood, he was recognized by his teachers as a precious child with a gift of literary talent. His early exposure to English education and European literature at home and his college inspired him to imitate the English in taste, manners and intellect.

Michael was an ardent follower of the famous English poet Lord Byron. So, after adopting Christianity, he went to Europe and started composing poetry and drama almost entirely in English. However, he failed to gain the right appreciation. To his utter frustration he found that he was not esteemed as a native writer of English literature. Out of his frustration, he composed a sonnet in Bangla ‘KapotakshoNad’ which earned him huge reputation in Bangla. He came to Bengal and devoted himself to Bangla literature. He is the poet to write the first Bangla epic Meghnad Badh Kavya.

Love for own country and language cannot be (a)…….. by any other thing. The case of Michael Madhusudan Dutt is a (b)……. example of this. Michael wanted to be an Englishman in (c)……. and deeds.He loved English (d)…….. than his mother language, Bangla.He expected to shine as an English poet but his efforts went in vain. At last he could (e)……… his wrong dream.We all should take lesson from the life of Dutt.It is really true that we should love our mother language just like our mother.

4. Read the following passage carefully and complete the table below with the information from the passage.             1×5=5

Mother Teresa, the servant to humanity, was born on August 26, 1910 in Macedonia. She was the youngest of the three siblings. At the age of 12, she felt an urge to spread the love of Christ and so she decided to become a missionary. In 1928, she left home and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns which had missions in India. After receiving training for months, she came to India. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. Then Mother Teresa taught geography and religion at St. Mary’s High School in Kolkata. However, poverty in Kolkata moved her and she left the convent in 1948 to work for the poor. She founded the home for the dying, sick and helpless people in Kolkata and named it Nirmal Hridoy. She along with her fellow nuns gathered the dying people and brought them to this home. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Prize for peace in 1979 for her love and compassion for humanity.

5. Write a summary of the above passage in your own words.            10

6. Match the parts of sentences given in column A, B and C to write five meaningful sentences.                   1×5=5

7. Put the following parts of the story in correct order to rewrite the whole story.       8

(a) At times they were very rude to him.

(b) Tarek was a very bright student and he was also helpful to others.

(c) Tarek took it to heart but did not get very upset.

(d) Seeing this, some other brighter students of the class also began to help the weaker students.

(e) But he was not received warmly.

(f) Tarek’s class teacher, Mr. Rahman, introduced Tarek to the class.

(g) They did not want to mix with him, to play with him or even talk to him.

(h) Some of the students laughed at him from the very beginning.

Part B : Writing Test (50 Marks)

8. Answer the following questions to write a paragraph on ‘A Tea Stall’.        10

(a) What is a tea stall?

(b) Where does a tea stall generally sit?

(c) What types of furniture are there in a tea stall?

(d) Why and when do people visit to a tea stall?

(e) How is a tea stall managed?

(f) What do people usually discuss there?

9. Complete the following story and give a suitable title to it.  10

Bayazid Bostami was a pious man. He was born at Bostam in Iraq. This very incident happened in his childhood. Once he was studying in his study room. His mother was lying nearby. She was ill. Suddenly she raised her head and asked for a glass of water. Bayazid……………………

10. The graph below shows the rate of ‘Internet Users in Bangladesh’ in different years. Now, describe the graph in at least 150 words. You should highlight the information and report the main features given in the graph.         10                  

The Rate of Internet Users in Different Years

11. Suppose, you are Rubel / Rubina. Now, write a letter to your friend Hasan / Hena telling him / her you intend to do during the period you are awaiting for the result.         10

12. Write a dialogue between you and your friend about the importance of learning English. 10

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