Class 12 Compulsory English Fantasy Notes

Working with words

A. Match the following words with their definitions.

• snappy: irritable and inclined to speak sharply
• discretion: the ability to behave without causing embarrassment or attracting too much attention
• radiant: showing great happiness, love, or health
• irresolute: not able to decide what to do
• brusque: using very few words and sounding rude
• fitful: happening only for short periods
• harlequin: a humorous character in some traditional plays
• lull: a quiet period between times of activity
• janitress: a lady whose job is to take care of a building such as a school or a block of flats
• speck: a very small spot

B. Definitions of Stock Market Terminologies

• Liquidity: The availability of liquid assets (cash) to a market or company to easily buy or sell securities without drastically affecting prices.
• IPO (Initial Public Offering): The process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance for the first time.
• NEPSE: The only stock exchange of Nepal, which stands for Nepal Stock Exchange.
• Index: A measurement of the value of a section of the stock market, tracking the performance of a basket of companies.
• Portfolio: A collection of financial investments like stocks, bonds, commodities, cash, and cash equivalents, including mutual funds and ETFs.
• Dividend: A distribution of a portion of a company’s earnings paid to its shareholders (often in cash, though sometimes in additional shares).
• Turnover: A measure of stock liquidity representing the total value of shares traded over a specific period.
• Margin: The amount of equity an investor has in their brokerage account relative to the value of the securities they have purchased on credit.

Comprehension

A. Write ‘T’ for true statements, ‘F’ for false ones, or ‘NG’ if the information is not given.

• a. Harvey Maxwell was a stock broker. — T
• b. He was not happy with his clerk, Pitcher. — NG
• c. Miss Leslie had been married to Maxwell for a year. — F
• d. Maxwell had hired a machine to work in his office. — NG
• e. He had instructed Pitcher to get a new stenographer. — T
• f. Miss Leslie was amazed by Maxwell’s proposal. — T
• g. She thought that he had probably gone mad. — F
• h. She realized that he had been absent-minded due to his business. — T

B. Answer the following questions.

• a. How did Maxwell enter his office?
  • Answer: Maxwell entered his office briskly with the young lady stenographer, greeting Pitcher by saying “Good Morning.”
• b. Describe the physical appearance of the young lady.
  • Answer: She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly unstenographic. She forewent the pomp of the alluring pompadour, wearing no chains, bracelets, or lockets. Her dress was grey and plain, fitting her figure with fidelity and discretion. In her neat black turban hat was the gold-green wing of a macaw. On this morning she was softly and shyly radiant, with dreamily bright eyes, genuine peachblow cheeks, and a happy expression tinged with reminiscence.
• c. What changes did Pitcher notice in the young lady?
  • Answer: Pitcher noticed a difference in her routine that morning. Instead of going straight into the adjoining room where her desk was, she lingered slightly irresolute in the outer office and moved near Maxwell’s desk so he would be aware of her presence.
• d. What was Pitcher’s reply to the young lady concerning a new stenographer?
  • Answer: Pitcher replied that Maxwell had already told him the day before to notify an agency to send a few candidates over that morning, and none of them had arrived yet except her.
• e. What proposal did Maxwell make with Miss Leslie?
  • Answer: Maxwell proposed marriage to Miss Leslie.
• f. How did she react to his proposal?
  • Answer: She reacted very queerly. At first, she seemed overcome with amazement; then tears flowed from her wondering eyes; she smiled sunnily through them, and slid one of her arms tenderly about the broker’s neck (revealing that they had already been married the evening before, though he had completely forgotten due to his busy mind).

Grammar

A. Underline the relative clauses in the following sentences:

• a. I snatched a minute when things had slackened a minute.
• b. Instead of going straight into the adjoining room, where her desk was, she lingered slightly irresolute in the outer office.
• c. She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly stenographic.

B. Fill in the blanks with suitable relative pronouns:

• a. There is a lady whose wallet has been stolen.
• b. Do you know the man who sold these glasses?
• c. The knife which you cut the bread with is very sharp.
• d. Why do you blame him for everything that goes wrong?
• e. A cemetery is a place where dead bodies are buried.
• f. This school is for those children whose mother tongue is not Nepali.
• g. I don’t know the name of the person whom I spoke to over the telephone.
• h. I came to Kathmandu on the day when the devastating earthquake took place.
• i. In the application form she wrote what she needed a good payment for. (or contextually appropriate relative)
• j. The pilot explained why he made a forced landing on the road.

C. Join the following pairs of sentences using relative pronouns/adverbs:

• a. The building was destroyed in the fire. It has now been rebuilt.
  • The building which was destroyed in the fire has now been rebuilt.
• b. A new cricket stadium is being made in Chitwan. It can accommodate one hundred thousand people.
  • A new cricket stadium which is being made in Chitwan can accommodate one hundred thousand people.
• c. Shanghai is the most populated city in the world. I stayed there for five years.
  • Shanghai, where I stayed for five years, is the most populated city in the world.
• d. This is the man. I gave some money to him this morning.
  • This is the man whom I gave some money this morning.
• e. Do you know the man? His son was awarded in the school yesterday.
  • Do you know the man whose son was awarded in the school yesterday?
• f. His step-mother was not very kind to him. He had been staying with her.
  • His step-mother, with whom he had been staying, was not very kind to him.
• g. He can never forget Nakkhu Jail. He had spent 14 years there.
  • He can never forget Nakkhu Jail where he had spent 14 years.
• h. He showed me his new tab. He had paid a hundred thousand rupees for it.
  • He showed me his new tab for which he had paid a hundred thousand rupees.
• i. Nelson Mandela joined ANC in 1930s. He was a student then.
  • Nelson Mandela joined ANC in the 1930s when he was a student.
• j. She forgot to buy the things. Her mother had told her to buy them.
  • She forgot to buy the things which her mother had told her to buy.