Class 12 practice
Class 12 english questions.
English questions for Class 12, at the level of students aged 15–17, each with its answer and a short explanation. Try each one before opening the answer.
By unveiling its low-cost drip irrigation kit a month before its main rival, the Pune-based enterprise managed to ______ its competitors.
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Answer: steal a march on
'To steal a march on' means to gain an advantage over a competitor, typically by acting earlier or more cleverly than them.
Which linguistic term identifies a blend created by combining parts of two separate words, such as 'brunch' or 'Hinglish'?
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Answer: Portmanteau
A portmanteau merges sounds and meanings of two distinct words to form a new lexical item. Acronyms form words from initial letters.
Had Tenzing calibrated the laboratory barometer correctly before noon, the atmospheric readings ______ reliable for the monsoon study.
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Answer: would have been
In an inverted third conditional sentence denoting an unreal past condition, the main clause requires 'would have' followed by a past participle.
Vikram offered a remarkably ______ critique of the urban transport plan, identifying underlying design flaws that senior engineers had completely overlooked.
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Answer: perspicacious
'Perspicacious' means possessing keen insight or discernment. Vikram's ability to spot hidden flaws demonstrates perceptive analysis, unlike perfunctory, precipitous, or pedantic assessments.
In the sentence 'Dalal Street reacted with sharp volatility to the reserve ratio announcement', which figure of speech is exemplified by using 'Dalal Street' to represent India's financial market?
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Answer: Metonymy
Metonymy replaces the name of an entity with something closely linked or associated with it, like using the physical street to represent the financial market.
The panel found the spokesperson's statements regarding the budget overrun deliberately ______, seemingly intended to confuse rather than inform the public.
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Answer: equivocal
'Equivocal' describes language that is ambiguous, open to multiple interpretations, or purposely misleading. 'Equitable' means fair, and 'efficacious' means effective.
Seldom ______ such unanimous accord among civic leaders regarding the conservation of Bengaluru's historic water bodies.
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Answer: has one witnessed
When negative or restrictive adverbs such as 'seldom' begin a sentence, the word order is inverted, placing the auxiliary verb before the subject.
Despite funding bottlenecks and bureaucratic delays, Ananya displayed ______ determination, ultimately finishing her mangrove restoration project along the Konkan coast.
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Answer: tenacious
'Tenacious' means unyielding and persistent in the face of obstacles. 'Tenuous' means weak, 'transient' means temporary, and 'tentative' means hesitant.
During the academic council meeting, the chairperson recommended that Deepa ______ the draft proposal before the committee reconvenes tomorrow.
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Answer: revise
The mandative subjunctive mood follows verbs of recommendation or demand, requiring the base form of the verb regardless of the subject.
Scarcely had the national debate championship in Bhopal commenced ______ an unexpected technical glitch disrupted the audio transmission across the auditorium.
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Answer: when
The correlative construction 'scarcely had... when' is standard in English. The comparative conjunction 'than' pairs with 'no sooner', not with 'scarcely'.
During the symposium in Hyderabad, the chairperson urged the delegates to establish a "quid pro quo" to settle the dispute. What does the Latin term "quid pro quo" mean in this context?
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Answer: A mutual exchange of concessions
'Quid pro quo' literally means 'something for something'. It denotes a reciprocal agreement or mutual exchange where one favor, advantage, or concession is given in return for another.
During the debate competition in Kochi, Ananya decided to play the devil's advocate. What did Ananya do?
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Answer: Argued against an idea solely to test its validity
To 'play the devil's advocate' means to express an opposing or unpopular opinion deliberately in an argument to provoke debate or test the strength of the opposing argument.
- True or false?
In standard formal English, using an objective pronoun before a gerund, as in 'Meera approved of him participating in the debate,' is considered grammatically standard.
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Answer: False
In formal prescriptive grammar, a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund must be in the possessive case, requiring 'his participating' rather than 'him participating.'
- True or false?
In the phrase 'all hands on deck,' using 'hands' to represent the entire crew exemplifies synecdoche.
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Answer: True
Synecdoche occurs when a physical part of an entity represents the whole, such as using 'hands' to designate an entire crew of workers.
- True or false?
The past continuous tense signifies an event completed before another specific point in past time.
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Answer: False
The past perfect tense denotes an action completed prior to another past event. The past continuous denotes an ongoing action in progress in the past.
- Fill in the blank.
The heritage architect recommended that the crumbling fresco be ___ (meticulous) documented before restoration work commenced.
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Answer: meticulously
The adverb 'meticulously' is derived from 'meticulous' to modify the passive verb form 'be documented'.
- Fill in the blank.
Had the meteorological department ___ (foresee) the sudden cyclone, coastal warnings would have been issued sooner.
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Answer: foreseen
An inverted third conditional clause beginning with 'Had' requires the past participle form 'foreseen' of the irregular verb 'foresee'.
Which loan expression commonly used in English is the odd one out based on its linguistic origin?
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Answer: Faux pas
Bona fide, ad hoc, and status quo are Latin loan phrases, whereas faux pas is borrowed from French.
Which abbreviation is the odd one out based on how it is pronounced?
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Answer: BBC
UNESCO, NASA, and RADAR are acronyms pronounced as single continuous words, whereas BBC is an initialism whose letters are pronounced individually.
- Fill in the blank.
Exhausted after hiking up the Nilgiri hills, Vikram ___ (lie) quietly on the grass until the sun began to set.
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Answer: lay
The past tense of the intransitive verb 'lie' (to recline) is 'lay', whereas 'laid' is the past tense of the transitive verb 'lay' (to place down).
These questions come from Ado’s question bank and are written with AI help. They are never used in ranked play, so practising them here can’t change anyone’s rank.
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