English - I 2025 Board Question Paper

Definition of Desire in Not the Non-Existent (Nasadiya Sukta)

In the Rigvedic creation hymn Not the Non-Existent, human and cosmic Desire (Kama) is defined as the primal seed of consciousness and the first generative impulse of the mind (manaso retaḥ prathamam).

Before the dawn of creation, when neither Being nor Non-Being existed, Desire arose within the primordial cosmic void. It served as the fundamental catalyst that transformed undifferentiated, dark potentiality into manifest reality, initiating the cosmic journey toward differentiation, life, and self-awareness.

Why the Narrator Feels Pressured to Shoot the Elephant

In George Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant, the narrator feels intensely pressured to shoot the elephant due to the psychological tyranny of the expectant crowd:

• More than two thousand local Burmese citizens have followed him, watching and waiting to see the white man kill the beast.
• Although Orwell realizes the elephant’s attack has subsided and it is peacefully grazing, he recognizes that as an imperial officer, he cannot afford to look foolish, hesitant, or cowardly:

  “To come all that way, rifle in hand, with two thousand people marching at my heels, and then to trail feebly away, doing nothing—no, that was impossible. The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.”

The Metaphor of the “Angel in the House” in Professions for Women

In Professions for Women, Virginia Woolf borrows Coventry Patmore’s Victorian concept of the “Angel in the House” to symbolize the internalized patriarchal phantom of idealized, selfless womanhood:

• The “Angel” whispers that a woman must always be charming, sympathetic, uncritical of men, and self-sacrificing, never expressing an independent or controversial opinion of her own.
• Woolf asserts that for a woman to write honestly, cultivate intellectual courage, and establish a professional career, she must engage in mortal combat with this phantom:

  “Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer.”

Word Formations

• science (noun) $\to$ scientific (adjective)
• expert (noun/adj) $\to$ expertly (adverb)
• miserable (adjective) $\to$ misery (noun)
• perception (noun) $\to$ perceive (verb)

Why the Parrot Calls Himself “Twice Born” in The Parrot in the Cage

In Lekhnath Paudyal’s allegorical poem The Parrot in the Cage (Pinjadako Suga), the bird refers to itself as “twice born” (dvija):

1. Literal Avian Birth: In Sanskrit and Hindu philosophy, birds are termed dvija because they are born twice—first as an egg, and secondly hatched into the light of the physical world.
2. Spiritual and Allegorical Awakening: Allegorically, the phrase mirrors the educated Brahmin and enlightened Nepali intellectual who undergoes spiritual initiation into moral awareness, only to suffer the tragic irony of being subjugated and silenced in the iron cage of the autocratic Rana regime.

Definition and Example of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an author provides subtle hints, warnings, or symbolic indicators early in a narrative about key plot developments, conflicts, or tragic outcomes that will occur later.

Example from Studied Literature: In Raymond Carver’s minimalist story Popular Mechanics, the opening sentence—“During the day the sun hadn’t come out, and the snow was melting into dirty water”—immediately creates an oppressive, murky, and bleak atmosphere. The dark weather and melting slush foreshadow the emotional chill, bitter conflict, and devastating tragedy that erupt between the parents over their helpless infant.

Meanings of Idiomatic Phrases

• “The devil is in the details”: Means that while a plan, project, or agreement may seem straightforward, attractive, or simple in general terms, unforeseen difficulties, complexities, or complications will arise when examining the specific, technical particulars.

• “Too much ink on something”: Means that excessive written commentary, media coverage, journalistic debate, or disproportionate public attention has been dedicated to a particular subject or minor issue.

Error Corrections with Comparatives and Superlatives

a. He did a great deal worse in the athletics competition than his teachers had expected. (Explanation: The comparative adverb of ‘badly’ is worse; ‘more badly’ is ungrammatical).

b. You may think you know the answer, but I’m afraid you couldn’t be more wrong. (Explanation: ‘Wrong’ does not take an ‘-er’ suffix; the periphrastic form more wrong is the correct English construction).

Correct Word Choices

a. One of my colleagues gets to work by walking or cycling on alternate days. (Explanation: Alternate means every second day or every other day; alternative means another available choice or option).

b. At the monthly farmers’ market, they sell only locally grown produce. (Explanation: Produce (uncountable noun) refers specifically to fresh agricultural harvest such as fruits, vegetables, and crops; products generally refers to manufactured goods).

Past Simple vs. Present Perfect

a. I studied in Paris for six years until my parents moved to Rome. (Explanation: Past Simple is used because the action was completed in a finished past time period defined and bounded by the clause ‘until my parents moved’).

b. This is not the first time I have tasted shark meat. (Explanation: Present Perfect is required after experiential constructions such as ‘This is the first / second / not the first time...’).

Metonymic Association Between Smoking, Sex, and Good Health in Light My Lucky

In Judith Ortiz Cofer’s autobiographical essay Light My Lucky, the cigarette is analyzed as a multi-layered metonymic vehicle engineered by commercial advertising to capture American cultural imagination:

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1. Smoking and Erotic Glamour (Sexuality)

• In mid-century cinema and billboard promotions, the Lucky Strike was metonymically linked with female allure, Hollywood glamour, and romantic intrigue.
• For the teenage narrator, observing adult women handle cigarettes—the slow exhalation, the lipstick trace on the filter, the flick of the match—made smoking the primary outward token of sexual maturity and forbidden mystery.

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2. Smoking and Vitality / Athletic Good Health

• Advertisements during the era presented an astonishing paradox: tobacco was sold alongside images of athletic stamina, vigorous outdoor adventures, and radiant well-being.
• Mountain climbers, rugged soldiers, and sports figures smoked Lucky Strikes, creating a psychological bridge between lighting up and possessing peak health and rugged masculine strength.

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3. Seductive Promise of Modern Identity

• For Cofer, caught between the traditional domestic expectations of her Puerto Rican heritage and the alluring freedoms of mainstream American youth, the Lucky Strike was a metonym for personal autonomy, defiance of authority, and self-reinvention.

Refutation of Arguments in Favor of Animal Exploitation in The Rights of Animals

In The Rights of Animals, Brigid Brophy delivers a rigorous philosophical refutation of the standard justifications used to sanction cruelty against non-human creatures:

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1. Hunting as Sport and Wildlife Conservation

• The Defense: Hunting is framed as a traditional sporting contest, an outdoor hobby, or necessary ecological population control.
• Brophy’s Refutation: Brophy reveals this rationale as a hypocritical mask for organized sadism. Elevating the terror, exhaustion, and violent slaughter of sentient animals into a leisurely aristocratic game is an ethical abomination that degrades human empathy.

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2. Raising Animals for Human Meat Consumption

• The Defense: Omnivory is natural, historically universal, and biologically indispensable for human nutrition.
• Brophy’s Refutation: Modern nutritional knowledge proves that humans can lead healthy, vigorous lives on plant-based diets. Confining animals in industrial factory farms and slaughtering them for culinary indulgence is an act of pure speciesism—the arrogant prejudice that might makes right.

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3. Laboratory Experimentation (Vivisection)

• The Defense: Animal testing is an unfortunate necessity to secure medical breakthroughs and save human lives.
• Brophy’s Refutation: Brophy rejects this crude utilitarian calculation. Non-human animals possess sentient nervous systems and experience terror and agonizing pain just as humans do. If intellectual superiority granted the moral license to experiment on living creatures without their consent, humanity would be logically compelled to experiment on human infants or mentally incapacitated individuals.

Mixed Conditional Sentences

a. Our firm would not be in debt today if we had listened to our accountant’s past warnings. (Past unreal condition $\to$ Present unreal result).

b. If our parents hadn’t lent us money, we would not be living (or would not live) in our own flat now. (Past unreal condition $\to$ Present ongoing state).

c. If you did not listen (or haven’t listened / don’t listen) just now, you will have trouble using the equipment later. (Past action with direct consequence for a future situation).

d. I would be a lot better off this year if my last tax bill had not been so high. (Present hypothetical state resulting from past condition).

e. If I did not have to leave early tomorrow, he would come out tonight. (Future obligation condition affecting a present hypothetical action).

Summary of the Main Theme of Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave

In Book VII of The Republic, Plato employs The Allegory of the Cave to dramatize the central themes of epistemological awakening, education (paideia), and political duty:

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1. The Bondage of Sensory Illusion

• The prisoners chained inside the dark subterranean cave represent unphilosophical humanity, mistaking flickering fire-lit shadows projected on the wall for absolute truth.
• These shadows represent social conditioning, prejudices, media distortions, and the superficial illusions of the physical senses (eikasia).

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2. The Painful Liberation of the Mind

• When a prisoner is unchained and dragged up the steep ascent into the sunlight, the light initially blinds and pains his eyes.
• This ascent allegorizes the rigorous process of higher education: turning away from transient sensory shadows toward intellectual contemplation of the eternal Forms, culminating in the vision of the Sun (the Form of the Good, the divine source of all truth, beauty, and justice).

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3. The Moral Duty of the Philosopher-King

• The enlightened thinker cannot stay in isolated contemplation above. He is ethically obligated to descend back into the subterranean cave to emancipate fellow citizens and govern the polis wisely, even if the prisoners, wedded to their illusions, mock or persecute him.

Words Referring to People Looking or Watching

a. A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered around the street performer.

b. At the end of the match, the players thanked the spectators for the fantastic support they had given throughout the tournament.

c. TV companies desperate to win back viewers, have vowed to cut the number of repeats as ratings reach an all-time now.

d. Police are appealing for witnesses of the accident to come forward and give statements.

e. I didn’t actually take part in the debate as I’d simply been sent along as an observer.

Focus Structures (Cleft Sentences)

a. The thing you didn’t tell me was that the grammar would be so difficult.

b. The person who upset your mother was you.

c. The only place you will get a gorilla suit for tomorrow’s fancy dress party is a joke shop.

d. My reason for having to leave work early today is that I am holding a dinner party for twenty people tonight.

e. What I am curious to know is who you went to the disco with last night.

Assessment of Power Between Mrs. X and Miss Y in The Stronger

In August Strindberg’s one-act play The Stronger, power is depicted through a sharp dialectic between assertive speech and withholding silence. Ultimately, Mrs. X proves to be the stronger individual:

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1. The Passive-Aggressive Power of Miss Y’s Silence

• Miss Y sits silently, refusing to speak a single word, using her icy composure as a psychological mirror that compels Mrs. X to reveal her private marital anxieties.
• Mrs. X realizes that Miss Y’s tastes in books, colors, and beverages were adopted by her husband Bob, and consequently by Mrs. X herself.

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2. Mrs. X’s Substantive Triumph and Social Reality

• Despite this revelation, Mrs. X retains what truly matters: she possesses the legal husband, the healthy family, maternal affection, financial security, and social legitimacy.
• Miss Y remains an isolated, unmarried woman sitting alone in a café on Christmas Eve, feeding on the remnants of other people’s lives:

  “You sat there like a thief in the night, but what have you got left? Nothing. I got the husband, the home, and the children.”

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3. Psychological Catharsis

• Mrs. X transforms what began as painful suspicion into triumphant empowerment. Having voiced her feelings and neutralized the phantom of the mistress, she thanks Miss Y for teaching her how to please Bob and walks away joyful and self-assured.

Psychological Conflict and Dramatic Intent in August Strindberg’s The Stronger

August Strindberg’s The Stronger (1889) is a masterpiece of naturalistic psychological drama, featuring an extraordinary encounter in a women’s café on Christmas Eve between two actresses: Mrs. X, who speaks incessantly, and Miss Y, who remains completely silent.

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1. The Nature of the Invisible Conflict

The invisible conflict between the two women operates on three intertwined levels:

• The Erotic Contest over Bob: Beneath Mrs. X’s cheerful chatter lies an acute suspicion of a past or ongoing romantic affair between her husband Bob and Miss Y. As Mrs. X speaks, the embroidered slippers, the preference for hot chocolate, and Bob’s altered habits serve as physical clues confirming that Miss Y was indeed Bob’s lover and intellectual muse.
• The War of Willpower (Speech vs. Silence): The dramatic tension revolves around Miss Y’s refusal to speak. Silence becomes a potent weapon of psychological evasion, forcing Mrs. X to project her deepest insecurities, rationalize her life, and construct both sides of the dialogue.
• The Struggle for Identity and Individuality: Mrs. X realizes that much of her domestic identity is a borrowed simulation—she drinks chocolate, wears tulips, and adopts habits because Bob learned to love them through Miss Y. This raises the existential question: who is the real woman, and who is merely the mimic?

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2. What Strindberg Intends to Show in the Drama

1. The Fluidity and Parasitic Nature of Identity: Strindberg demonstrates how human personalities are permeable, absorbing influences, gestures, and desires from rivals. Mrs. X acted as a “sponge,” absorbing Miss Y’s essence to keep her marriage intact.
2. The Social Dilemma of Women in Patriarchal Society: Strindberg exposes how Victorian bourgeois society pits women against one another in competition for male economic patronage and social standing. Both women are constrained: Miss Y chooses independence at the price of bitter, solitary exile; Mrs. X secures domestic stability at the price of living with a compromised identity.
3. The Ambiguity of Strength: By the conclusion, Strindberg subverts simplistic notions of power. While Miss Y appears intellectually superior through aloof silence, Mrs. X demonstrates pragmatic resilience. Mrs. X triumphs by accepting the reality of compromise, walking out into a warm family Christmas, while Miss Y remains imprisoned in her cold, solitary pride.

Comprehensive Administrative Evaluation Report

To: Program Director, Wilderness Education Nepal, Chitwan From: Senior Youth Program Coordinator, Field Operations Date: 15 Jestha 2082 (May 29, 2025) Subject: Evaluation Report on the Teenager Wildlife Educational Expedition in Chitwan

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1. Executive Summary

This report evaluates the seven-day Teenager Wildlife Educational Holiday organized in Chitwan National Park from May 18–24, 2025. Supervised by two staff coordinators and led by certified senior nature guides, the program sought to combine biodiversity education with experiential outdoor learning. While the expedition achieved high educational outcomes, several operational challenges emerged that warrant targeted adjustments before replication for other age groups.

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2. Assessment of Educational Value for Teenagers

The expedition proved extraordinarily enriching for the participating adolescents (ages 14–18):

• Ecological Literacy: Daily field excursions led by professional botanists and wildlife rangers allowed participants to observe megafauna (the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros, Bengal Tiger, and Gharial Crocodile) in their natural riparian habitats.
• Conservation Awareness: Interactive sessions with local Community Forest User Groups and anti-poaching units exposed students to the socio-ecological complexities of human-wildlife conflict and sustainable buffer-zone management.
• Field Research Skills: Teenagers maintained detailed scientific field journals, participated in pugmark identification workshops, and conducted water quality testing in the Rapti River, bridging classroom biology with empirical fieldwork.

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3. Operational Problems Encountered

Despite the educational successes, three notable problems were identified:

1. Disciplinary & Digital Management Issues: Managing teenage device usage in deep wilderness settings created friction. Several participants violated camp curfew to access Wi-Fi in the main lodge.
2. Monsoon Weather and Transport Bottlenecks: Unseasonal pre-monsoon downpours rendered dirt tracks impassable, causing a four-hour delay during the jeep safari and disrupting the scheduled elephant health care session.
3. Physical Fatigue & Heat Exhaustion: Midday temperatures exceeded 38°C; two students experienced mild dehydration and heat exhaustion during the extended community walking trail.

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4. Suitability for Other Age Groups

• Primary School Children (Ages 7–12): Unsuitable in its current format. The intensive 10-kilometer walking trails and extreme midday heat present unacceptable safety and stamina hazards. A modified, lodge-based nature-camp with interactive games and shorter perimeter walks would be required.
• Adults and Senior Citizens: Highly suitable with pacing modifications. Mature adults would deeply appreciate the cultural, botanical, and conservation dimensions. However, trail terrain should be leveled, and jeep seating upgraded to ensure physical comfort.

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5. Strategic Recommendations

1. Mandatory Digital Detox Protocol: Implement a strict device-free policy with designated evening check-in windows to maximize mindfulness and environmental immersion.
2. Seasonal Scheduling: Shift future expeditions to November–February to avoid extreme heat and monsoon-related travel disruptions.
3. Tiered Hydration & First-Aid Measures: Mandate electrolyte packs and assign dedicated hydration monitors on all outdoor field trails.

Report Submitted by: (Signature) Field Operations Coordinator, Chitwan Youth Initiatives

The Double-Edged Sword of Beauty: Susan Sontag’s Beauty

In her celebrated essay Beauty, cultural critic Susan Sontag presents a penetrating analysis of how modern Western culture has degraded the concept of beauty into a superficial, feminine obligation that simultaneously grants power and deepens female subjugation.

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1. The Classical Ideal vs. The Modern Feminine Trap

• The Classical Harmony: In ancient Greece, beauty (kalokagathia) was a holistic ideal encompassing moral virtue, physical proportion, intellectual excellence, and heroic character, applied with equal seriousness to men and women.
• The Patriarchal Narrowing: Over centuries, patriarchal culture cleaved beauty apart from virtue, reducing it to mere surface ornamentation and assigning it almost exclusively to women. Men are valued for their intellect, action, professional competence, and character; women are measured primarily by their physical appearance.

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2. How Beauty Functions as a Source of Power

Sontag concedes that beauty is indeed a genuine source of power:

• In a visual, consumerist society, physical attractiveness commands immediate attention, desire, social privilege, and romantic leverage.
• An attractive woman often finds doors opened, compliments lavished, and assistance readily offered. It operates as an informal currency in patriarchal social interactions.

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3. Why Sontag Objects to Women Striving to Attain It

Despite this apparent power, Sontag vigorously objects to women dedicating their energies to pursuing beauty, identifying it as a gilded cage:

1. A Fragile, Diminishing Form of Power: Beauty is ephemeral. Tying one’s self-worth and social influence to youth and outward appearance guarantees emotional anguish, constant anxiety, and inevitable obsolescence as the natural aging process unfolds.
2. Infantilization and Moral Diminishment: The mandate to be beautiful encourages women to focus obsessively on superficial self-decoration rather than cultivating intellectual mastery, artistic ambition, or political agency. It casts woman in the role of a passive, ornamental object to be admired, rather than an active subject shaping history.
3. Reinforcing Gender Inequality: Striving for beauty reinforces the sexist double standard. A man with graying hair and weathered features is seen as “distinguished” or “experienced”; a woman displaying identical natural signs of age is judged as “faded” or “negligent.”

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4. Conclusion

Sontag does not condemn aesthetic pleasure; rather, she condemns the reduction of womanhood to an aesthetic commodity. True emancipation requires saving beauty from this narrow, patriarchal definition so that women can embrace beauty as whole human flourishing rather than an instrument of subjugation.

Reclaiming Childhood: Effective Strategies to Combat Digital Obsession

The pervasive availability of smartphones, tablets, and high-speed internet has fundamentally transformed contemporary childhood, ushering in an era of unprecedented screen saturation. While digital connectivity offers valuable information, excessive obsession with online video games, social algorithms, and digital gadgets has exacted a catastrophic toll on children’s physical health, attention spans, and spontaneous creativity. To address this crisis, three potential strategies are frequently proposed: enforcing rigid household device curfews, mandating daily outdoor experiential play, and introducing school-integrated digital literacy and mindfulness programs. This essay argues that integrating mandatory outdoor experiential play and implementing school-led digital literacy education represent the two most effective, sustainable interventions to restore holistic childhood development.

Chief among these solutions is the institutionalization of mandatory daily outdoor experiential and creative play. Screen obsession thrives in sedentary indoor vacuums where digital entertainment remains the sole accessible recreational outlet. By actively re-engaging children in open-air sports, community playgrounds, artistic pursuits, and natural exploration, parents and communities provide direct alternatives to screen-induced isolation. Outdoor physical play naturally stimulates sensory perception, sparks spontaneous imaginative problem-solving, and cultivates peer socialization. Furthermore, outdoor exercise counters childhood obesity, eye strain, and sleep disturbances by regulating circadian rhythms and replenishing physical vitality, thereby breaking the physiological dopamine feedback loops created by addictive video games.

Complementing outdoor recreation is the implementation of school-integrated digital literacy and mindful technology education. Simply telling children to put down their devices without cultivating critical awareness generates resentment and secretive usage. Schools possess the systematic reach to educate children on how digital algorithms, gamified apps, and notifications are deliberately engineered to engineer psychological dependency. When students learn how their focus and cognitive data are commodified by tech conglomerates, they develop intrinsic motivation and critical agency. Teaching mindful media habits, digital time-budgeting, and digital citizenship empowers youth to use technology intentionally as a creative instrument rather than submitting passively as addicted consumers.

In contrast, the third strategy—imposing strict top-down device curfews and punitive confiscation—proves largely counterproductive when implemented in isolation. External bans treat the symptoms of screen addiction rather than its root psychological drivers. Aggressive device bans frequently incite parent-child conflict, deceitful device concealment, and intense digital withdrawal, leaving children feeling socially ostracized from their peers. Without engaging outdoor alternatives or enlightened self-awareness, children subjected to mere curfews remain mentally fixated on when their screens will next be restored, failing to foster enduring behavioral change.

In conclusion, combating the digital obsession that threatens children’s health and imagination requires constructive, empowering frameworks rather than purely punitive restrictions. By pairing mandatory outdoor experiential play with robust, school-led digital literacy education, society provides children with both the physical space to thrive and the intellectual maturity to self-regulate. Together, these two strategic pillars will ensure that future generations leverage technology as an empowering servant rather than allowing it to become a tyrannical master over their minds and bodies.