HSC English March 2016 Board Paper - Solutions & Explanations
Question 1 (Grammar - Voice): Rewrite the following sentence beginning with "A new scheme..."
Sentence: The government has launched a new scheme for the farmers.
Solution:
A new scheme has been launched for the farmers by the government.
Question 2 (Grammar - Preposition): Fill in the blank with the correct preposition: "The young boy is addicted ___ playing video games."
- A) with
- B) to ✓ Correct
- C) in
- D) for
Explanation: The word "addicted" is generally followed by the preposition "to". It forms a fixed prepositional phrase. Using "with" or "in" is grammatically incorrect in this context.
Question 3 (Poetry - Figure of Speech): Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line: "The sea is a hungry dog."
Solution:
Figure of Speech: Metaphor
Explanation: There is an indirect or implied comparison made between the 'sea' and a 'hungry dog'. The sea is given the characteristics of a hungry dog to highlight its rough, restless, and aggressive nature, without using explicit comparison words like 'as' or 'like'.
Question 4 (Grammar - Indirect Speech): Change the sentence into indirect speech: The teacher said to him, "Have you completed your assignment?"
- A) The teacher told him if he has completed his assignment.
- B) The teacher asked him that if he had completed his assignment.
- C) The teacher asked him if he had completed his assignment. ✓ Correct
- D) The teacher asked him whether he has completed his assignment.
Explanation: For verbal questions (Yes/No questions), we use 'if' or 'whether' as the conjunction. The reporting verb 'said to' changes to 'asked'. The present perfect tense ("Have you completed") changes to the past perfect tense ("had completed"). The pronoun "you" changes to "he".
