HSC ENGLISH MODEL ANSWER KEY 10th FEBRUARY 2026

 

PROSE DECTION

Q1A] A1. Soapy's Journey Diagram Completion

Listens to Sabbath Anthem:

Soapy listens to the Sabbath anthem which inspires him to change his life.

Transformation after listening:

He decides to reform himself and lead a better, honest life.                              OR

Listens to Sabbath Anthem: Soapy hears the Sabbath anthem and feels inspired.

Transformation after listening: Soapy decides to change his ways and live an honest life.

A2. Question A2: Soapy's earlier life vs present life

Differences in Soapy's Life:

Earlier life	Present life
(1) days of hope	(1) degraded days
(2) clean thoughts	(2) unworthy desires
(3) ambitious	(3) dead hopes

A3. Effect of Organ Notes on Soapy.

A sudden and wonderful change took place in his soul.

He viewed with horror the pit into which he had tumbled.

He resolved to pull himself out of the mire and make a man of himself again.

He decided to conquer the evil that had taken possession of him.

A4. Write about any of your decisions which made you repent later?

OR Write an incident in which you did something wrong and repented for it later. Give reasons.

A4. तुमच्या अशा कोणत्याही निर्णयांबद्दल लिहा ज्यामुळे तुम्हाला नंतर पश्चात्ताप झाला?

किंवा अशी एखादी घटना लिहा जिथे तुम्ही काही चूक केली आणि नंतर त्याबद्दल पश्चात्ताप झाला. कारणे द्या.

         When I was 16, my sister and I had gone camping. However, on our way back, we got into a huge fight and I decided to walk back on my own. This was a bad decision because I didn't have a compass with me. My sister tried to follow me, but I was soon out of her sight. As I had feared, I did get lost in the forest and had no way of contacting my sister. I tried going back, but there was no way for me to be certain that I was going in the right direction. So, I decided to take shelter under a huge tree and hoped that my sister would find me. Thankfully, my sister found me by that evening and we went home together. I repented my actions because by being impulsive, I had not just lost my way and but also had caused trouble for my sister.

A5. Do as directed:

(1) (c) A fur importer was offering him a place as driver. 

(2) (b) He will be somebody in the world. 

A6. Vocabulary: Find the antonym of the following words from the extract:

(i) defeat - Victory (or Winning)                    (ii) moving – Stationary (or Still) 

(B) Language Study (Non-Textual Grammar)   B1. Do as directed:

(1) (d) Very few football players in the college are as good as Gitesh. 

(2) (c)As soon as Rohit Sharma enters the ground, he gets a warm welcome.

(3) (d) Swarali asked her mother if she had liked her sketch. 

B2. We did not attend the party last night.

Q2A.

(a) ❌ False- Correct Statement: In the nuclear family, the members have close interaction among themselves because of the small size of the family. 

(b) ✅ True

(c) ❌ False- Correct Statement: Flexibility of the parents has a positive effect on children, helping them make better adjustments in a nuclear family. 

(d) ❌ False - Correct Statement: The child's physical, emotional, and social development begins in the family, which is considered the child's first school. 

A2. Pick out the sentences from the extract which indicate the strict behaviour of parents affecting the children.

a) "They impose strict rules and punishments on their children."

b) "Children feel pressured and unable to express themselves freely."

A3. Give reasons for the following and rewrite:

A3. Reasons and rewritten sentences

(a) In nuclear family children become demanding and selfish because they receive more attention and resources from their parents, which may lead to a sense of entitlement.

Rewritten: In nuclear families, children often become demanding and selfish because they get undivided attention and resources from their parents, making them feel entitled.

(b) Children of permissive parents become dependent and immature because such parents do not set clear boundaries or enforce discipline, leading to lack of self-control and responsibility.

Rewritten: Children of permissive parents tend to be dependent and immature because their parents do not establish clear rules or discipline, resulting in poor self-control and responsibility.

OR (a) In nuclear family children become demanding and selfish because they receive undivided attention and immediate fulfilment of their desires, often without needing to share resources or compromise with extended family members. 

(b) Children of permissive parents become dependent and immature because they lack firm boundaries, discipline, and the guidance necessary to learn self-control or take responsibility for their own actions. 

A4. Family plays an important role in developing your social behaviour. Write your thoughts on the given statement.

Accept reasonable answer.

MODEL ANSWER - Family is the first social institution where a child learns to interact with others and understand social norms. From early childhood, family members teach values such as respect, cooperation, and empathy, which are essential for social behaviour. The environment at home shapes how a person communicates, solves conflicts, and builds relationships. Through observing and imitating family members, children develop habits and attitudes that influence their social interactions outside the home. Therefore, family acts as a foundation for social development by providing emotional support and guidance, helping individuals become responsible and socially aware members of society.

A5. Do as directed:

(1) (c)Complete attention from their parents is not got by the children.

(2) d) How are the authoritarian parents in nature?

A6. Synonyms from the extract:

(i) impress: influence       (ii) close: near

(B) Summarising:

Title – Role of family/Parents in children’s life. / Role of family in children’s social behaviour / Types of families / socialization of children

Q3. A] POETRY SECTION

A1. The two statements from the list that justify the theme of Dilip Chitre's poem "Father Returning Home" are:

✅ (b) The routine of the father is explained in detail.

✅ (d) The father is lost in his own thoughts. 

A2. (a) Food: he eats stale chapatti and drinks weak tea. / He is not given fresh, warm meals; instead, he has to eat stale chapatti’s and drink weak tea.

(b) Response of the children: The children refuse to share jokes and secrets / The children are cold, distant, and do not interact with him; they do not share their joys or sorrows.

3. Write about the way you respond to your father when he comes home from his work.

When my father returns from work, I greet / welcome him warmly with a smile to show love and respect, often helping him relax by offering a cup of tea, water, or taking his bag. I listen to his day, helping him to reduce his tension. I always share jokes, secrets and my personal and college activities.

A4. Identify and explain the figure of speech in the following line:

'Man's estrangement from a man-made world'

ALLITERATION – The sound/letter ‘m’ is repeated three times.

REPETITION – The word ‘man’ is repeated two times.

Paradox: It expresses a contradictory situation.

A5. A poem on the topic 'Family.'

Accept any reasonable answer.

We laugh and play together, We share our joy and care, Whenever I need someone, My family is always there!

My family is special, My family is kind, A better group of people, You will never find.

Question 5 (Section V- Novel and Literature)

(A) (I) Complete the activities given below as per the instructions...

Column A (Description)	Column B (Answer)
(1) Dominant literary genre	Novel
(2) History of novel	2000 years
(3) Lady Murasaki Shikibu	World's first novelist
(4) Modern topics	20th century

(II) (a) 18th century people had little interest in romances and tragedies.

(b) Pulp fiction is for general entertainment in pulp magazines.

(c) Picaresque novel narrates the adventures of the protagonist.

(d) Setting is the background in which the story takes place. 

(C) Mind Mapping:

Model Answer - 'Competitive Exams'

Family can be classified into two types joint family and nuclear family.

In the joint family along with parents and children other members like grandparents, uncles, sunta, cousina, etc. are included. In such family, socialization of children is quicker. Tasks are shared. Responsibilities are shared.

Establishment of emotional bonds are common leading to mental security Members learn adjustment. But sometimes there are conflicts and misunderstandings among family members. Children do not get complete attention from their parents

On the contrary nuclear family consists of parents and their children. So we are flexibility in parental roles. Parents share their responsibilities Parent child relationships are shared.

Establishment of emotional bonds are common leading to mental security. Members learn adjustment. But sometimes there are conflicts and misunderstandings among family members. Children do not get complete attention from their parents.

On the contrary nuclear family consists of parents and their children. So we see flexibility in parental roles. Parents share their responsibilities. Parent child relationships are very intimate. Full attention is paid on children's personality development. But children lack in making adjustments. Children get too much attention from their parents and so they become demanding and selfish.

Parenting styles do influence children's behaviour. The best known research on parenting style is Diana Baumrind's early studies of pre-school children and their parents. She proposed three parenting styles: permissive, authoritarian and authoritative.

Permissive parents are inconsistent in their behaviour. So children of such parents become dependent, immature.

Authoritarian parents are rigid and punitive in nature.

Children of such parents become unfriendly, unsocial and uninvolved. Parents provide food and shelter to their children but they neglect them and become emotionally detached. That leads to indifferent, rejecting behaviour on the part of the children.

Authoritative parents encourage independency, they set limits and goals, they are firm in their behaviour. This kind of parenting style makes children self-reliable, independent and develop social skills.