Hope you are in fine and fettle . This is the first part of a full model question (question no-1 A&B ). Read the passage and answer the questions. This will help in preparing yourself for exam.
Part-I
1 .Read the passage and answer question A and B:
... (T)he Negro is still not free. ... the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. ... (T)he Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. ... (T)he Negro is still languishing in the coers of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition....
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an
oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its goveor having his lips dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’, that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain, shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together”.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day....
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania... .
Pennsylvania... .
A. Choose the correct answer from the alteatives: 1x5=5
(a) What is the meaning of the word exalted in the passage?
(i)suppressed
(ii)made disorderly
(iii) filled with joy and happiness
(iv) filled with anger
(b What is the meaning of the word jangling in the passage?
(i)aggrandizing
(ii)aggravating
(iii)soothing
(iv)having an unpleasant sound
(c What is the meaning of the word hamlet in the passage?
(i)metropolitan city (ii)small city (iii)small village (iv)large town
(d) What is the meaning of the word gentile in the passage?
(i)not Jewish (ii)non-believer (iii)aboriginal (iv) Jewish
(e) What is the meaning of the word sweltering in the passage?
(i)uncomfortable (ii)filled with (iii) comfortable(iv) unpleasantly hot
B. Answer the following questions: 2x5=10
What was the condition of the blacks at that time?
What do you mean by the sentence “ …the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. ”
Can he materialize his dream ? Give your own explanation?
Which of the above dreams do you appreciate more?
What does Martin Luther King Jr. mean by “let freedom ring”?
Answer to question no-1 ( A)
(iii) filled with joy and happiness
(iv)having an unpleasant sound
(iii)small village
(i)not Jewish
(iv) unpleasantly hot
Swapan Halder,
lecturer,
English Department
Notre Dame College, Dhaka
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