List of top English Questions asked in CBSE Class XI

Is drama a good medium for conveying a social message? Discuss.
This play, written in the 1950s, is a humorous and satirical depiction of the status of the mother in the family.
(i) What are the issues it raises?
(ii) Do you think it caricatures these issues or do you think that the problems it raises are genuine? How does the play resolve the issues? Do you agree with the resolution?
You will probably agree that this story does not have breathless adventure and exciting action. Then what in your opinion makes it interesting?
Explain the use of the adjectives in the following phrases.
(i) shaggy monsters
(ii) brackish lakes
(iii) rickety table
(iv) hairpin bend
(v) rudimentary general stores
Guess the meaning of the following words.
kora, drokba, kyang
In which language are these words found?
What do the following utterances indicate?
(i) “I told her, through Daniel …”
(ii) “It’s a cold,” he said finally through Tsetan
Briefly comment on “As a Buddhist, he told me, he knew that it didn’t really matter if I passed away, but he thought it would be bad for business.”
Briefly comment on "Tsetan’s support to the author during the journey."
Briefly comment on "The author’s physical condition in Darchen."
The author thought that his positive thinking strategy worked well after all. Give reason.
Distinguish between the following pairs of sentences:
(i) The librarian spoke respectfully to the learned scholar.
(ii) You will find the historian and the scientist in the archaeology and natural science sections of the museum, respectively.
Distinguish between the following pairs of sentences.
(i) The team played the two matches successfully.
(ii) The team played two matches successively.
Distinguish between the following pairs of sentences.
(i) Green and black stripes were used alternately.
(ii) Green stripes could be used or alternatively black ones.
to be wound up
to be physically strong
to give vent to
Tick the item that is closest in meaning to the following phrases
They used their traditional slang of language when the talk to each other but they speak to other groups the use the language that is accepted by the people belonging to all three communities.
In which language do you think Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was written?
In which language do you think Gangadharpant and Khan Sahib talked to each other? Which language did Gangadharpant use to talk to the English receptionist?
Discuss the following statements in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view. 
i. A single event may change the course of the history of a nation. 
ii. Reality is what is directly experienced through the senses. 
iii. The methods of inquiry of history, science and philosophy are similar.
Tick the statements that are true
The words ‘grip’, ‘dawn’, ‘usher’, ‘coin’, ‘passport’ have a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Write pairs of sentences using each word in the literal as well as the figurative sense.
Locate the following phrases in the text and study their connotation.
1. gripped the imagination of
2. dawned upon
3. ushered in
4. passed into current coin
5. passport of the future
The phrase ‘inter alia’ meaning ‘among other things’ is one of the many Latin expressions commonly used in English. Find out what these Latin phrases mean.
1. prima facie
2. ad hoc
3. in camera
4. ad infinitum
5. mutatis mutandis
6. caveat
7. tabula rasa