Part A: Essay (80 marks). The candidate picks one of four topics in about 1000 words, and each topic is given in English with an Assamese translation. The themes are social-philosophical and contemporary: the relevance of Gandhi’s Swaraj and Ahimsa, personality development and ethics through sports, the marginalisation of Northeast India in mainstream historiography, and technology as a new form of colonialism. Two of the four lean on a Northeast or postcolonial lens, and the others test balanced, reflective argument. This one question carries 40% of the paper, so essay quality largely decides the result.
Part B, Q2: Comprehension (30 marks). The passage is an argumentative literary-political piece built around Orwell’s “inside the whale” idea. It argues that writers cannot stay apolitical, especially in postcolonial societies, and that literature should resist without becoming propaganda. The twelve sub-questions mix vocabulary (finding words for given meanings, antonyms), inference (“how is claiming to be apolitical still a political act?”), explanation of a metaphor, a title, and a tone question that needs textual evidence. Answers must be in the candidate’s own words, so lifting sentences will cost marks. The passage theme again links to postcolonial and Global South concerns.
Q3: Précis (20 marks). The passage is a dense philosophical text in the Bertrand Russell style, on tragedy, human powerlessness, the difference between fact and values, and finding dignity in the face of an indifferent universe. It is conceptually harder than the comprehension passage, and compressing abstract ideas is the real test.
Q4: Amplification (20 marks). The candidate expands one of four proverbs in about 200 words, such as “A picture speaks a thousand words” or “Time and tide wait for none.” These are standard, familiar proverbs, so the challenge is development and organisation rather than the idea itself.
Q5: Argument and counter-argument (20 marks). This is the most distinctive feature of the paper. Ten items, each worth 2 marks, ask for a counter-argument, a flaw in the claim, an unstated assumption, or arguments for and against. The topics are school and youth issues: mobile phones, homework, online classes, zoos, fast food, uniforms, video games, private tuition, plastic bags and social media. It tests critical thinking in short, crisp form, and the candidate needs to be precise rather than long-winded.
Q6–Q10: Applied English usage (about 30 marks combined). These cover transformation of sentences (complex, direct speech, negative, future perfect, error correction), commonly confused word pairs (eminent/imminent, council/counsel, judicial/judicious, desert/dessert), vocabulary in context (inclement, meticulous, hasty, word forms), modal auxiliaries, determiners, uncountable nouns, gender pairs, idioms and active voice. All of this is standard grammar and usage, with no obscure items.
Key trends.
- Writing-heavy. Essay, précis, amplification and comprehension together account for roughly 150 of 200 marks, so time management is critical across a three-hour paper.
- Postcolonial and Northeast themes recur. The essay options and the comprehension passage both point to the same intellectual territory of empire, identity and marginalisation.
- Critical thinking is tested explicitly. The argument-counterargument question rewards balanced, reasoned responses over memorised content.
- Vocabulary is tested in several formats. Synonyms, antonyms, confusables and contextual word choice appear in Q2, Q7 and Q8, so a solid working vocabulary pays off repeatedly.
- Grammar items are basic but numerous. They are easy marks if the fundamentals are secure.
- The two reading passages are demanding. Both are argumentative and abstract, so practice with serious essay-style prose helps.
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