HSC English 1st paper । cumilla Board 2025 । Questions with Answer

We spend money for different reasons. We buy foods, clothes or everyday essentials, pay for different services, entertain people, travel to places, help others in need or invest in business and thus spend money everyday. In fact, spending is a part of our life.

Spending may make us happy or unhappy depending on how and why we spend. When we spend money on things that we need and within our limit, it is good. When it becomes a compulsive behaviour, it makes life stressful. Unnecessary spending or spending beyond one's means has some bad effects. For one thing, it may lead to financial ruin or debt, and for another, it may create, unhappiness within families. People who overspend are never satisfied with what they have. They always rush for brands, fashion items, designer clothes etc. Over a period of time it becomes an addiction which may eventually create psychological problems.

Now a days consumer items are displayed in stores or in advertisements in ways that they create a feeling of immediate need for them. We are constantly tempted to buy, use or consume things even when we do not have a genuine need. We all need to be careful here. Salespersons often encourage customers to buy things by flattering them. This is a perfect match for you", they would say, or 'You look so stunning in that dress." Never forget, they say the same thing to most of their customers. It is better not to be persuaded by such words. They use these words to please the customers as the more a customer buys, the higher the profit is. Overspending is not only related to shopping, it applies to other activities as well such as eating out. Many people buy too many items to eat in a restaurant. They can eat only some of them and the rest are wasted. It's not a responsible attitude. We cannot simply waste food because we have money to buy it. Young people in a shopping mall often look at an item on display and think 'Oh I must buy this. I really need this. They may not have the money needed in their wallet. So they use credit cards but using them is like taking a loan. If they are not careful, the loans increase which might lead them to a debt-trap.

A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives:

• Spending money is deeply integrated with ______ a. our luxury b. the rich people c. our life d. the downtrodden answer: c. our life (The passage states: "In fact, spending is a part of our life.")

• The outcome of spending is related to ______ a. the mode of spending b. the ability of the spender c. capital market d. the law and order situation answer: a. the mode of spending (The passage states: "Spending may make us happy or unhappy depending on how and why we spend.")

• Unjustified spending should be ______ a. encouraged b. avoided c. emphasized d. popularized answer: b. avoided (The passage discusses the "bad effects" of "Unnecessary spending or spending beyond one's means" and advises being "careful here.")

• The word 'stressful' in the passage means _____ a. calm b. relaxing c. polemic d. painful answer: d. painful (When something makes life "stressful," it implies it makes it difficult or painful.)

• Addiction to overspending may lead to ______ a. mental disorder b. exalted status c. fashion awareness d. popular image answer: a. mental disorder (The passage states: "Over a period of time it becomes an addiction which may eventually create psychological problems.")

• The word 'financial' can be replaced by _____ a. money b. profitable c. economic d. economical answer: c. economic (Financial relates to money and the economy.)

• The manner of displaying consumer goods is ______ a. alluring b. disgusting c. disheartening d. discouraging answer: a. alluring (The passage says items are displayed in ways "that they create a feeling of immediate need for them" and "We are constantly tempted to buy," implying an alluring or tempting display.)

• The word 'glossy' mentioned in the passage refers to something _____ a. hazy b. shiny c. dim d. light answer: The word 'glossy' is not mentioned in the provided passage. Please re-check the passage or the question. Based only on the provided text, there's no reference to 'glossy'. If this word was intended to be in the original passage, I cannot answer without it. Assuming there might be a typo or it's from a different context, I cannot choose from the given alternatives based on the provided text.

• According to the passage, using credit card is _______ a. a credit b. a discredit c. a fashion d. a loan answer: d. a loan (The passage states: "So they use credit cards but using them is like taking a loan.")

• The passage teaches us a lesson on ____ a. frugality b. fragility c. extravagance d. marketing answer: a. frugality (The passage warns against overspending, unnecessary spending, and encourages careful spending, which aligns with the concept of frugality.)

(2)

Read the following passage and make a flow chart showing Amerigo's sufferings as a street child. (No. 1 is done for you):

My name is Amerigo. I am 13 years old and I live on the street, alone. My mother, who is separated from my father, doesn't want me. She told me to go away ……………… Now she is married to another man. My father lives very far away. I want to go to him, he won't take me either. I begged him to send me some money so that I could buy a bus ticket. I am still waiting. He hasn't answered.

The streets are now my home. Sometimes I find work. I used to (collect trashland sell it to a vendor. I stopped doing that after I had a serious infection and a doctor told me to stay away from the trash dump. Once I worked for an ice-cream shop owner and sold ice-cream on the beach.

But I got no money in return. The owner of the shop gave me something to eat, and let me sleep in his hut at night. The work was difficult and painful. The ice-cream box is quite heavy when it is full. I had to walk for hours, offering my ice-cream whoever wanted to buy. There were days when I could not even sell one ice-cream.

(3)

Write a summary of the following text:

The Island of St. Martins is the only coral island in Bangladesh located in the north-eastern parts of the Bay of Bengal. The roughly flat island is only about 3-6 metres above the sea level. The entire island can be walked about in 3 hours. The island is known for its unique natural beauty with white sandy beaches fringed with coconut palms and a diverse marine life. Due to the expansion of unregulated tourism, the island is facing increasing erosion, contamination of surface and ground water, wildlife displacement, and loss of biodiversity. Other threats include cutting of sand dune vegetation for fuel-wood and hotel establishment; degradation of sand dune habitat; the harvesting of turtle eggs; indiscriminate exploitation of coral resources etc. To address this, the Government has declared some areas of the island as Ecologically Critical Area (ECA), prohibiting unauthorized constructions there.

(4)

Read the following text and fill in the blanks with suitable words from the box. There are more words than needed. Make any grammatical change if necessary:

In the last 25 years alone, the world has (a) ______ one-third of its natural wealth, according to the international conservation organization, World Wildlife Fund. The earth's forests, (b) ______ ,seas and coasts (c) ______ in a worse state today than they were before. Forests are being cut (d) ________ . Moreover, they are being burnt (e) _____ resulting in an increase in carbon-dioxide, and ultimately in the water level rising as a (f) ______ of global warming. It is (g) ______ that the new century will face an overwhelming (h) _____ catastrophe. It is, therefore, (i) _____ to check the (j) ______ pollution of the environment.