Maharashtra HSC English (Yuvakbharati) Board Paper June 2026 with Answers

Q.1 (A) Read the extract and complete the activities given below : (12 marks)

Entertainment and Media : In the field of entertainment and media, Big Data focuses on targeting people with the right content at the right time. Based on your past views and your behaviour online you will be shown different recommendations. This technique is popularly used by Netflix and Youtube to increase engagement and drive more revenues.

Now, even television broadcasters are looking to segment their viewer’s database and show different advertisements and shows accordingly. This will allow better revenue from ads and will provide a more engaging user experience.

Education Industry : Big Data has inundated the education industry. It has transformed it in leaps and bounds. Now we have information about the students, their study patterns, and we can now prepare customized and dynamic learning programmes according to the need of an individual student. Every student’s comprehension level is different. The course material can now be designed catering to different requirements of the students. Big Data makes it convenient to understand their choices, their difficulties, information regarding various courses and their specialities; we also have an access to the results. From the results we can gauge the progress of the students, understand his strengths and weaknesses. This will also help in guiding the student regarding the best career for him based on his mental make-up and abilities. An in-depth study of all this would definitely give new insights into the education industry and help in improving the operational effectiveness and working of educational institutes. This would in general, enhance progress of all students. Big Data has provided a solution to one of the biggest pitfalls in the education industry, that is one - size - fits - all.

A1. Read the following statements and write TWO correct statements that state the theme of the extract : (2)
(i) Big Data helps educational institutes in decision making and improving efficiency.
(ii) Only Netflix and Youtube are reaping the benefits of Big Data.
(iii) Big Data helps entertainment and media to understand and predict audience preferences.
(iv) Big Data can help in gauging student’s weakness.

A2. Netflix and Youtube used big data to increase engagement of the viewers and earn more revenues. Support your answer with proper evidences from the extract. (2)

A3. Complete the flow chart on the role of big data in educational industry. One is done for you. Find information from the extract and complete the flow chart. (2) [Flow chart : the first box reads “To prepare customized and dynamic learning programme”; arrows lead down to four blank boxes, one below the other.]

A4. Write the precautions one should take while using social media. (2)

A5. Do as directed : (2)

(i) Every student’s comprehension level is different. (Choose the correct ‘Negative Sentence’ from the options given below and write it.)
(a) Every student’s comprehension level is not different.
(b) Every student’s comprehension level is not the same.
(c) Every student’s comprehension level is not that much different.
(d) Every student’s comprehension level is not critical.

(ii) This will help in guiding the students for the best career. (Choose the correct option replacing the modal auxiliary expressing ‘Advice’ and write it.)
(a) This can help in guiding the students for the best career.
(b) This must help in guiding the students for the best career.
(c) This may help in guiding the students for the best career.
(d) This should help in guiding the students for the best career.

A6. Vocabulary : Find out the words/phrases from the extract which mean : (2) (a) Enrich (b) Income (c) Engulfed (d) Rapidly

Q.1 (B) Language Study (Non-Textual Grammar) (4 marks)

B1. Do as directed : (3)

(i) There are no unemployed, no slackers in a civilised society. (Choose the correct option from the given alternatives showing the correct use of ‘Neither ___ nor’ and write it.) (1)
(a) There are neither unemployed nor slackers in a civilised society.
(b) There were neither unemployed nor slackers in a civilised society.
(c) There are neither unemployed and nor slackers in a civilised society.
(d) There are neither employed nor slackers in a civilised society.

(ii) Sandip said to Rushika, “Do you like to take part in sports competition?” (Choose the correct ‘Indirect Speech’ from the given options and write it.) (1)
(a) Sandip asked Rushika if / whether she liked to take part in sports competition.
(b) Sandip told Rushika if / whether she likes to take part in sports competition.
(c) Sandip asks Rushika if / whether she liked to take part in sports competition.
(d) Sandip asked Rushika if / whether you like to take part in sports competition.

(iii) When the officer fired his assistant, he heaved a sigh of relief. (Choose the correct option from the given alternatives showing the correct use of ‘No sooner ____ than’ and write it.) (1)
(a) No sooner do the officer fired his assistant than he heaved a sigh of relief.
(b) No sooner does the officer fire his assistant than he heaved a sigh of relief.
(c) No sooner did the officer fire his assistant than he heaved a sigh of relief.
(d) No sooner than the officer fired his assistant, he heaved a sigh of relief.

B2. Spot the error and rewrite the correct sentence : (1)
Rutuja is one of the best student in using new technology.

Q.2 (A) Read the extract and complete the activities given below : (12 marks)

As a boy, Dalkoff was terribly insecure and shy. He had few friends and no self-confidence. Then one day in October 1965, his high-school English teacher, Ruth Brauch, gave the class an assignment. The students had been reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Now they were to write their own chapter that would follow the last chapter of the novel.

Dalkoff wrote his chapter and turned it in. Today he cannot recall anything special about the chapter he wrote, or what grade Mrs. Brauch gave him. What he does remember - what he will never forget - are the four words Mrs. Brauch wrote in the margin of the paper : “This is good writing.”

Four words. They changed his life.

“Until I read those words, I had no idea of who I was or what I was going to be,” he said. “After reading her note, I went home and wrote a short story, something I had always dreamed of doing but never believed I could do.”

Over the rest of that year in school, he wrote many stories and always brought them to school for Mrs. Brauch to evaluate. She was encouraging, tough and honest. “She was just what I needed,” Dalkoff said.

He was named co-editor of his high-school newspaper. His confidence grew; his horizons broadened; he started off on a successful, fulfilling life. Dalkoff is convinced that none of this would have happened had that woman not written those four words in the margin of his paper.

For his 30th high-school reunion, Dalkoff went back and visited Mrs. Brauch, who had retired. He told her what her four words had done for him. He told her that because she had given him the confidence to be a writer, he had been able to pass that confidence on to the woman who would become his wife, who became a writer herself.

A1. Read the following statements and arrange them in proper sequence : (2)
(a) Dalkoff contributed as co-editor to his high school newspaper.
(b) Dalkoff wrote a short story for the first time.
(c) Dalkoff met Mrs. Brauch after her retirement.
(d) Class assignment was given by Mrs. Brauch.

A2. Describe Dalkoff’s visit to his High-school’s 30th reunion. (2)

A3. ‘They changed his life.’ Here ‘They’ means .................... and write ‘the change’ they brought in his life. (2)

A4. ‘The reward or the words of praise,’ what you will remember the most. Justify your view point. (2)

A5. Do as directed : (2)

(i) The students had been reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ (Choose the correct option from the given alternatives showing the correct use of ‘Future Perfect Tense’ and write it.)
(a) The students will have been reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
(b) The students will be reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
(c) The students will be read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’
(d) The students will have read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’

(ii) He was named co-editor of his high-school newspaper. (Choose the correct option from the given alternatives showing the correct use of ‘Active Voice’ and write it.)
(a) His high-school newspaper named him as a co-editor.
(b) They named him co-editor of his high-school newspaper.
(c) He was named by them as a co-editor of his high-school newspaper.
(d) They name him co-editor of his high-school newspaper.

A6. Match the column : Match the words / phrases in column ‘A’ with their meaning in column ‘B’ : (2)

Q.2 (B) Summarising : (3 marks)

Write a ‘Summary’ of the above extract by using the following points :
Class assignment – teacher’s encouraging feedback in the margin – fulfilment of the dream – Dalkoff as co-editor – School reunion experience.

Q.2 (C) Mind Mapping : (3 marks)

Prepare a mind map on the topic – ‘Role of newspapers in Society,’ expressing and presenting your own ideas, flow, design and structure.

Q.3 (A) Read the extract and complete the activities given below : (10 marks)

My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.

A1. Identify the lines from the extract that indicate the father’s ‘dull, monotonous routine’ and ‘his least value for other.’ (2)
[Table : Dull, monotonous routine — (1) ____ ; Least value for other — (1) ____ ]

A2. The passengers are described as ‘silent.’ Give reasons. (2)

A3. Write the difficulties you face while commuting to and from the college by public transport. (2)

A4. Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line : (2)
‘Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes.’

A5. Compose four poetic lines on the title ‘My Father.’ (2)

Q.3 (B) Appreciation : (4 marks)

Read the extract and write the appreciation of the poem given below :

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
The earth, that is sufficient,
I do not want the constellations any nearer,
I know they are very well where they are,
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.
(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,
I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,
I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,
I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (A) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(I) Virtual Message : Jeevan’s parents have gone to a gym. He is alone at home and he suddenly starts feeling uneasy, sick and weak. He has to attend a very important interview for a new job. Therefore he has to leave home early. As he is feeling unwell, he wants his father to pick him up at around 2 p.m. from the interview site. Draft a virtual message from Jeevan to his father in about 50 words in a proper standard format. (alternative to II and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (A) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(II) Statement of purpose : You wish to pursue your graduation at a reputed university in any stream of your choice. You have fixed your career goals and also have similar background to achieve your dreams. Taking help of the above information prepare a Statement of Purpose (SOP) in about 150 words as a part of your application process to get admission at a university of your choice. (alternative to I and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (A) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(III) Group Discussion : Imagine yourself and two other student participants in a group discussion arranged by your English teacher. The topic is ‘Is Money the Key to Happiness?’ Prepare suitable dialogues for each participant to express their opinions on the given topic. (alternative to I and II)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (B) Attempt ‘Any One’ from the given activities : (4 marks)

(I) E-mail : You wish to visit a tourist centre, Lonavala with your family members. Write an e-mail to the manager of the tourist centre, asking details about room types and charges, food arrangements and other details. (alternative to II and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (B) Attempt ‘Any One’ from the given activities : (4 marks)

(II) Report Writing : Imagine, you are the cultural secretary of your college. Recently your college organized an Inter-college Youth Festival with competitions like singing, debate, dance and art. Write a report in about 100/150 words for your college magazine covering the event’s date, venue, chief guest, participation, results and overall experience. (alternative to I and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (B) Attempt ‘Any One’ from the given activities : (4 marks)

(III) Interview : Imagine, you have to conduct an interview of a reputed doctor with the help of the format given below. Draft questions on the given fields. (Do not change the sequence of the questions.) (alternative to I and II)

Name of the interviewee :
Area of success / Reputation :
Date / Venue / Time :
Duration of Interview :
Questions to be based on :
(1) Choice of profession (2) Area of specialization (3) Most challenging case (4) Success/Achievement (5) Stress management (6) Work balance (7) Goals / Dreams (8) Advice

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (C) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(I) Speech : Imagine you have to deliver a speech in your class room on ‘Human Future with AI (Artificial Intelligence).’ Draft a speech in about 150 words on the given topic. (alternative to II and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (C) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(II) Compering : Your college is celebrating Independence Day. Draft a compering script for the flag hoisting ceremony and cultural programme. You may use the following points : (Greeting with patriotic spirit, welcoming dignitaries, flag hoisting and national anthem, cultural fest programme, patriotic message) (alternative to I and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (C) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(III) Expansion of Idea : Expand the following idea with the help of the points given below in about 100/150 words. ‘Forgiveness is often better than punishment’
— Importance of forgiveness
— Humanity
— Punishment-not always useful
— Add your own points (alternative to I and II)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (D) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(I) Review : Write a review on a film you have recently watched using the points given below in about 150 words.
— Title, subject, story
— Cinematography, music, presentation
— Producer, director, characters
— Personal views, evaluation, recommendation (alternative to II and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (D) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(II) Blog : Write a blog post in a proper format for a student hobby club website on the topic “Read for Survival” in about 100-150 words. You may take the help of the following points :
— Catchy title and introduction
— Types of books you enjoy
— Benefits of reading
— Personal touch
— Conclusion (alternative to I and III)

Q.4 Complete the activities as per the instructions given below : (16 marks)

Q.4 (D) Attempt ‘Any One’ of the following activities : (4 marks)

(III) Appeal : Prepare an appeal on the topic ‘Say No to Plastic’ with the help of the following points.
— Attractive slogans
— Use of logo/pictures
— Persuasive appeal
— Add your own points (alternative to I and II)

Q.5 (A) Complete the activities given below as per the instructions : (4 marks)

(I) Match the columns given below in column A ‘Types of novel’ to column B ‘Language origin’ : (2)

(II) State whether the following statements are ‘True or False’ and write them : (2)
(a) Psychological novel means the flow of thought.
(b) The pulp fiction era provided a building ground for a detective fiction.
(c) Realistic novel narrates the adventures of the protagonist.
(d) Hercule Poirot is the evergreen detective character created by Agatha Christie.

Q.5 (B) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (B) (I) Write a short note on Denham’s viewpoint on P.T. in ‘To Sir, With Love.’ (2)

Q.5 (B) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (B) (II) When the turn of Mr. Braithwaite’s class came, he sat up anxiously. Explain with reference to the novel, ‘To Sir, With Love.’ (2)

Q.5 (C) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (C) (I) Passepartout blamed himself for his master’s misfortune in ‘Around the World in Eighty Days.’ Give reasons. (2)

Q.5 (C) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (C) (II) Explain the significance of the statement ‘You have made a mistake of one day!’ in giving a justifiable ending in ‘Around the World in Eighty Days.’ (2)

Q.5 (D) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (D) (I) Sherlock Holmes established a connection between Captain Morstan’s disappearance and receipt of pearls in ‘The Sign of Four.’ Elaborate. (2)

Q.5 (D) Answer in about 50 words to the questions given below : (4 marks)

Q.5 (D) (II) Describe a character sketch of Mary Morstan as a model client in ‘The Sign of Four.’ (2)