(English Medium) ICSE Class 10 - CISCE Question Bank Solutions

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,
And fixed eye on the darker speck.
                   (The Inchcape Rock: Robert Southey)

(i) Contrast the weather when Sir Ralph the Rover passed the Inchcape Rock the first time with the weather when he returned to the place.

(ii) Why had the Abbot of Aberbrothok hung a bell on the Inchcape Rock? 

(iii) Why did Sir Ralph cut the bell from the Inchcape Rock? Describe the manner in which it sank underwater. 

(iv) What did Sir Ralph say to reassure his men when it became very dark? What opinion did one of the sailors have about their location? What did they all wish for? 

(v) How did the ship sink? What sound did Sir Ralph imagine he could hear in his dying moments? What is the message of the poem? 

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

What do you call, O ye pedlars?
Chessmen and ivory dice.
What do you make, O ye goldsmiths?
Wristlet and anklet and ring, ….
                     (In the Bazaars of Hyderabad: Sarojini Naidu)

(i) What all were being sold by the merchants? 

(ii) What is being ground by the maidens? Which items are the vendors weighing? 

(iii) Describe the bells that the goldsmiths are crafting for blue pigeons? What do the goldsmiths make for the dancers and the king? 

(iv) Which instruments are the musicians playing? What are the magicians doing? 

(v) Mention the happy as well the sad occasions for which the flower girls are weaving flowers. Write one reason why the poem has appealed to you.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

             Baldeo, the watchman, was awake. He stretched himself, slowly unwinding the heavy shawl that covered him like a shroud. It was close on midnight and the chill air made him shiver. The station, a small shack backed by heavy jungle, was a station in name only; for trains only stopped there, if at all, for a few seconds before entering the deep cutting that led to the tunnel. Most trains only slowed down before taking the sharp curve before the cutting.

(i) What were Baldeo’s duties as a watchman? What question did his son ask him before he left for his nightly errand? 

(ii) Describe the axe that Baldeo carried with him. Who had made the axe? 

(iii) Which sound made Baldeo realize that the tiger was close by?
Why was he worried that the tiger may be going in the opposite direction? Why didn’t the tiger fear the man? 

(iv) Give an account of the encounter between Baldeo and the tiger. 

(v) How did the tiger die? Point out a similarity in the characters of Baldeo and his son Tembu. Give an example for each to justify your answer. 

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

.......Once again Clover and Benjamin warned him to take care of his health, but Boxer paid, no attention. His twelfth birthday was approaching. He did not care what happened so long as a good store of stone was accumulated before he went on a pension.
       Late one evening, in the summer, a sudden rumor ran round the farm that something had happened to Boxer. He had gone out alone to drag a load of stone down to the windmill. And sure enough, the rumor was true….

(i) In what condition did the animals find Boxer?

(ii) Why did the animals feel uneasy when Squealer told them that Boxer would be sent to a hospital at Willingdon for treatment?
How did Squealer reassure them? 

(iii) How much longer did Boxer expect to live?
How did he plan to spend his remaining days? 

(iv) What was written on the van that took Boxer away? What did Boxer do when he heard the screams of the animals? 

(v) What was the new name given to Animal Farm by Napoleon?
What strange transformation did the animals notice on the faces of the pigs?
What is the significance of this transformation? 

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Each Friday morning the whole school spent the pre-recess period in writing their Weekly Review. This was one of the Old Man’s pet schemes; and one about which he would brook no interference. Each child would review the events of his school week in his own words, in his own way; he was free to comment, to criticize, to agree or disagree, with any person, subject or method, as long as it was in some way associated with the school …..

(i) Why did Mr. Florian feel that the weekly review was of advantage to both pupil and teacher? 

(ii) Why did Braithwaite feel both relief and disappointment at the first weekly review his students had written since he joined the school? 

(iii) How was he given the silent treatment by his students? 

(iv) What does Braithwaite term the second and more annoying phase of his relationship with his students? What did some students do to disrupt his class? 

(v) Mention two qualities in Braithwaite’s character which help him to become a model teacher. Give suitable examples to illustrate your choice.

 Where does this scene take place? Who is the speaker? To whom is he talking? 

Why, look you, how you storm!
I would be friends with you and have your love,
Forget the shames that you have stain' d me with,
Supply your present wants, and take no doit
Of usance for my money, and you'll not hear me:
This is the kind I offer. 

(i) Where does this scene take place? Who is the speaker? To whom is he talking?

(ii) What are the 'slaves' which the speaker says hau stained him?

(iii) What are the 'present wants'? Who is its need of I~ 'present wants'? Why?

(iv) Explain "Tlris is kind I offer". What does the speaker propose to do immediately after this?

(v) What do you think of Antonio and of Shylock 1vi' regard to the signing of the bond? 

 What are the 'slaves' which the speaker says hau stained him? 

 What are the 'present wants'? Who is its need of I~ 'present wants'? Why? 

 Explain "Tlris is kind I offer". What does the speaker propose to do immediately after this? 

What do you think of Antonio and of Shylock 1vi' regard to the signing of the bond? 

Portia: To these injunctions every one doth s'vear That comes to hazard for my worthless self.

Arragon: And so have I address'd me. Fortune now To my heart's hope! - Gold, silver and base lead. 

(i) Who had tried his luck in tn; ing to choose the correct casket before the prince of Arragon? Which casket had that suitor chosen? What did he find inside the casket? 

(ii) What are the three things Arragon was obliged by the oath to obey? 

(iii) What was the inscription on the golden casket? How do the actions of the martlet illustrate this inscription? 

(iv) Which casket does Arragon finally choose? Whose portrait does he find inside? Which casket actually contains Portia's portrait? 

(v) Who enters soon after? What does he say about the young Venetian who has just arrived? What gifts has the Venetian brought with him?

What are the three things Arragon was obliged by the oath to obey? 

 What was the inscription on the golden casket? How do the actions of the martlet illustrate this inscription? 

 Which casket does Arragon finally choose? Whose portrait does he find inside? Which casket actually contains Portia's portrait? 

 Who enters soon after? What does he say about the young Venetian who has just arrived? What gifts has the Venetian brought with him?

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: 

De Levis: Social Blackmail? H'm!

Canynge: Not at all - simple warning. If you consider it necessary in your interests to start this scandal-no matter how we shall consider it necessary in ours to dissociate ourselves completely from one who so recklessly disregards the unwritten code. 

(i) Where are the speakers at present? What is referred to as Social Black-mail?

(ii) Who is Canynge? What scandal is being referred to? Why will it be a scandal? 

(iii)  Which race does De Levis mention later? What is his opinion about society? 

(iv) What does Canynge do soon after and what does he find? What was his reaction? What does the discovery prove?

(v) What is De Levis going through at this point of time? What light does it throw upon his character? What change do we see in his character later in the play? Give a reason to justify your answer. 

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: 

All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work, they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything that they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of their kind who would come after ·them and not for a pack of idle thieving human beings. Throughout the spring and summer, they worked a sixty-hour week, and in August ...............

(i)  What did Napoleon announce in August? 

(ii) How much time had elapsed since the constitution of the Animal Farm? As summer wore on, what unforeseen shortages began to be felt? 

(iii) What new policy did Napoleon make? The new • policy brought a vague uneasiness among the animals. What did they recall? 

(iv) Who had agreed to act as an intermediary between the Animal Farm and the outside world ' Describe him?

(v) What roused the pride of the animals and made them reconcile to the new arrangement? In the meanwhile, what sudden decision was taken by the pigs? What do we learn about Napoleon at this juncture? 

The constitution of the animal farm had elapsed for two years. As the summer wore on,. various unforeseen shortages began to make themselves felt. There was need of paraffin oil, nails, string, dog biscuits, and iron for the horses' shoes, none of which could be produced on the farm. Later, there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides various tools and, finally, the machinery for the windmill.

 What new policy did Napoleon make? The new • policy brought a vague uneasiness among the animals. What did they recall?