(English Medium) ICSE Class 10 - CISCE Important Questions

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.

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? 

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

De Levis:  Confront me with Dancy and give me fair play.

Winsor:  [Aside to Canynge] Is it fair to Dancy not to let him know?

Canynge:  Our duty is to the Club now, Winsor. We must have tills cleared up. [Colford comes in, followed by Barring and Dancy].

St. Erth:  Captain Dancy, a serious accusation has been made against you by this gentleman in the presence of several members of the Club.

Dancy: What is it?

St. Erth: That you robbed him of that money at Winsor's.

Danny: [Hard and tense] Indeed! On what grounds is he good enough to say that? 

(i) How does De Levis respond to Dancy's last question in the extract? 

(ii) How did Dancy wish to settle the matter? What was St. Erth's suggestion? 

(iii) Why did Dancy's friends wish him to take legal action against De Levis? What reasons did Dancy give for not wanting to do so? 

(iv) When Mabel Dancy later requests De Levis to withdraw the charge, how does he respond? What declaration does Dancy wish De Levis to sign? 

(v) What information does Gilman give to Twisden? Why did Twisden decide to withdraw from the case? 

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

'Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.'
(A Psalm of Life-H. W. Longfellow) 

(i) Explain-'Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!' What should not be considered the goal of life? 

(ii) What is the beating of the heart compared to? How is the heart described? IV/wt does the beating of the heart remind us of?

(iii) What does the poet mean when lie compares the world to a battlefield? What should our role be in this battle? 

(iv) How should we view the past and the future? what advice does the past give in this context?

(v) What do we learn from the lives of great men? What is the final message of the poem ? Give one reason why the poem appeals to you. 

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

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high 
Where knowledge is free 
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 
By narrow domestic walls (Where the Mind is Without Fear: Rabindranath Tagore) 

(i) To whom is the poet praying? Whose mind is the poet referring to at the beginning of the poem? Why? 

(ii) In which situation is the lead held high? What does he mean by 'knowledge is free'? What are 'narrow domestic walls'?

(iii) What does the poet mean by 'tireless striving'? What does 'clear stream' refer to? Explain.

(iv) What is meant by 'dead habit'? What is 'dead habits' compared to and why?

(v)  What does ti» poet wish for al the end ~f the poem? What does tl1e poem tell the readers about the poet? Give a reason to justify yow· answer. 

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

"He was not accustomed to facing the entire class and speaking out aloud. He knew that he did not have a flair for making speeches. However, he had worked hard on his assignment and had written it from the depth of his heart." (India's Heroes-Anonymous! 

(i) Who was 'he'? What evidence is there that he was not used to facing the entire class? 

(ii) What was the assignment? How was our assignment different from the others?

(iii) Who was the first person to feature in 'his' assignment? What did 'he' say about him? 

(iv) Who was the General Manager of the Taj Hotel ' What role did he play?

(v) What, according to this speaker, is the only true religion in the world? What human qualities have I been highlighted through 'his' speech? 

Describe the first meeting and the last meeting l/between the Kabuliwnla and Mini. What realization dawns upon the Kabuliwala after the last meeting with Mini. 

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

"What's your name ?" he asked. 
"Bmillnvaite," I replied, "Ricardo Bmithwaite. 
'"I'm Pinkus and this is Mama Pinkus."  
 The introduction was effected with a filial devoti~ which was good to see. 
"How d'you do, Mama Pinkus." 
"I think I know someplace for you." He went the little noticeboard and removed a small car, on which was written a short advertisement of, room to let near-by. 

(i) Why was Braithwaite looking for a new placet? stay? Why was he impressed by the place that was on rent? 

(ii) What reception did Ile get wizen he reached the address that had been advertised? Whom did tit house belong to? 

(iii) Why did Mrs. Pegg come lo see Braithwaite? Wh• reply did Braithwaite give to her? 

(iv) What changes occurred in Pamela's persona/ii after the August holiday? 

(v) What comment did Potter make wizen Braithwait? hurt himself? What did he mean by that comment How did Pamela react to Potter's remark? 

Give an account of the trip to The Victoria am Albert Museum that was planned by Braithwaif, for his class.

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

Bassanio: To You, Antonio,
I owe the most, in money and in love;
And from your love, I have a warranty
To unburden all my plots and purposes
How to get clear of all the debts I owe.
Antonio: I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it; 

(i) Describe Antonio's mood at the beginning of this scene.
State any two reasons that Antonio's friends, who · were present, gave to explain his mood. 

(ii) What promise did Antonio make to Bassanio immediately after this conversation? 

(iii) What did Bassanio say to Antonio about 'a lady richly left' in Belmont? 

(iv) Why was Antonio unable to lend Bassanio the ·money that he needed? 

(v) What does the above extract reveal of the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio?
Mention' one way in which this relationship was put to the test later in the play.

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

Bassanio: A gentle scroll. - Fair lady, by your leave; (Kissing her)
I come by not, to give and to receive.
Like one of two contending in a prize,
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes
Hearing applause and universal shout
Giddy in spirit, still gazing, in a doubt
Whether those peals of praise be his or no; 

(i) Where did Bassanio find the 'gentle scroll'? What 'prize' had Bassanio just won? 

(ii) Explain why Basscmio said he felt 'Giddy in spirit, still gazing, in a doubt'. 

(iii) Shortly after this exchange, Port: it gave Bassanio a ring as a token of her affection. What did the gift symbolize? 

(iv) What assurance did Bassanio give her when he accepted the ring? 

(v) What did Portia urge Bassanio to do when she learned that his friend Antonio was in trouble? What aspect of her character is revealed through her words? 

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

Duke: You hear the team’d Bellario, what he writes:
And here, I take it, is the doctor come.
[Enter Portia, dressed like a Doctor of Laws]
Give me your hand. Come you from old Bellario”?
Portia: I did, my lord.
Duke: You are welcome : take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?

(i) Where is this scene set? Why was Portia there?

(ii) What reason had Bellario given for his absence? Whom had he sent in this stead? 

(iii) Bellario's letter stated that he had taken some measures to prepare the 'young and learned doctor' to deal with the case. What were they? 

(iv) What was the 'difference' between Shylock the Jew and Antonio the merchant that the Duke was unable to resolve? 

(v) How does Portia succeed in saving Antonio? What does this reveal of her character? 

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

Giles: I beg your pardon. Did you say something?
Trotter: Yes, Mr. Ralston, I said ‘Is there an extension ?’ (He crosses to Centre.)
Giles: Yes, up in our bedroom.
Trotter: Go and try it up there for me, will you?
(Giles exits to the stairs, carrying the glove and bus ticket and looking dazed. Trotter continues to trace the wire to the window. He pulls back the curtain and opens the window, trying to follow the wire. He crosses to the arch up Right, goes out and returns with a torch. He moves to the window, jumps out and bends down, looking, then disappears out of sight. It is practically dark. Mrs. Boyle enters from the library up Left, shivers and notices the open window.)
Mrs Boyle: (Moving to the window) Who has left this window open?

(i) Why did Giles fail to hear what Trotter had said earlier·? Why did Giles look 'dazed'? 

(ii) What was Trotter attempting to do? Why? 

(iii) Why did Mrs. Boyle close the window? What did tl1e voice on the radio say about the 'mechanics of fear'? 

(iv) How did the murderer mask the sounds of the killing? Who entered the room immediately after the murder? What did this person see? 

(v) Who was the victim? Why was the victim murdered? What was the 'signature tune' that the murderer whistled? What is the significance of this tune in the context of the play? 

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

Trotter: (Leaning on the refectory table) Those simple actions took you rather a long time, didn’t they, Mr Ralston?
Giles: I don’t think so. (He moves away to the stairs)
Trotter: I should say you definitely - took your time over them.
Giles: I was thinking about something.
Trotter: Very well. Now then, Mr Wren, I’ll have your account of where you were.

(i) What 'simple actions' of Giles was Trotter referring to? Where had Giles been? Who had sent him there? 

(ii) How did Christopher Wren account for his whereabouts at the time of tire murder? 

(iii} Where was Paravicini at that time? What was he doing?

(iv) Whom did Giles accuse of having committed the murder? On what did he base this accusation? 

(v) Mollie shared her suspicions regarding the identity of the murderer with Trotter, later in this scene. Whom did she suspect of being the murderer? What reasons did she give for the suspicion?

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

Trotter: Yes. You've been extraordinarily foolish, you know. You've run a very good chance of being killed by holding out on me. As a result, you've been in serious danger more than once. 
Mollie: I don't know what you mean. 
Trotter: (moving slowly above the sofa table to the Right of the sofa, still quite natural and friendly) Come now, Mrs. Ralston. We, policemen, aren't quite so dumb as you think. All along I've realized that you had first-hand knowledge of the Langridge Farm affair. You know Mrs. Boyle was the magistrate concerned. In fact, you knew all about it. Why didn't you speak up and say so?
Mollie:  (Very much affected) I don't understand. I wanted to forget-forget. (She sits at the Left end of the sofa.) 

(i) What was the 'Longridge Farm' affair? 

(ii) Trotter revealed to Mollie some facts that he had uncovered about her past. What were they? 

(iii) What did Mollie want to forget? How was she linked with the ‘Longridge Farm affair’? 

(iv) How did Trotter manage a pass himself off as a policeman? How had he reached Monkswell Manor? 

(v) What did Trotter reveal to Mollie about this true identity? How was Mollie saved at the end of the play?

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

"Now tell us what it was all about"
Young Peterkin, he cries.
And little Willhelmines looks up
With wonder - waiting eyes,
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for".
       - After Blenheim, Robert Southey 

(i) Who are Peterkin and Wilhelmine? How does the poet describe the scene at the beginning of the poem? 

(ii) What did Young Peterkin find and where? Describe it?

(iii) Who is referred to as "each other"? What did they fight for?

(iv) To whom are the words in the extract addressed? How was this person's family affected by the war? 

(v) What, according to the poet, are the consequences that are often associated with great and famous victories? What message does the poet want to convey to the readers? 

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

There’s nobody on the house-tops now …..
Just a palsied few at the windows set;
For the best of the sight is, all allow,
At the Shambles’ Gate …… or, better yet,
By the very scaffold’s foot, I trow.
–  The Patriot, Robert Browning

(i) Who is the speaker? Where is he being taken? Why? 

(ii) Describe the scene when he had walked down the same street a year ago. 

(iii) Where does the speaker think all the people had gathered that day? Why does he think so? 

(iv) Describe the speaker's physical condition.

(v) What is the central message of the poem? Does the poem and on a note of hope or despair? Give one reason for your answer.

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

All around the field spectators were gathered Cheeril!g on all the young women and men Then the final event of the day was approaching The last race about the beginning. 
- Nine Gold Medals, David Roth 

(i) Where had the 'young women and men' come from? What had brought them together? How had they prepared themselves for the event?

(ii) What was the last event of the day? How many athletes were participating in this event? What signal were they waiting for? 

(iii) What happened to the youngest athlete halfway through the race? How did he respond? 

(iv) What 'strange' tum did the story take at this point? 

(v) Why does the poet say that the banner - 'Special Olympics' could not have been nearer the mark? What human quality does the poem celebrate?