Students can refer to the following Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set G with Answers provided below based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued for ICSE English Literature. All specimen papers have been prepared covering all chapters given in ICSE English Literature book for Class 10. You should also refer to ICSE Class 10 English Literature Solutions.
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set G with Answers
ENGLISH LITERATURE
Std : 10 Max. Marks : 80
No. of Questions : 09
Duration : 2 hours
write during the first 15 minutes. This time is to be spent in reading the question paper. The time given
at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the answers. Attempt five questions in all from
only three text books. You must attempt at least one question from cash of the Sections A, B and C and
not more than two other questions from the same books you have already compulsorily chosen. The
intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
Sample Paper ICSE Class 10 English Literature Set G
SECTION A – DRAMA
Answer one or more questions from this section.
The Merchant of Venice – Shakespe
Question 1
Bassanio: Be assured you may.
Shylock: I will be assured I may and, that I may be assured,
I will bethink me. May I speak with Antonio?
Bassanio: If it please you to dine with us.
Shylock: Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation
Which your prophet the Nazarite conjured
the devil into. I will buy with you, sell with
you, talk with you, walk with you, drink
with you, nor pray with you. What news on
the Rialto? – Who is he comes here?
(i) Where is Bassanio and Shylock at this time? What is the purpose of their meeting? [3]
(ii) Explain these lines in context: [3]
The man is notwithstanding, sufficient
I think I may take his bond.
(iii) Shylock promptly refuses Bassanio’s invitation to dine with the Christians.
Explain his aversion to pork. Give a reason why he later changes his mind and accepts? [3]
(iv) What does Shylock compare Antonio to when he enters the scene? What tone does he use? Mention two reasons he gives ‘aside’ for hating Antonio. [3]
(v) What Biblical story does Shylock relate to justify his taking interest? How does
Antonio show that his justification doesn’t hold true? To what does Antonio compare an evil soul, producing holy witness?
Question 2
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Bassanio: So many the outward shows be least themselves.
The world is still deceived with ornament,
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being season’d with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil? In religion . . . .
(i) Where is Bassanio presently? Why is he compared to Aleides? [3]
(ii) ‘So may the outward shows be least themselves.’
With reference to the caskets, show how the above statement holds true? [3]
(iii) How does Bassanio bring out the methods of deception used in religion? [3]
(iv) Give the meaning of the following:
(i) Where is Bassanio presently? Why is he compared to Aleides? [3]
(ii) ‘So may the outward shows be least themselves.’
With reference to the caskets, show how the above statement holds true? [3]
(iii) How does Bassanio bring out the methods of deception used in religion? [3]
(iv) Give the meaning of the following:
(v) This scene, from where the above extract has been taken, portrays Bassanio as a ‘genuine lover’ and a ‘loyal friend’. Justify giving two instances for each of the above mentioned qualities.
Question 3
Read the extract given below, and answer the questions that follow:
Shylock: Shall I not have barely my principal?
Portia: Thou shall have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
Shylock: Why, then the devil given him good of itl I’ll stay no longer question.
Portia: Tarry, Jew:
The law hath yet another hold on you.
It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be proved against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen.
(i) Where does this scene take place? Why does Shylock now want the principal,
when he had refused ten times the amount earlier? [3]
(ii) How had Shylock ‘indirectly and directly’ contrived against the life of the defendants? [3]
(iii) . . . . . . you take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live’
Explain Shylock’s words, given in reply to the Duke’s pronouncement. [3]
(iv) What ‘mercy’ did Antonio render Shylock? [3]
(v) Do you think that in demanding justice, Shylock deserved the justice meted out to him by Venetian law?
SECTION B – POETRY
Answer one or more questions from this section
A Collection of Poems
Question 4
Read the extract given below, and answer the questions that follow:
The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain,
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
(The Cold Within, James Patrick Kinney)
(The Cold Within, James Patrick Kinney)
(i) Which words in the first verse tell you the weather conditions at this time? What
means did each one have to help them survive? Pick out the oxymoron in the extract above and explain it. [3]
(ii) What thoughts occupied the rich man as he sat in the group around the dying fire? [3]
(iii) What character trait can you identify in the last man in the group? How did his attitude contribute to this vicious circle of inertia? [3]
(iv) What was the fate of the forlorn group? What made it so ironical? [3]
(v) ‘They did not die from the cold without, They died from the cold within.’
Explain clearly the poet’s message in the above lines of the poem.
Question 5
Read the extract given below, and answer the questions that follow:
That’s how the race ended, with nine gold medals,
They came to the finish line holding hands still
And the banner above and nine smiling faces
Said more than these words ever will
Said more than these words ever will
(Nine Gold Medals – David Roth)
(i) Which race is being referred to? Who took part in this race? Where had they come from? [3]
(ii) Narrate the incident which resulted in all nine athletes winning the gold. [3]
(iii) ‘They came to the finish line holding hands still’. When did they hold each other’s hands? What does this action of theirs signify? [3]
(iv) What did the banner above the winners say? Why was it considered apt? [3]
(v) What lessons can the world learn from the example of the special athletes?
Discuss any three.
Question 6
Read the extract given below, and answer the questions that follow:
‘I go in the rain, and, more than needs,
A rope cuts both my wrists behind,
And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds,
For they fling, whoever has a mind,
Stones at me for my year’s misdeeds.
(The Patriot – Robert Browning)
(i) Who does ‘I’ refer to? Where is ‘I’ going in the rain? What does the rain symbolise here? [3]
(ii) What recollection does the speaker have of the public reception he received a year ago? [3]
(iii) How different is the attitude of the crowd now, after a year has passed? What does this say of crowd mentality? [3]
(iv) ‘And you see my harvest, what I reap This very day, now a year is run. What had the speaker done during the past year?
Which word expresses regret? Pick out the metaphor in the line given in (iv). [3]
(v) On what note does the poem end? What do the final words of the Patriot suggest? [4]
SECTION C – PROSE
Answer one or more questions from this section.
A Collection of Short Stories
Question 7
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“No,” he said, “only the animals I stated. The cat, of course will be all right. A cat can look out for itself, but I cannot think what will become of the others.”
“What politics have you?” I asked.
“I am without politics” he said.
(a) Who were the two persons in conversation with each other? Where were they at this time? Why were they at this place? [3]
(b) What did the narrator mean by his question, ‘What politics have you? What is the significance of the reply he received? [3]
(c) . . . . . . . but I cannot think what will become of the others. Who were the ‘others’ that the speaker was worried about? How did the narrator attempt to ease his worry? What symbolic qualities do these ‘others’ represent? [3]
(d) Why did the narrator finally leave the man to his fate? What aspects of war does the author highlight through the character of the old man? [3]
(e) Discuss the suitability of the title ‘Old Man at the Bridge.’
Question 8
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
‘I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broad jump trials, I was startled to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps!”
(a) Who is the narrator? Why had he come three thousand miles to this place? [3]
(b) How had he prepared for this event? What ‘myth’ was he fighting against? [3]
(c) Why did he fear he would ‘foul out of the trials’? What mood was he in? [3]
(d) Who befriended him? How did he get the narrator to calm down and avoid committing another foul? [3]
(e) . . . . . . . we both know that a real friendship had been formed.
Explain clearly the narrator’s interaction with the German athlete and why he considered this friendship his ‘Greatest Olympic Prize.’
Question 9
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
‘She was a happy, immature child-woman about twelve years old.’
(a) Sibia lead a life of poverty and toil, yet she is described as a ‘happy’ child. Why is she so described? Use instances from the story that support this fact. [4]
(b) How did Sibia prove a match for the crocodile? Explain in detail. [8]
(c) ‘All her heart went up in flames of joy.’
Explain the above with reference to the blue bead that Sibia found in the river. [4]