English 2 (Literature in English) Specimen Paper 2024-2025 (English Medium) ICSE Class 10 Question Paper Solution

Where was Caesar put to death?

On a street in Rome

On the battleground of Philippi

At the foot of Pompey's statue

In Brutus’ orchard

Who asks permission to speak at Caesar’s funeral?

Brutus

Antony

Cassius

Octavius

“Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy...”
These lines tell us that Antony is ______.

enraged

sorrowful

anxious

frustrated

When Antony says, ‘This is a slight unmeritable man/Meet to be sent on errands’, he refers to ______.

Lepidus

Octavius

Pindarus

Lucilius

What strategy does Cassius suggest that the conspirators follow?

march towards Philippi

remain where they are

raise an army of foot soldiers

set fire to the surrounding villages

When Cassius says, ‘My life is run his compass’, he means that ______.

it is the day on which Brutus was born

his life had come full circle

his life could be measured with a compass

his life could be compared to a race

Which of the given options contains the figure of speech that appears in the following line from Leigh Hunt's poem “The Glove and the Lions’: ‘Ramped and roared the lions’:

'Your eyes are like the diamond bright,'

'Suddenly the black night showed its teeth in a flash of lightning.'

'Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?'

'Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.'

Which of the following is NOT an effect of Bhishma Lochan Sharma’s powerful singing in Sukumar Ray’s poem 'The Power of Music’?

The sky weeps tears

The trees shake and crash

The people retire amazed

The turtles whine and stare

Which of the following words does H. W. Longfellow use to describe the movement of the phantoms in his poem, ‘Haunted Houses’?

slide

glide

noiseless

invisible

The theme of Maya Angelou’s poem ‘When Great Trees Fall’ is ______.

the impact of the death of a loved one on those left behind

the effect of felling trees on the environment

how the death of trees affects humanity

the impact of natural calamities on a forest

The poem, 'A Considerable Speck’, captures ______.

the journey of a mite across a sheet of paper

the poet’s determination to kill the mite

the poet’s encounter with a gigantic fly

the mite’s attempt to escape from the fly

In Stephen Leacock’s ‘With the Photographer’, while waiting for the photographer, the narrator spent time ______.

examining the studio

talking on his phone

writing in his diary

reading magazines

In Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, ‘The Girl Who Can’, Nana expressed her disapproval of Adjoa’s legs because ______.

they were slender

they were muscular

they were bent

they were short

Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Alphonse Daudet’s short story ‘The Last Lesson’ in the correct order.

1. But, when he arrived at school, Franz was dismayed to find his classmates already seated quietly and solemnly in their places ... and shocked when M. Hamel simply urged him to take his place.
2. Franz hurried to school that morning he was very late and dreaded being scolded by M. Hamel, the teacher.
3. After he had settled at his desk, he noticed something really odd: the back benches of the classroom were occupied by adults from the village!
4. He hoped to slip into the classroom unnoticed, under cover of the bustle and noise of a typical school day morning.

1, 3, 2, 4

2, 4, 1, 3

3, 1, 4, 2

4, 2, 3, 1

Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements (1) and (2) from William Sleator’s short story, ‘The Elevator’.

Statement 1: Terrified of the fat lady in the elevator, Martin ran down the dark stairs, fell and broke his leg.

Statement 2: Angry and disappointed that his son had behaved like a fool and a coward, Martin’s father did not talk to him on the way to the hospital.

(1) is true and (2) is false.

(2) is true and (1) is false.

(1) is the cause for (2).

(1) and (2) are independent of each other.

Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Pedestrian’, can be best described as ______.

utopian

dystopian

humorous

a fairy tale

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

1. Where are the speakers?
   What does ‘puissant’ mean?
   Explain: ‘Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat a humble heart’.  [3]
2. At the beginning of the scene, Caesar says, ‘The Ides of March are come.’
   Why do you think Caesar said this?
   What does the Soothsayer say in response?  [3]
3. What specific duties do the conspirators allot to Trebonius and Casca?
   Why does Cassius become nervous when Popilius Lena speaks to him as they enter?  [3]
4. What does Artemidorus want of Caesar?
   How does Caesar respond to his plea?  [3]
5. Shortly after this exchange, Caesar is stabbed to death by the conspirators. Whom do you sympathise with — Julius Caesar or the conspirators? Give reasons for your choice.  [4]

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

1. To whom are these words addressed?
   Why is Brutus angry with this person?  [3]
2. How does this person feel when he hears these words?
   What does he say to defend himself?  [3]
3. Why did Brutus need ‘certain sums of gold’?
   Why was he unable to raise these sums of money?  [3]
4. Earlier in this scene, Brutus refers to Lucius Pella.
   What had he been accused of?
   Who had supported him and how?  [3]
5. Mention any two aspects of Brutus’ character that are revealed in the above extract.
   What do you understand about the relationship between Brutus and the person he addresses?  [4]

Read the following extract from Stephen Leacock’s short story, ‘With the Photographer’ and answer the questions that follow:

1. Where was the narrator?
   Why had he gone there?
   Why do you think that there was a certain pride in the photographer's manner?  [3]
2. What does the word "proof” mean in this context?
   Why did the narrator ask, “Is it me?”?  [3]
3. Which of the narrator's facial features had the photographer altered?  [3]
4. What was the only part of the narrator's face that seemed original in the photograph?
   How did the photographer plan to ‘fix’ this?  [3]
5. At the end of the story, the narrator flies into a rage.
   What makes him angry?
   How would you justify the narrator's angry outburst?  [4]

Read the following extract from Ray Bradbury's short story, ‘The Pedestrian’ and answer the questions that follow:

1. What was Leonard Mead’s occupation?
   What did he love to do?
   When is the story set? [3]
2. To what does Mead compare his walk through the empty streets?
   Mention TWO reasons he gives for making this comparison.  [3]
3. ‘Why had Mead decided to change his footwear from hard-heeled shoes to sneakers?  [3]
4. What happened quite suddenly as he was making his way home?
   What was Mead's immediate reaction?  [3]
5. ‘Why was Mead taken away by the police car?
   ‘Would you call this a horror story or a piece of science fiction?
   Give reasons for your answer.  [4]

Read the following extract from H.W. Longfellow’s poem, ‘Haunted Houses' and answer the questions that follow:

1. What makes the poet-narrator different from the stranger at his fireside?  [3]
2. What, according to the poet, turns a house into a ‘haunted’ house?  [3]
3. Where is one likely to meet the ‘phantoms’ in a haunted house?  [3]
4. What are the poet-narrator’s views on owning property?  [3]
5. How do the poet’s views of ghosts differ from the traditional perception of ghosts? How would you describe the mood that the poem evokes? Give ONE reason for your answer.  [4]

Read the following extract from Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’ and answer the questions that follow:

1. What effect does the falling of a ‘great tree’ have on the creatures of the forest?  [3]
2. How does the death of a great soul affect the lives of those left behind in the immediate aftermath of their passing?  [3]
3. What long-term effect does the death of a ‘great soul' have?  [3]
4. What feeling is being expressed by the following lines/phrases?  [3]
   1. small things recoil into silence
   2. kind words/unsaid,
   3. Beand be/better. For they existed
5. What is a ‘Great tree’ a metaphor for?  [4]
   What is the central message of Angelou’s poem, “When Great Trees Fall"?