English 2 (Literature in English) 2014-2015 (English Medium) ICSE Class 10 Question Paper Solution

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

Portia: .......But this reasoning is not in fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word “choose”! I may neither choose who I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

(i) What test had Portia’s father devised for her suitors? What oath did the suitors have to take before making their choice? 

(ii) Who is Nerissa? What does she say to cheer up Portia? 

(iii) Why does Portia disapprove of the County Palatine? Who would she rather marry? 

(iv) How, according to Portia, can the Duke of Saxony’s nephew be made to choose the wrong casket? What do these suitors ultimately decide? Why? 

(v) Whom does Portia ultimately marry? Who were the two other suitors who took the test? Why, in your opinion, is the person whom she marries worthy of her? 

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

Duke: What, is Antonio here?
Antonio: Ready, so please your grace.
Duke: I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch
Incapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy. 

(i) What are the terms of the bond that Antonio has signed? 
(ii) Why does the Duke call Shylock ‘inhuman’? What does the Duke expect Shylock to do? 
(iii) What reason does Shylock give for choosing rotten flesh over money? What are the things hated by some people? 
(iv) State three examples Antonio gives to illustrate Shylock’s stubborn attitude. 
(v) How is Shylock’s property distributed at the end by Antonio? Do you think Shylock deserves the punishment given to him? Give a reason to justify your answer. 

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

Lady Adela:  Oh! Charlie, he did look so exactly as if he’d sold me a carpet when I was paying him.
Winsor:   [changing into slippers] His father did sell carpets, wholesale, in the City.
Lady Adela:  Really? And you say I haven’t intuition! [With a finger on her lips] Morison’s in there.
Winsor:  [Motioning towards the door, which she shuts] Ronny Dancy took a tenner off him, anyway, before dinner.

(i) How did Dancy take a ‘tenner’ from De Levis?
How does De Levis later connect this trick with the theft? 

(ii) Why, according to Lady Adela, did Dancy leave the army? Why does she call him reckless? 

(iii) Where had De Levis kept the money which was stolen? Where had he gone after keeping the money? How much did he lose? 

(iv) Why is Winsor outraged when De Levis says he had locked his door? What was the height of the room from the ground? How do they know that the thief did not use a ladder to climb up to De Levis’ room? 

(v) How does General Canynge react when De Levis first accuses Dancy of committing the theft? What is your opinion of De Levis?
Give one reason to justify your answer. 

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

Mabel: Oh! Why didn’t I face it? But I couldn’t—I had to believe.
Dancy: And now you can’t. It’s the end, Mabel.
Mabel: [Looking up at him] No.
[Dancy goes suddenly on his knees and seizes her hand.]
Dancy: Forgive me!
Mabel: [Putting her hand on his head] Yes; oh, yes! I think I’ve known for a long time, really. Only — why? What made you?

(i) How does Dancy respond to Mabel’s question? 

(ii) What makes Dancy say ‘that’s not in human nature’ a little later? 

(iii) Why does Inspector Dede arrive at Dancy’s house? How does Mabel try to stall him? 

(iv) To whom was Dancy’s suicide note addressed? What had he written in it? 

(v) What does Margaret mean when she says that keeping faith is ‘not enough’ and ‘we’ve all done that’?
What, in your opinion, should his friends have done? 

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. 

With close reference to the story ‘The Bet’ by Anton Chekhov, mention the clauses of the bet as laid down between the young lawyer and the old banker. Give an account of the events that follow the bet .

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? 

Give an account of how lies were against Snowball after his expulsion, in order to paint him as a traitor.

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.

Which courtesies did Braithwaite ask his class to observe and how did the students react to these ‘new rules’? Describe the incident that brought about a change in  Denham’s hostile attitude towards Braithwaite