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Maximum Marks: 80
Answers to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately.
You will not be allowed to 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.
______________________________________________________________________________
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The paper has four Sections.
Section A is compulsory – All questions in Section A must be answered.
You must attempt one question from each of the Sections B, C and D and one other question
from any Section of your choice.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
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SECTION A
(Attempt all questions from this Section)
Question 1 16

Read the following questions and choose the most appropriate response from the choices
given below (Please do not copy the question - simply write out in correct serial order the
appropriate word or phrase.)

1. In Act IV Scene 3, why does Cassius threaten revenge against Brutus?

(a) Because Brutus called him a coward
(b) Because Brutus insulted his military experience
(c) Because Brutus humiliated him in front of others
(d) Because Brutus refused to lend him money

2. In Act V Scene 3, who says "Where never Roman shall take note of him"?
(a) Cassius
(b) Titinius
(c) Pindarus
(d) Brutus

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 3. In the line, "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more", what is
Brutus trying to convey to the citizens?

(a) He felt that Caesar's leadership was beneficial for Rome.

(b) His actions were motivated by personal jealousy towards Caesar.
(c) His assassination of Caesar was driven by his greater love and loyalty to
Rome.
(d) He believed that Caesar's death was necessary to prevent Rome's downfall.

4. Why does Lucilius offer money to the soldier who threatens to kill him?

(a) To distract the soldier and escape

(b) To bribe the soldier to let him go
(c) To convince the soldier to kill Brutus instead
(d) To show that he is a wealthy man

5. Cassius offers himself with a naked breast to Brutus to kill him comparing it to--
(a)Erebus.
(b) Pluto
(c) Olympus.
(d) Apollo
6. What does the reappearance of Caesar’s ghost show-
(a) Pompey’s defeat.
(b) Brutus’s guilt.
(c) Illusion of Cassius.
(d) A warning.
7. Brutus defines Cato’s act of committing suicide as-
(a) Mean are short sighted.
(b) Sensible and timely.
(c) Low and cowardly.
(d) The right decision
8. Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘The Pedestrian’ can be best described as ---
(a) Utopian.
(b) Dystopian.
(c) Humorous.
(d) A Fairy Tale.
9. Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements (1) and (2) from
Alphonse Daudel’s short story ‘The Last Lesson’.
Statement 1 - The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson.
Statement 2 – The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of
Alsace and Lorraine.
(a) (1) and (2) are interdependent of each other.
(b) (1) is true and (2) is false.
(c) (1) is the result of (2)
(d) (2) is the result of (1)
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 10. How did Adjoa express her inquisitiveness in the story ‘The Girl Who Can ?’
(a) By questioning the role of grown-ups in society.
(b) By showing her affection towards her mother.
(c) By observing people and things around.
(d) By not liking grandmother’s criticism.
11. Which of the following statements is NOT correct about the photographer in the story ‘With
the Photographer ?’

(a) He is a natural scientist.

(b) He lacks empathy.
(c) He is aged and lacks firmness.
(d) He has concern for the emotions of his clients.
12. The first time, Martin in ‘The Elevator’ encountered a fat lady when the elevator stopped at
-------- floor.

(a) Fourteenth
(b) Seventeenth
(b) Nineteenth
(d) Thirteenth.
13. Maya Angelou’s poem ‘When Great Trees Fall’ is based on the theme of -----

(a) The impact of the death of a loved one on those left behind.
(b) The effect of falling trees on the environment.
(c) How a tree’s falling affect humanity.
(d) An elderly person.
14. The poem ‘A Considerable Speck’ captures ---

(a) A journey of a mite across a sheet of paper.

(b) The poet’s determination to kill the mite.
(c) The poet’s encounter with a gigantic fly.
(d) The mite’s attempt to escape from the fly.
15. Which of the following words does Sukumar Ray use to describe the singing of Bhishma

(a) Hums
(b) Streches
(c) Plea.
(d) Whine.
16. Which of the given option contain the figure of speech that appears in the following line from
H.W.Longfellow’s poem ‘Haunted Houses ‘ : “Floats like an atmosphere.”

(a) Ten thousand saw I at a glance.

(b) Silver and Blue as the mountain mist.
(c) It was roses, roses all the way.
(d) A tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection.

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 SECTION B

DRAMA
(Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)

Q 2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Cassius : Messala This is my birthday; as this very day was Cassius was born. Give me thy hand,

Messala: Be thou my witness that, against my will as Pompey was, am I compelled

To set upon one battle all our liberties. You know that I held Epicurus strong,
And his opinion, now I change my mind; And partly credit things that do presage.

1. Who is Messala? What does Cassius confide in him? What does Cassius fear? [3]
2. There is a verbal combat before this extract – between Cassius and Antony. What does
Cassius compare Antony’s words to? Explain. [3]
3. Who is Epicurus? What is his philosophy? What has brought a change in Cassius who
believed in Epicurean philosophy. [3]
4. Based on this scene, analyse the characters: a. Brutus b. Cassius c. Antony [3]
5. Describe the way Brutus and Cassius wish farewell to each other. What does it reveal
about the war situation? Comment on the uncertainty which Cassius feels about the outcome
of the battle that day. [4]

Question 3.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Brutus : How ill this taper burns – Ha ! who comes here ?
I think it is the weakness of mine eyes
That shapes this monstrous apparition.

1. To whom does Brutus speak? What is the setting of this scene at this point? [3]
2. What is the apparition referred to in this extract? Why is it said to be Monstrous? [3]
3. What does apparition say to Brutus? What is the effect and significance of what does
apparition say to Brutus? [3]
4. What are the instances shown in this scene that foretell us about the coming
catastrophe in the play?
[3]
5. Later in the play – Cassius states – “Julius Caesar was brave when alive but braver when
killed?’. How would you justify the statement right? [4]

SECTION C
(Answer one or more questions from this section)
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 PROSE –SHORT STORIES
(Treasure Trove—A collection of ICSE poems and Short Stories)

Question 4.

Read the following lines from ‘The Pedestrian’ by Ray Doughlas Bradbury and answer the
questions that follow.

He would stand upon the corner of an intersection and peer down long moonlight avenues of
sidewalk in four directions, deciding which way to go, but it really made no difference.

1. What was Leonard Mead’s occupation? What did he love to do? When and where is the
story set? [3]
2. To what does Mead compare his walk through the empty streets? Give two reasons he
gives for making this comparison? [3]
3. Why had Mead decide to change his footwear from hard heeled shoes to sneakers?[3]
4. Why was Mead taken away by the police car? How does this action in the story show
Mead’s non conformity? [3]
5. The story is a dystopian story that showcase the dehumanising effect of technology and
the people in the days to come. Discuss. [4]

Question 5.

Read the following extract from ‘The Girl Who Can’ by Ama Ata Aidoo and answer the
questions that follow.

“Yes, I have won every race I ran in for my school, and I have

won the cup for the best all rounder junior athlete. Yes, Nana said

that she didn’t care if such things are not done. She would do it.

You know what she did?”

1. Who is referred to as ‘I’ in the above extract? Where is she? What would the
grandmother constantly crib about?
[3]
2. What did the grandmother do with the cup? Why? [3]
3. What was extraordinary about Adjoa’s act of winning? [3]
4. Analyse the girl’s mother’s character. [3]
5. The three generations of women emerge as winners in their own ways. How? [4]
SECTION D

(Answer one or more questions from the following)

POETRY

( Treasure Chest– A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories)

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 Question 6.

Read the lines given below from Maya Angelou’s poem ‘When Great Trees Fall’ and answer
the questions that follow.
When Great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

1. What effect does the falling of a great tree have on the creatures in the forest? [3]

2. How does the passing of a great soul affect the lives of those left behind in the immediate
aftermath of their passing? [3]

3. What emotion do the following lines express --- [3]

a. Small things recoil into silence.
b. Kind words/ unsaid
c. Be and be better for they existed.

4. In what way is the poem an example of extended metaphor? [3]

5. The poet ends the poem with a positive note. Explain. [4]

Question 7:

Read the lines given below from Robert Frost’s ‘A Considerable Speck’ and answer the
questions that follow.
I have a mind myself and recognize
Mind when I meet with it any guise
No one can know how glad I am to find
On my sheet the least display of mind.

1. What is meant by the first line of the extract? Describe the mite that the speaker

saw. What does it mean symbolically when the poet sees a mite right before he puts a full stop
to his writing? [3]
2. Identify and explain the figure of speech used in the title of the poem, ‘A Considerable
Speck’. [3]
3. What was the speck that the speaker had noticed? How did he reward it? [3]
4. What did the poet find on a careful observation of the ‘speck’? What does this show
about the ‘speck’? [3]
5. What is the theme of the poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’? How has a little mite been
instrumental in bringing out the theme? [4]

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