ICSE 2025 EXAMINATION

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

(ENGLISH PAPER – 1)

Maximum Marks: 80

Time allowed: Two hours

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.

Attempt all five questions.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].

You are advised to spend not more than 30 minutes in answering Question 1 and 20 minutes in
answering Question 2.

Question 1
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following: [20]
(i) Write an original short story that begins with the words: ‘He was the strangest
boy I had ever met…’
(ii) Have you ever forgiven someone when it was hard to do so?
Explain what helped you to forgive them, and the positive impact it had.
What did you learn from the experience?

(iii) ‘Should homework be banned in schools’.

Express your views either for or against this statement.

(iv) You were preparing a meal for lunch in sunny afternoon

Describe what you do around you,adding details about the sound and the scents

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 (v) Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or an account of
what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the
picture or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear
connection between the picture and your composition.

Question 2 [10]
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select any one of the following:
(i) Your school had taken you on an outing to an amusement park which your
friend could not join due to ill-health. Write a letter to him/her describing the
various activities you did throughout the day. Also, tell him/her how much you
missed him/her.

(ii) The garbage bins in your locality have not been cleared regularly resulting in
the overflow of garbage in the area. Write a letter to the Municipal
Commissioner of Your city/Town, complaining about the problem. Offer
Suggestions for the removal of the garbage and cleaning up of the palace

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 Question 3
(i) Your school is hosting an interschool elocution competition. Write a notice [5]
informing the students at your school about the event.
(ii) Write an e-mail to the principal of a neighbouring school informing him/her [5]
of the interschool elocution competition being held at your school and
requesting him/her to send a team of students to participate.

Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Tiger Talk:

It was still a busy hour in the city when I entered Market Road. People ran for
their lives at the sight of me. As I progressed through, shutters were pulled
down, and people hid themselves under culverts, on trees, behind pillars. The
population was melting out of sight. At the circus I had had no chance to study
human behaviour. Outside the circus ring they sat in their seats placidly while
I cowered before Captain's whip. I got a totally wrong notion of human beings
at that angle. I had thought that they were sturdy and fearless. But now I found
them fleeing before me like a herd of deer, although I had no intention of
attacking them. When I paused in front of a tailor's shop, he abandoned his
machine and shut himself in a cupboard, wailing, 'Alas, I am undone, won't 10
someone shoot that tiger?' A prisoner between two constables, who had been
caught for murder and was just emerging from the Court House, got his chance
to escape when the constables fled, abandoning him with his handcuffs. I tore
a horse from its jutka and enjoyed the sight of the passengers spilling out of it
and running for their lives. A couple of street dogs invited destruction when
they barked madly, instead of minding their business.

Later, I learnt from my master of the chaos that befell the city when it became
known that Captain had been destroyed and that I was somewhere in the city.
Sheer hopelessness seems to have seized the townspeople. They withdrew to
their homes and even there remained nervous. All doors and windows 20
everywhere were shut, bolted, and sealed. Some even thought that I was some
extraordinary creature who might pass through the walls and lie in wait on the
roof or in the loft or basement. Poor people living in huts had real cause to

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 worry: I could have taken any of their homes apart. But why should I? One
could understand their fears, but why should those living in brick and cement
feel nervous? It was due to their general lack of a sense of security and an
irrational dread of losing their assets. Why should a simple tiger have any
interest in them either to destroy or to safeguard?

I rested for a moment at the door of Anand Bhavan, on Market Road, where
30
coffee drinkers and tiffin eaters at their tables sat transfixed, uttering low
moans on seeing me. I wanted to assure them, 'Don't fear, I am not out to
trouble you. Eat your tiffin in peace, don't mind me ... You, nearest to me,
hugging the cash box, you are craven with fear, afraid even to breathe. Go on,
count the cash, if that's your pleasure. I just want to watch, that's all ... If my
tail trails down to the street, if I am blocking your threshold, it is because, I'm
told, I'm eleven feet tip to tail. I can't help it. I'm not out to kill ... I'm too full—
found a green pasture teeming with food on the way. Won't need any for
several days to come, won't stir, not until I feel hungry again. Tigers attack
only when they feel hungry, unlike human beings who slaughter one another 40

without purpose or hunger ...'

— A Tiger in the School, R. K. Narayanan

(i) For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the [2]
passage) from the options provided:

1. sturdy (line 7)
(a) brave
(b) strong
(c) compassionate
(d) fixed
2. basement (line 23)
(a) room at the top of the house
(b) library
(c) the ground floor
(d) a room at the bottom of the house

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 (ii) Which word in the passage means the opposite of the word liabilities. [1]

(a) threshold

(b) chaos

(c) assets

(d) cash box

(iii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

(a) Which sentence in the passage tells us that the people were fast [2]
disappearing?

(b) Why was the prisoner lucky on that day? [2]

(c) What reason does the tiger give to explain why people in brick and cement [2]
houses are nervous?

(d) The passage describes a man who is shivering with fear and clutching his [2]
cash box. What kind of a person do you think he was?

(e) How would you have reacted if a tiger walked into the street outside your [1]
school?

(iv) In not more than 50 words, describe the tiger’s thoughts on how differently [8]
people behave inside and outside the circus.

Question 5
(i) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in [4]
brackets. Do not copy the passage but write in correct serial order the word or
phrase appropriate to the blank space.
Example:
(0) The Okapi, dubbed the "African Unicorn",_(dwell) in the Democratic
Republic of Congo's rainforests.
Answer: dwells
While its legs bear zebra-like black and white stripes, its body (1)_(have) a rich,
reddish-brown hue. Its unique features (2)_(include) a lengthy, flexible tongue
for__(3)(strip) leaves and expressive ears for acute hearing in its tropical
habitat.Despite its (4)__ (discover) in the early 20th century, the Okapi remains
__(5) (elude) in the wild, __(6) (conceal) by the rainforest's depths. Human
activities, including deforestation and __(7)(poach)pose threats to its habitats,
raising____(8)(conserve) concerns for this enigmatic creature

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 (ii) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. [4]
(a) My sister and I get very well with each other.

(b) Mini plays basketball her friends every day.

(c) Everyone is excited __________ the thought of being able to

participate.

(d) Growing up, we were looked and brought up by our

grandparents.

(e) Most students take the bus school as it reaches the premises
on time.

(f) The cricket match was put because of torrential rains.

(g) The Supreme Court set _____ the decree of the High Court.

(h) I have been training under her the past two years.
(iii) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using [4]
and, but or so. Choose the correct option.

1. We placed our order late. We received the food on time.

(a) Despite placed our order late, the food was received on time.
(b) Despite placing our order late, we received the food on time.
(c) Despite we placed our order late, the food was received on time.
(d) Despite of us placing our order late, we receiving the food on time.

2. The music stopped. The audience left the auditorium.

(a) Hardly had the music stopped so the audience left the auditorium.
(b) Hardly had the music stopped then the audience left the auditorium.
(c) Hardly had the music stopped since the audience left the auditorium.
(d) Hardly had the music stopped when the audience left the auditorium.

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 3. You cannot enter the club. You do not have a membership.
(a) You cannot enter the club unless you have a membership.
(b) You cannot enter the club since you have a membership.
(c) You cannot enter the club whereas you have a membership.
(d) You cannot enter the club if you have a membership.

4. Ravi did not lock the house. Ravi did not lock the gates.

(a) Neither Ravi locked the house nor the gates.

(b) Ravi locked neither the house nor the gates.

(c) Neither did Ravi lock the house or the gates.

(d) Neither the house nor the gates did Ravi lock.
(iv) Choose the correct option to rewrite the following according to the instructions [8]
given after each sentence.

1. As soon as Matthew reached the school, the bell rang.

(Begin with: No sooner…)

(a) No sooner did Matthew reached the school when the bell rang.

(b) No sooner does Matthew reach the school that the bell rang.

(c) No sooner did Matthew reach the school than the bell rang.

(d) No sooner did Matthew reach the school then the bell rang.

2. The parents have trained their children well.

(Begin with: The children …)
(a) The children were trained well by their parents.
(b) The children is being trained well by their parents.
(c) The children had been trained well by their parents.
(d) The children have been trained well by their parents.

3. Suhani has gone to Sweden to visit her aunt.

(Add a question tag)
(a) Suhani has gone to Sweden to visit her aunt, isn’t it?
(b) Suhani has gone to Sweden to visit her aunt, didn’t she?
(c) Suhani has gone to Sweden to visit her aunt, hadn’t she?
(d) Suhani has gone to Sweden to visit her aunt, hasn’t she?

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 4. Your form will be accepted if it is submitted on time.
(Use: ‘unless’)

(a) Your form will be accepted unless it is submitted on time.

(b) Unless your form is submitted on time, it will not be accepted.

(c) Unless the form is accepted, it should be submitted on time.

(d) Your form will be accepted unless it is not submitted on time.

5. The shelf is so high that I cannot reach it.

(Use ‘too’ in place of ‘so’)

(a) This shelf is too high that I cannot reach it.

(b) This shelf is too high for me to reach.

(c) This shelf is too high to reach me.

(d) This shelf is too much high to reach.

6. Adopting a dog was the best thing I have ever done in my life.

(Begin: No other…..)

(a) No other dog I have ever adopted was the best thing I have done in my life.

(b) No other best thing I have ever done in my life was adopting a dog.

(c) No other thing I have ever done in my life was as good as adopting a dog.

(d) No other thing I have ever done was as good as adopting a dog in my life.

7. "I am going to watch my friend's play tomorrow," she said.

(Begin with: She said...)

(a) She said that she is going to watch her friend's play tomorrow.

(b) She said that she will be going to watch her friend's play tomorrow.

(c) She said that she was going to watch my friend's play the following
day.

(d) She said that she was going to watch her friend's play the following
day.

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 8. Nithin is more talented than most of the professional musicians I know.

(Use: few)

(a) Professional musicians I know have few talents as Nithin.

(b) Few professional musicians I know are as talented as Nithin.

(c) Few professional musicians I know are not as talented as Nithin.

(d) Professional musicians I know do not have as few talents as Nithin.

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