ICSE Class 10 English Language Sample Question Paper 2 with Answers
Maximum Marks: 40
Time: 1 1/2 Hours
Section-A
(Attempt all questions from this Section)
Question 1.
Write a composition (300-350 words) on any one of the following. [20]
(i) Write an original short story entitled ‘Man is often ruined by his pride’.
(ii) “Billions of dollars are spent every year by the world’s space agencies; this money does not bring us any direct benefit. Instead, we should pull the plug and spend it elsewhere.” Express your views either for or against this statement.
(iii) You were held up in a village railway station one night due to an accident. Give an account of your experience.
(iv) School is a temple of learning. But this belief is fast changing now. Keeping in view the trend adopted by the students of today, give your views on the statement.
(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.
Answer:
MAN IS OFTEN RUINED BY HIS PRIDE
(i) Once there was a rich man living a prosperous and happy life with his family. He had nothing to worry about. Hence, he was filled with pride all the time. He had a beautiful wife who too took a great pride at her social status and beauty. He used to mock at people and make fun of them too. Pride is a paper-thin image, ready to be tom by the slightest impact. Same happened with the rich man too. The income tax department carried a sudden raid in his office. This mined him of his huge wealth accumulated by unfair means and it also spoiled his social image, for which he had a lot of pride. Not only that his wife got an unknown disease, she became bed-ridden too, unable to eat and move on her own. Her husband left no stone unturned to get her cure but all in vain. Gradually, she lost her health, beauty and also her job. These mishaps mined the rich man and his wife of all that they took pride at, whether health, beauty, social status or wealth.
Now he lead a life of a hard-working common man, struggling all the day long to manage his basic needs. They have by now realized that their negative pride on themselves led them to their disaster. Pride is one of the flaws of our race. Along with the wealth and all the material things, they lost their so-called friends and relatives too because such people don’t have real friends, as relationship issues are caused by pride. Though one can win an argument (because his pride persuades him) but hell loose a relation. Pride alters communication and connection.
One should not let the allure of a pristine image draw him into the pride slave cage. Prideful people are, ironically, the most likely ones to be stuck in mediocrity and image management. Therefore, it is better to stay humble and one will climb safely higher.
THE HUGE INVESTMENT IN SPACE AGENCIES FOR THE MOTION
(ii) Let’s begin with how much money is devoted to space exploration. Hundreds of billions! They are paid through grants and funding to and from government agencies. Space research programs are straining the government budget, jeopardising essential and more pertinent issues like education and healthcare which affect majority of the population especially in developing countries. Many accidents and problems happened in the space that require seven times more money to fix those problems, along with creating a loss to qualified space scientist or increasing the level of severity of pollution by debris of space garbage if fallen on earth.
Dedication could be focused on ending famine or developing the poor/underdeveloped countries. It could be used to increase the efforts to combat terminal illness or to battle pollution which is risking man’s existence today.
It’s our moral responsibility to preserve and beautify the Earth first. Poor literacy rates, unemployment due to lack of proper vocational training, poverty, homelessness in masses, crime control, law and justice departments need more attention.
When many people starve everyday and lots of people are deprived of basic amenities, space research seems a luxury we can’t afford. The government resources should be spent on something as basic and important as employable education. Maximum countries still lack the basic medical infrastructure. Governments should prioritise medical research and making healthcare accessible and far-reaching. To conclude, though space programs are essential for the advancement of science and technologies, a multitude of basic problems like education, medical and healthcare should be given a paramount importance. The budget devoted to space exploration is a wild dream. It is better to spend these amounts to relieve poverty in the world. Medical researches should be encouraged to create cheaper medical facilities for people in general or medicines for almost incurable diseases. In addition, we have to explore our planet and solve its problems before thinking of space invasion.
AGAINST THE MOTION
There has been a strong advocacy of the argument that exploring space is a waste of money and that there are more urgent needs to be addressed on Earth like improving literacy rates, reducing poverty, preventing environmental destruction and improving law and order. However, I completely disagree with this opinion for following reasons :
We depend on satellite technology for broadcasting and weather forecasting. Without satellites, we would not be able to follow global weather mishaps and then we will not be able to warn people of approaching storms or likewise.
We cannot foresee the distant future, so we ought to develop the capability to escape from the Earth. Gradually, we are learning how humans can survive for long periods in space and even travel to other planets in the future. If space exploration is halted, this valuable knowledge will never be acquired. Researches in space and its discoveries help us to develop such devices or technologies to preserve, improve and predict the level of destruction in environment globally and also its effect on human survival.
As far as the eradication of poverty or improving literacy is concerned; again it can be witnessed that the use of internet helps to create awareness among the masses towards their moral duty to help the needy people in getting literate or getting rid of poverty.
The government makes policies for improving law and order or solving other issues of society with the help of digitalization, which again is a contribution of space researches somewhere or the other. In conclusion, it can be safely asserted that though we face many serious problems on our planet, it is imperative that we continue to explore space. This will promote further technological advances. It will definitely provide a possible means to sort out these problems and make our Earth a better and prosperous place for all its inhabitants. Ideally, all nations should cooperate for the advancement of space research.
AN EXPERIENCE OF A VILLAGE
(iii) Like most of the travellers in India, I also have my shares of train journeys. I am sharing my strange experience of a halt at a village railway station one night. I remember the incident afresh as if it happened just a day ago. I was going to my friend’s house in another city.
I boarded the train at the outskirts of my city bound for the next city at the central railway station. It was evening and I was supposed to reach there by early morning next day. The train was flagged off on time and I settled down comfortably with a book. I shared the air-conditioned first class compartment with a couple and their children who were quite friendly. The Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) came around and checked the tickets.
I took my seat and enjoyed the sunset from the train. As it got darker I had my dinner and went to sleep. While I was fast asleep I felt a sudden jerk and jolted out of my berth seat. Before I could understand anything, grim darkness spread all around. What I could hear was only screaming of people and gruesome cries of children. I suddenly noticed emergency door near me and started kicking it with all possible force. Many of the passengers along with me pushed the door and luckily it opened. We escaped out. Then again I went inside to help people and I pulled out one old man half crushed under a seat. I also pushed another person who was bleeding profusely. I shouted at them to come out and jumped to find my belongings. We doubted whether it was a clash between two trains. There was no proper help or support from the railways.
All the surviving passengers were trembling out of fear. We needed a proper place to sleep and relax. But as I mentioned earlier it was a small village railway station which didn’t have even proper light system. A dim lantern was glowing like a firefly to dispel a bit of darkness of that very horrific gloomy night. We were trying to locate some place for our comfort. But we were assured that at this point of midnight in a village we won’t get any sort of help.
The guard of the station came to us and asked if we need anything. We were surprised to hear it. Then he said that on the station we cannot have any facility as it was an old small village railway station. He asked us to come to his village where there is open place to sleep and relax safely and also from there we may get various means of transport for city to continue or discontinue our journey. We all were happy to accompany him.
We agreed at his offer and received a warm welcome by the villagers. They offered us bed to sleep, in the morning we had a delicious and pure breakfast which made our day. I still remember that mouth watering taste of the food I ate there. After that, many of the passengers discontinued their journey and went back home by hiring a bus to the city. But I continued, as my destination wasn’t much far away. I took the guidance from the villagers for the further route and went away.
It was an experience I will cherish forever, a mixed feeling of fear, valour and warmth of humaneness. This not just changed my opinion of villagers but also rekindled my belief in humanity and the confidence in providence.
FAST CHANGING BELIEF : SCHOOL IS A TEMPLE OF LEARNING
(iv) School has been a temple of learning where students are involved in the learning process. It is a place where basic things like manners, discipline and punctuality are taught besides studies. The base or the foundation of one’s personality is developed in schools as a major part of childhood is spent in schools.
Nowadays, the schools exist no more as temple of learning. It is rather an institutional set up for profit of the investors/stake holders. So, it doesn’t care for student’s individual ability. They are in a hurry to complete the syllabus anyhow. Children with different mind-set absorb it as per their capacity, to which the school is not much concerned. It’s sad to bring to general notice that the “guru- shishya parampara” rarely exists in schools. The teachers are answerable to the management and the management focuses only on the statistics of successful students, no matter whether it’s cooked, forced or whether students really possess that level of knowledge which the school boasts in its brochures.
So, now the students are adopting a trend which is equally harmful for both the school as well as the students. Actually students these days take less interest in school teaching. Instead they prefer private coaching/tuitions near their houses for fetching marks. School has become a place to fetch grade cards for students. The technological revolution has made it even worse as students try to hunt answer/solution to their homework online. This has reduced the need to study the course book thoroughly. Hence, as far as knowledge in children is concerned it has synchronized merely to internet.
It’s an alarming time for the parents especially to take decisive measure towards reintroducing their children to thorough studies and avoid shortcuts like copy-paste from internet or hunting answers online. Equally the schools should also be awaken from just money-making to contributing precious knowledge in students who will become a better citizen to prosper the nation in future.
IMPACT OF FAMILY CONFLICT ON CHILDREN
(v) The picture in the given question reveals that a couple is fighting/quarrelling with each other and their kid who is hearing all the conflicts is bitterly annoyed to the extent that tears drop from his eyes. Conflict is a normal part of everyday experience. But the important thing is how the conflict is expressed and resolved and how it makes children feel. When parents have mild to moderate conflict that involves support and compromise and positive emotions, children develop better self-esteem and social skills. They enjoy increased emotional security and develop better relationships with parents. These things positively impact their school activity and have fewer psychological problems. The fights that actually help children having some of the following constructive features :
Problem solving, compromise, expressing positive feelings while facing conflicts, making supportive statements.
The fights that hurt kids and parents may have some or all of these negative features : Defensiveness, personal insults, verbal hostility.
Children’s emotional security as well as their relationship with the parents is affected by the relationship between the parents. Psychologists stress that a strong child-parent bond is the key to child’s developed mental health and social adjustment. Evidence has shown that headaches, abdominal pains and even reduced growth can be witnessed by the insecurity a child can feel by seeing their parents at war.
Children who lived with parents who constantly quarreled and fought had higher average cortisol levels than children who lived in more peaceful families. As a result, they frequently became tired and ill; they played less and slept poorly. Overall, children did not ever habituate, or “get used to,” the family stress. In contrast, when children experienced particularly calm or affectionate contact, their cortisol decreased.
Parents can get therapy to help them learn better ways to communicate. They can also handle disapproval, disappointment and exasperation with kindness. They can create an atmosphere of faith among each other to avoid critical situation of serious conflicts among them.
Question 2.
Select one of the following : [10]
(i) You, along with some of your friends, have visited a place of tourist interest recently. Write a letter to your uncle about the visit, describing the attractions of the place and its impact on you.
(ii) Write a letter to the editor of a national daily about the increasing level of noise pollution in the world. Suggest a few ways in which the menace of noise pollution can be controlled.
Answer:
(i) C- 49, Kamla Nagar,
Delhi-110 007
26th May, 20XX
Dear Uncle,
Hope my letter finds you in the pink of your health. Today I am writing this letter to share one of my best experiences of a visit to a beautiful hill station with my friends. I had a long cherished desire to visit Darjeeling, a wonderful place of natural beauty. So, my joy knew no bounds when my parents allowed me for the trip with my friends.
We reached Darjeeling by Toy Train and lodged in a hotel for a week. From the first day we started going out for sight-seeing. I was greatly charmed by the scenic beauty of the mountain forests, and the sky-kissing peak of the snow-covered mountains. The tranquility of green and serene surrounding left us spell bound. We visited the attractive spots like the tea gardens, the Victoria Falls, the Lebong race-course, the highest race-course in the world. We also saw the ropeway from the North Point to the Rangit Valley. One dawn, we visited the Tiger Hill from where we had a wonderful view of the sunrise. It was a rare experience for us. The Mall was another attractive spot where we walked about in the afternoon. I can never forget the charming beauty of Darjeeling.
Please convey my sincere regards to aunty and lots of love to my lovely cousins.
Take care.
Yours lovingly,
Amrita
(ii) Block A-101, Surya Nagar,
Delhi-110 007.
28th September, 20XX.
The Editor,
The Times of India,
K.G.Marg,
New Delhi-110 001.
Dear Sir,
Through the esteemed column of your newspaper, I wish to create awareness among the public about noise pollution worldwide.
Today, noise pollution has become a threat to mankind. Increasing noise pollution is a big threat to the health and fitness of the people. If the noise pollution is allowed to go unchecked it may rob the people of their hearing capacity. Perhaps many of us are not aware that noise is a dangerous pollutant. It is all around us in the cities and towns in the form of traffic noise, domestic noise, manufacture and industrial noise, the rock and pop songs, the noise of the aeroplanes etc. All these noises disturb our tranquility, rest, functioning competence, etc., very adversely. It causes annoyance, irritation, sleeplessness, and many mental and physical ailments. Increasing number of vehicles on the roads, rising growth of factories, construction work, loudspeakers used on various occasions, rock and pop music, etc. are various factors responsible for causing noise pollution.
It is also harmful for physical and mental health of people. Frequent loud noise affects the working efficiency of the people.
Noise control laws are there but they are not of much use since they are not strictly followed and implemented by the concerned authorities. Only the increased public awareness can properly deal with the menace which is growing louder with the passage of time.
I hope this will awaken the people towards their role in making the environment free of excessive, harmful noise.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Rahul Morris
Question 3.
(i) You are Priya/Prem, the Cultural Secretary of S.K.M. Public School, Bengaluru. You have been asked to inform the students about a forthcoming Interschool Dramatics Competition. [5]
(ii) Write an e-mail, addressing teachers in-charge of different classes that will participate in the function. [5]
Answer:
(i)
INTERSCHOOL DRAMATICS COMPETITION
Audition Round
on 3rd August, 20XX
from 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
at Alaknanda Hall, S.K.M. Public School
Interested candidates may give their names to
Cultural Secretary Priya Singh on or before 31st July, 20XX.
(ii) To : (e-mail ids of class teachers in charge of classes IX to XII)
Cc : (e-mail ids of the Principal and other staff members concerned, if any)
Subject: Audition for Inter-school Dramatics Competition Dear Members of Teaching Faculty,
I wish to bring this to your attention that the Audition to select students for the school team, to represent in the Inter-school Dramatics Competition will be held on 17th September, 20XX in the School Auditorium from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The last date for giving names for the audition will be 3rd September, 20XX.
You are requested to kindly select the eligible candidates from your classes and hand over a list of the same latest by 7th September, 20XX.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Prem Rahane Cultural Secretary,
S.K.M Public School, Bengaluru