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ICSE Class 10 English Literature Question Paper 2015 Solved
**Answer is not provided due to change in the present syllabus.
Section — A (Drama)
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Portia : But this reasoning is not in the fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word “choose”! I may neither choose whom 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 ? (3)
(ii) Who is Nerissa ? What does she say to cheer up Portia? (3)
(iii) Why does Portia disapprove of the County Palatine ? Whom would she rather marry? (3)
(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 ? (3)
(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 ? (4)
Answers:
(i) Portia’s father had devised a lottery of three caskets in one of which was the portrait of Portia. Only that suitor would choose the right casket who loved her truly. The suitors had to take an oath of secrecy and celibacy before making their choice, in case they failed in the right choice.
(ii) Nerissa is Portia’s companion. She cheers up Portia by saying that she should not worry as her father must have got right inspiration at the time of his death, and that the casket lottery designed by him would prove to be a sound one.
(iii) Portia disapproves the County Palatine because he does nothing but frown, just as if to say, “I care little whether you want me or not.” He hears good stories without a smile. Portia says that she should rather marry a skeleton with a bone in his mouth.
(iv) The Duke of Saxony’s nephew is a big drunkard. So in order to induce him to choose the wrong casket, Portia asks Nerissa to place a large glass of wine. He will choose that casket even if the devil be in the casket. So long as the temptation of wine is there, he will choose it. These suitors ultimately decide to leave without trying their luck with the lottery because they do not want to take any risk as they are not true lovers.
(v) Portia marries young Bassanio ultimately. The other two suitors who took the test were the Prince of Morocco and the Prince of Arragon. Bassanio, a brave and generous fellow, was really worthy of Portia because he knew what love demanded. He was the one who could make the greatest sacrifice at the altar of love. True love knows to give but does not demand.
Question 2.
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 Uncapable of pity, void and empty, From any dram of mercy.
(i) What are the terms of the bond that Antonio has signed? (3)
(ii) Why does the Duke call Shylock ‘inhuman ’ ? What does the Duke expect Shy lock to do? (3)
(iii) What reason does Shylock give for choosing rotten flesh over money ? What are the things hated by some people? (3)
(iv) State three examples Antonio gives to illustrate Shylock s stubborn attitude. (3)
(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. (4)
Answers :
(i) The terms of the bond that Antonio has signed are very harsh, according to which Shylock will be entitled to have a pound of flesh from nearest Antonio’s heart if the latter fails to return the sum of three thousand ducats borrowed by Antonio.
(ii) The Duke calls Shylock ‘inhuman’ because he (Shylock) has a heart of stone, an inhuman wretch who does not know what pity is, quite lacking in the slighest quality of mercy. The Duke expects Shylock to be merciful, and not vindictive.
(iii) Shylock prefers to have a quantity of dead flesh rather than three thousand ducats. For this he gives no other reason than his whim. People like or hate things out of their personal inclinations. There are certain men who have an aversion to a gaping pig, there are others who fly into a rage at the sight of a cat. Still there are others who fail to keep their balance on hearing the sound of a bagpipe.
(iv) Antonio tells Bassanio that it is useless to ask Shylock to be merciful. He argues that as it is useless to ask the tide not to rise so high, similarly it is futile to ask Shylock to soften his stand. One might as well ask the wolf why he made the mother sheep mourn for the lamb he devoured. One might as well forbid the pine trees on the mountains to wave their high tops and to make a noise when disturbed by the winds of heaven.
(v) Though the Duke orders half of Shylock’s property to go to Antonio while the other half will go to Antonio, Antonio remarks that he does not want to claim half of Shylock’s property. He adds that he would like it to be given to Jessica and Lorenzo after Shylock’s death. I think Shylock has been harshly treated. He seems to have been more sinned against than sinning. The Christian charity should have been shown to him also.
Loyalties: John Galsworthy
Question 3.**
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? (3)
(ii) Why, according to Lady Adela, did Dancy leave the army? Why does she call him reckless ? (3)
(iii) Where had De Levis kept the money which was stolen ? Where had he gone after keeping the money ? How much did he lose? (3)
(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’s room ? (3)
(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. (4)
Question 4.**
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Mabel: Oh ! Why didn’t I face it ? But I couldn’t-1 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 ! .
Mable : [Putting her hand on his head] Yes; oh, yes ! I think I’ve known a long time, really. Only – why? What made you ?
(i) How does Dancy respond to Mabel’s question? (3)
(ii) What makes Dancy say ‘that’s not inhuman nature’ a little later ? (3)
(iii) Why does Inspector Dede arrive at Dancy’s house ? How does Mabel try to stall him ? (3)
(iv) To whom was Dancy s suicide note addressed? What had he written in it ? (3)
(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 ? (4)
Section – B Poetry
A Collection of Poems
Question 5.**
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 walk’d his deck,
And fix’d his 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. (3)
(ii) Why had the Abbot of Aberbrothok hung a bell on the Inchcape Rock ? (3)
(iii) Why did Sir Ralph cut the bell from the Inchcape Rock ? Describe the manner in which it sank underwater. (3)
(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 ? (3)
(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 ? (4)
Question 6.**
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? (3)
(ii) What is being ground by the maidens ? Which items are the vendors weighing ? (3)
(iii) Describe the bells that the goldsmiths are crafting for blue pigeons?
What do the goldsmiths make for the dancers and the king? (3)
(iv) Which instruments are the musicians playing? What are the magicians doing? (3)
(v) Mention the happy as well as the sad occasions for which the flower girls are weaving flowers. Write one reason why
the poem has appealed to you. (4)
Section C – (Prose)
A Collection of Short Stories
Question 7.**
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 his nightly errand? (3)
(ii) Describe the axe that Baldeo carried with him. Who had made the axe ? (3)
(iii) Which sound made Baldeo realise that the tiger was close by ? (3)
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. (3)
(v) How did the tiger die ? Point out a similarity in the characters of Baldeo and his son Tembu. Give an examplefor each to justify your answer. (4)
Question 8.**
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.