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MAHESH TUTORIALS I.C.S.E.

GRADE - X (2018-2019) MARKS : 80

Exam No. : MT/ICSE/PRELIM - I-SET A-005

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
ENGLISH PAPER- 2
(Two hours)
Answers to this Paper must be written on the paper provided separately.
You will not be allowed to write during the first l5 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 five questions in all.

You must attempt one question from each of the Section A, B and C
and any two other questions.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].

SECTION A - DRAMA
Question 1
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Bassanio: ...Pray thee, take pain
To allay with some cold drops of modesty
Thy skipping spirit, lest, through thy wild behaviour
I be misconstrued in the place I go to,
And lose my hopes.
Questions:
(i) Where is Bassanio? Who is he speaking to? Explain the extract in your
own words. [3]
(ii) What did this person request Bassanio? What did he assure Bassanio
about his modified behaviour? [3]
(iii) What observations has Bassanio just made about the person he is speaking
to? What had he expressed about him in an earlier scene? [3]
(iv) Who is Balthazar? What was the work assigned to him by Portia? [3]
(v) Bassanio has granted someone else’s request, earlier in the scene.
What was it? How did this person flatter Bassanio? How far is this true?[4]

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Question 2
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Portia: As from her Lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted; but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o’er myself, and even now, but now,
This house, these servants, and this same myself,
Are yours, my lord:
Questions:
(i) Where are Portia and Bassanio? What has just taken place which makes
Portia to speak these words? What was the inscription given on the lead
casket? [3]
(ii) What does Bassanio say in praise of Portia’s portrait? [3]
(iii) What news saddens Bassanio on this happy occasion? What does Portia
ask him to do? [3]
(iv) Who is Balthazar? What was the work assigned to him by Portia? [3]
(v) Where does Portia really plan to go? What similarity do we find between
Portia and Antonio? What does this scene reveal about the character of
Portia? Give a reason to justify your answer. [4]

Question 3
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Portia : But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings.
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.
Questions:
(i) Name the speaker. Why did the speaker appeal to the Jew for mercy?
Earlier who else in the play appealed for mercy? [3]
(ii) What are the three qualitites of mercy which the speaker has stated
just before the extract? [3]
(iii) Give the meaning of ‘But mercy is above this sceptred sway’. How does
Shylock turn down Portia’s plea for mercy? What does he insist on? [3]

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(iv) What is Bassanio ready to do for Antonio in the court? Why is Bassanio
snubbed immediately by the disguised Portia? [3]
(v) Mention two prominent character traits of Shylock as highlighted
through the scene from which the extract has been taken. Substantiate
your answer with example from the text. [4]

The Mousetrap: Agatha Christie

Question 4
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Miss Csewell: Georgie, you know me, don't you? Don't you remember
the farm, Georgie animals ...
Questions:
(i) Where is everyone? Who is Georgie? How is Miss Casewell connected
to him? [3]
(ii) What does Miss Casewell say about the animals? : [3]
(iii) When and how do Miss Casewell and Georgie recognize each other? [3]
(iv) What trauma had Georgie gone through in his childhood? What mental
illness was he afflicted with? [3]
(v) Whose life had been in danger a short while ago? Why? How does Miss
Casewell ease the tension? [4]

Question 5
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Mrs Boyle : You're very young.
Mollie : Young?
Mrs Boyle : To be running an establishment of this kind. You can't
have had much experience.
Questions:
(i) Who is Mrs. Boyle? What had she already complained about? [3]
(ii) How did Mollie react to Mrs. Boyle's statement about her inexperience?
How is Mrs. Boyle's assessment true? [3]
(iii) How did Mrs. Boyle continue to talk down to Mollie till the arrival of
Giles and Major Metcalf? How did Mollie respond? [3]
(iv) Which room was Mrs. Boyle supposed to be put up in? Why did Mollie
change Mrs. Boyle's room? [3]
(v) What happens to Mrs. Boyle that shocks everybody? Why is she killed? [4]
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Question 6
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Mollie : Major Metcalf tried it just after you arrived.
Trotter : But it was all right earlier. Superintendent Hogben got
through all right.
Mollie : Oh, yes, I suppose, since then, the lines are down with the
snow.
Questions :
(i) Who is Trotter? How did he come there? Was his arrival expected? [3]
(ii) Who seems to be a little taken aback by Mollie's announcement? Why?
Who else has a similar reaction? [3]
(iii) What has happened on Culvert Street? What description of the suspect
made Trotter talk about the overcoats in the hall? [3]
(iv) What did Trotter say about why he was there? [3]
(v) What does Giles find after this? Where does he go? What happens next? [4]

SECTION B - POETRY
Question 7
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

Questions :
(i) Explain the extract in your own words, How do you know from an earlier
stanza that the poet prefers solitude? [3]
(ii) What is ‘inward eye’? What flashes in his inward eye? What effect is
felt by him then? [3]
(iii) How are ‘They’ personified? [3]
(iv) Describe the sight seen by the poet, in detail. [3]
(v) What effect did ‘They’ have on the poet when he saw them first? What
effect did have on him later? What is the message conveyed by the poet? [4]

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Question 8
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
It was roses, roses, all the way.
With myrtle mixed in my path like mad;
The house- roofs seemed to heave and sway.
The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,
A year ago on this very day.

Questions :
(i) Describe the scene in your own words. [3]
(ii) What are the poetic devices in this stanza? [3]
(iii) What does the speaker add about that day a little later? [3]
(iv) What does the speaker see on his journey now? [3]
(v) What is the contrast experienced by the speaker in just a year? What
does it depict? [4]

Question 9
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold.

Questions :
(i) Who is Abou Ben Adhem? What is the meaning of the blessing mentioned
in the brackets? [3]
(ii) Mention two literary devices from the extract. [3]
(iii) How is the light enhanced in the room? How is light mentioned again
later on in the poem? What is the supernatural quality of these visions?[3]
(iv) What gave Ben Adhem courage to speak? How is the angel referred to?
What line tells you that the angel was benevolent? [3]
(v) Narrate the conversation between Ben Adhem and the angel. What is
the message conveyed by the poet, Leigh Hunt? [4]

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SECTION C - PROSE
Questions 10
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice,
seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off
instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.
“It’s Miss Fairchild,” he said with a smile. “I’ll ask you to excuse the
other hand; “It’s otherwise engaged just at present.”
Questions :
(i) Where is the young man? When did the young man get there? Describe
Miss Fairchlid. [3]
(ii) Describe the young man. What has Miss Fairchild just said to the
young man? [3]
(iii) How was this man’s hand ‘engaged’? What was Miss Fairchild’s reaction? [3]
(iv) Who was the young man’s companion? What did he say about the
situation? [3]
(v) What reason did the young man give for taking up the job? How did
the young man leave? How did the conversation between two passengers
nearby reveal the truth? [4]

Questions 11
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes, an any coach
will tell you. I was no exception.

Question :
(i) Describe Jesse Owens’s frame of mind when he set out to take part in
the Olympic Games. [3]
(ii) Whom did Owens see at the trials? [3]
(iii) How did his anger affect Owens’ performance? Who approached him? [3]
(iv) What did Luz Long advise Owens? What happned later that evening? [3]
(v) What did Pierre de Coubertin’s say about the Olympics? How did Luz
Long epitomize that? [4]

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Questions 12
Answer the following questions with reference to Chief Seattle’s Speech:
(i) How are the Red Man and White Man different in their religious
beliefs and spiritual practices?' [4]
(ii) How does Chief Seattle present the force of his argument for the
statement- 'Your God is not our God!'? [4]
(iii) How does Chief Seattle conclude? What condition does he lay? Why does
he say that the White Man will never be alone? [8]

All the Best 

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