ICSE Paper 2011
ENGLISH-I
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 four questions.
The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].
You are advised to spend not more than 35 minutes in answering Question 1 and 20 minutes in answering Question 2.
Question 1: [25]
(Do not spend more than 35 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (350 – 400 words) on any one of the following:
(a) “Private tuitions are a necessary evil.” Give your views either for or against this statement.
(b) Write an original story entitled : Lost and Found.
(c) Relate a special incident or experience in your life which you still recall with happiness.
(d) Children’s Day is celebrated in your school every year. Write what you particularly liked about this year’s celebration. What did you learn from the efforts of those who planned and organized the function? How did you express your gratitude to them?
(e) Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description on 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.
Answer:
(a) We are living in a world of education. Today education has become a necessary department in everyone’s life. A person has to be educated enough to achieve the desired success in his life. But, today private tuitions have become a big mainstay and are a major part of our educational system. With the competition that the children are facing nowadays, more emphasis is being given to the tuitions than the school. Parents are stressed like never before because of the tuitions. “Failure is the tuition you pay for success.”
Students now normally start taking tuitions from the 6th standard or some even from 1st standard only. This is only because of the negligence of the parents. If parents try to give their children time to help them in their studies then this won’t happen. But parents now have become so busy with their work that students have to resort to tuitions at an early age. “Tuitions is not an intelligent way to learn” for children of such young age. A physical burden can be seen in every student’s life because of the number of tuitions. Students lose their motivation to work hard as they indulge in tuitions after their school. The result is they don’t get the time for their physical exercises which is also an important part of life. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, this saying can be recalled in the case of the tuitions.
The cost factor is another main concern. Not all parents can afford the tuition fees of his child. It’s just that they have to compromise for the sake of their children just to make them happy and so that their children do not say to them that, you didn’t send me for the tuition, that’s why I got such bad marks. But the real factor is that if the student has the will and desire to study he can get good marks even without the tuitions also students should have self confidence in themselves that we can study and can do well without the tuitions also.
Private tuitions have commercialized the studies. “Name a career and you have the experts to guide you. But wait, there is a price tag with everything. Nothing comes free.” Commercializing the education is like injustice done to the people. Commercializing the studies is just unjustified and cannot be accepted. Private tuitions are busy making money at the cost of the students but least are they bothered about their skyrocketing charges. They are creating a divide amongst the students. All students don’t have the same financial condition. Therefore, all cannot afford the expensive tuitions, which ultimately create a divide amongst the rich and the poor. Nowadays, tuition fees are replaced by the course fees, which ranges something between Rs. 6,000-Rs. 10,000 again a headache for the parents.
Numerous teachers are provoking the students directly or indirectly to take tuitions for them. Some of these teachers tend to do injustice to the students by leaking class test in the tuition only to the students taking tuitions from them. This is a kind of injustice done to the other students who try to get marks with their own ability. Students have now become so stressed out with the tuitions that they don’t get time for their self study. But to be true, if a student has to get good marks self study is the most important.
In olden days, teachers were considered as Gurus, they were supposed to be next to God. But nowadays, private tuitions have changed the whole scenario. Firstly, tuitions were given for the betterment of children, to guide them in a proper way. But now, tuitions have become commercialized and teachers have become money minded. Teachers are not given the due respect which they were given in olden days. This is only because of the so many private tuitions and some money minded teachers.
Private tuitions have become a partying hub for the students. Teachers throw parties to the students thinking that this will attract students, and to be precise this happens. Tuitions have now become a high profile because of the faculty and the type of atmosphere and because of their students get, attracted, but the charges there over so high that the parents have to impart all their savings which they saved for their children’s future now only.
It is the time that the Government should take note of the things and plans to keep in control the skyrocketing charges of the tuition fees. Otherwise, the education system will be spoiled one day and teachers would not be given the respect that they should get. Therefore, it has been rightly said that, “Private tuitions are necessary, but it is an evil.”
(b) “Love” if you have it, you don’t need anything else, and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter much whether you have anything else. Human beings have a very soft heart. They all love someone or other in their life. Some humans are lucky as they get those whom they love while some are not lucky. The story is about my own life which describes how I lost my love and later in life how I found it again.
The first day I saw her was our first day in the 9th standard of my school. She was a new student to our class. The moment I saw her, I realised that it was love at first sight. She had black eyes, a fair complexion and curly hair. She was intelligent and excelled in studies as later I came to know. I soon developed a friendship with her as “Friendship is the first stepping stone towards every relationship.”
We were in 10th standard when we started talking more to each other. I liked her very much but I never tried to let her know about it. Our board examinations were coming so we started giving time to studies. We passed our examination with good grades and came to 11th standard. Now my liking began to increase day by day. The time which I used to spend with her was the best time of the day. I could never make out from her behaviour that what were her views about me. We became best friends from good friends. Yet I could never gain the courage to tell her because I was afraid that if I told her the truth, I might lose her as a friend. The fear of losing her was more than the happiness of loving her. Though sometimes I felt that she knew the fact that I liked her.
Then came the ‘twist in the tale’. There was a boy in our class, Arbaaz, she started liking him. Even I heard about it. Since I deeply and truly loved her and “love is giving happiness to our loved one” so I decided that if she is happy with someone else then I would stay away from her. I know that it would be difficult but…. Once we quarrelled with each other over a petty issue which turned into a big one end I “lost’ her forever. I cried a lot not being able to control my emotions. Time passed and our 12th standard was over and we all were separated.
Each one of us got busy finding a road to our career and I made it through Sri Ram College of Commerce Delhi a leading college of India. The first day of my college, I went into the class and was in for a shock. There she was, sitting in the front row of the class. I was very happy to see her. Neither she came to me, nor I stepped forward towards her “We were close yet very far” from one smother. A little later I heard from her friends that the boy with whom she was in a relationship broke her heart for some other girl. I felt pity on her. I wished to step forward but I was not able to do so.
One day she met me at the church when I saw her I kept looking in her eyes and she also did the same. Nobody could speak anything and went our ways soon. It was the last day of our college. I was unable to control my feelings and emotions for her and so the words which I wanted to speak 8 years before I spoke them now. I proposed to her and she accepted my proposal. We embraced each other and got lost in each other’s eyes. Finally I had FOUND my love.
This was how I found my lost love and I consider myself to be the luckiest person on this earth.
(c) Finally now I’m in NCC [National Cadet Corps] and have completed my first lovely and memorable NCC camp. This experience in the camp was just like a lovely tour for me as we enjoyed a lot.
We started on 15th of May. We reached school by 6:30 am and then our incharge, Miss Ashu divided all of us into six groups. There were total fifty four girls and nine girls were there in each group. Earlier only we girls decided what all we will carry with us. It was like so and so will bring mug, so and so will bring a bucket and all that. It was my responsibility to bring mugs. I took one comic book and my radio with me so that if I felt bored then I will read and listen to radio. We were told by our incharge to go to different classes and ask the students to bring their old clothes and collect them.
Our bus arrived by 7 o’clock. My friends and I was in a hurry to enter the bus as we wanted to take the last seat so that we may have fun hut unfortunately our incharge r didn’t permit us to do so. There were total two buses. I went in bus number one and my friends in bus number two. We played many games and some of them made me laugh so much by their activities that while laughing my stomach ached.
We were taken to a village near Burgidam. We reached over there by 11:30 am. After reaching over there we waited for bus number two to arrive and as they arrived we all hooted and shouted like hip hip hurray, hip hip hurray.
We all were in our NCC uniform. I was in group II and with my group members we all started putting up our tents. There were special arrangements for us. It was this that outside our tents there were some wood pieces and bushes kept so that at night we may light them and enjoy.
On 16th morning when my watch was exactly at six a whistle blew which indicated that we have to go out and exercise our body. After that at eight we were given refreshments. This is what I loved the most in NCC. After having all that we were told to go back to our tent to get ready to return by 10:30 am. At 10:30 we all came there in our uniforms and were then taken inside the village. There were many beggars to whom we offered those old clothes collected by all of us. From second day onwards all the fun began. We all were back to our tents by 2:30 p.m. We had our lunch which was provided to us and then I slept for two hours. At five we all Mends gathered outside the tent and played games related to movies and songs. It was great fun. At dawn we got busy lighting our camp fire. When it was ready we all sat around it and sang many songs. In the night one of my friend Nida Patel was sleeping we all planned to put Kajal on her face. We bought cameras with us and then as I put the Kajal on her face, she workup and we all shouted clown! Whenever I try to remember this incident, it makes me laugh a lot.
(d) Children’s Day Celebration:
14th November. Children wait for this day with lots of excitement in their mind, infact, I too wait for this day with excitement as 14th November is celebrated as children’s day.
I love this day as in our school, every year it is celebrated with full of excitement, surprises and lots and lots of fun. This year’s celebration really surprised me a lot.
On 13th November, it was declared to us that we all have to come to school on 14th in colour dress. We all were thrilled by this news as for the first time our principal permitted us to wear colour dress on children’s day. On 14th morning we reached school by 8:30 am. We had our regular prayer and then there was an special prayer for we children as it was Children’s Day. Every one looked pretty in colour dress.
It seemed as if it was a glowing colourful morning to all. After the assembly got over, we were told that there will be lots and lots of surprises for us and we were told not to hoot but to maintain the discipline. Then the program started. At first there were two dances. Something special and surprising in both the dances were that, every year it was being performed by we students. But this time they were our own teachers who performed it. The starter was performed by our primary teachers but, the actual fun was in the second dance which was performed by our senior teachers. When the music of second dance was about to end, our principal Sister Roslyer entered the stage dancing. All the girls hooted as it was amazing to see the principal of a school dancing for her school students. After that our singing teacher sang a soft and beautiful song for us. Then we all were taken to our class by our class teachers. In our class there came three cartoon boxes. We all started guessing whats inside them. The first cartoon contained packets of chocolates, the second contained beautiful key-rings and the third cartoon contained chocolate bars. Oh! such lovely gifts they were.
There was an announcement made by Sister through the intercom that we have to reach our multipurpose hall after receiving the gifts. We all made a line and then went to our multipurpose hall. Our multipurpose hall looked/like heaven when we reached there as it was totally decorated with beautiful flowers and even the chairs were decorated so beautifully that the decoration pleased us a lot. Our principal invited few of the singers on the stage infact I was also called. Total nine students were called on the stage and then she told us that we all had to sing songs and entertain the whole school. We were glad and each of us sang only pop songs. When the show got over every one shouted Music! Music! Sister knew what we meant, so she played all the latest songs and all of us were dancing with lots of fun and joy. We all made groups and then danced. It was a great day for me. I will never ever forget this day in my whole life. I had never thought that we will see our teachers and even our principal dancing for us. This was a real treat for me. I’m really thankful to all of them for performing such a wonderful show for us.
(e) Picture Study
It rained so heavily that all the cluster of cars and buildings of the city were looked like the playing objects present in the aquarium of our state. People were praying for the rain will stop and they can go to their work.
Day by day rain started becoming heavier and all the roads, highways, parks, etc. were full of rain water. All the workmen were praying to God to stop the rain as the news was spreading that floods may arrive within a day if the rain continues.
Within a span of no time a dam broke and floods came. The drainage system was blocked due to which the water level rose higher and higher. Many people were drowned and saints were comforting their mind by saying that all this is God’s will and he will not destroy them.
Humans have the special quality of adjusting themselves with their surroundings. So in such dangerous atmosphere of floods, people were having difficulty in living their life but they were doing their best to cooperate with the nature. People along with such accidents knew the power of nature and took the pledge of saving their mother earth.
In the picture also one can see that a rickshaw puller is struggling hard to earn his living. Whereas the woman sitting with the umbrella in the rickshaw is smiling shows that she is insensitive to the hardships of the poor rickshaw puller.
For his living he has to work inspite of the difficult situation or one can also interpret it as the fighting spirit in the woman that against all odds life has to continue. Crossing deep water she has moved out of her house may be to purchase daily need goods to feed her family. For it is sure under such hard circumstances no one would venture out of their house.
One should make an effort of controlling flood so that people may not have to struggle and so that there will be no damage to property or life of people. The people learn lesson through this picture study and they must help the people who are caught in the flood and take measures to prevent floods. By doing this one can easily stop a lot of destruction occurring every year.
Question 2:
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select one of the following: [10]
(a) Write a letter to the local Municipal Corporation complaining about the malaria epidemic in your city. State the causes and suggest ways to deal with the problem.
(b) You have just acquired an unusual pet. Write a letter to your friend telling him I her about it. Give details about the care you have to take in looking after and feeding the pet.
Answer:
(a) The Mayor
Municipal Corporation
Agra
20th April, 2011
Sir,
Sub: Spread of malarial epidemic in the city.
I Anita Singh a resident of Shyam Nagar Colony regret to draw your attention towards the malarial epidemic spreading in the city. Residents of the slum area of Ambedkar Colony are the worst affected. Hospitals are being flooded with patients suffering from malaria fever. Repeated complaints in the health department have gone unheard as no action has been taken.
Heaps of waste can be seen in every locality, the stink is spreading in the air, overflowing drainage water is one big cause that is helping in the spread of malarial epidemic. Negligence of the sanitary sweepers has worsened the condition.
I know that if all the waste is cleared up, the drainage system is improved and regular door to door waste picking service is introduced then it would be possible for us to get back to the normal conditions. We are ready, just a bit of support is needed which I hope you would provide.
Hoping the concerned officials will wake up from their slumber and take the necessary, speedy and strict action for the redressal of the grievances.
Thanking you.
Yours faithfully
Anita Singh
1, Shyam Nagar Colony,
AGRA
(b) 25/247
Bagla Kunj
Khandari
Agra
10th April, 2011
Dear Savita
I was happy to receive your letter and learn about your new pet that is a dog. Dogs are really good pets and the way you described him, it feels as if he is very obedient. You have asked me to write about my new pet, its habits etc.
Well, my pet is really an unusual one. My dad bought it just a month ago from New York. It is a platypus. It is a little weird but really cute. It is bluish green in colour, has strange eyes, a cute nose and a flat mouth like swan.
My platypus is well trained also. We usually keep him open but it has a small house in the garden that was lovingly built by my brother and me. My brother loves it a lot more than I do, and it is for the same reason that the duty to bathe it has been given to him, whereas I am responsible for taking it on a daily work early in the morning. Initially we didn’t know what to give it for food so we fed it with dog food and believe me, my platypus loves it. It also loves eggs but we give it eggs only once a week.
My platypus does nothing special except for playing some sweet music by hitting its tail on the floor. We all play a lot with it and it’s really wonderful to have it around especially when we come from school. I love my pet a lot. I wanted a little help from you. We have yet not decided its name, so if you can think of some very good name, please do inform me.
Give my regards to uncle and aunt and love to Akash.
Your loving friend
Amita
Question 3:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
I rested for a moment at the door of Anand Bhavan, on Market Road, where 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 without purpose or hunger….’
To the great delight of children, schools were being hurriedly closed. Children of all ages and sizes were running helter-skelter screaming joyously, ‘No school, no school. Tiger, tiger!’ They were shouting and laughing and even enjoyed being scared. They seemed to welcome me. I felt like joining them, and bounded away from the restaurant door and trotted along with them, at which they gleefully cried, ‘The tiger is coming to eat us; let us get back to the school!’
I followed them through their school gate while they ran up and shut themselves in the school hall securely. I ascended the steps of the school, saw an open door at the far end of a veranda, and walked in. It happened to be the headmaster’s room, I believe, as I noticed a very dignified man jumping on his table and heaving himself up into an attic. I walked in and flung myself on the cool floor, having a partiality for cool stone floors, with my head under the large desk—which gave me the feeling of being back in the Mempi cave….
As I drowsed, I was aware of cautious steps and hushed voices all around. I was in no mood to bother about anything. All I wanted was a little moment of sleep; the daylight was dazzling. In half sleep I heard the doors of the room being shut and blotted and locked. I didn’t care. I slept.
While I slept a great deal of consultation was going on. I learnt about it later through my master, who was in the crowd—the crowd which had gathered after making sure that I had been properly locked up—and was watching. The headmaster seems to have remarked some days later, ‘Never dreamt in my wildest mood that I’d have to yield my place to a tiger…. ’ A wag had retorted, ‘Might be one way of maintaining better discipline among the boys.
‘Now that this brute is safely locked up, we must decide,’ began a teacher. At this moment my master pushed his way through the crowds and admonished, ‘Never use the words “beast” or “brute”. They’re ugly words coined by humans in their arrogance. The human being thinks all other creatures are “beasts”. Awful word!’
(a) Give the meaning of each of the following words or phrases as used in the passage.
One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. [3]
- transfixed (line 2)
- helter-skelter (line 12)
- admonished (line 35)
(b) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
- What reassurance did the tiger give the coffee drinkers? [2]
- In what way are tigers different from human beings? [2]
- Why were the children delighted? [2]
- What did the headmaster say some days later? [2]
- What was the wag’s response? [2]
- Which sentences tell us that the tiger’s owner had great respect for the tiger? [2]
(c)
(i) In not more than 60 words describe the tiger’s activities from the time it followed the school children till it slept. [8]
(ii) Give a title to your summary in 3 (c) (i). Give a reason to justify your choice. [2]
Answer:
(a)
- transfixed—Stare continuously
- helter-skelter—here and there
- admonished—scolded.
(b)
- The tiger while walking down the road assured the coffee drinkers that he was neither in any mood nor had any necessity to hunt them or’frighten them. He wanted them to be calm as his stomach was full and he needed no food at the moment.
- Tigers are different from human beings as unlike human they attack onl when they feel hungry and not whenever or wherever it is possible. Neither do t’gers attack for fun, pleasure or to settle personal grudges among them.
- Children were delighted because of the fact that the schools were being closed. The reason behind this was not an issue of their concern. They were happy on account of an extra and unexpected holiday.
- Some days later the headmaster remarked that not even in his wildest mood had he expected a tiger coming to his place. He was also surprised on the incident just as the others were.
- In reply to the headmaster’s remark the wag commented that may be a tiger coming to school was one of the ways of maintaining better discipline among the students.
- Tiger’s owner had immense respect for his tiger. When a teacher referred to the tiger as a brute, in reply the owner shouted and scolded them on using such words for an innocent animal. He said that such kind of words were ugly and human beings always thought of all other creatures as beast. To him it was an awful word.
(c) (i)
(ii) Title : “Tiger’s first day to school”
It is truly the friendly tiger’s first day to school and he was as excited as any other child. New environment, new faces, expecting people to do anything weird feelings are the same for a child or a tiger.
Question 4:
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space. [4]
Example:
(0) We were not (allow) to talk during the lecture.
Answer: allowed.
The children (1) ………. (sit) in a neat circle and (2) ……… (begin) (3) ………. (copy) their multiplication tables. Most (4) ……… (scratch) in the dirt with sticks they had (5) ……….. (bring) for that purpose. The more fortunate (6) ………. (has) slate boards that they (7) ………. (write) on with sticks (8) ………. (dip) in a mixture of mud and water.
(b) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words:
- He congratulated me ………….. my great achievement.
- The poor man is afflicted ……….. arthritis.
- She is blind ……….. the faults of her husband.
- The boss had many complaints ……….. Shyam.
- You must prepare ……….. the examination.
- She is not aware ……….. the danger.
- Ravi was accurate ……….. his calculations.
- They hid the money ……….. the carpet.
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so. [4]
- The minister was wise. The king did not trust him.
- We reached the port. The storm came on.
- One should not borrow money. One should not lend money.
- She will win the prize. She deserves it.
(d) Re-write the following sentences according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence. [8]
- This horse is better trained than yours.
(Begin : ……………) - The children will sit out in the garden, if the weather is cool.
(Begin : The children won’t……….. ) - The thief ran so fast that the police could not catch him.
(Rewrite using: too) - Her attitude often annoys me.
(Rewrite using : annoyance…………. ) - The child disappeared as soon as the bus stopped.
(Begin : Hardly………… ) - There is no success without effort.
(Begin : Whenever…………. ) - “Please teach me to cycle” she asked her brother.
(Rewrite in indirect form………. ) - The peasants regarded him as a thief and called him a villain.
(End : ……………… the peasants)
Answer:
(a)
- sat
- began
- to copy
- were scratching
- brought
- had
- were writing
- dipped.
(b)
- on
- with
- to
- against
- for
- of
- in
- under
(c)
- Though the minister was wise, the king did not trust him.
- As soon as we reached the port, the storm came on.
- One Should neither borrow nor lend money.
- She deserves to win the prize.
(d)
- Your horse is not as well trained as this one.
- The children won’t sit out in the garden unless the weather is cool.
- The thief ran too fast for the police to catch.
- Her attitude is cause of annoyance to me.
- Hardly had the bus stopped, when the child disappeared.
- Whenever you make an effort, you get success.
- She requested her brother to teach her to cycle.
- He was regarded as a thief and called a villain by the peasants.
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