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ICSE Class 10 English 1996
ICSE Class 10 English 1996
General Instructins
Question 1
(Do not spend more than 35 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (350-400) words) on any one of the following: [30]
(c) "They can, who think they can." Relate an incident of your experience which
brings out the truth of this statement.
(d) Use the following points to write an account of a play you have witnessed : Name
of the play - Cast-performance of actors - Setting direction - Audience reaction. (You
may include any other relevant details.)
(e) Study the picture given below. Write a story on an account or description of what
the picture suggests to you. Your composition may be directly about the subject of
the picture or may take suggestion from it, but there must be a clear connection
between the picture and the composition.
Question 2
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select one of the following: [10]
(a) You have been embarrassed by an incident involving a group of your friends.
Write a letter to your mother relating the incident. Express your feelings and state
how you intend to overcome the impact of the incident.
(b) You are incharge of the Welfare Club of your school. Write a letter to the District
Magistrate of your city requesting him to inaugurate a special project that the club
was going to launch soon. Inform him of the details of the inauguration ceremony,
the nature of the project and what you expect to achieve.
Question 3
Read the passage given below and then answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that
follow: [30]
The trail they followed was narrow, and men walked in a single file. The leader
carried a spear and kerosene flare-a narrow bamboo-tube filled with kerosene and
cloth soaked in kerosene stuffed at the opening. The man directly behind the leader
was laden with a pair of fishing nets. The three just behind him carried huge wicker-
baskets balanced on their heads. The last individual in the file carried a spear in one
hand and a large canister in the other. The groups progress was swift. They trudged
along with an unmistakable sense of purpose and soon reached their destination.
This was a small 'beel', a shallow reed-fringed pool of water. The leader asked out a
command and the men put down their equipment. He then looked round for possible
danger. There was none.
The landscape darkened abruptly. The leader uttered a curse, he scanned the sky to
gauge how long the cloud would hide the moon. It was a large patch, and there were
other clouds approaching. The moon would remain hidden for a pretty long time.
The leader cursed again, then shrugged his shoulders. The flare would have to be
lit. Its light might attract the attention of the game wardens and forest guards. But
there was no alternative.
As he set about doing so he hissed out another command to his companion, the one
with the canister. The man quickly unscrewed the plastic cap and waded with the
canister into the water. After a few steps he stopped, and poured the canister's
contents into the 'beel'. The liquid gushed out with a gurgling sound. The strong,
pungent smell of pesticide wafted into the air. His job done the man returned to the
bank. Meanwhile the leader had lit the flare. While the other five squatted on the
grass, he stood close to the 'beel', flare in hand, examining the water carefully. A
patch of water brightly illuminated by the light of the flare.
Five minutes. Ten minutes. Time ticked slowly by. The men waited, their faces tense
with anticipation. All eyes were fixed on the circular patch of water. Twenty-five
minutes later it happened. The calm, still surface of the 'beel' was suddenly agitated
by a series of ripples. Hundreds of tiny specks appeared on the surface.
"Get ready", the leader ordered. "Here they come", As if on cue, the moon overhead
escaped from the clouds' clutches and all was brightness once more. The moonlight
revealed a fearful, pathetic sight. The surface of the 'beel' was a mass of fish in their
death throes. It was as if some unseen hand was strangling them alive-they were
gasping for air.
It was a horrible sight, yet the six men startled with glee. Two of them jumped up
and picked up a net each. They folded the nets neatly and furred into the water,
preparing to cast. Suddenly the leader tensed, called for silence, cocked his ears
and listened intently.
"Everyone on the alert!" he shouted. "I think I hear a jeep." In one bound he picked
up the torch and threw it into the 'beel'. The faint drone that the leader's sharp ears
had picked up gradually grew up volume. A jeep was roaring towards them.
"Forest guards", the leader hissed. "They must have seen the light from our flare. No
time to waste. Collect the equipment and let's get going.”
The jeep with five armed guards stopped about two hundred metres from the spot.
The sudden disappearance of the flare, which had caught their attention made them
baffled. The driver kept the head lights on while the guards jumped down, their rifles
on the ready. Careful to keep together t hey began to search the area
systematically. Their powerful torches probed the nooks and crannies. They could
have covered a wider area and far more quickly if they had separated and spread
out. But, experienced men that they were, they knew it was unsafe to move singly.
Poachers were ruthless. They thought nothing of putting a dagger in one's back.
A half-hour search having yielded nothing suspicious, the guards returned to the
jeep. They climbed aboard and the jeep resumed its nightly patrol.
(a) Five words or phrases are given below. Give the meaning of each as used in the
passage. One word answer or a short phrase will be accepted:
i. Scanned
ii. alternative
iii. wafted
iv. pathetic
v. had picked up
(c) In not more than 60 words describe how the men attempted to capture the fish
and why they failed?
Question 4
(a) Rewrite the following sentences correctly according to the instructions given after
each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning
of each sentence. [5]
(b) each of the following sentences there is a blank space which can be filled in by a
single word. Fill in each blank with the word which is appropriate. (Do not write the
sentences): [5]
(c) Rewrite each of the sentences given below by using the correct form of the word
given in brackets: [5]