ICSE X | English Language

Board Paper - 2014 - Solution

ICSE Board
Class X English Language
Board Paper - March 2014 - Solution

Total Time: 2 hrs Max. Marks: 80

Question 1
(a)
“It’s not my fault”, he shouted to the determined journalist who stuck her microphone into
his face trying to get some sound bites. The rude constable forcibly pushed him and his friend into
a small cell. The cameramen were clicking their pictures incessantly. Like caged animals, they
were gawked at, cursed at and rebuked by the huge crowd that had gathered outside. The
journalist kept shouting at them, “Aren’t you ashamed? What example are you setting for the
youth?” Dumbstruck, he couldn’t find the words to defend himself. The situation had escalated
very quickly.
His memory flashed back into the previous day when a row over bus seats caused two
young women to lunge at him and his friend. Another sitting behind them switched on her phone
camera amidst the melee and started recording the fight. His only crime was he refused to vacate
the seat he was sitting on. They attacked with jibes at first and then with their fists. They too
fought back to defend themselves. But today, he found himself being questioned for outraging the
modesty of the two girls in the bus. The video had gone viral; he along with his friend looked like
the villains.
The constables were watching the news. Both girls were now the media’s darlings and
were being hailed as heroes for fighting ‘molesters’. “Molesters?” said his friend in disbelief. The
boy’s heart grew heavier as he heard someone on television say that the army may not go ahead
with their recruitment process. They had worked so hard to get recruited. The smug peanut-
munching constable guffawed at their plight.
Suddenly there was another news flash, “Brave heart Girls Liars!” The constable watching
the news choked on his peanuts in disbelief. Apparently, somebody in the bus had the courage to
set the record straight. They disclosed the entire story to the media exposing the hollowness of the
girls’ claims. Now the news channels sang a different tune, “Innocent Boys Redeemed!”, “Evil Girls
Habitual Fraudsters!” In no time, media vans gathered outside the station. The journalist from the
other day stuck her microphone again into his face and asked audaciously, “What do you have to
say against this gross injustice?” The constables were now escorting the boys outside. They were
relieved that the media circus was over for now. But with no career on the horizon, this is sadly
the end of the road for them.

(b)
Agreeing with the topic:
Gone are the days when the onus of supporting the family financially was solely the
responsibility of the man. After the Second World War, women had to take up the jobs that were
earlier the prerogative of men. Women who had been content with housekeeping were now forced

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Board Paper - 2014 - Solution

to fill the gap left by their men who died at war. They were now financially independent and
capable of financially supporting their families. Despite this newfound independence, women
were not freed from her traditional responsibilities of taking care of the household and the
children. However, since then, they have been striking a fine balance between professional and
personal life.
A working woman faces more challenges than the ones who stay at home. She plays many
roles and effectively balances her responsibilities. By meeting her challenges, she is constantly
evolving as an individual. She stands shoulder-to-shoulder with her male counterparts when it
comes to bringing home the bacon.
A working woman makes a better mother as she understands the demand of the constantly
evolving world. She prepares her children to deal with the vicissitudes of the world. She inspires
them make their own identity and instils discipline into their lives. Being accustomed to handling
workplace stress, she knows how to manage the ever-changing needs of her children as they grow
up. She helps them keep pace with the changing world. Children look up to their financially
independent mothers and aspire to be like them.
Working women are not confined to the four walls of their houses. They explore the world
outside and have a better understanding of what is right and wrong. In the world of price rises and
competitiveness, one working parent cannot fulfil the needs of the family. A working woman can
supplement the family’s income and relieve the burden from the shoulders of her husband.
Ours is a country of gender disparity. Society lacks good role models for young women to
look up to. The narrow-minded patriarchal society reinforces the importance of ‘virtuous women’
who are extolled for their subservient and selfless nature. Working women offer an alternative to
that ideal, the idea of a strong woman. There is a considerable amount of sexism that vilifies
working women as bad mothers. But nothing can be farther from the truth. Working mothers,
therefore, make better mothers than their stay-at-home counterparts no matter what the sceptics
say.

Disagreeing with the topic:

Working people are not new to making sacrifices for the sake of their careers. Often, these
sacrifices come at a bigger cost of personal relationships. We are now caught in a perpetual tug-of-
war between our careers and family lives. There are many urban professionals who believe that
striking a fine balance is possible. But more often than not, we find that it is a nearly impossible
feat.
Today, we can take pride in the vast legacy of political, economical and social freedom that
women have acquired for themselves. They have come a long way from the days when the only
vocations left for women were housekeeping and child rearing. The ever-growing needs of the
modern family have caused many women to take up jobs at the cost of raising their children. This
has given rise to a trend wherein women soft pedal the needs of their family to pursue their
career.
Some think that children only need support in the first few years of their growth. In reality,
the responsibilities of a parent does not end completely even when the child is ready to fend for
itself. In their formative years, the mother has to spend a lot of her time and resources to nurture
her child. Commitment to work would mean that the mother has to rush back to office leaving the
child in the care of either the grandparents or a baby-sitter. Such a decision results in the child

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receiving conflicting messages about the parenting style of the mother. If the child does not
receive the required attention, it grows increasingly aloof. The parent–child relationship is thus
strained.
Research suggests that children benefit greatly from contact with their mothers. The best
form of attachment begins when the mother does not leave the child alone regularly. The child’s
life is full of milestones such as uttering the first word, standing up on its own and walking. The
working mother will never get to partake in all these. The stay-at-home mother is more likely to
be in touch with her child’s activities. She is better placed to sense the needs of her child. Child
rearing has to be dealt with a hands-on approach which only a stay-at-home mother can achieve.
Therefore, it is clear that working women do not make better mothers.

(c)
I love taking long walks in the wee hours of the morning when the air is fresh. The only
sounds one hears are the chirping of birds and crickets. Yesterday, I decided to turn a new leaf by
adopting a healthy lifestyle. For maintaining my overall health, I decided to go for early morning
walks. I set the alarm for 5 o’clock in the morning and went to bed early. The next morning, I wore
a comfortable pair shoes and set out on my morning walk. Taking someone along would mean
breaking into conversations every time. So, I decided to walk to the public garden alone so that I
could enjoy the beauty of nature in peace.
The Sun hadn’t risen completely so the surroundings were still dim. The air was filled with
the fragrance of wet foliage and flowers. I could smell traces of jasmine, parijata, champak and
other assorted flowers in the air. Though the air usually turns balmy by midmorning, the morning
air was pleasantly cool. Apart from me, the only early risers were the little sparrows. Their
melodious chirping in the morning is nothing short of divine. As I walked on carpets of orange-
stemmed parijata flowers strewn on the ground, I inhaled the heady perfume emanating from
them. I observed that there was fresh dew on the blades of grass. Tiny colourful butterflies had
been fluttering around the bushes.
By 6:30 a.m., the roads were buzzing with activity. Some health-conscious individuals were
running along the jogging track. The fragrance of flowers was now intermingled with the aroma of
freshly brewed tea. Office goers crowded tea stalls for their early morning fix of tea or coffee. Dogs,
small and big, on leashes pulling their masters along; the boys on cycles delivering newspapers;
milkmen rousing sleeping households with their incessant ringing of the doorbells; and the
chattering of children on the way to school were common sights.
I made my way back home at 7 o’clock. The sunrays broke out of the cloud curtains and had
flooded the surroundings. Prayers and sounds of bells emanated from houses. When I reached
home, a warm cup of milk and poha awaited me. I sat next to the window with my breakfast and
savoured the last few minutes of the pristine morning hours. Mornings indeed have a way of
energising our bodies and our minds.

(d)
There are memories that we like to revisit. Dwelling on them makes us happy and nostalgic.
And then there are horrible memories that we bury deeply in our subconscious. Time and again

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they keep resurfacing, making us shudder with embarrassment. I would like to write about one
such instance when my reputation was ripped to shreds.
Mr Pai was our English teacher who routinely tested our knowledge of words. He would
introduce us to a new word in every class. He would expect us to go home and write everything we
knew about it and then discuss it in class. Though many in the class found it very tedious, I, on the
contrary, loved it. Being a logophile had its advantages; I was Mr Pai’s pet. This was also the cause
of envy for all my classmates who were not as blessed as I was when it came to vocabulary. But I
admit that their jealous faces gave me great pleasure.
One fateful day, I had to miss school due to flu. The thought of missing Mr Pai’s “Word of
the Day” aggrieved me greatly. I said to myself, “I will call Harsh and ask him what the word was.”
On asking Harsh he replied, “The word was ‘Baboon’ or something.” I asked him, “Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes, I am very sure”.
The next day I went armed with my detailed essay on the Baboon. I imagined the
satisfaction on Mr Pai’s face seeing his favourite student not treat his illness as an impediment. As
the lecture began, Mr Pai said, “Who would like to go first?” I raised my hand much to his surprise.
I took the dais and started, “The baboon is a type of a large African monkey. They are terrestrial
animals and are omnivores. They have sharp teeth, short tails and protruding behinds.” On looking
up, I found my classmates staring at me with mouth agape. Mr Pai with a look of bewilderment
said, “Shashank, I believe the word was Bassoon, a musical instrument.” I could hear my
classmates snigger as I turned red with embarrassment. Harsh had hid behind a huge mountain of
books to escape my scornful stare. This dampened my enthusiasm for words and gave my
classmates something to laugh about for a few weeks. I lie low for a while and learnt a lesson in
overconfidence.

(e)
India is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world. We have vast reserves of
untapped manpower and natural resources. With such favourable qualities, India is poised to
grow in the coming years. Yet, it is not without its problems. Among the many problems that
threaten India’s progress is the curse of child labour. Children are the hope of the nation. They
have the potential to shape the future of the country. Yet our country is home to the largest
number of child labourers in the world. We who live in the cities with basic amenities and
comforts do not realise the plight of children who are born in poor societies. The day does not
begin in the same way for an underprivileged child like it does for their privileged counterparts.
While education is prescribed as a solution to child labour, many underprivileged children
are not always lucky to receive quality education. Coming from homes which are torn by poverty,
these young ones are considered bread winners for their families. Since subsistence takes
precedence over education, the parents are not in a condition to send their children to schools.
They get stuck in a vicious circle where they cannot do anything to uplift their social status
because they are denied education. They end up assisting their elders in their jobs. The others are
sent to cities to work in factories and in homes.
They are subjected to ill-treatment at the hands of their employers and are forced to work
in hazardous environments. To top it, they are paid very less making their ordeal look like slavery.
Though politicians promise to rid society of inequality, they have not done anything significant to

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improve the socioeconomic conditions that give birth to such social problems. Little hands are
taught to hold the sickle even before they can hold a book. They are made to carry bales of hay on
their little heads and their tender skins are scorched under the harsh sunlight. They are trapped in
a system they cannot escape from. Doomed to toil from a young age, their young shoulders bear
the weight of the debt their parents could not repay. Such is the situation of our nation. How can
one look forward to the future when the youth are denied the right to educate themselves?

Question 2
(a)
Ankush Patil,
16, Railway Colony,
Matunga,
Mumbai
10th March 2015

Dear Uncle,
I always find your letters delightful. I always envied the way you embellish your sentences
with the choicest words and idioms. This time, your letter delighted me for reasons other than
your fine word choice. You had promised me that you would gift me a thousand rupees if I
managed to score good marks in English. I am truly delighted and moved by your offer. I promise
you that I would study hard and strive to score an enviable score in my English exam.
You know that I have always missed grandpa and grandma. They were not only my best
friends but also a source of inspiration and love. There is an institution called ‘Snehasadan’ close
to my school. It was built to rehabilitate old people who have no means of supporting themselves.
A visit to Snehasadan made me realise that many senior citizens are denied the right to live their
final years with dignity. I volunteered to spend some time with the inmates. During which I
realised that many of them loved to read. With the money that you may gift me, I intend to buy
some books for them. I hope I can do my bit to bring some joy into their lives. With this, I end my
letter. I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours truly,
Ankush Patil

(b)
Ankush Patil,
16, Railway Colony,
Matunga,
Mumbai
10th March 2015

Dear Sir,
Subject: Invitation to celebrate Earth Day

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I am Ankush Patil, the head boy of St Pius High School. I write this letter to cordially invite
your school to partake in our first Earth Day Celebrations which will be held at our school on the
22nd of April 2015.
The atrocities committed against the environment have prompted us to create awareness
among the youth. We plan to cover ground through our road shows, flash mobs, skits and posters.
Students from various schools will participate in preparing for the above-mentioned programmes.
The school that makes the biggest effort will be awarded with a trophy. The goal is to spread the
message of environmental degradation and to create awareness among the public. We hope that
everything goes as planned. In order to make this event a success, we need your active
participation.

Thanking you,
Yours truly,
Ankush Patil

Question 3
(a) Meaning of the words
(i) corpse - a dead body
(ii) quenched - satisfied
(iii) reared - to raise up

(b) Answer the following briefly:

(i) According to the author, the panther was growing bolder because it audaciously attacked a
man in broad daylight. It was bold enough to drag a man away while he was working in his
own field.
(ii) The panther was becoming a growing threat for the people of the village. Despite their best
efforts, they could not trap the beast. To relieve the people from the panther’s constant
threat, the forest department hired a professional hunter.
(iii) The hunter Richard Parker assumed that the panther may be an old, wasted animal with
worn-out teeth which had the strength to only attack humans. But on the contrary, he
encountered a sleek tigress with a single cub.
(iv) The tigress’s cub was oddly not interested in the goat. It raced to the water’s edge to quench
its thirst. The mother followed suit. According to the author, thirst is a greater urge as
compared to hunger. Therefore, only after quenching its thirst did the tigress turn towards
the goat.
(v) The tigress was not the intended man eater. The hunter shot it nevertheless because he
believed that it posed a threat to the villagers. This was because it was close to their
habitation and because it had a cub.
(vi) The hunter Richard Parker remembered how the little cub had run towards the water to
quench his thirst. In the memory of that incident, he named it Thirsty.

(c)
(i) Unexpectedly, a tigress with a cub walked into the trap set by the hunter. He shot it down

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because it could pose a threat to the villagers. After immobilising darts were shot, the animal
collapsed. The hunter’s assistants located it 200 yards from the river. Later, they took the
tigress and its cub to the Puducherry Zoo.

(ii) ‘The Queen’s Great Fall’ could be a suitable title for the summary. The tigress, even after being
shot with the immobilising darts, did not give up the fight. She reared up and ran away to
protect itself and even tried to attack the hunter’s assistants with its front paw before
collapsing. The title thus seems befitting.

Question 4
(a) He rubbed his fingers nervously against the small notebook in his pocket and (1) told himself
to be patient. The old man in the toy booth (2) argued with the girl. She (3) was about Hugo's
age, and he often saw her go into the booth and (4) disappear behind the counter. The old man
(5) looked agitated today. Had he figured out some of his toys were (6) missing? Well, there
was nothing to be (7) done about that now. The old man and the girl argued some more and
finally she closed her book and (8) ran off.

(b) Fill in the blanks:

(i) The teacher spoke up for Raju when he was wrongly accused of stealing money.
(ii) We can visit her in the hostel at 3 pm and 5 pm on Saturdays.
(iii) The Sinhas have lived in New Delhi since 1943.
(iv) Little children are often afraid of the dark.
(v) Sneha has applied for a scholarship.
(vi) It took Ahmed many months to get over the loss of his friend.
(vii) She turned down the generous offer made by the manager.
(viii) We were asked to take off our footwear as we were entering a place of worship.

(c) Join the following sentences:

(i) Though he is good at gymnastics, his handwriting must improve.
(ii) Since her grandfather knew she was good at art, he gifted her a paint box.
(iii) Ravi fractured his arm, yet he insisted on playing the match.
(iv) Despite being ill for a month, Mona stood first in the examination.

(d)
(i) No sooner did we light the candle, than the power supply was restored.
(ii) The bee is the most industrious of all creatures.
(iii) The old woman was so slow that she missed the bus.
(iv) He promised that he would do it the day after.
(v) In spite of receiving an expensive gift, Reema was not happy.
(vi) I would rather read a book than watch a movie.
(vii) Never have I seen Mr Roy lose his temper.
(viii) The keys that belong to you were found by her in the garage.

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