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ICSE Class X Board Exam 2021 : English Paper 1 (English Language)

11 pages, 12 questions, 1 questions with responses, 1 total responses,    0    0
Mom Amk
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur (KGP)
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE ENGLISH Paper 1 I. ANALYSIS OF PERFORMANCE Question 1 (Do not spend more than 35 minutes on this question.) Write a composition (350 - 400 words) on any one of the following: (a) Write an original short story that begins with the words: In the background I could (b) hear an awful commotion, men s voices raised and women screaming. Boarding schools are far better than day schools for the all-round education of a child . Express your view either for or against this statement. [25] GFS (c) (d) (e) You were on a school trip and were on your way back to the hotel late one night when your school bus, full of children, broke down in a lonely area. Describe what you saw and experienced as you looked around. How was the problem solved? Teaching someone else how to do something can be a rewarding experience. Think of a skill that you have helped someone to develop. Perhaps you taught someone how to swim or to bake a cake, or helped someone learn how to study more effectively. Narrate the events that made up the process of teaching the skill, and say what made the experience important and memorable for you. Study the picture given below. Write a story or a description or 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. 2 Examiners Comments (a) Most candidates attempted this question and surprisingly a majority related it to the Delhi Nirbhaya case. Although they could not explain why there was a commotion, what was making men raise their voices and women scream, they artificially linked it to the Nirbhaya case and focused on crimes against women. A small majority described the commotion caused by a house on fire. Candidates have not been taught that they must begin with the given lines and that the story must be original. Candidates have not understood that there must be a natural link between the given lines and the rest of the story, so that the story is cohesive. This was a popular choice and many candidates attempted it. The topic was well within the scope of their experience. Candidates were able to argue feelingly either for or against the topic. However, some candidates mistook the term "Boarding schools" for "Board Exam." As usual, there were many candidates who argued equally on both sides and lost marks because of their inability to logically build up an argument favouring either for or against. In some cases the argument was based on emotion more than on logic and reason. Suggestions for teachers - Students must be taught the difference between a short story and first person account. In the short story, the narrator can take any form or stage. In the first person account, students must write from within the experience of a fifteen year old child. - When an opening sentence is given, the sentence must be used in its entirety. - Although there is a temptation to "learn up" topics that are currently being discussed in the news or on television students must be taught that the examination of the English language seldom regurgitates hackneyed topics. - Encourage students to watch debates and talk shows on television/online. Replay audio recordings of good debates and analyse what they have learnt from them. - Hold class level debates and encourage students to express views, opinions and to justify them. - As classroom activity, a given topic could be broken up into various components - Engage the class in 'What if activities. - Students should be set writing tasks that require the first person perspective. - Devote class time to doing oral picture composition - use pictures that stimulate discussions, encourage students to interpret them in as mam ways as possible; a five minute feedback/showing of ideas is a productive way to ensure that they recognize the possibility of a range of interpretations. GFS (b) (c) Although this was a popular choice and many attempted this question, most of them gave a detailed account of the planning of the trip, the journey, the excitement and left out what they saw and experienced after the bus broke down. Candidates lost marks because they failed to write about the resolution to the problem. Obviously, they did not read the question entirely, or during the course of the exercise they lost track of areas the composition should have covered. (d) This composition clearly had two parts. One was the joy of teaching and the other the experience of the learner. Very few candidates covered both angles. A major issue in this composition was the incorrect use of tense. Many candidates treated the exercise in the narrative and not in the reflective aspect. So 3 details were given about the act of teaching but candidates did not say why it was memorable or rewarding. A good many candidates missed the point of it being a first person account and wrote from the point of view of an adult. (e) Surprisingly, this topic was not a popular choice and those who attempted it failed to mention the elephant. Many essays have clearly been prepared on general themes like floods, protection of environment, care for animals, etc. and these were clumsily "married" to the given picture. Many candidates continue to give a mere description of the picture. MARKING SCHEME Question 1. (a) The story must be original and must begin with the given sentence. The story may take any form but should convey why there was a commotion and what was making the men raise their voices and women scream. -2 if the story does not begin with the given sentence. -1 if only part of the sentence is used. Only if the story is blatantly unoriginal -25% of the marks obtained. Views for or against the motion are to be accepted. The candidate should take a clear stand and give valid reasons for whatever stand he/she takes regarding the topic either for or against the statement. - Upto 20% if marks obtained if no clear stand is taken. (Be very sure that no stand is taken before you minus). [What was seen and heard? How was the problem solved? ] The events should be interesting and should be described in detail, the fear, the night sights and the ultimate rescue or help should be described. A personal experience - The particular event or situation in which the candidate taught another person how to do something/ develop a skill must form the core of the essay. The candidate should focus on the events that made up the process of teaching the skill, and clearly narrate what made the experience important and memorable for him/ her. How the person was taught? Accept a broad interpretation but keep in mind that there must be a clear connection between the picture and the composition. There must be a reference to the elephant and the children on it. GFS (b) (c) (d) (e) Question 2 (Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.) Select one of the following: (a) (b) [10] You will soon have to make a decision about the subjects that you wish to study in classes XI and XII. Write a letter to your Grandfather telling him about the subjects that you plan to take up. Be sure to explain the reason for your choice and how you think these subjects would help you in the future. The children in your neighbourhood are forced to play on the street for want of a proper play area. Write a letter to the Editor of a popular newspaper, pointing out the need for a playground in your neighbourhood. Give reasons why you think a play area is necessary and point out how it would benefit everyone who lives in that area. 4 Examiners Comments (a) Format Currently most schools are aware of the correct format however many candidates committed errors. A number of candidates lost marks because of incorrect training. Unfortunately, in many cases there was a tendency to use the vernacular term for Grandfather - "Dadaji, Nanaji, Tatha, Dadu". Content: Most candidates asked for advice instead of stating their choice of subjects. Candidates failed to specify how the subjects would help them in future. Expression: Some candidates wrote long letters and thereby penalized themselves by lack of time in writing other answers. (b) Format: Incorrect formatting led to loss of marks. Candidates were unable to understand the difference between Dear Sir - Yours faithfully and very often wrote Respected Sir and Yours obediently. Content: Most candidates wrote on problems that children faced due to lack of a play area and not on the need for a play area or how would it benefit the neighbourhood. Those who gave reasons repeated the points. Therefore the answers remained incomplete. Expression: Overlong letters which led to rambling and repetition. Suggestions for teachers - Drill work for format to be an essential and integral part of Language classes from Class VII upwards This has to be done thoroughly that it becomes a habit. The teaching of the drafting of a letter must adopt one type of format, i.e.. indented, block or entirely on the left hand side of the page and it should be continued on a regular basis. - Discuss questions on letter writing and train children to underline those points in the question which must be addressed in the body. - Teach students to write to the point and to avoid rambling and repetition in this exercise. GFS MARKING SCHEME Question 2. Ensure that the format is correct and that the following points of each letter are clearly brought out. a) Informal letter i) What? [Specify the subject/ group of subjects] ii) Why? [reason why the subject(s) appeal to candidate] iii) How will choice help candidate in future opportunities/ career options? b) Formal Letter i) Why the park is necessary children need safe place to play/ would beautify the vicinity and neighbourhood/trees and plants would help lessen environmental pollution etc. (Any two reasons) 5 ii) How it would benefit the neighbourhood foster inter-personal skills and encourage cooperation/ build a friendly family neighbourhood/ would enable adults and children to pursue physical activities that would keep them fit (Any two reasons) Expression: (both Formal and Informal letters): Ensure a correlation between essay grade and letter expression Question 3 Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: There were other boys in Manjari village, but Bisnu was the only one who went to GFS school. His mother would not have fussed if he had stayed at home and worked in the fields. That was what the other boys did; all except lazy Chittru, who preferred fishing in the stream or helping himself to the fruit off other people's trees. But Bisnu went to school. He went because he wanted to. No one could force him to go; and no one could 5 stop him from going. He had set his heart on receiving a good schooling. He wanted to read and write as well as anyone in the big world and so he walked to school every day. A colony of langoors lived in the forest. They fed on oak leaves, acorns, and other green things, and usually remained in the trees, coming down to the ground only to play or sun themselves. They were beautiful, supple-limbed animals, with black 10 faces and silver-grey coats and long, sensitive tails. They leapt from tree to tree with great agility. The young ones wrestled on the grass like boys. A dignified community, the langoors did not have the cheekiness or dishonest habits of the red monkeys of the plains; they did not approach dogs or humans. But they had grown used to Bisnu's comings and goings and did not fear him. Some of the older 15 ones would watch him quietly, a little puzzled. They did not go near the town; because the boys threw stones at them. And anyway, the forest gave them all the food they required. Coming from another direction was a second path, and at the junction of the two paths Sarru was waiting for him. Sarru came from a small village about three miles from 20 Bisnu's and closer to the town. 6 They hailed each other, and walked along. They often met at this spot, keeping each other company for the remaining two miles. There was a panther in our village last night, said Sarru. This information interested but did not excite Bisnu. Panthers were common enough 25 in the hills and did not usually present a problem except during the winter months, when their natural prey was scarce. Did you lose any animals? asked Bisnu. No. It tried to get into the cowshed but the dogs set up the alarm. We drove it off. It must be the same one which came around last winter. We lost a calf and two dogs 30 in our village. GFS Wasn t that the one the shikaris wounded? I hope it hasn t become a cattle-lifter. It could be the same. It has a bullet in its leg. These hunters are the people who cause all the trouble. They think it s easy to shoot a panther. It would be better if they missed altogether, but they usually wound it. 35 And then the panther s too slow to catch the barking-deer and starts on our own animals. We re lucky it didn't become a man-eater. Do you remember the man-eater six years ago? I was very small then. My father told me all about it. Ten people were killed in our valley alone. 40 What happened to it? I don't know. Some say it poisoned itself when it ate the headman of the village. Bisnu laughed. No one liked that old villain. They linked arms and scrambled up the stony path to school. (a) 45 Give the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (b) (i) agility (line 13) (ii) hailed (line 24) (iii) villain (line 48) [3] Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. (i) How was Chittru different from other boys? [2] (ii) What was Bisnu s ambition? [2] 7 (c) (iii) What information did Sarru give Bisnu? [2] (iv) How did the information affect Bisnu? [2] (v) Why did the panther become a cattle-lifter? [2] (vi) What joke does Sarru make? [2] (i) In not more than 60 words describe what the narrator tells us about the behaviour (ii) of the langoors. [8] Give a title to your summary in 3 (c). Give a reason to justify your choice. [2] Examiners Comments (a) Despite the vocabulary being simple and words of everyday use very few candidates scored full marks. Those who answered correctly wrote the meaning in a different part of speech and hence lost half a mark. Some candidates used the words in sentences instead of writing the meaning. Many candidates lifted answers straight from the text. Some candidates found it difficult to understand the joke referred to in question 3 (vi). A few candidates tended to stray from the question and included irrelevant details. Many wrote titles either lifted from the question or ones that suited the entire passage. A good number did not use a grid - they exceeded the word limit and tried to squeeze more than one word into each cell. Many failed to justify the titles they had written. Suggestions for teachers - Students have not inculcated the habit of reading hence their vocabulary is restricted to the words they encounter in text books. - Use of class and school libraries must be encouraged with students being taught not only to read but to read between lines and infer implied meaning - Students should be taught to infer word meanings from context and by looking for clue words in the sentence. - Students are to be encouraged to read short stories if not a novel! - The classroom work in comprehension can be divided into Vocabulary/ Questions and Answers / Summary writing and practiced as three separate modules. - Exposure in class to different styles of writing. - Teach summary writing as a separate classroom activity - Insist on adhering to word limits and use of a grid for the final draft. - Teach students to choose titles appropriate to the summary and to give a logical justification for their choice. GFS (b) (c) 8 MARKING SCHEME Question 3. (a) Give the meanings of the following words as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (i) agility skill (ii) hailed greeted, welcomed (iii) villain evil person. (b) (i) Chittru did not work like other boys / he fished in other peoples streams and stole fruits. (ii) He wanted to read and write. He had set his heart on receiving a good scholarship. (iii)Sarru told Bisnu that a panther/had come to their village that night. (iv) The information interested but did not excite Bisnu / Panthers were common in the hills. (v) A panther if wounded cannot hunt / so it attacks cattle and people. (vi) Sarru jokes that the Panther poisoned itself / when it ate the village headman / the headman was so wicked. (c) (i) 1. langoors lived in the forest 2. Fed on leaves, acorns, green things 3. remained in trees. 4. played or sunned themselves 5. Leapt from tree to tree 6. Young ones wrestled like boys 7. Dignified, not cheeky or dishonest 8. Did not approach dogs or humans. 9. Grown used to Bisnu s coming and goings / did not fear him. 10. Oldest ones would watch him quietly puzzled. 11. Did not go near towns. 12. All that they needed they got from the forest. (ii)Any apt title. Reason to justify the choice. GFS 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. Example: (0) A woman ________(wait) at an airport one night, with several long hours before her flight. Answer: was waiting. She (1) _____ (hunt) for a book in the airport shops, (2) _____ (buy) a bag of cookies and found a place to sit. She (3) ______ (engross) in her book but happened to see that the man sitting beside her, bold as could be, grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between, which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene. So she (4) _________ (munch) the cookies and watched ______ the clock, as the gutsy thief diminished her stock. She (5) _________ (get) _________ more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking, If I wasn t so nice, I (6) _______ (black) his eye. With each cookie she took, he took one too. __________________ When only one was left, she wondered what he would do. With a smile ____________ on his face, and a nervous laugh, he (7) _________ (take) the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half, as he ate the other. She had never 9 (b) known she could be so angry and turned to gather her belongings. As she reached for her baggage, she gasped with surprise, there was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes. If mine are here, she moaned in despair, the others were his, and he (8) ___________ (try) to share. ________________ [4] Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word: (i) She takes a lot of trouble _______________ her work. (ii) Our English friends have taken _______________ Indian food quite quickly. (iii) He got an A+ ______________ the Mathematics test. (iv) He jumped ______________ the river to save his friend from drowning. (v) Always be prepared ________ a surprise test. (vi) She hid _______________ the cupboard and gave everyone a fright. (vii) She is fond _____________ pets. (viii) The brothers quarrelled _________________ themselves for their father s property. [4] GFS (c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so. (i) We had better get ready now. We may not have time to reach the airport. (ii) Mr. Liew has been sick. He has been so since he came back from Japan. (iii) The debating teams were very happy. Both were declared joint-champions. (iv) He escaped from the prison. He looked for a place where he could hide. [4] (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. (i) These windows need cleaning again. (Begin: These windows will ) (ii) My mother said I could go with you only if I returned home by five o clock. (Use: as long as) (iii) It doesn't matter which chemical you put into the mixture first, the results will be the same. (Use: difference) (iv) Who does this pen belong to? (Begin: Do you know .) (v) Heavy rain has caused the cancellation of the outdoor garden party. (Begin: Due ) (vi) I've never seen so many people in this building before. (Begin: This is ) (vii) If we light the fire, the rescuers will see us. (Begin: We will ..) 10 (viii) Only a few books were remaining on the shelf when we left. (Begin: Most .) Examiners Comments (a) Most candidates were able to do this exercise correctly. However, the common errors were the use of the continuous in place of simple inserting or adding words that are not a part of the passage, either before or after the given word should be discouraged e.g., munched on. (b) Most candidates performed well in this sub section. Some however made errors with those sentences that involved the use of idioms or phrasal verbs. The most common mistakes were use of (i) 'of/about' in place of 'over/with' (ii) 'up' instead of 'to' (iv) 'across' instead of 'into' (viii) 'between' instead of 'among'. (c) The rubric was often disregarded and the candidates used and, but and so although they were specifically asked not to. The sentences were joined without any attention to meaning - with regard to cause and effect, time, etc. (d) Though the questions seemed simple the performance of the candidates was unsatisfactory. A proper understanding of the meaning was not evident in the answers. A number of errors in syntax, spelling and punctuation was the cause of some loss of marks. [8] Suggestions for teachers - Extensive drilling required to gain absolute confidence in answering the question. - Adopt a structural approach in the teaching of grammar. Repeated practice in the transformation of simple, compound and complex sentences is helpful. - Initialize teaching rules related to Active/Passive; Direct/Indirect: Degrees of Comparison from Class VII onward. - Do not sacrifice Language classes to complete Literature syllabus. - The use of grammar games, tell-atale, scrabble and crossword will go a long way in enhancing correctly spoken English. GFS MARKING SCHEME Question 4 (a) (b) 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. 1. hunted 6. would blacken 2. bought 7. took 3. was engrossed 8. had tried/ tried 4. munched 5. was getting Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word: (i) over (ii) to (iii) in (iv) into (v) for (vi) behind / inside (vii) of 11 (c) (d) (viii) amongst. Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so: (i) We had better get ready now, otherwise we may not have time to reach the airport. (ii) Mr. Liew has been sick since coming back from Japan. (iii) The debating teams were very happy as both were declared joint-champions. (iv) Escaping from prison, he looked for a place where he could stay. 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. (i) These windows will have to be cleaned again. (ii) My mother says I can go with you as long as I return home by 5 p.m. (iii) It makes no difference which chemical you put into the mixture first, the results will be the same. (iv) Do you know whose pen this is? / Do you know whom this pen belongs to? (v) Due to the heavy rain, the garden party has been cancelled. (vi) This is the first time I have seen so many people in this building. (vii) We will be seen by the rescuers if we light the fire. (viii) Most of the books had been sold by the time we left./ by the time we were gone. GFS Topics found confusing/difficult: - - - - Candidates were unable to write an original short story and simply 'married' the Delhi Nirbhaya case with the topic given. Children described the school trip in great detail, the journey, the fun but did not realize that this was a descriptive essay and left out the sights and sounds of the night and details of how the rescue was planned. Instead of informing the Grandfather about the choices of subjects that the grandchild has made the children seemed to be asking for advice on what stream to choose. Candidates did not inform their editor about the needs and benefits of a playground. They merely mentioned that a playground is necessary. Suggestions for students - Practise format of letter separately and frequently. Understand clearly what is being asked to write about. Practise grammar exercises regularly. Reading is an absolute must and it is to be done on a regular basis. Apart from being extremely enjoyable it improves the learning process too. Write accurately and concisely what is asked. Remember to write in your own words. 12

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