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ICSE Class IX Mid-term 2018 : English Paper 1 (English Language) : English language 1

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ICSE Analysis of Pupil Performance ENGLISH Research Development and Consultancy Division Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations New Delhi Year 2019 __________________________________________________________________________________ Published by: Research Development and Consultancy Division (RDCD) Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations Pragati House, 3rd Floor 47-48, Nehru Place New Delhi-110019 Tel: (011) 26413820/26411706 E-mail: council@cisce.org Copyright, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations All rights reserved. The copyright to this publication and any part thereof solely vests in the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. This publication and no part thereof may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed or stored in any manner whatsoever, without the prior written approval of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. FOREWORD This document of the Analysis of Pupils Performance at the ISC Year 12 and ICSE Year 10 Examination is one of its kind. It has grown and evolved over the years to provide feedback to schools in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates in handling the examinations. We commend the work of Mrs. Shilpi Gupta (Deputy Head) of the Research Development and Consultancy Division (RDCD) of the Council and her team, who have painstakingly prepared this analysis. We are grateful to the examiners who have contributed through their comments on the performance of the candidates under examination as well as for their suggestions to teachers and students for the effective transaction of the syllabus. We hope the schools will find this document useful. We invite comments from schools on its utility and quality. Gerry Arathoon Chief Executive & Secretary October 2019 i PREFACE The Council has been involved in the preparation of the ICSE and ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance documents since the year 1994. Over these years, these documents have facilitated the teaching-learning process by providing subject/ paper wise feedback to teachers regarding performance of students at the ICSE and ISC Examinations. With the aim of ensuring wider accessibility to all stakeholders, from the year 2014, the ICSE and the ISC documents have been made available on the Council s website www.cisce.org. The documents include a detailed qualitative analysis of the performance of students in different subjects which comprises of examiners comments on common errors made by candidates, topics found difficult or confusing, marking scheme for each question and suggestions for teachers/ candidates. In addition to a detailed qualitative analysis, the Analysis of Pupil Performance documents for the Examination Year 2019 also have a component of a detailed quantitative analysis. For each subject dealt with in the document, both at the ICSE and the ISC levels, a detailed statistical analysis has been done, which has been presented in a simple user-friendly manner. It is hoped that this document will not only enable teachers to understand how their students have performed with respect to other students who appeared for the ICSE/ISC Year 2019 Examinations, but also provide information on how they have performed within the Region or State, their performance as compared to other Regions or States, etc. It will also help develop a better understanding of the assessment/ evaluation process. This will help teachers in guiding their students more effectively and comprehensively so that students prepare for the ICSE/ ISC Examinations, with a better understanding of what is required from them. The Analysis of Pupil Performance document for ICSE for the Examination Year 2019 covers the following subjects: English (English Language, Literature in English), Hindi, History, Civics and Geography (History and Civics, Geography), Mathematics, Science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), Commercial Studies, Economics, Computer Applications, Economic Applications, Commercial Applications. Subjects covered in the ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance document for the Year 2019 include English (English Language and Literature in English), Hindi, Elective English, Physics (Theory), Chemistry (Theory), Biology (Theory), Mathematics, Computer Science, History, Political Science, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Economics, Commerce, Accounts and Business Studies. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of all the ICSE and the ISC examiners who have been an integral part of this exercise, whose valuable inputs have helped put this document together. I would also like to thank the RDCD team of Dr. M.K. Gandhi, Dr. Manika Sharma, Mrs. Roshni George and Mrs. Mansi Guleria who have done a commendable job in preparing this document. Shilpi Gupta Deputy Head - RDCD October 2019 ii CONTENTS Page No. FOREWORD i PREFACE ii INTRODUCTION 1 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ENGLISH 3 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS English Language (Paper-1) 10 Literature in English (Paper-2) 27 INTRODUCTION This document aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the performance of candidates in the subject. It comprises of two sections, which provide Quantitative and Qualitative analysis results in terms of performance of candidates in the subject for the ICSE Year 2019 Examination. The details of the Quantitative and the Qualitative analysis are given below. Quantitative Analysis This section provides a detailed statistical analysis of the following: Overall Performance of candidates in the subject (Statistics at a Glance) State wise Performance of Candidates Gender wise comparison of Overall Performance Region wise comparison of Performance Comparison of Region wise performance on the basis of Gender Comparison of performance in different Mark Ranges and comparison on the basis of Gender for the top and bottom ranges Comparison of performance in different Grade categories and comparison on the basis of Gender for the top and bottom grades The data has been presented in the form of means, frequencies and bar graphs. Understanding the tables Each of the comparison tables shows N (Number of candidates), Mean Marks obtained, Standard Errors and t-values with the level of significance. For t-test, mean values compared with their standard errors indicate whether an observed difference is likely to be a true difference or whether it has occurred by chance. The t-test has been applied using a confidence level of 95%, which means that if a difference is marked as statistically significant (with * mark, refer to t-value column of the table), the probability of the difference occurring by chance is less than 5%. In other words, we are 95% confident that the difference between the two values is true. t-test has been used to observe significant differences in the performance of boys and girls, gender wise differences within regions (North, East, South and West), gender wise differences within marks ranges (Top and bottom ranges) and gender wise differences within grades awarded (Grade 1 and Grade 9) at the ICSE Year 2019 Examination. The analysed data has been depicted in a simple and user-friendly manner. 1 Given below is an example showing the comparison tables used in this section and the manner in which they should be interpreted. The table shows comparison between the performances of boys and girls in a particular subject. The t-value of 11.91 is significant at Comparison on the basis of Gender Gender Girls Boys *Significant at 0.05 level N 2,538 1,051 Mean 66.1 60.1 SE 0.29 0.42 t-value 11.91* 0.05 level (mentioned below the table) with a mean of girls as 66.1 and that of boys as 60.1. It means that there is significant difference between the performance of boys and girls in the subject. The probability of this difference occurring by chance is less than 5%. The mean value of girls is higher than that of boys. It can be interpreted that girls are performing significantly better than boys. The results have also been depicted pictographically. In this case, the girls performed significantly better than the boys. This is depicted by the girl with a medal. Qualitative Analysis The purpose of the qualitative analysis is to provide insights into how candidates have performed in individual questions set in the question paper. This section is based on inputs provided by examiners from examination centres across the country. It comprises of question wise feedback on the performance of candidates in the form of Comments of Examiners on the common errors made by candidates along with Suggestions for Teachers to rectify/ reduce these errors. The Marking Scheme for each question has also been provided to help teachers understand the criteria used for marking. Topics in the question paper that were generally found to be difficult or confusing by candidates, have also been listed down, along with general suggestions for candidates on how to prepare for the examination/ perform better in the examination. 2 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS STATISTICS AT A GLANCE Total Number of Candidates: 1,96,209 Highest Marks: 99 Mean Marks: Lowest Marks: 06 76.1 3 PERFORMANCE (STATE-WISE & FOREIGN) West Bengal Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh Tripura Telangana Tamil Nadu Sikkim Rajasthan Punjab Puducherry Odisha New Delhi Nagaland Meghalaya Manipur Maharashtra Madhya Pradesh Kerala Karnataka Jharkhand Himachal Pradesh Haryana Gujarat Goa Chhattisgarh Chandigarh Bihar Assam Arunachal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Foreign 76.7 74.9 71.7 69.7 77.8 77.3 72.6 77.5 73.6 79.6 74.8 76.7 79.0 78.6 73.6 71.1 83.5 79.1 79.7 75.7 75.8 77.2 73.5 69.2 74.8 63.9 73.1 84.9 78.9 81.1 85.8 The States of Goa, Maharashtra and Assam secured highest mean marks. Mean marks secured by candidates studying in schools abroad were 85.8. 4 GENDER-WISE COMPARISON GIRLS BOYS Mean Marks: 78.3 Mean Marks: 74.2 Number of Number of Candidates: 89,282 Candidates: 1,06,927 Comparison on the basis of Gender Gender Girls Boys N Mean SE t-value 89,282 1,06,927 78.3 74.2 0.04 0.04 74.48* *Significant at 0.05 level Girls performed significantly better than boys. 5 REGION-WISE COMPARISON East North Mean Marks: 76.0 Mean Marks: 72.6 Number of Candidates: 62,747 Number of Candidates: 69,205 Highest Marks: 99 Lowest Marks: 18 Highest Marks: 99 Lowest Marks: 06 Mean Marks: 78.4 REGION Number of Candidates: 38,455 Highest Marks: 99 Lowest Marks: 21 South Mean Marks: 82.0 Number of Candidates: 25,376 Mean Marks: 85.8 Number of Candidates: 426 Highest Marks: 99 Lowest Marks: 47 Foreign 6 Highest Marks: 99 Lowest Marks: 22 West Mean Marks obtained by Boys and Girls-Region wise 75.3 70.5 North 78.0 80.1 74.4 East 84.0 76.8 South 86.7 80.4 West 84.9 Foreign Comparison on the basis of Gender within Region Region Gender North (N) East (E) South (S) West (W) Foreign (F) Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys *Significant at 0.05 level N Mean SE 30,349 38,856 28,313 34,434 19,120 19,335 11,275 14,101 225 201 75.3 70.5 78.0 74.4 80.1 76.8 84.0 80.4 86.7 84.9 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.55 0.65 REGION (N, E, S, W, F) The performance of girls was significantly better than that of boys in all the regions. 7 t-value 48.97* 36.88* 32.92* 29.20* 2.09* MARK RANGES : COMPARISON GENDER-WISE Comparison on the basis of gender in top and bottom mark ranges Marks Range Top Range (81-100) Bottom Range (0-20) *Significant at 0.05 level Gender Girls Boys Girls Boys N Mean SE 44,644 38,683 2 19 87.0 86.4 18.0 17.3 0.02 0.02 2.00 0.86 Boys t-value 21.50* 0.31 Girls All Candidates Marks Range (81-100) 86.4 Performance of girls was 81 - 100 significantly better than the 87.0 86.7 performance of boys. 72.0 61 - 80 72.9 72.4 Marks Range (81-100) 53.3 41 - 60 53.8 53.5 34.5 21 - 40 Marks Range (0-20) 35.2 34.6 No significant difference was 17.3 observed between the average 0 - 20 performance of girls and boys. 18.0 17.4 8 GRADES AWARDED : COMPARISON GENDER-WISE Comparison on the basis of gender in Grade 1 and Grade 9 Grades Gender Girls Boys Girls Boys Grade 1 Grade 9 *Significant at 0.05 level N Mean SE 12,579 8938 2 19 92.1 92.0 18.0 17.3 0.02 0.02 2.00 0.86 Boys Girls t-value 4.12* 0.31 All Candidates 92.0 92.1 92.0 1 In Grade 1, 84.2 84.6 84.4 2 no significant 75.7 75.8 75.7 3 difference was observed 67.0 67.2 67.1 4 between the average performance of girls and 57.2 57.3 57.2 5 boys in Grade 9. 48.0 48.1 48.0 6 Grade 1 38.4 38.8 38.5 7 26.3 26.9 26.5 8 9 9 17.3 18.0 17.4 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ENGLISH LANGUAGE (PAPER-1) Question 1 (Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.) Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following: (a) Write an original short story in which two children and their Grandfather are the main characters. (b) Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) must be installed in every class room. Give your views either for or against this statement. (c) Your class had to conduct a Morning Assembly. Write an account of how you prepared for it, what your role was and what you gained from the experience. (d) Summers are becoming hotter with each passing year. Write a description of one such very hot day. What did you see and hear as you walked outside? How were birds and animals affected? (e) 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. 10 [20] Comments of Examiners (a) A number of candidates attempted the short story, but most ignored the essential requirements of a short story i.e., plot-structure, sequence, setting, characters, dialogues and wrote it as a first-person narrative. The other common error was not linking the given line with the short story. Many candidates did not understand the meaning of the word original . They indulged in plagiarism and wrote in entirety the story- After Blenheim from poetry. The story lacked creativity and a neat ending. (b) Some candidates mistook CCTV camera for television. Many candidates failed to take a stand and argued both sides of the motion. Some gave inadequate number of arguments e.g., most centred around classroom indiscipline and slothfulness of the teachers being curbed. Some candidates deviated from the necessity of installation of CCTV in schools to CCTV in public places like Malls and shops. (c) Certain essays were often garbled and written in a combination of tenses. The role, preparation and the experience gained by the candidates were inadequately presented. In most cases, only a detailed account of the morning assembly was mentioned. (d) In many cases, the focus was shifted to the impact of global warming. By and large, many essays described the summer season instead of A hot summer day . Impact of the rising heat on birds and animals was totally forgotten. In many answer scripts inadequate language skills (inability to use good vocabulary to bring alive the discomfort of humidity and heat) were observed. The use of five senses was also not adequately dealt with. Suggestions for teachers - Insist on originality. Discourage lifting of stories from prose, movies etc. - Focus on the importance of writing original story in every short story writing practice session. - Fire the students imagination by taking the examples of writing by famous short story writers likeMaupassant, Saki, Somerset Maugham and others. - Teach Plot structure. Devise pages to be filled in, comic book-style, etc. - Explain the importance of having an opinion, placing an argument and taking a stand. - Familiarise students with the structure of formal essay writing at school level. Give adequate practice in reading the question and following the sequence of guidelines given. - Teach students to think in a logical, sequential pattern and make effective use of the guidelines given. - Give adequate reading vocabulary building exercises. and teaching a narrative - While composition, ensure that the students learn the importance of the use of senses-visual, auditory tactile etc. to accentuate the composition. - Teach the correct use of tenses. (e) In several cases, the link between the picture and the essay was missing as many strayed from the central theme conveyed by the picture. Some candidates focused on merely listing of element seen in the picture or as a sight viewed on a journey without any reference to the picture. In many cases, the essay did not conclude logically. 11 MARKING SCHEME Question 1 (a) Original Short Story: The story must be original. The Grandfather and the two Grandchildren form the main characters. All three characters must be part of the plot. The story may be in first or the third person and could take any form i.e. comic, tragic, dramatic or a mystery. (b) Argumentative Composition: Views for or against the motion are to be accepted. Credit is to be given for a cohesive, well-constructed, logical argument and ideas and reasoning based on personal experience. Candidates must establish why CCTV cameras are necessary or not in the Classrooms / schools of today. Candidate must take a clear stand and give valid reasons for the stand taken. (c) Narrative Composition: This is a personal account of 15-year-old child of the Morning Assembly in each School. The composition must include planning, motivation and the role played by the students. The composition should also indicate what lessons are learnt through this exercise and why these lessons are so important. (d) Descriptive Composition: The candidate must give a detailed description of hot summer day. The heat, rising temperatures, humidity or aridity must be included. Images of animals and birds seeking shade and water should make up a part of this composition. (e) Picture Composition: Accept a wide interpretation. Any relevant ideas taken from the picture should be accepted. However, a mere itemization / listing / description of the picture is to be penalized. [10] Question 2 (Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.) Select any one of the following: (a) You want to start a new club in your school. Write a letter to your Principal requesting permission to start the club, explain your role in it and give reasons to prove that the club will be beneficial for the school. (b) Your friend has not fared well in the recent examinations. Write a letter to him / her expressing your concern. Give him / her some advice on how to score better marks and offer to help him / her to improve his / her performance. 12 Comments of Examiners (a) While a number of candidates attempted this question well, some common anomalies observed in this question were: Format: No address was given - candidates wrote either school name or Examination hall. Month (February) was spelt incorrectly. Instead of the examination date other dates were given. Incorrect salutation - not used the word Sir/Madam. Incorrect informal subscription. The subscription yours was written as your s with an apostrophe. Content: role of the candidate, kind of club was not specified. Expression: Formal language as required in formal letter was not used. Very casual language and faulty sentence construction was predominant. (b) Common errors made by candidates in this part were: Format: Many candidates used formal subscription, various combinations of friend and dear in the salutation/ subscription. Content: Concern by the sender was not specified. Suggestions for teachers - Teach students the correct format (address, date, salutation and subscription) and style of letter with emphasis on tone appropriate to the context. - Give adequate and regular practice on a variety of formal/informal letter writing. - Explain the necessity of ensuring formal language and required information to be included. - Instruct students to read the question paper carefully, identify important points to be highlighted and use specific words as referral points. - Conduct regular language activities in the class to improve Language structure/expression. - Refer to the council website to clear the doubts regarding the correct format. - Discourage dependence on guide books / workbooks as the ultimate source of information. Candidates failed to mention the help they would offer to improve the performance of their friend. The sender seemed to understand that advice offered was all that was important. Expression: Very casual informal language was used. Correct English usage was missing in many letters. MARKING SCHEME Question 2 INFORMAL LETTER FORMAL LETTER Address From address Date Date Salutation To address X Salutation Subscription Subscription 13 First name (a) Name + surname/ initial Formal Letter: Format, Content, Expression Body: Kind of club Your role/ Your duty (Any 1) Head / President / leader/ Plan / organize / carry out activity / motivate Reasons Why you want a club? (Any 2) Give skills / Spot new talent / exposure / team building / extra activity / improve campus / help others / All-round development (b) Informal Letter: Format, Content, Expression Expressing concern (Any 1) Sorry / worried / upset / anxious / concerned Advice -(Any 2) Plan proper study timetable / use study notes / seek teachers help / pay attention in class / practice frequently / proper food / rest / relaxation. Help -(Any 2) Take my notes / I shall sit with you / I shall help you / I shall take up your work I must be there. Question 3 (a) Your school is hosting an Inter-School Quiz Competition. [5] Write out a notice to be displayed in your school giving all details for the event. (b) Write an e-mail to the Principal of a neighbouring school requesting him / her to send a team of three members to participate in the Quiz Competition. 14 [5] Comments of Examiners (a) Although a number of candidates wrote well, many did not pay attention to the requirements of the notice i.e., creative title and all details (venue, date, time, target audience) relevant to the situation. Some common errors observed were as follows: Creative title: The title was missing; inappropriate/incorrect/ unimaginative or a very long title was given; the example on the council website - War of Words for debate was lifted either in parts or in its entirety. Content details were written in paragraph. Candidates did not adhere to the format given on the Council website. Incomplete details of venue, date and time of the event were given. Event date was too far ahead to be relevant / the examination date was given as the date of the event, while the date of the event should be at least 10 to 15 days after the notice. In several scripts following anomalies were observed: Incorrect email id-no @sign. Personal ids (with a name) were given. Opening sentence was not clear and did not touch upon the topic. Closing sentence was missing in many cases. In many cases the opening and closing sentences overlapped with the content. Salutation and subscription: Many wrote Respected Ma am which is an incorrect salutation. In a few cases, due to lack of language skills the person being addressed to was asked to host the Quiz. Suggestions for teachers - Train students to write notices, emails, etc. to communicate a specific message to a target audience using appropriate tone, style and format. - Advise students to refer to the Council website for correct format of notice and email writing. - Draw up a list of activities that a school may be involved in and help students to prepare a list of creative and catchy titles for these events. - Explain the necessity of giving required information- date, venue and time of the event which is meant to be read by multiple readers. - Familiarise students with the difference between official and personal email id. - In the opening sentence only, the request/ invitation should be mentioned. - Clarify to students about the necessity of a polite closing of the mail. e.g., Hoping for- positive reply, support, to see the team representing the school, etc. - Salutation and subscription should be as in the formal letter. (Refer to the Council website.) - The content of the Notice forms the content of the Email. MARKING SCHEME Question 3 (a) Creative Title - e.g. Question Hour, Quizzitica!, Brain Storm etc.[ English words only] Inter-School Quiz - e.g. Annual Inter school Quiz, Bradley Memorial Inter-School Quiz etc. Date - any date after 22nd February and before 28th March. Time - accept any time - a.m./am/A.M. 15 Venue - smaller place to larger. Invite participation, to whom to apply to, etc. (b) E-mail id Subject Salutation Opening sentence Closing sentence Subscription Expression/Body Question 4 Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow: Billy Weaver had travelled down from London and by the time he arrived it was nine o clock in the night and the moon was coming up. Excuse me, he asked a porter. but is there a cheap hotel nearby? Try The Bell Hotel, the porter answered, pointing down the road. Billy thanked him, picked up his suitcase and set out to walk the distance to The Bell Hotel. He had never been to Richmond before. But the man at the Office had told him it was a splendid city. Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown hat, and a new brown suit, and he was feeling fine. He walked briskly down the street. He was trying to do everything briskly these days. The big shots up at the Head Office were fantastically brisk all the time. They were amazing. The road was lonely and dark with a few scattered houses. Suddenly, in a downstairs window Billy saw a printed notice propped up against the window glass. It said Bed and Breakfast. He moved a bit closer and peered through the window into the room, and the first thing he saw was a bright fire burning in the hearth. On the carpet in front of the fire, a little dog was curled up asleep with its nose tucked into its belly. The room in half-darkness was filled with pleasant furniture. There was a piano and a big sofa 16 10 and several plump armchairs; and in one corner he spotted a large parrot in a cage. 20 Animals were usually a good sign in a place like this, Billy told himself and it looked to him as though it would be a pretty decent house to stay in. Then a queer thing happened to him. He was in the act of stepping back and going away from the window when he felt a strange urge to ring the bell! He pressed the bell. He heard it ringing, and then at once the door swung open and a woman was standing there. She gave him a warm welcoming smile. Please come in, she said pleasantly. Billy found himself automatically moving 30 forward into the house. I saw the notice in the window, he said, holding himself back. Yes, I know. I was wondering about a room. It s all ready for you, my dear, she said. She had a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes. How much do your charge? Five dollars a night, including breakfast. It was fantastically cheap. He could easily afford it. (a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: [3] One-word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (b) (i) splendid (line 7) (ii) spotted (line 20) (iii) automatically (line 29) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. (i) How did the porter assist Billy? [2] (ii) Why did Billy want to do everything briskly? [2] 17 (c) (iii) Why did Billy think animals were a good sign in a place like this? [2] (iv) Which sentence tells you that something strange happened to Billy? [2] (v) How much did the room cost? [1] In not more than 50 words, give a brief account of what Billy saw as he looked through the window of the room. [8] Comments of Examiners (a) Vocabulary: Several candidates were not able to write the correct meaning of the words as used in the passage due to the following reasons: Not maintaining the tense of the given words in their meaning; The form of the meaning was not matching e.g. spotted- see instead of saw; Explaining the meaning in sentences; Not reading the passage with the word meaning closely enough - some completely incorrect interpretations were observed, e.g., Spotteddotted. (b) Majority of the candidates performed well. However, in some cases following inaccuracies were observed: (i) Name of the hotel was not specified. wrote that the porter pointed the way. Most (ii) Quite a few candidates wrote - Billy wanted to do everything briskly because the road was lonely and dark (fear) and he was seventeen (young); Very few wrote that he wanted to become like/ imitate the big shots. (iii) The candidates simply copied the part of the passage without analysis. (Love/care of the owner was not mentioned.) Some candidates wrote the place was dark and lonely but did not continue that it was therefore 18 Suggestions for teachers - Advise students to practise vocabulary exercises regularly. - Encourage students to refer to the dictionary for word meanings. - Point out with examples, how if the incorrect word meaning replaces the word in the passage, it would not fit. - Instruct the students to answer application-based questions by using the precise information available in the passage. - Train students to think logically and to use the correct words or phrases that convey the meaning. - Teach students to read with understanding. They must be taught to read between the lines and identify the cause and effect. - Teach students to carefully read and choose the correct sentence which conveys the meaning of what has been asked for. - Help the students to improve their proficiency in English and tenses in particular. - Encourage students to practise the use of a Grid - Teach students to identify the key words-Nouns/Verbs. - Teach students to see the summary as answer to a specific question. safer with animals. (cause and effect was not focused on.) (iv) Many candidates wrote more than one sentence without highlighting the correct sentence, while some wrote an incomplete sentence. Some wrote the answer in their own words instead of quoting the sentence. (v) A few candidates made grammatical error in words -they wrote costed instead of cost. (c) Many candidates did not keep to the word limit. They wrote the pr cis in more than 50 words. Some left out articles to reduce word count. A few others wrote the summary of the entire passage/ part of the passage. MARKING SCHEME Question 4 (a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage. One word answers or short phrases will be accepted. (i) splendid - very good, wonderful, majestic, magnificent, impressive. (ii) spotted - (iii) automatically (b) saw, sighted, noticed, caught sight of. by himself, mechanically, with no outward force, instinctively, involuntarily, spontaneously, (i) Gave him information / about the Bell Hotel/ (cheap, nearby) (ii) Wanted to become / (like the big shots in the office, they were fantastically brisk/ they were amazing) any one from within the brackets. (iii) Proof that the people were good / they loved and cared for animals. (anything that implies love and care) (iv) Then a queer thing happened to him. (Quote exactly the entire sentence). (v) Five dollars a night with breakfast. (c) Points to look for: 1. Bright fire in the hearth 2. Little dog (on the carpet) 3. Pleasant furniture 4. Piano 5. Sofa and stuffed armchairs 6. Parrot in a cage All Nouns. Implied meaning / the words may be placed in any order / only a description of the room is required. (six things in the room+ expression) 19 Question 5 (a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in [4] brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space. Example: (0) roamed Once upon a time, in the days when genies and giants (0)___________ (roam) the land, there (1) ____________ (live) a farmer (2)____________ (name) Baba Ayub. He lived with his family in a little village by the name of Maidan Sabz. Because he had a large family to feed, Baba Ayub (3) ____________ (see) his days (4) ____________ (consume) by hard work. Every day, he (5)___________ (labour) from dawn to sundown, (6)____________ (plow) his field and (7) ____________ (turn) the soil and (8)___________ (tend) to his meagre pistachio trees. (b) Fill in each blank with an appropriate word: (i) The puppy was hiding __________ the sofa. (ii) Stop worrying __________ your future. [4] (iii) When I stepped __________ the lift, I found it had stopped working. (iv) We had to use a bridge to go __________ the river. (v) I have lived in this town __________ ten years. (vi) Please switch __________ all lights and fans when you leave the room. (vii) Ronnie is married __________ my cousin. (viii) The gift came __________ a birthday card. (c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so: (i) He was very ill. He did not take any medicine. (ii) You come back from your holiday. We will discuss the problem. (iii) He remained absent on Friday. It was foolish of him. (iv) Rahul ran all the way to the bus stop. He missed the bus. 20 [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) The old woman said to Arun, Can you help me to cross the street? (Begin: The old woman asked Arun ) (ii) As soon as the sun rose over the hills, the fog disappeared. (Begin: No sooner ) (iii) It rained so heavily that they could not go for the picnic. (Rewrite: Using too to ) (iv) If your friends get here before 7 o clock we can take them out for dinner. (Rewrite: Using unless .) (v) The school captain was elected by the students of classes XI and XII. (Begin: The students ) (vi) Greenland is the largest island in the world. (Rewrite: Using larger .) (vii)How cruel Shylock was to demand his pound of flesh! (Begin: It was cruel ) (viii) Arun was asked by his mother to explain the missing buttons on his shirt. (Rewrite: Using explanation ) 21 [8] Comments of Examiners (a) Many candidates answered blanks (6), (7) and (8) in Suggestions for teachers simple past instead of in their continuous forms. - Teach the basic rules and concepts of (b) A large number of candidates did not perform well in grammar and revise as often as this part of the question. Some of the commonly possible. occurring errors were as follows: - Practice verb forms in passages, as in The difference between in and into was not single sentences. understood, in (iii); - Explain the change of tenses In (v), since was used instead of for . according to the context. - Explain the difference between in Candidates used on instead of off in part (vi). into , on-upon about things at rest With instead of to was used by candidates in and things in motion. part (vii). - The difference between since and Phrasal verbs/ phrases were used instead of single for with a specific time and a words. more general period should be (c) Several candidates used completely incorrect explained. approach of synthesis of sentences. Following - Stress upon the importance of procedural mistakes were observed: reading the entire sentence before deciding upon a preposition. In (i), He was very ill, inspite he did not take any - Teach students that two clauses are medicine. made mutually exclusive by the use Causal: He did not take any medicine as he was of the subordinating conjunction very ill. though , although etc and not In (ii), structure As soon as was used - there was inter-dependent as in a causal no immediacy involved. sentence. In (iii), he remained absent was used instead of - Teach when to use after and when to remain absent. (passive + incorrectly used.) to use As soon as - Design worksheets to teach specific Candidates used though along with yet/still in items of grammar for class work part (iv), which was incorrect. e.g. Although Rahul exercises. ran all the way, yet he missed the bus. Causal: - Compliment Language classes with Rahul missed the bus as he ran all the way. adequate emphasis on literature (d) Some common errors made by candidates in this part classes to reinforce a better were: comprehension and study of the English language as a whole. (i) .to help her to cross the road. - if and whether Teach the students to reason out the were not used by many candidates. implications of using incorrect words (ii) - Incorrect verb-form combination - No sooner did /placing the word incorrectly in a the sun rose sentence. - Incorrect position of than - No sooner than the - Stress upon improving reading habits sun rose to help improve basic language skills - Used that instead of than - No sooner and fluency. did/had . that the fog disappeared. (iii) Incorrect sentence construction: - It rained too heavily that they could not for the picnic. - The rain was too heavy to go for the picnic. ( for them missing) 22 (iv) can used instead of cannot - Unless your friends get here before 7o clock we can take them out for dinner. (v) - Instead of using simple past the candidates used past perfect tense, e.g. The students of class XI and XII had elected - Subject reversed- The students of class XI and XII were elected by the Captain. (vi) Incorrect form used with the comparative - No other island was larger than .. (vii) cruel used as qualifier - It was cruel Shylock who ../It was cruel that Shylock (viii) Candidates used all kinds of variations with prepositions - for, of, in, on, about, to - in all kinds of ways in the sentence. MARKING SCHEME Question 5 (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. 0. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. (b) Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (c) roamed lived named saw consumed laboured plowing/ploughing turning tending under / behind/beside about into across for off to with Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so: (i) Although / though/ even though he was very ill, he did not take any medicine. In spite of being / Despite being/ very ill, he did not take any medicine He was very ill, yet/still/ he did not take any medicine. (if the words- very any missing - no penalty) (ii) After you come back from your holiday we will discuss the problem. We will discuss the problem after/ when /you come back from your holiday. (After/ when can be in the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.) 23 (iii) It was foolish of him to remain absent on Friday. (iv) In spite of /Despite/ running all the way to the bus stop, Rahul missed the bus. Although/ though/ even though Rahul ran all the way to the bus stop, he missed the bus. Rahul ran all the way to the bus stop yet/still he missed the bus. (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) The old woman asked Arun if he could help her (to) cross the street. (ii) No sooner did the sun rise over the hills than the fog disappeared / No sooner had the sun risen over the hills than the fog disappeared. (iii) It rained too heavily for them to go for the picnic (iv) Unless your friends get here before 7 o clock we cannot take them out for dinner. We cannot take your friends out for dinner unless they get here before 7o clock. (v) The students of Classes XI and XII elected the school captain. (vi) Greenland is larger than any other island/all other islands in the world. (vii) It was cruel of Shylock to demand his pound of flesh. (viii) Arun was asked by his mother to give an explanation for/about the missing buttons on his shirt / Arun s mother asked him for an explanation about the missing buttons on his shirt. 24 GENERAL COMMENTS Topics found difficult/ confusing by candidates Essay writing: Many candidates found it difficult to express their thoughts in English and often used words in mother tongue to express their views. Letter: The idea/concept of forming a new club for a specific activity was not understood by many. Notice & Email: The connection between the two was not understood by some. Wrong format was used in many cases. Comprehension: Questions based on analysis/ understanding were not understood by many candidates. Grammar: The rules of grammar were not clear to many candidates. 25 Suggestions for candidates Read books, newspapers and periodicals regularly. Regularly practice grammar and vocabulary. Organise yourselves into study groups and engage in discussions of the language skills. Solve past years question papers. Read the instructions given on the question paper attentively. Use the 15 minutes reading time judiciously to make a proper choice of questions by reading the requirements of the question carefully. Read through the paper on completion to avoid mistakes. Develop regular reading habit and apply vocabulary learnt from a text in your creative writing. Learn to answer critical and analytical questions. Take note of key words in the sentence/ question. Pay attention to language, correct spellings, punctuation and grammar. Choose the composition topic only after thinking and comprehending it and include - the essential components (plot, setting, character, dialogue, crisis and its resolution) in writing an original and creative short story. - sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and feeling or human emotion in writing a composition which incorporates sensory descriptions. - your own experience stressing the role of the narrator in giving a first-person account of an incident or situation. - arguments presented in a cohesive and logical manner using suitable examples, while writing views either for or against a given topic. Practise writing letters, emails, notices using appropriate tone, style and format (refer to the council website www.cisce.org for guidelines). Read the given passage carefully underlining the key points/terms/phrases/phrasal verbs etc. and answer the questions asked. Practise a variety of questions based on correct use of prepositions, verbs, tenses synthesis and transformation of sentences etc. 26

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