ICSE SEMESTER 2 MOCK EXAMINATION

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

ENGLISH PAPER - 2

Maximum Marks: 40

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Time allowed: One and a half hours

Answers to this Paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

You will not be allowed to write during the first 10 minutes.

This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.

The time given at the head of this Paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.

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The paper has four sections.

Section A is compulsory – All questions in Section A must be answered.

You must attempt one question from each of the Sections B, C and D.

The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ]

SECTION A

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Question 1

Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the

question, Write the correct answer only.)

(i) The poem Nine Gold Medals refers to the special Olympic games for the------------
(a) Women athletes
(b) Differently abled athletes
(c) Male athletes
(d) Professionals
 (ii) Which of the following words would best describe Abou Ben Adhem?

(a) Bold and brash

(b) Devout and compassionate

(c) Prayerful and anxious

(d) Dreamy and peaceful

(iii) What event were the children in Ray Bradbury’s story, ‘All Summer in a Day’ eagerly

awaiting?

(a) Their return to the Earth.

(b) The arrival of the Rocket people.

(c) Their teacher’s return.

(d) The appearance of the sun.

(iv)in the all summer in a day the children most of all --------------------------------

(a)basked in the sun

(b)danced in the sun

(c) squinted in the sun

(d) Played hide and seek

(v) The lesson my greatest Olympic prize lays emphasize on the:

(a) Winter Olympics

(vi)“You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed.” Who said these words and to

whom?

(a) Jesses Owens’ coach to Jesse Owens.

(b) Luz Long to Jesse Owens

(d) Hitler to Luz Long

(vii) Which of the following characters can be described as quick-witted, daring and loyal?

(a) Nerissa

(b) Jessica

(c) Portia

(d) Leah

(viii) Name the young lovers whose lives ended tragically because of a misunderstanding

caused by the appearance of a lion.

(a) Troilus and Cressida

(b) Pyramus and Thisbe

(c) Dido and Aeneas

(d) Medea and Aeson

(ix) What does Portia believe makes the music she and Nerissa hear more beautiful?

(a) The lonely setting

(b) Her victories

(c) Her intellect

(d) The night

(x) What does Antonio offer as bond against any future infidelity by Gratiano or Bassanio?

(a) His soul

(b) His estate

(c) His flesh

(ad A chest of gold

DRAMA

(The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare - Acts 4 and 5)

Question 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

O, be thou damned, inexecrable dog!

And for thy life let justice be accused.

Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith

To hold opinion with Pythagoras,

That souls of animals infuse themselves

Into the trunks of men.

Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,

Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,

And, whilst thou lay”st in thy unhallowed dam,

Infused itself in thee; for thy desires

Are wolfish, bloody, starved, and ravenous.:

(i) Why does Gratiano react violently? [2]

(ii) Who was Pythagoras? What wa his theory about rebirth [2]

(iii) How did the spirit of the wolf enter into shylock? [3]
(iv) Why does Gratiano say that shylock’s desires are wolfish? [3]

Question 2

Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods;

Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage,

But music for the time doth change his nature.

The man that hath no music in himself,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night,

And his affections dark as Erebus.

Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.

(i) Who was Orpheus? What effect did the music played by Orpheus have on objects in
nature? [2]
(ii) (ii) Give the meaning of: [2]

(a) stratagems:--------------------------------

(b) spoils:------------------------------------

(iii) What has Lorenzo said earlier about the effect of trumpet sound on wild colts? [3]

(iv)What does Lorenzo say about the man who has no sense of music? [3]

SECTION C

PROSE - SHORT STORIES

(Treasure Trove – A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories)

Question 3

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow

It’s like a fire, she said, ‘in the stove’. “You’re lying, you don’t remember!” cried the
children. But she remembered and stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the
patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused to shower in the school shower
rooms, and clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water mustn’t
tough her head.

(i) How was Margot so certain what the Sun looked like?
[2]

(ii) Why do the children refused to believe her?

(iv) What happened during the school shower? What did Margot understand? [3]

Question 4

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow

For the next few minutes, we talked together. I didn’t tell Long what was ‘eating’ me, but he
seemed to understand my anger, and he took pains to reassure me. Although, he’d been
schooled in the Nazi Youth movement, he didn’t believe in the Aryan-supremacy business
any more than I did. We laughed over the fact that he really took the part, though. An inch
taller than I, he had a lean, muscular frame, clear blue eyes, blond hair and a strikingly
handsome, chiselled face.

(i) Why did Jesse Owens foul the first two jumps in the trail? [2]

(ii) How did Luz Long help Owens to regain his confidence? [2]

(iii) Did Luz Long believe in the Aryan Supremacy Theory? Justify your answer.
[3]

(iv) What did Luz Long share with Jesse Owens? How did his advice affect Jesse’s
performance?
[3]

SECTION D

POETRY

(Treasure Trove – A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories

Question-5

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

(i) Who was Abou Ben Adhem ? What did he believe? [2]

(ii) Explain the meaning of deep dream of peace? How could Abou have peace?

[2]

(iii) Describe the effect of moonlight in Abou’s room. Why is moonlight compared to a lily in
bloom? [3]

(iv) Briefly describe the second vision of Abou Ben Adhem. How does it reflect on the theme
of the poem? [3]

Question-5

He gave out a cry of frustration and anguish

His dreams and his efforts dashed in the dirt

But as sure as I’m standing here telling the story

Now it’s a strange one, but here’s what occurred

The eight other athletes stopped in their tracks

The ones who had trained for so long to compete

One by one they turned and came back to help him

And lifted the lad to his feet.

(i) Whom does ‘he’ and ‘they’ refer to in the given stanza? [2]
(ii) Why did he give out a cry? [2]
(iii) What does ‘His dreams and his efforts dashed in the dirt’, state? [3]
(iv) What was the strange thing that had happened? What does it tell about the attitude of the
athletes? [3]