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ICSE Class X Prelims 2026 : English Paper 2 (English Literature)

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PODAR INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (ICSE) PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION (2025-26) Std: X Subject: Literature in English Duration: Two hours Maximum Marks: 80 Answers to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately. You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 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. 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 and one other question from any other section of your choice. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ]. Section A (Attempt all questions from this Section.) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Question 1 Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the question, write the correct answers only.) What was the task given to Metellus Cimber? i. to strike Caesar first ii. to approach Caesar on the pretext of presenting his plea iii. to draw Antony out of the way iv. to keep an eye out for the supporters of Caesar What did Antony do as soon as Caesar was assassinated? i. He attacked the conspirators. ii. He addressed the people of Rome. iii. He refused to speak to anyone. iv. He fled to his house astounded. Why did Antony send his servant to the conspirators? i. to learn of their whereabouts for his safety ii. to demand a share in Caesar s property iii. to ask if he could go to the senate safely iv. to tell them about Calpurnia s condition Who arrived when Antony was alone on stage? i. Caesar s ghost ii. Pompey s ghost iii. a servant of Octavius Caesar iv. the Soothsayer What reason does Brutus give for murdering Caesar? i. He wanted to be king. ii. The other senators told him to do so. iii. He loved Rome more than he loved Caesar. iv. He wanted to avenge Pompey s death. IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination [16] Page 1 of 6 (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) How many times had Antony presented Caesar a crown at the feast of Lupercal? i. once ii. twice iii. many times iv. thrice Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the phantoms in H W Longfellow s poem Haunted Houses ? i. harmless ii. inoffensive iii. impalpable iv. threatening What is suggested by Maya Angelou when she says after a period peace blooms in the poem When Great Trees Fall ? i. Healing follows grief. ii. Peace is found when remembering great souls. iii. Silence leads to peace. iv. Peace blooms like a flower. Which of the given options contains the figure of speech that appears in the following line from Robert Frost s poem A Considerable Speck : With cunning crept (x) (xi) (xii) (xiii) i. When summer comes we hear the hums ii. When great trees fall, iii. And miles to go before I sleep iv. The sun on the proud hilltop burns What is the genre of the poem The Power of Music by Sukumar Ray? i. Narrative verse ii. Elegy iii. Sonnet form iv. Nonsense verse What was the attitude of the king and his nobles towards the royal beasts in the poem The Glove and the Lions ? i. apathetic ii. empathetic iii. disgusted iv. fearful In Stephen Leacock s short story With the Photographer , what had the narrator always known? i. The photographer was unprofessional. ii. His face was quite lean. iii. His face was quite wrong. iv. The photographer disliked him. Martin said, It wasn t possible. What according to Martin, felt like a nightmare in the short story The Elevator ? i. being trapped in the elevator ii. using the stairs to reach the seventeenth floor iii. seeing the lady for the second time in the elevator iv. breaking his leg IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination Page 2 of 6 (xiv) (xv) (xvi) In Ama Ata Aidoo's short story, 'The Girl Who Can', what kind of clothes did Adjoa s grandmother wear every afternoon while visiting the town for the sports meet? i. fresh new clothes ii. old wrinkled clothes iii. fresh old clothes iv. old unused clothes Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Alphonse Daudet s short story, The Last Lesson . 1. The news M Hamel gave the class seemed as a thunder-clap to Franz. 2. Franz thought of skipping his class and spending the day outdoors. 3. Franz saw the back benches in his class occupied by the villagers. 4. In his school that day everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. i. 4, 2, 1, 3 ii. 2, 3, 4, 1 iii. 3, 1, 2, 4 iv. 2, 4, 3, 1 Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements (1) and (2) from Ray Bradbury s story, The Pedestrian . Statement 1: But this one house had all of its electric lights brightly lit, every window a loud yellow illumination, square and warm in the cool darkness. Statement 2: And on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard. i. 2 is the cause of 1 ii. 2 is the result of 1 iii. 1 is independent of 2 iv. 1 is a contradiction of 2 Section B (Answer one or more questions from this section) Drama (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare) Question 2 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Caesar: Et tu Brute! Then fall, Caesar! [Dies. The Senators and people retire in confusion] Cinna: Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. Cassius: Some to the common pulpits and cry out Liberty, freedom and enfranchisement! Brutus: People, and senators, be not affrighted; Fly not; stand still; ambition s debt is paid. Casca: IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination Page 3 of 6 Go to the pulpit, Brutus. Decius: And Cassius too. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) What is the mood among the conspirators once Caesar is murdered? What does Brutus mean by Ambition s debt is paid ? Who strikes Caesar first? What does Caesar mean by Et tu, Brute ? What is the significance of his words Et tu, Brute? Why does Casca want Brutus to go to the pulpit? What fear does Metellus express? Whom does Brutus reassure? How do the other senators, in particular Publius, react to the assassination? How does Brutus reassure them? [3] [3] [3] [4] Question 3 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: Antony: Octavius, I have seen more days than you: And, though we lay these honours on this man, To ease ourselves of diverse slanderous loads, He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, To groan and sweat under the business, Either led or driven, as we point the way; And having brought our treasure where we will, Then we take down his load, and turn him off, Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears, And graze in commons. Octavius: You may do your will, But he s a tried and valiant soldier. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) What explanation does Antony give of Lepidus role in their triumvirate? What has Octavius pointed out just before the quoted lines? What is Antony s attitude towards Lepidus? What does Antony refer to as treasure ? Why is this treasure important to Antony and Octavius? Does Octavius agree with Antony? What does he say? Why does Antony want to diminish Lepidus role in the Triumvirate? Do you think Antony is justified in doing so? Why? IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination [3] [3] [3] [3] [4] Page 4 of 6 Section C (Answer one or more questions from this section) Prose - Short Stories (Treasure Chest - A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories) Question 4 Read the following extract from Ray Bradbury s short story, The Pedestrian and answer the questions that follow: Was that a murmur of laughter from within a moon-white house? He hesitated, but went on when nothing more happened. He stumbled over a particularly uneven section of sidewalk. The cement was vanishing under flowers and grass. In ten years of walking by night or day, for thousands of miles, he had never met another person walking, not once in all that time. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) What does Mead think about the murmur of laughter ? What does it suggest about his connection with other people? Why does he stumble while walking? What does cement was vanishing suggest? Why has he not encountered another person on the road in ten years of his solitary walks? What does this indicate/tell us about life in 2053? How does this extract reveal nature s resilience? Explain briefly the theme of nonconformity as presented in the story. Question 5 Read the following extract from William Sleator s short story, The Elevator and answer the questions that follow: [3] [3] [3] [3] [4] He wanted to know why Martin was out of breath. Why didn t you take the elevator? he asked, frowning at Martin. You re not only skinny and weak and bad at sports, his face seemed to say, but you are also a coward. After that, Martin always took the elevator. He would have to get used to it, he told himself, just like he got used to being bullied at school. But he didn t get used to it, He was always afraid that it would stop suddenly and he would be trapped inside it for hours by himself. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Who is being referred to as he in this extract? What did he ask Martin? Why? State the three adjectives which Martin believed he used for him. Why is Martin perceived as such by him? What does Martin promise himself? Does he succeed? What else did he get used to? What was his fear about the elevator? Did it happen at the end of the story? Give reasons for your answer. Briefly explain Martin s characteristic traits based on this extract. IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination [3] [3] [3] [3] [4] Page 5 of 6 Section D (Answer one or more questions from this section) Poetry (Treasure Chest - A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories) Question 6 Read the following extract from Leigh Hunt s poem, The Glove and the Lions and answer the questions that follow: Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another; Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother; The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air; Said Francis then, Faith, gentlemen, we re better here than there. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Where were the lions? Who all were watching them? Explain briefly the lions fight as described in the first line of the extract. How does the author describe the fight between the lions to show its ferocity and brutality? Give two poetic devices used in this extract with one example of each. What did King Francis tell the audience? What is revealed about the king by the remark? Comment on the imagery used in the extract. [3] [3] [3] [3] [4] Question 7 Read the following extract from Robert Frost s poem, A Considerable Speck and answer the questions that follow: I have a mind myself and recognise Mind when I meet with it in any guise No one can know how glad I am to find On any sheet the least display of mind. What does the speaker want to convey by saying that he has a mind? Which characteristic of the speaker is conveyed by this assertion? Where does the speaker find the mind ? In which guise does he find it? (b) How does he recognise it? How does the speaker reward it for displaying its mind? Why does the (c) speaker not punish it for trespassing on his sheet of paper? What is the reason for the speaker s gladness? Give the symbolic (d) meaning of the line On any sheet the least display of mind. What is the central theme of this poem? How is an insignificant creature (e) used to justify the theme of the poem? <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< (a) IC/X/2526 Preliminary Examination [3] [3] [3] [3] [4] Page 6 of 6

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