PRE-ICSE EXAMINATIONS-2021

St Xavier’s School, Sbg

ENGLISH --1
Class X [Two hours] FM: 80
Attempt all five questions
Question 1
(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (300-350 words) on any of the following: [20]
(a) Write an original story, beginning with the line: “Where there is a will there is a way”.
(b) “Government should allow all the schools to resume for Offline Classes.” Express your
views either for or against this statement.
(c) Describe a day at home when an unexpected visitor arrived. Explain what happened and how
the day ended.
(d) Narrate your experience of an outing which you will never forget.

Question 2
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.) [10]
Select one of the following:
(a) Write a letter to your elder sister advising her to read newspaper daily, impressing upon her
the need for doing so.
(b) You are suffering from chickenpox. Write an application to your Principal requesting him to
grant you leave for two weeks.

Question 3 [5+5]
(a) Your Housing Society is organizing a Cooking Contest for the members of your society.
Write a Notice to be put near the Main Gate of your society informing the residents about the
contest.
(b) Write an email to the chef of a renowned restaurant requesting him/her to be the judge at the
event and seeking sponsorship for the event.

Question 4
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

For the fifth day in succession, I set out on the wearisome search for a house. My husband had
been very ill and the doctor was insistent that we must give up living in the town. It was
essential for him to breathe the purer air of the country, if he was to get strong again. So, I was
feverishly house-hunting.
Of course, I had seen innumerable houses, but there was something wrong with all of them.
Some were too large, some too small. Some were surrounded by too much land and some had so
little garden that it was practically non-existent. Some could never have been repaired since they
were built: roof tiles were missing, walls and ceilings were cracked, woodwork was rotting,
paint peeling. It would require a fortune to make them habitable. Some were so ugly outside
that I made no attempt to penetrate to the interior.
I was sure that one house was haunted. I could feel a ghostly presence following me from room
to room and hear the swish of skirts that I could not see. I have never been afraid of ghosts, but I
did not want to share my home with one. I have heard too many tales of the tricks that spirit
occupants of houses can get up to, if they are offended by the living owners. It would be
uncomfortable to be on bad terms with a companion who was alive, but intolerable with a dead
one. [Turn over]
 (2)
The morning of the fifth day brought no better result, and I was so disappointed that I very nearly
gave up looking at anything more that week. However, something impelled me to go on after
lunch; and I found exactly what I wanted.
(a) Give the meaning of the following words as used in the passage: One word answers or short
phrases will be accepted. [3]
(i) in succession
(ii) innumerable
(iii) impelled
(b) Answer the following questions briefly, in your own words.
(i) Why was it necessary for the author to find a new house? [2]
(ii) What was the author’s first impression about the innumerable houses she
had seen? [1]
(iii) What made the author guess that some houses she saw had never been properly
looked after? [2]
(iv) How did the author know that one of the houses was haunted? Why didn’t she want
to live in a haunted house? [2]
(v) Why did the author nearly give up looking for houses? What did she find at the
end? [2]
(c) In not more than 50 words, describe the author’s experience while looking for a new
house. [8]

Question 5
(a) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of word given in brackets.
Do not copy the passage but write in correct serial order the word or phrase
appropriate to the blank space. [4]
There was a king in China who used to spend hours in his uniform …1… (parade) before a
mirror in his room. He would remain secluded in his palace, admiring himself, while his
subjects …2…. (starve) to death, and his kingdom went to ruin. One night, a courtier
gathered a group of palace …3….(attend) and, while the king slept, cut a window on the wall
where the king’s mirror had hung. The next morning, when the king dressed himself in his
…4… (sparkle) medals, he walked to where the mirror had been and saw to his …5….
(amaze) the unending procession of his people passing on the street. He saw starving
children reaching into garbage cans for crusts. He saw sick and …6…. (maim) men and
women. He …7… (tear) off his medals, called for simple clothes, and went out …8….
(mingle) with the people. His whole outlook on life changed when he stopped looking into
mirror at only himself.

(b) Fill in each blank with an appropriate word: [4]

(i) Alex has run ……. debt after the inflation.
(ii) The pond abounds ……. fish.
(iii) His pride has brought …… his crisis.
(iv) I was taken …….. when I heard of his death.
(v) The enemy has encroached ……. our territory.
(vi) Anisha takes ……. her mother in many ways.
(vii) Priya bore ……. the first prize in the competition.
(viii) The two families are living …….. the same roof.
[Turn over]
 (3)
(c) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using ‘and’, ‘but’or
‘so’. [4]
(i) He waited a little. Then the candidates were ready for the instructions.
(ii) Where shall we stay in the city? This is the problem.
(iii) Aryan is the sport secretary. He was here a little while ago.
(iv) Clear your dues. Then you will be allowed to take your exams.

(d) Rewrite 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.
[8]
(i) He said to me, “Are you going away tonight?”
(Begin: He inquired.……………..)
(ii) He is inviting each of his friends.
(Begin: Each……………)
(iii) If Nancy apologizes, she will be set free.
(Begin: Unless……….)
(iv) He had just reached the station when there was a terrible explosion.
(Begin: Hardly…………..)
(v) He is a rich man but he is not proud.
(Begin: In spite of………..)
(vi) As soon as the sales began, we bought our Diwali presents.
(Begin: No sooner ………)
(vii) He died instantaneously.
(Use instant instead of instantaneously)
(viii) Being the only candidate, I appointed him to the post.
(Correct the sentence)

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