ICSE SEMESTER 2 EXAMINATION

SPECIMEN QUESTION PAPER

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
ENGLISH PAPER - 2
Maximum Marks: 40
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.

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
Question 1

Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the
question, Write the correct answer only.) [10]

(i) What was announced on the loudspeakers before the start of the race in the poem,
‘Nine Gold Medals’?

(a) The nationalities of the runners.

(b) The age of the runners.

(c) The names of the runners.

(d) The gender of the runners.

(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

T22 012 S2 – SPECIMEN 1 of 6

(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) How old was Margot when she first arrived on his distant planet?

(a) Five

(b) Seven

(c) Four

(d) Nine

(v) What made Jesse Owens one of the best remembered athletes of all time?

(a) His remarkable achievement of winning four gold medals at the 1936
Olympic Games.

(b) The amazing bond of friendship that he developed with arch rival Luz Long.

(c) His struggle to qualify for the finals of the broad jump at the 1936 Olympic
Games.

(d) His anger at the rising nationalistic feelings that characterized the 1936 Berlin
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

(c) Jesse Owens to Luz Long

(d) Hitler to Luz Long

(vii) Antonio says that trying to reason with Shylock was like ____________ .

(a) standing on the beach and ordering the waves to wash away the sands.

(b) reasoning with a ewe which was crying out in distress at the loss of her lamb

(c) trying to soften a rock

(d) commanding the pine trees on the mountain side to remain quiet and
motionless when battered by strong winds.

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

(a) Nerissa

(b) Jessica

(c) Portia

(d) Leah

(ix) 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

(x) What special ‘deed of gift’ does Jessica give to Lorenzo at the end of the play?

(a) The news that Shylock had forgiven Jessica and Lorenzo for eloping.

(b) The bond signed by Shylock making Lorenzo heir to all his wealth

(c) The three thousand ducats that Antonio owed to Shylock

(d) The news that Shylock had agreed to become a Christian.

SECTION B

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:

Portia : The quality of mercy is not strained ;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed :
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes .
Tis mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown :

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(i) Where does this scene take place? Why Is Portia here? [2]
(ii) To what is mercy compared in these lines? [2]

(iii) Why does Portia call mercy ‘twice blessed’?

Explain the lines: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

the throned monarch better than his crown: [3]

(iv) Later in her speech Portia mentions a sceptre. What is a sceptre?

How, according to Portia, is mercy above the ‘sceptred sway’? [3]

Question 2

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

GRATIANO: O learned judge! – Mark, Jew: a learned

judge!

SHYLOCK: I take this offer, then; pay the bond thrice,

And let the Christian go.

(i) Why does Shylock suddenly decide to accept this offer? [2]

(ii) Who has made this offer? Who stops Shylock from accepting this offer? [2]

(iii) Shylock decides to leave the court without even receiving the principal amount.
What other crime is he accused of? What further punishment does he face for this
crime? [3]

(iv) Later in this scene, how does the Duke show that he is merciful?
What does Shylock say in response to the Duke’s act of mercy? [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:

He gave her a shove. But she did not move, rather she let herself be moved only by
him and nothing else. They edged away from her; they would not look at her. She
felt them go away.

T22 012 S2 – SPECIMEN 4 of 6

(i) Who is ‘she’? On which planet is this story set? [2]

(ii) Mention any two ways in which life on this planet differs from life on earth. [2]

(iii) Who are ‘they’? Why did ‘they’ not come to her aid when William shoved her? [3]

(iv) What do ‘they’ do to her at the end of the story? Why did they behave in this manner? [3]

Question 4

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

An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes, as any coach will tell you. I
was no exception. On the first of my three qualifying jumps, I leaped from several
inches beyond the take-off board for a foul.

(i) When and where is this narrative set? [2]

(ii) What reason does the narrator Jesse Owens give for the heightened nationalistic
feelings at this time? [2]

(iii) In which event had Owens been confident of winning a gold medal? Why? [3]

(iv) What had made Owens angry enough to make mistakes? Name Owens’ rival who
approached him at this point. [3]

SECTION D

POETRY

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

Question 5

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

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?"

(i) To whom did Ben Adhem address these words? Mention the context in which he said
this. [2]

(ii) What was the ‘presence’ doing in Ben Adhem’s room? What did the presence say in
response to Ben Adhem’s question? [2]
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(iii) What did Abou ben Adhem say after this exchange? How did the presence respond
to his words? [3]

(iv) Describe the events of the following night. [3]

Question 6

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

All round the field spectators were gathered

Cheering on all the young women and men
Then the final event of the day was approaching
The last race about to begin.
— Nine Gold Medals, David Roth

(i) Where had the ‘young women and men’ come from? What had brought them
together? [2]

(ii) What was the last event of the day? How many athletes were participating in this
event? [2]

(iii) What happened to the youngest athlete half way through the race? How did he deal
with the situation? [3]

(iv) Describe the manner in which the race ends. [3]

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 Answers

Section-A
Answer 1.
(i) (c) The names of the runners
(ii) (b) Devout and compassionate
(iii) (d) The appearance of the sun
(iv) (c) Four
(v) (a) His remarkable achievement of winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games.
(vi) (b) Luz Long to Jesse Owens
(vii) Both options (b) and (d) are correct
(viii) (c) Portia
(ix) (b) Pyramus and Thisbe
(x) The given question is incorrect

Section-B
Answer 2.
(i) The scene takes place in the court of justice in Venice.
Portia and Nerissa, disguised as lawyer and clerk, were there in the courtroom to defend Antonio
against Shylock’s inhuman claim to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body for forfeiting a bond
which he had signed as a guarantee for the repayment of a loan of three thousand ducats.
(ii) Portia compares mercy to the gentle rain from heaven. It blesses the person who shows mercy by way
of getting happiness in the generous act, and the one who is at the receiving end, also benefits from
the act. Mercy looks better in a king than his crown.
(iii) Portia says that the person who grants mercy is equally blessed as the one who receives it. This is
because mercy is a characteristic of God, and the person who grants it is acting with the spirit and
majesty of God. Thus, mercy is twice blessed: it blesses the one who gets the merciful treatment and
the one who grants it.
(iv) Sceptre is the insignia of kingship. It represents power. The line “But mercy is above this sceptred
sway” means that the king’s sceptre is the emblem of his worldly power. It is the symbol of fear
which kingship inspires in others. But mercy is higher and greater than the worldly authority which
is symbolized by rod.
Answer 3.
(i)  hylock suddenly decides to accept the offer that Bassanio had made previously because now he is
S
trapped and his plan of revenge has failed. Now he wants to gain whatever is possible.
(ii) Bassanio has made this offer. Portia stops Bassanio from accepting this offer.
(iii) B
 esides conspiring a murder against a Venetian citizen being a foreigner, Shylock has also attempted
to murder a Christian.
  y the law of Venice, one half of Shylock’s property will be given to Antonio, and the other half will
B
go to the state’s treasury. Further, Antonio forces him to convert into a Christian.
(iv) Later in this scene, the Duke pardons Shylock’s life for his crime and reminds him that it was the
difference between the Christians and the Jews. The Duke grants his life but confiscates all his
property.
To this, Shylock replies that he did him no good by granting him his life because although he has
given him a house to live, he has taken away all its pillars. Now he has no means to survive.

Section-C
Answer 4.
(i) `She’ in the extract is Margot, the protagonist of the story, “All Summer in a Day.” She is a nine-year-
old girl who moved from Ohio to planet Venus when she was four years old. Margot longs intensely
for the sun, which she remembers vividly from her time on Earth.
The setting of the story is the planet Venus where it keeps on raining for years together.
(ii) L
 ife on Venus is different from life on this earth. Here it rains for seven years continuously. Secondly,
the sun shines for one day for only an hour after every seven years.
(iii) ‘They’ are the other children. They did not come to her aid because they did not like her. They
disliked her because she would not play with them. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking
after them and did not follow. When the class sang songs about happiness and life and games her
lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the summer did her lips move as she
watched the drenched windows. And then, of course, the biggest crime of all was that she had come
here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and the
sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been
only two years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the colour and heat of it
and the way it really was. But Margot remembered.
(iv) W
 hen the sun was about to come out for the first time in seven years, the kids locked Margot in
a closet. When the sun came out, the children played in the illumination like wild animals. They
played until it began to rain and then in a dawning- like realization, one of them remembered that
they had left Margot in the closet. They walked slowly down the hall in the sound of cold rain. They
turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the storm and thunder, lightning on their
faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it.
Behind the closet door was only silence.
They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out
The children behaved in such a manner at the end of the story because they realised their mistake
and felt sorry for their misbehaviour.
Answer 5.
(i) This story is set in the time of the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936.
(ii) Hitler childishly insisted that his performers were members of a ‘master race.’ This heightened
nationalistic feelings at this time .The Nazis believed in the Aryan superiority theory.
(iii) Jessie Owens had trained, sweated and disciplined himself for six years. He had already made a
world record in the long jump in the last year. So, he expected to win the gold medal easily in the
Berlin Olympic Games of 1936.
(iv) A
 t the time of broad- jump trials, Jessie Owens saw a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his
practice leaps. Jesse felt angry when he was told that Hitler had kept him under wraps obviously to
win the jump against him. If Luz Long won, it would add some new support to the Nazis’ Aryan-
superiority theory. Jessie was so disturbed thinking about it that he had made mistakes in his trial
jumps.
Luz Long, a German, was Jessie Owens’ rival who approached at this point.
Section-D
Answer 6.
(i) Ben Adhem addressed these words to the angel.
One night Abou woke up from a deep dream of peace. He saw an angel writing something in a golden
book. He asked the angel what he wrote. The angel replied that he was writing the names of those who
loved God, but Abou’s name was not there. Abou requested the angel to write his name in the list of
those who loved their fellowmen. The next night the angel came again and showed Abou the names of
those whom God had blessed. Abou was surprised to see that his name was written on top.
(ii) The `presence’ was writing the names of those who loved God, in his golden book. Seeing him, Ben
Adhem asked him what he was writing in his golden book.
The angel raised his head and looked at Abou in a friendly way. The angel replied that he was
writing the names of those who loved God.
(iii) Abou requested the angel to write his name in the list of those who loved their fellowmen. After this,
the angel wrote something and Vanished.
The next night the angel came -again and showed Abou the names of those whom God had blessed.
Abou was surprised to see that his name was written on top.
(iv) The poem “Abou Ben Adhem” depicts the heavenly feelings of Abou Adhem, a strong believer in
God who believes that not only loving God, but also loving people who believe in God is great. The
poem describes an event in the life of Adhem. One night, he woke up from his deep peaceful sleep
and saw a beautiful angel, in the moonlight that lit his room, writing something in a golden book.
He looked at the angel with wonder. The peaceful ambience of the room encouraged him to question
the angel what he was writing. The angel raised its head and with sweetness, answered Adhem that
it was writing the names of all those who loved God. On hearing this, Abou enquired about his name
in the list. But the angel’s reply was negative which made Abou a little sad but still he cheerfully
requested the angel to write his name in the list of people who loved God’s fellowmen. The angel
wrote something in the book and disappeared. The next night the angel appeared again with a great
bright light that roused Adhem from his sleep. It showed Adhem the names of those people whom
God had blessed and to great surprise, Abou’s name was at the top of the list.
Answer 7.
(i) The ‘young women and men’ had come from different countries to participate in various sports
events. They were fired with the longing to win the gold medal. As the international event is very
prestigious, every participant had put in a lot of preparation and practice. No one wanted to spare
any pain for winning a medal – gold, silver or bronze.
(ii) The last event of the day was the hundred-metre race.
Nine young athletes were participating in this event. They were well-poised, waiting for the pistol
shot as a starting signal of the special Olympics.
(iii) Half way through the race the youngest athlete stumbled and fell down on the tracks. He was
distressed and gave out a cry in frustration because his hard work had come to nothing.
(iv) Nine Gold Medals’ by David Lee Roth is a poem about compassion and brotherhood. The poem
presents how a collaborative mindset is the need of the hour in this world of ruthless competition.
According to the poet, when the competitive world holds one back, others should not restrain
themselves from helping. Life is not about winning the race. The most important thing is how one
ends the race of life with a smile and holding hands with others. Through the text, David Roth tried
to spread this message of universal brotherhood. ‘Nine Gold Medals’ by David Roth talks about
nine athletes who had come from different countries to run the hundred metres race in the Special
Olympics. They trained hard for the event and eventually, the day arrived. Spectators filled the
blocks, and they observed those nine athletes warming up for the race. With the sound of the gun,
the race began. But, one of them stumbled and fell. Interestingly, the contestants came forward to
help the youngest of them all. In the end, they held hands and completed the race with the spirit of
togetherness. Above them, the banner of “Special Olympics” fluttered and the smiling faces below
said much more than the words could convey. The poem celebrates the spirit of compassion and
cooperation over competition.
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