EMBASSY PUBLIC SCHOOL

Magadi Road, Bangalore-91

FIRST TERM EXAMINATION 2020-21
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ENGLISH Paper-II
STD: IX ICSE Date:15.10.2020
Max. Marks: 80 Time: 2 hrs.

H.C.G.-Paper-2

SECTION A – DRAMA
The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare

Question 1

Read the extract below and answer the following questions that follow:
But fare thee well, there is a ducat for thee:
And, Launcelot , soon at supper shalt thou see H.C.G.
Lorenzo, who is thy new master‘s guest:
Give him this letter; do it secretly;
And so farewell: I would not have my father
See me in talk with thee.
[3]
(i) Who is the speaker and whom is thou referred to in the first line?
[3]
(ii) How does the speaker flatter the listener?
[3]
(iii) What does the speaker asks the listener to do?

(iv) What does she not want her father to see? [3]

(v) How does the listener react to speaker‘s speech immediately after she finishes it? [4]

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Question 2

Signior Bassanio, hear me:

If I do not put on a sober habit,
Talk with respect and swear but now and then,
Wear prayer-books in my pocket, look demurely,
Use all the observance of civility,
To please his grandma, never trust me more.

(i) Who is the speaker? What promise does he make to Bassanio? Why? [3]
(ii) Explain the line: [3]

―Wear prayer-books in my pocket‘‘.

(iii) Comment on the expression `‘Observance of civility.‘‘ [3]

(iv) What does Bassanio mean when he tells Gratiano that ‗‘we shall see your bearing‘? [3]
(v) How does Gratiano react to Bassanio‘s remarks?
[4]

Question 3

Shylock: The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder;

Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me;
Therefore I part with him, and part with him
To one that would have him help to waste.

(i) Whom does Shylock talk about? What does he say about that person? [3]

(ii) Why does Shylock ask Jessica to go in the house? [3]

(iii) Where does Shylock want to go?
[3]
(iv) Why does Shylock ask Jessica to keep the doors and windows closed?
[3]
(v) What does Jessica say to herself after Shylock has left?
[4]

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 SECTION B –POETRY
A Collection of Poems
Question 4
And then the old man shook head,
And, with a natural sigh—
―Tis some poor fellow‘s skull, said he,
Who fell in the great victory‖.

(i) Who was the old man? Who else were with him? Where were they? [3]

(ii) Why did the old man shake his head? Who found the skull? [3]

(iii) Where was the skull found? Why does the speaker say that the skull was of some ‗poor‘ fellow? [3]

(iv) How common were the skulls there? At which place many of them could be found? [3]
(v) Which victory is referred to in the extract? Who was responsible for the victory?
[4]

Question 5

Bangle sellers are we who bear

Our shining loads to the temple fair……
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

(i) What is being referred to as ―shining loads‖? Who all are its prospective buyers? [3]

[3]
(ii) Bangle sellers could sell their goods anywhere. Why do they choose to sell them at the temple fair?

(iii)Which figure of speech is used in the line, ―Rainbow-tinted circles of light‖? Explain what is linked [3]
to the happiness of daughters and wives.
[3]
(iv) What role do the bangle-sellers play in a traditional set-up, according to this extract?

(v) Explain how the poet uses her descriptive skills to present facts. Give two examples from the [4]
extract.

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Question 6

Six humans trapped by happenstance

In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story‘s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers back,
For, she noticed one was black.

(i) Which figure of speech is used in the line. Ïn bleak and bitter cold‖? What special significance do [3]
the adjectives bleak and bitter have?
[3]
(ii) Who are the people referred to in the above extract? Why do they need logs?
[3]
(iii) Which character traits would you associate with the first one, and the next man? Why?
[3]
(iv) What does the first one hold back and why?

(v) State how the following line is connected with the theme of the poem: Their dying fire in need of [4]
logs.

Section C - Prose
Treasure Trove – Short Stories

Question 7

Of the seven hundred thousand villages dotting the map of India, Kritam was probably the tiniest,
indicated on the district survey map by a microscopic dot.

(i) What is meant by microscopic dot? What is said about Kritam in the extract? [3]

(ii) What purpose does a map serve in a village? [3]

(iii) Give a brief description of the village Kritam. [3]

(iv) Give the meaning of ‗Kritam in Tamil. Where did Muni live in the village?
[3]
(v) How did the Big House differ from other houses? How does this difference reflect on the theme of
the story? [4]

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Question 8

It‘s Miss Fairchild,‖ he said, with a smile. ―I‘ll ask you to excuse the other hand; ―it‘s otherwise
engaged just at present‖. He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining ―bracelet‖ to
the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl‘s eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror.

(i) Who said,‘ it‘s Miss Fairchild‘? Which hand of his was engaged? How? [3]

(ii) Why did the young lady‘s look change to bewildered horror? What changes were seen in her, due to
[3]
the horror?

(iii) What did the glum-faced man say about the marshal? Where was the gkum-faced man being taken?
[3]
Why?

(iv) With reference to question three above , explain what happened in reality. [3]

(v) Explain the significance of hands‘ in the story. What role do the eavesdroppers play in the story? [4]

Question 9

―What are you doing out here, boy? asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize
the miscreant. But even as he approached the boy, Mr. Oliver senses that something was wrong. The
boy appeared to be crying. His head hung down , he held his face in his hands, and his body shook
convulsively. It was a strange, soundless weeping, and Mr. Oliver felt distinctly uneasy.

(i) Where did Mr. Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy? [3]

(ii) Why do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was he found by Oliver? [3]

(iii) How did Mr. Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the boy react to it?
[3]
(iv) How can you explain the boy‘s ―strange, soundless weeping‖?
[3]
(v) What strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at Oliver? How did Mr. Oliver
react to it? [4]

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