ICSE Class 10 English Exam 2024 : Most Important Questions Answers for Last-Minute Revision

ICSE 10th exams are going on and your English paper is scheduled on February 21, 2024. You have only a few hours left for the English exam.

We've got you covered with the ultimate last-minute revision tool - the Most Important Revision Question! These specially curated notes are designed to give you a quick and effective revision session right before your exam. Whether you need to consolidate your knowledge or refresh your memory.

In this, every important question has been sorted and collected, which is very important for your paper, so that the student can score good marks in less time. Answers to all the questions are given together.

ICSE Class 10 English Exam 2024 : Most Important Questions Answers

Question : (i) Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.

Rikki-tikki was angry. He sat back on his tail and hind legs, and __________ (1) (look) all round him, __________ (2) (chatter) with rage. But Nag and
Nagaina __________ (3) (disappear) already into the grass. When a snake misses its stroke, it never __________ (4) (say) anything or __________ (5) (give) any sign of what it means to do next. Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not __________ (6) (feel) sure that he __________ (7) (can) manage two snakes at once. So, he trotted off to the gravel path, and
sat down to think. It __________ (8) (is) a serious matter for him.

Ans: The correct forms of the words in brackets are:

(1) looked (2) chattering (3) had disappeared (4) says (5) gives (6) feel (7) could (8) was

(ii) Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.

(a) My sister and I get __________ very well with each other.
(b) Mini plays basketball __________ her friends every day.
(c) It has been twenty years __________ she graduated from college
(d) Growing up, we were looked __________ and brought up by our grandparents.
(e) Most students take the bus __________ school as it reaches the premises on time.
(f) The cricket match was put __________ because of torrential rains.
(g) Roy backed __________ of the competition at the last minute.
(h) I have been training under her __________ the past two years.

Ans: (a) along (b) with (c) since (d) after (e) to (f) off (g) out (h) for

(iii) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so. Choose the correct option.

1. We placed our order late. We received the food on time.
(a) Despite placed our order late, the food was received on time
(b) Despite placing our order late, we received the food on time.
(c) Despite we placed our order late, the food was received on time.
(d) Despite of us placing our order late, we receiving the food on time.

Ans: (b) Despite placing our order late, we received the food on time.

2. The music stopped. The audience left the auditorium.
(a) Hardly had the music stopped so the audience left the auditorium.
(b) Hardly had the music stopped then the audience left the auditorium.
(c) Hardly had the music stopped since the audience left the auditorium.
(d) Hardly had the music stopped when the audience left the auditorium.

Ans: (d) Hardly had the music stopped when the audience left the auditorium.

3. You cannot enter the club. You do not have a membership.
(a) You cannot enter the club unless you have a membership.
(b) You cannot enter the club since you have a membership.
(c) You cannot enter the club whereas you have a membership.
(d) You cannot enter the club if you have a membership.

Ans: (a) You cannot enter the club unless you have a membership.

4. She was very late. She could not catch the train.
(a) She was to late to catch the train.
(b) She was so late to catch the train.
(c) She was too late to catch the train.
(d) She was as late so as to catch the train.

Ans: (c) She was too late to catch the train.

(iv) Choose the correct option to rewrite the following according to the instructions given after each sentence.

1. The burglar ran away the moment he saw the guard.
(Begin with: No sooner…)
(a) No sooner has the burglar seen the guard, he ran away.
(b) No sooner than the burglar saw the guard, he ran away.
(c) No sooner did the burglar see the guard when he ran away.
(d) No sooner had the burglar seen the guard than he ran away.

Ans: (d) No sooner had the burglar seen the guard than he ran away.

2. The parents have trained their children well.
(Begin with: The children …)
(a) The children were trained well by their parents.
(b) The children is being trained well by their parents.
(c) The children had been trained well by their parents.
(d) The children have been trained well by their parents.

Ans: (d) The children have been trained well by their parents.

3. My cousins returned home one month ago.
(Begin with: ‘It has’...)
(a) It has been one month for my cousins' return home.
(b) It has been one month since my cousins returned home.
(c) It has been one month when my cousins returned home.
(d) It has been one month ago that my cousins returned home.

Ans: (b) It has been one month since my cousins returned home.

4. Your form will be accepted if it is submitted on time.
(Use: ‘unless’)
(a) Your form will be accepted unless it is submitted on time.
(b) Unless your form is submitted on time, it will not be accepted.
(c) Unless the form is accepted, it should be submitted on time.
(d) Your form will be accepted unless it is not submitted on time.

Ans: (a) Your form will be accepted unless it is submitted on time.

5. The house needs a thorough cleaning again.
(Use: thoroughly)
(a) The house needs a thoroughly cleaning again.
(b) The house needed a cleaning thoroughly again.
(c) The house needs to be cleaned thoroughly again.
(d) The house needed to be thoroughly clean yet again.

Ans: (c) The house needs to be cleaned thoroughly again.

6. My sister offered me a new job in her company.
(Begin with: A new job…)
(a) A new job was offered to me by my sister in her company.
(b) A new job has been offered to me by my sister in her company.
(c) A new job had been offered to me by my sister in her company.
(d) A new job was being offered to me by my sister in her company.

Ans: (a) A new job was offered to me by my sister in her company.

7. "I am going to watch my friend's play tomorrow," she said.
(Begin with: She said...)
(a) She said that she is going to watch her friend's play tomorrow.
(b) She said that she will be going to watch her friend's play tomorrow.
(c) She said that she was going to watch my friend's play the following day.
(d) She said that she was going to watch her friend's play the following day.

Ans: (d) She said that she was going to watch her friend's play the following day.

8. Nithin is more talented than most of the professional musicians I know.
(Use: few)
(a) Professional musicians I know have few talents as Nithin.
(b) Few professional musicians I know are as talented as Nithin.
(c) Few professional musicians I know are not as talented as Nithin.
(d) Professional musicians I know do not have as few talents as Nithin.

Ans: (b) Few professional musicians I know are as talented as Nithin.

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

Tiger Talk:

It was still a busy hour in the city when I entered Market Road. People ran for their lives at the sight of me. As I progressed through, shutters were pulled down, and people hid themselves under culverts, on trees, behind pillars. The population was melting out of sight. At the circus I had had no chance to study human behaviour. Outside the circus ring they sat in their seats placidly while I cowered before Captain's whip. I got a totally wrong notion of human beings at that angle. I had thought that they were sturdy and fearless. But now I found them fleeing before me like a herd of deer, although I had no intention of attacking them. When I paused in front of a tailor's shop, he abandoned his machine and shut himself in a cupboard, wailing, 'Alas, I am undone, won't someone shoot that tiger?' A prisoner between two constables, who had been caught for murder and was just emerging from the Court House, got his chance to escape when the constables fled, abandoning him with his handcuffs. I tore a horse from its jutka and enjoyed the sight of the passengers spilling out of it and running for their lives. A couple of street dogs invited destruction when they barked madly, instead of minding their business.

Later, I learnt from my master of the chaos that befell the city when it became known that Captain had been destroyed and that I was somewhere in the city. Sheer hopelessness seems to have seized the townspeople. They withdrew to their homes and even there remained nervous. All doors and windows everywhere were shut, bolted, and sealed. Some even thought that I was some extraordinary creature who might pass through the walls and lie in wait on the roof or in the loft or basement. Poor people living in huts had real cause to worry: I could have taken any of their homes apart. But why should I? One could understand their fears, but why should those living in brick and cement feel nervous? It was due to their general lack of a sense of security and an irrational dread of losing their assets. Why should a simple tiger have any interest in them either to destroy or to safeguard?

I rested for a moment at the door of Anand Bhavan, on Market Road, where coffee drinkers and tiffin eaters at their tables sat transfixed, uttering low moans on seeing me. I wanted to assure them, 'Don't fear, I am not out to trouble you. Eat your tiffin in peace, don't mind me ... You, nearest to me, hugging the cash box, you are craven with fear, afraid even to breathe. Go on, count the cash, if that's your pleasure. I just want to watch, that's all ... If my tail trails down to the street, if I am blocking your threshold, it is because, I'm told, I'm eleven feet tip to tail. I can't help it. I'm not out to kill ... I'm too full— found a green pasture teeming with food on the way. Won't need any for several days to come, won't stir, not until I feel hungry again. Tigers attack only when they feel hungry, unlike human beings who slaughter one another without purpose or hunger ...'

— A Tiger in the School, R. K. Narayanan

(i) For each word given below choose the correct meaning (as used in the passage) from the options provided:

1. sturdy (line 7)
(a) brave
(b) strong
(c) compassionate
(d) fixed

Ans: (b) strong

2. basement (line 23)
(a) room at the top of the house
(b) library
(c) the ground floor
(d) a room at the bottom of the house

Ans: (d) a room at the bottom of the house

(ii) Which word in the passage means the opposite of the word liabilities.
(a) threshold
(b) chaos
(c) assets
(d) cash box

Ans: (c) assets

(iii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.
(a) Which sentence in the passage tells us that the people were fast disappearing?
(b) Why was the prisoner lucky on that day?
(c) What reason does the tiger give to explain why people in brick and cement houses are nervous?
(d) The passage describes a man who is shivering with fear and clutching his cash box. What kind of a person do you think he was?
(e) How would you have reacted if a tiger walked into the street outside your school?

Ans: (a) The sentence "The population was melting out of sight." tells us that the people were fast disappearing.
(b) The prisoner was lucky because the constables abandoned him with his handcuffs when they fled in fear.
(c) The tiger suggests that people in brick and cement houses are nervous due to their general lack of a sense of security and an irrational dread of losing their assets.
(d) The man shivering with fear and clutching his cash box appears to be cowardly and overly concerned about his money, prioritizing it even in a dangerous situation.
(e) If a tiger walked into the street outside my school, I would likely be frightened and try to find a safe place to hide.

(iv) In not more than 50 words, describe the tiger’s thoughts on how differently people behave inside and outside the circus.

Ans: The tiger reflects on how people behave differently inside and outside the circus. Inside, they sit placidly, while outside, they flee in fear at the sight of him. This contrast surprises him, as he had expected them to be sturdy and fearless, but instead, they act like a herd of deer, running from him despite his lack of intent to harm them.