ICSE | English

Board Paper - 2017 - Solution

ICSE
Class English Language
Board Paper 2017 - Solution

Question 1 (a)

It was raining hard that night. In my hurry to get into the house, I didn’t notice the black car
parked across the road. I realised something was wrong when I could see someone hovering
around the car. I wasn’t sure if it was safe to go to the car to investigate but my instincts dragged
me from the gate of my building to across the road and next to the car. What happened in that half
an hour is what I call my most unforgettable memory.
I could see a man pacing up and down, drenched and injured. At first when I saw him, he looked
inebriated as he was losing his balance now and then. But as I went near him, I was sure it was the
injury and not any substance that was causing him to tip.
“Excuse me Sir! Can I help you?” I asked him. He seemed to be in a state of shock. I tried calling out
to him but he continued going round and round his car. I was not comfortable reaching out to him
physically and I thought he might attack me in his condition. But there was no one I could call as
my phone had switched off after getting wet in the rain. Also, if I went home, which was just across
the street, my over-protective mother would panic and wouldn’t let me help him. So there I was,
feeling helpless and angry, because I decided to help someone without knowing what to do.
I remember standing in the rain for quite some time, staring at the man hovering around his car,
feeling absolutely worthless. Then in a flash of a moment, I found myself walking towards him and
reaching out to his shoulder. I must have been really stupid to do that!
“Sir!” I shouted as I grabbed his shoulder, “Can you tell me your name? Do you live around here?”
The man seemed to have lost his ability to hear or see or feel as he continued to walk around his
car, only that now he was crying and shivering .because of the rain.
I grabbed both his shoulders and tried to talk again.
“I will help you! Tell me what I you want! Is this your car?”
I repeatedly asked him the above questions for at least five minutes before his finally looked at me
and broke down. At that point, to be honest, I was scared to death, because he wouldn’t stop
screaming and trembling. After a while, he began to come back to his senses and began to calm
down. Finally, when he stopped crying, he looked at me and told me that he was a second-year DU
student who was out for a school reunion party at one of the schoolmate’s farmhouse on the
outskirts of the city. He had happily agreed to go for the party because obviously we are always
excited to meet our school buddies and relive the happy school memories. When he entered the
farmhouse, he told me that everything was fine for a couple of hours. HE then said that they began
playing a game which turned into an unpleasant episode of bullying him. He was majorly bullied
by a school group when in school and at the party too, the group started bullying him. When he
retaliated, they faked an apology and offered him a drink.
“I was foolish to assume that they were truly sorry and that they had grown up,” he told me, now
smiling as if recollecting what happened at the party. He told me that he doesn’t remember what

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Board Paper - 2017 - Solution

happened after he took that drink. He only remembers me screaming at him.

“When I regained consciousness, my head hurt and I was lying on the street, drenched, outside my
car. I don’t even know what part of the city I am in. They must have put me in the car and brought
me here. And they must have thrown me out of my own car and thrown away the keys after
locking it so that I can’t go home.”
The man, whose name was Kabir, thanked me for being there. He asked me which place he had
been abandoned, and asked the way to the nearest police station. I took him with me and told our
complex watchman to guard his car for the night. My mother calmed down as she heard the whole
story and nursed his wounds. Kabir slept at my place that night. The next morning, mom and I
accompanied him to the police station and lodged an FIR. Kabir said he wanted to get a blood test
done as he thought he had been made to take drugs through the drink. He was right. He gave the
details of the farmhouse and of his friends. The police sealed the farmhouse and arrested the
friends.
Kabir and I became good friends forever after the incident. He taught me to be cautious of people,
because some people can never be trusted no matter how much time has passed. He also taught
me that it is okay to have a moment of fear. If you have a helping hand around, you can overcome
fear and get back on your feet again.

Question 1 (b)

For the statement: School days are the happiest days of our lives.

One of the luckiest things to have is a happy childhood. And school is an unforgettable part of our
happy childhood, isn’t it? There is something about childhood that no other phase of your life can
replace. I believe school days are the happiest days of our lives because we are protected, loved
unconditionally, and free from worldly responsibilities.

School days were the best as your mum allowed you five extra minutes in bed every second day. It
was nice to be a school goer as only had to race with your friends till the bus stop and not run to
the bus depot or metro station to get to work on time. If you were late to school you could blame
your school bus, or your mother who served your breakfast late, or your dog who chewed off your
shoe, or your friend who pushed you into a puddle just for fun. Your parents watched over you
and when they didn’t you were looked after by your teachers and older siblings and even the nosy
neighbours and the scary watchman of your complex. You had so many people to catch you in case
you fell.

School days were better than today because no matter how many window panes we broke or tyres
we punctured, we were loved and showered with affection by our parents. Our older siblings
always fought for us even if we were wrong. Our grandparents pampered us spoilt in the vacations
with grandma cooking delicious meals and grandpa taking us to adventure trips in the woods. No
matter how bad a student we may have been at school, mum always tucked us lovingly into bed
and prayed for bad dreams to go away.

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School projects, impending exams, weekly tests; these were all ‘I don’t care’ for us but nightmares
for our parents. No matter how close the exam day was, we would continue to sleep for those
extra five minutes in bed while mum gathered material for us to quickly revise our lessons. While
we spend the evenings playing downstairs, our parents would invoke all the creative spirits and
complete our projects and assignments. We got to walk gloriously in school when the assignment
they completed gave us A+. We were untouched by stress and the struggles of being responsible
for one’s actions all the time.

In conclusion, I reiterate that school days are the happiest days of our lives because we are
protected, loved unconditionally, and free from worldly responsibilities. At the end of a day in
school, our feet were dirty, hair was messy, but our eyes were sparkling with a wish to have
another wonderful day at school tomorrow.

Against the statement: School days are the happiest days of our lives.

For some school goers, the sun is always shiny and people around are always nice. But for some
school goers, school is not the happiest memory of their childhood. It is full of peer pressure, lack
of confidence and being bullied.

At school, every deficit that you have is mocked at by your classmates. You are always supposed to
‘fit in’ if you want to belong to a group. If your classmate got a new school bag with the photo of
the latest superhero, you need that bag because otherwise you don’t fit in. If pink coloured flowery
stationery pouches are trending, you must have them or you will feel out of place when you are
doing group studies at your friend’s place. If your friends use expensive gadgets, they influence
you to want that gadget because you belong to their group, and birds of the same feather flock
together.

School days are the worst nightmares for introverts. You hate being a part of the full-house
morning assembly. You hate being picked by your teacher for loud reading in front of the whole
class. You pray that you don’t have to participate in any elocution competitions. You are miserably
nervous on the day your friend doesn’t come to school because then you have to travel alone and
face people. School is the worst for people who don’t have high confidence levels.

The most miserable part of school life is being bullied by classmates stronger and outgoing than
you were. You have bad dreams about an episode of you being cornered by bullies in the restroom
in school. It happens all the time. They catch you at vulnerable points and your modesty and self-
respect is compromised over and over again. And because you are shy, you are too scared to go
and complain to your teacher.

Students who like to be by themselves are called losers, and the whole class spares no moment to
make fun of them. School is not the happiest memory of childhood for some. It is full of peer
pressure, lack of confidence and being bullied.

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Board Paper - 2017 - Solution

Question 1 (c)

She was not the best person you could have as a friend, but I liked her for her honesty and
uniqueness. Kathy and I had been friends since second grade, and now as we prepared for our
board exams together, she was like my sister. But she was the trouble maker whom my parents
disliked a lot.

Last night Kathy called me up and said her parents had found out about she being a part of a band.
Kathy loved to play the guitar, and I liked to watch her play because she burned all her negative
energy while doing that. Kathy’s parents are accomplished doctors and want her to only pursue
medicine as a career. Kathy on the other hand barely manages to score average in PCMB. She loves
studying languages and art. So when her parents got her into the best coaching institute in the city
for board preparations, Kathy managed to attend those classes barely for a semester. Her love for
the band drove her to steal some money from her parents’ closet and bribe a poor student at the
class to be her proxy.

So Kathy told me that someone from the classes had informed her father that she had stopped
coming after the first semester, and that is how they found out that she was with her band and not
in her class. They had locked her up in the room and threatened to throw away her guitar and cut
her expenses if she didn’t mend her ways. It was past midnight when she called me so it was not
possible for me to go to her home. But she needed help because being away from the guitar made
her sad and angry at the world. I didn’t want her to hurt herself in misery. So I did what my
mother always does when I am upset.

I let her continue talking. I reasoned out with her and made her confess that it was criminal to use
a less-privileged student selfishly. I tried telling her that making a career as a musician wouldn’t
possibly give her the luxuries her parents provided her with. She would have to struggle and live
on her own one day. Also, I told her why it was important to go the classes. She was an average
student, which meant if he failed her boards, she would have to pull herself through PCMB again.
So it was best in her case that she apologised to her parents and promise that she’d stop going to
the band until the exams got over.

Kathy did apologise to her father. She took the guitar and locked it and promised that she would
practise only for an hour a day to relax after the day’s study routine was complete. Her parents
were nice enough to believe her, and she didn’t let them down. Although Kathy didn’t score well in
PCMB, she topped the state in Languages and Arts. Her extraordinary score in music got her a
scholarship from a leading college. Kathy’s parents finally understood that the scalpel wouldn’t
look as good in Kathy’s hands as a guitar. They accepted her as she was. Kathy is now a researcher
who is studying how music can help autistic children cope with their illness. Looks like she met
her parents halfway.

Question 1 (d)

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Board Paper - 2017 - Solution

It was just another morning of a regular rainy season in Mumbai when I woke up at 6 am to see off
my father going to Bhopal for work. It was cloudy and dull with some drizzle but everything
looked peaceful.

I lazed around till about 7 am and then got out of bed to get ready for school. By around 8am,
when I was ready to leave home, I realised that it had been raining heavily for quite some time
now. When I looked out of the kitchen window, I watched trees swaying and the drains has begun
to overflow. Should I go to school at all? But then I had to go because it was internal assignment
day. And I was a student who had never skipped school. So I set out much to my mother’s
reluctance.

As I walked towards the main street, I saw a big traffic jam at the junction. I could barely see
anything as it was now pouring badly. I waited for the signal to show the ‘walk’ sign, keeping my
raincoat cap from pulling off, wiping my spectacles again and again. On days like these, I wished I
could see clearly without my eye glasses. It was only a ten minute walk to my school but the rain
was getting worse by the minute. By now, my school uniform was all wet under my raincoat and I
had begun to feel cold. I would usually walk quickly down the lane occasionally stopping by House
No 3 in the lane to spend some time with the owners’ pet dog. When I reached their gate, I saw
that their fence and the front side of the house had been damaged because a tree fell on their fence
and on their house. I was beginning to get scared now as there was knee-deep water in front of
me. I struggled to wade through the dirty water and somehow reached my school gate, only to
have the worst experience of my life. A school student fell into an open drain outside my school
gate right in front of my eyes. She just slipped away in front of her mother. But before I could
react, the school watchman who was helping students standing outside pulled her up.

I was in tears now, and I wanted to go home to my mother. I dragged myself to the gate and asked
the watchman to help me. They had closed the school for the day. I was taken to the staff room and
given hot tea and something to eat. My mother was informed that I was safe in school and that
they would keep all students here till the rain subsided. My teachers did their best to make us
comfortable, although they too were drenched, shivering, and scared too. They had left their
families and children at home, just to make sure we would be fine.

It stopped raining late in the evening and when my mother came to pick me, I was the happiest
person on the planet to see her. We went home and on our way I met Percy, the pet dog from
House No 3. They had decided to temporarily shift to another location and they were all safe. Back
home, I was treated with my favourite dishes for dinner and was tucked into bed with some
medicines for the slight cold and fever I got because of being in the rain for long. As I lay awake in
bed, staring at the ceiling, I realised that I could have avoided the misadventure by thinking about
the situation and staying indoors for the day. I was blinded by my stubbornness to not bend
according to the situation. I learnt my lesson. Sometimes it is better to bend than to break.

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Board Paper - 2017 - Solution

Question 1 (e)

A man never became poor by offering kindness. So is what I heard my parents and elders saying
when I was little. The other day while visiting my grandparents, I actually experienced this for
real.

My grandparents live in a small village in Goa and I love to visit them every summer after school
closes for the year. This year, when I reached there, the whole village was abuzz with preparations
for the once-in-five-years culture fair where villages from all over come and participate. As I took a
local bus home from the main bus stand, I saw colourful canopies and stalls being set up. There
were villagers setting up their stalls where they would put up handicrafts, eatables, spices,
earthenware, ancient herbs, and exotic pets. Yes, I saw a board advertising ‘exotic pets for sale for
the first time!’ and I was a little surprised and excited. I was not old enough to understand that
exotic pets may have smuggled from their habitat and made to survive here under harsh
conditions. Anyway, the bus kept moving and I kept thinking about the delicious food grandma
was preparing for me – her famous chocolate pie and roast duck and of course, the delicious
jackfruit cake!

As I was gobbling up the food in my dreams, the bus jerked to a halt throwing me out of my seat. I
heard a lot of commotion and heard many passengers saying ‘is it dead…is it dead!’ I got up from
my seat and peeped through the crowd. Our bus had crashed into a compound of a circus
company. The circus was a part of the fair. We all got down from the bus and I ran ahead to see
who the ‘it’ was. As I pushed myself through the crowd and came in front of the bus, I saw a baby
elephant lying there. I could hear the mother elephant trumpeting loudly from her tent inside the
circus. It was such a devastating site! How could this poor calf have possibly sneaked out of the
circus and come in front of our bus? What would happen now? No one bothered to go closer to the
calf and check if it was alive. Everyone was discussing about how to move it aside so that the road
could be cleared. The driver and the conductor of the bus were seen offering something to the
circus manager so that he wouldn’t make a fuss. I was beginning to feel woeful for the little calf
and the mistreatment it was going to receive.

Suddenly, I heard a little voice calling out some name, and with every second the voice got closer
to the elephant calf. It was a little girl, about six years old, screaming ‘Appu…Appu!!!’ and hugging
the calf sobbing terribly. She was the daughter of a mahout, who had a deal with the circus
manager to transport unwanted elephant calves into the forest or to temples. Now I felt all the
more miserable for the girl and the elephant. The calf must have been special for her, I thought. As
I tried to calm myself down resining to fate, I saw something and it was nothing bit pure miracle.
The calf started moving. It wasn’t dead but unconscious, and as the girl called out to him
repeatedly, it started moving its body vigorously. Finally, it opened its eyes and stood on all fours,
hugging the girl with its plump trunk. The girl was ecstatic on seeing Appu alive. It was wounded
but alive and kicking. She placed Appu’s trunk on her shoulder and helped it walk off the road. The
road cleared and our bus took off.

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I had a wonderful time with my grandparents. Grandma had cooked and baked everything I had
thought of, and we also visited the fair. On my way back to the main bus stop in the local bus, I saw
the same little girl with Appu and they both were roaming at the fair. I heard the circus manager
allowed the girl to have him as her pet and that her father was building a shed for their new family
member. She smiled as she talked to him, as if the animal understood what she said and the calf
played with her pigtails with its trunk. May be the animal did understand what she was saying.
Kindness is a language everyone understands, isn’t it?

Question 2 (a)

Gautam Bhandari
Grade 10, DPS School
36 Chourangee Lane

To
Municipal Commissioner
14 May 2017

Subject: Loose wires unattended outside school gate

Sir,
I am a tenth grade student from DPS School and am writing to inform that your team left live wires
hanging from a lamp post after a maintenance check two days ago.

The wires are dangling right in front of our school’s main gate, and are causing a great
inconvenience to the students and staff. The other day, one of our school peons got an electric
shock while garlanding the school arch during a school annual day.

It would be great if you took immediate action and repair the lamp post. Any further delay could
put innocent student lives at risk.

Waiting in anticipation for your prompt action.

Yours faithfully,
Gautam Bhandari

Question 2 (b)

Bumika Kiran
12/24 Karol Bagh
Delhi-6

Dear Grandma,

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Hope you are going well. I am sorry I haven’t been able to write to you for the last two months as I
was busy organising an inter-school elocution competition for my school. I was a part of the
organising committee and was responsible for managing the hospitality for the 7 guest schools.
There were 16 finalists in all, 14 of which had come from schools all over the state.

The elocution competition was very successful, and our committee was praised for our courteous
behaviour with the participants. Our Principal addressed the school assembly today and read out a
letter of thanks from all the guest schools that mentioned all our names.

It was a proud moment for me and I was overwhelmed to have received appreciation for being a
good person. Thank you for instilling these values in me. Without your pearls of wisdom, I would
have never been able to take care of strangers as my own people without losing my cool under
pressure. But you have always taught me to be kind to others no matter what.

I hope I can always remain a kind person even when I am as old as you, grandma.

Until next time, love you and miss you!

Yours lovingly,

Bhumika

Question 3 (a)

(i) persisted – continued

(ii) decade – ten years
(iii) intruder – meddler

Question 3 (b)

(i) Bipin was not very good at mixing with people. Every Monday from his way back from work, he
would buy five books. After having dinner at 8:30, he would rest for half an hour and turn to a
book. This was a routine he had been following for years.

(ii) If the visitors did not leave by eight, he would tell that his doctor had advised him to have
dinner by 8:30. This would make the visitors leave.

(iii) The sentence ‘Bipin Babu fell ill at ease’ tells us that he was uncomfortable.

(iv)The man said that he had met Bipin Babu in Ranchi in October 1958. To this, Bipin strongly
argued that in October nineteen fifty-eight with a friend in Kanpur.

(v) He regretted having paid so much attention to an intruder.

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(vi) Bipin Babu is confident of his excellent memory despite all the claims made by the intruder.

Question 3 (c)

(i) Parimal Ghose said that Bipin Babu had a fall in Hudroo and he had nursed him. He had fixed
his car and that Bipin stayed in a bungalow with Mr Dinesh Mukherjee. He also said that Bipin
liked to carry a bag of books during sight-seeing. Parimal said that he had tea with Bipin in his
bungalow and was told that Bipin had no children or wife.

(ii) Down the memory lane. I chose this title because Parimal Ghosh is trying to make Bipin Babu
remember things from the Ranchi trip.

Question 4 (a)

1) was
2) stopped
3) encouraged
4) would
5) playing
6) envied
7) seemed
8) going

Question 4 (b)

i. at
ii. with
iii. down
iv. in
v. on
vi. through
vii. around
viii. onto

Question 4 (c)

i. This is the hospital where I was born.

ii. As the children were sick for a week they have been unable to go to school.
iii. Mrs. Kumar, who has been a teacher for forty years, will now retire.
iv. Having had no respect for nature, we are suffering from the effects of global warming.

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Question 4 (d)

i. Few people read for pleasure these days.

ii. Meera has been good in Mathematics since childhood.
iii. Ramu said that they had had no rains since January.
iv. It is not only dangerous but also illegal to drive a motorcycle without a helmet.
v. In spite of having plenty of wealth he was unhappy.
vi. He was too tired to stand.
vii. There was no inexperienced mountaineer among them.
viii. This is the worst film I have seen.

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