Paper : ICSE Class X Important Questions : English (2001)

General Instructions

1. Attempt all four question.

2. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets .

3. You are advised to spend not more than 35 minutes in answering Question 1 and 20 minutes in answering Question 2.

Attempt all four questions.

Question 1
(Do not spend more than 35 minutes on this question.)
Write a composition (350-400 words) on any one of the following: [25]

(a) Describe a weekly market scene in your area. State why you like or do not like the scene.

(b) Democracy is the best form of government. Give your views either for or against this statement.

(c) Imagine that your sister is going to get married. You have to shoulder the responsibilities for the wedding reception. How would you handle the situation?

(d) There are three kinds of people in this world-the Wills, the Won’ts and the Can’ts. The first accomplish everything, the second oppose everything, and the third fail in everything. By giving reasons or referring to some incidents, state in which category you fall.

(e) Study the picture given below. Write a story, or a description or an account of what the picture suggests to you. There has to be a clear connection between the picture and the composition.

Question 2
(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)
Select one of the following: [10]

(a) You have just returned from a holiday at a hill station. Write a letter to a friend mentioning what you found most exciting about the place and give two reasons to explain why you consider it an ideal place for a vacation.

(b) Write a letter to the Chief Minister of your State drawing his attention to the urgent need for a government hospital in your district.

Question 3
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow. [5]

Crewman Fredrick Persson was on deck, helping, to bring the Swedish
cargo ship 'Carman' into Bristol docks, when a rope coiled round his right hand suddenly jerked tight, all but severing his four fingers.

He was rushed to the special reconstructive-surgery unit at a local hospital, where doctors decided two of his fingers were too badly mangled to be saved. In a delicate eight-hour operation using the most sophisticated microsurgery techniques, plastic surgeon Donald Sammut succeeded in re-attaching the others. "I am happy to have even two fingers left," the young Swede said gratefully as he came out of the surgery. His relief was short-lived. Within 48 hours the fingers started to go black. "A blockage of blood was building up," explains Sammut. Modern surgery could do no more, so Sammut resorted to one of the medicine’s oldest aids: the leech. Over the next two days, he fastened a succession of the black slippery creatures to Persson's fingers. They sucked out surplus blood, freeing veins to recomiect naturally so that circulation was restored. A fortnight later, in November 1993, Persson flew home. Leeches come in around 650 species, from 1.5 centimetre long slivers to specimens that reach a jumbo 45 centimetres when fully extended, and are found in many parts of the world. These annelids - not all bloodsucking - breathe through the skin, have two hearts and go for months between meals. Some have suckers at each end of the body. They are making an astonishing comeback in medicine. In recent years Hirudo medicinalis, the leech used for medical purposes, has performed its quiet miracles for thousands of surgical patients and accident victims around the world. When the leech bites into the flesh with its 300 sharp teeth, leaving an

inverted Y-shaped mark, it injects a powerful anesthetic; the patient feels no pain. As it starts sucking, the leech secretes a coctail of substances that act as an anti-coagulant, to ensure the blood's purity and keeps it flowing. Even though the leech may suck for only 30 minutes, "bleeding" may continue for several hours or so, clearing the most challenging blockage. Ear reconnections are notoriously difficult because the ear's blood vessels are so small, measuring no more than half a millimeter in diameter. When five year old Guy Condelli had his right ear bitten off by a dog, surgeons re-attached it in a 12-hour operation. But three days later it turned blue, then purple. The surgeon leading the medical team, Joseph Upton, who had used leeches to help heal wounds of war victims in Vietnam, decided to try them in Guy’s case. Over six days, 12 were attached to Guys ear one by one until they dropped off, swollen and sated. By the last day of his treatment blood was circulating throughout his ear, and the following day its colour was back to normal. Surgeon Peter Mahaffey helped pioneer the modern use of leeches in Britain - against opposition from colleagues reluctant to take a 'backward'

step - when stitching back a finger in 1979. Now he always keeps a jar of them in his plastic surgery unit. Mahaffey's leeches along with those used for Fredrick Persson's fingers and Guy Condelli's ear, come from Britain's only leech-breeding farm founded and run by Dr. Roy Sawyer in South Wales. Sawyer first encountered leeches as a boy in the Swamplands of South Carolina, USA. "Often when swimming, I'd find leeches on me, I considered them as natural, if unwelcome, as mosquitoes." At school, he became fascinated by the leech's role in medicine. "Historically, leeches were employed as a mild form of blood-letting for the early stages of inflammatory diseases," he says. "For centuries bleeding was almost the only surgical treatment, apart from amputations.

Question 3
(a) Five words from the passage are given below. Give a word or phrase that can replace them in the passage.

1. mangled

2. succession

3. secretes

4. notoriously

5. fascinated.

(b) Answer the following questions in your own words:

1. How was Fredrick Persson cured when his fingers turned blue? [2]

2. State why, after a leech-bite, bleeding continues for several hours. [2]

3. How were the leeches used for Guy Condelli's ear? [2]

4. What happens when leeches bite? [2]

5. Quote the sentence which shows what leeches were used for by medical experts. [2]

(c) In not more than 60 words of your own state Sawyer's connection with leeches. [10]

Question 4
(a) Rewrite the following sentences correctly according to the instructions given after each. Make other changes that may be necessary, but do not change the meaning of each sentence. [5]

1. Suresh suddenly thought of a splendid idea.
   (End: ......... to Suresh.)

2. Raunak missed the bus because he was late.
   (Use: .......... . catch.)

3. Sheena returned one week ago.
   (Begin: It has .............)

4. "I am sorry for insulting you," said Lakshmi to Madhu.
   (Begin: Lakshmi apologized ......... )

5. He could not complete the race as he had injured his foot.
   (Use: prevented.)

(b) Fill in the blanks with suitable words. [5]

1. The car battery has run _______; it needs recharging.

2. How can you put _______ with his unpleasant manners?

3. We had agreed to meet at the cinema at 7.30, but he never turned _______.

4. You must reach the place _______ sunset.

5. Cholera has broken _______ in our village.

(c) Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable form of the word given in brackets: [5]

1. It _______ (rain) heavily all night in Delhi.

2. Children are not _______ (permit) to attend the function.

3. Shanaque said that he _______ (will) give an early reply.

4. Sophia will be _______ (punish) if she does not do her work

5. He is poor at _______ (memory) lengthy poems.

(d) Join the following sentences to make one complete sentence without using and or but. [5]

1. Rahil is a clever boy. The other boys are not so clever.

2. It rained heavily. We could not have the tournament.

3. You must study diligently. You will miss your grade otherwise.

4. The air-hostess was injured. She helped the victims.

5. The supervisor was out of the hall. The students made a lot of noise.