ICSE Class 10 English Language Specimen Paper 2026-27: Download PDF for CISCE Board Exam

Particulars

Details

Board

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE)

Examination

ICSE Class 10

Subject

English Language

Paper

English Paper 1

Academic Session

2026-27

Examination Year

2027

Theory Marks

80

Internal Assessment

20

Total Marks

100

Theory Paper Duration

2 hours

Reading Time

15 minutes

Question Paper Format

5 compulsory questions

Official Website

cisce.org

Question 1

(Do not spend more than 30 minutes on this question.)

Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following:

(i) Write an original short story that begins with the words: ‘He was the funniest boy I had ever met…’ [Creativity]

(ii) You were punished for something you had not done. Give an account of the incident and how you proved your innocence. [Creativity]

(iii) ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’. Express your views either for or against this statement. [Evaluation]

(iv) You recently took part in an interesting class project. Describe how your group planned and carried out the task. Explain how this will help you in the future. [Evaluation]

(v) Study the picture given below. Write a story, a description, or an account of what it suggests to you. Your composition may be about the subject of the picture, or you may take suggestions from it; however, there must be a clear connection between the picture and your composition.

20 marks

Question 2

(Do not spend more than 20 minutes on this question.)

Select any one of the following:

(i) Write a letter to your grandfather who has always encouraged you to play outdoor games. Tell him about a game you enjoyed playing with your friends. Share how the experience made you feel and what you learned from it.

[Recall & Analysis]

(ii) You recently visited the Museum in your city and noticed the poor condition of some of the exhibits on display. Write a letter to the Director of the Museum, bringing the matter to his attention. Request him to take necessary action to ensure that these valuable objects are properly preserved.

[Recall & Analysis]

[10 marks]

Question 3

(i) Your school is hosting a poster designing competition. Write a notice informing students about the event. [5]

[Recall & Application]

(ii) Write an email to a well-known artist, inviting her/him to judge the event. [5]

[Recall & Application]

[10 marks]

Question 4

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

He came into the room and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, whitefaced, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move.

“What’s the matter, Schatz?”

“I’ve got a headache. But I’m all right.”

But when I came downstairs later he was sitting by the fire, looking very

sick. When I put my hand on his forehead I knew he had a fever.

The doctor came; took the boy’s temperature. It was a hundred and two.

He left three different capsules with instructions for giving them. There

was nothing to worry about if the fever stayed below one hundred and four.

This was a light epidemic of flu. There was no danger if you avoided

pneumonia.

Back in the room I wrote the boy’s temperature down and made a note of

the time to give the various capsules.

“Do you want me to read to you?”

“If you want to,” he said. His face was very white and there were dark

areas under his eyes.

I read aloud from Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates; but I could see he was

not following me. After a while he said, “You don’t have to stay in here

with me, Papa, if it bothers you.” I thought perhaps he was a little

lightheaded and went out for a while. Later, they said the boy had refused

to let anyone come into the room because they ‘mustn’t get what I have.’

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, whitefaced, the tops of his cheeks flushed, staring still at the foot of the bed.

I took his temperature.

“What is it?”

“Something like a hundred,” I said. It was one hundred and two point four.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

“I don’t worry,” he said, “but I can’t keep from thinking.”

“Don’t think,” I said. “Just take it easy.”

He was evidently holding tight onto himself about something.

I opened the Pirate book and commenced to read, but I could see he was

not following, so I stopped.

“About what time do you think I’m going to die?” he asked.

“You aren’t going to die. What’s this?”

“Oh, yes, I am. I heard him say a hundred and two.”

“People don’t die with a fever of one hundred and two. That’s silly.”

“I know they do. At school in France the boys told me you can’t live with

forty-four degrees.”

He had been waiting to die all day, ever since nine o’clock in the morning.

“You poor Schatz,” I said. “It’s like miles and kilometers, like how many

kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car. You aren’t going

to die. That’s a different thermometer. On that thermometer thirty-seven is

normal. On this kind it’s ninety-eight.”

“Oh,” he said.

But his gaze at the foot of the bed and the hold over himself slowly relaxed.

The next day he cried very easily at little things of no importance.

 -[Adapted from: ‘A Day’s Wait’ by Ernest Hemingwa

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

1. avoided (line 10)

(a) steering clear away

(b) a huge hole or gap

(c) to not include

(d) stayed away from

2. following (line 18)

(a) running after

(b) paying attention

(c) distracted

(d) one after another

(ii) Which word in the passage means the opposite of the word ‘concluded’? 

(a) evidently 

(b) commenced 

(c) waiting 

(d) relaxed 

(iii) Answer the following questions briefly in your own words. 

(a) Why did the narrator ask Schatz what the matter was? 

(b) How did the doctor reassure the family? 

(c) What did the narrator read from? Why did he feel Schatz might be feeling lightheaded? 

(d) Which sentence in the passage tells us that Schatz probably thought what he had was infectious? 

(e) Why do you think Schatz cried over little things of no importance the next day? 

(iv) In not more than 50 words, explain how the narrator understood why Schatz was upset and how he got rid of his doubts 

20 marks

Section

Important Preparation Areas

Composition

Story development, descriptive writing, argumentative writing and picture composition

Letter Writing

Formal and informal letter formats, tone and content

Notice and Email

Format, essential event details and concise communication

Comprehension

Reading skills, vocabulary, inference and summary writing

Grammar

Tenses, prepositions, sentence joining and transformation