ICSE Class 10 English Literature 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

Literature in English

Paper

English Paper 2

Academic Session

2026-27

Examination Year

2027

Theory Examination

80 marks

Internal Assessment

20 marks

Total Marks

100

Theory Paper Duration

2 hours

Reading Time

15 minutes

Question Paper Sections

4

Official Website

cisce.org

QUESTIONS

MARKS

Question 1

Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options.

(Do not copy the question, write the correct answers only.)

(i) What does Antony describe as, ‘thou bleeding piece of earth,’?

(a) Caesar’s robe that was stained with his blood

(b) The blood-soaked spot on which Caesar lies

(c) The bloodied pedestal on which Caesar fell

(d) Caesar’s lifeless body covered in blood [Understanding]

(ii) When Brutus says, ‘ambition’s debt is paid’, he means that:

(a) Caesar’s greed for power and position had resulted in his death.

(b) Caesar had left seventy-five drachmas for every citizen of Rome.

(c) Mark Antony would be permitted to speak at Caesar’s funeral.

(d) the conspirators would be punished for assassinating Caesar. [Understanding]

(iii) Brutus scolds Cassius for taking bribes and soon after complains that Cassius has not given him money. This shows that Brutus is __________.

(a) hypocritical

(b) jealous

(c) miserly

(d) vengeful [Understanding]

(iv) When Antony says, ‘He must be taught, and train’d, and bid go forth: A barren-spirited fellow;’ he refers to __________.

(a) Octavius

(b) Lucilius

(c) Lucius

(d) Lepidus

(v) Which words best describe the death of Cinna the poet?

(a) tragic and unnecessary

(b) jealous and selfish

(c) accidental and unintentional

(d) justified and essential [Analysis]

(vi) Which of the following words best describes Cassius’s state of mind when he says:

‘Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,’

(a) anxious

(b) regretful

(c) fearful

(d) frustrated [Analysis]

(vii) In the poem, ‘Haunted Houses’, what does the speaker see at his fireside that the stranger cannot?

(a) The speaker only sees what is physically present.

(b) The stranger can see the spirits while the speaker cannot.

(c) The speaker sees both the present and the past.

(d) The stranger sees both the present and the future. [Understanding]

(viii) In the poem, ‘The Glove and the Lions’, which words best describe the lady’s action?

1. scornful

2. provocative

3. challenging

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 and 3

(c) 1 and 3

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(ix) Select the option that shows the correct relationship between

Statements I and II from Maya Angelou’s poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’:

Statement I: When great trees fall, the world is left permanently unstable.

Statement II: In the poem, the natural world is depicted as reacting with fear and uncertainty when great trees fall.

(a) Both the statements are true.

(b) Both the statements are false.

(c) Statement I is true, but statement II is false.

(d) Statement I is false, but statement II is true.

(x) The poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’, expresses Frost’s ___________.

(a) love for the little organism

(b) respect for intelligent life

(c) indifference to the tiny creature

(d) anger at the mite’s escape

(xi) Which of the given options contains the figure of speech that appears in the following line from the poem, ‘The Power of Music’?

‘And in the sky the feathered fly turn turtle while 

They’re winging,’

(a) ‘You’re one month on in the middle of May’

(b) ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’

(c) ‘I wander’d lonely as a cloud’

(d) ‘I babble on the pebbles.’

(xii) In the short story, ‘With the Photographer’, the narrator asks the photographer, ‘Is it me?’ because he ___________.

(a) is delighted with the photographer’s skill

(b) looks very handsome in the photograph

(c) is unable to recognise his own face

(d) is ashamed of how he looks in the picture [Understanding]

(xiii) Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Alphonse Daudet’s short story, ‘The Last Lesson’:

1. Embarrassed and frightened, he entered his class expecting to be scolded.

2. On reaching his school, he found that it was unexpectedly quiet.

3. Instead, M. Hamel smiled at him and told him to go to his place.

4. Franz ran past the town hall and the crowd in front of the bulletin board on his way to school.

(a) 2, 1, 3, 4

(b) 1, 3, 4, 2

(c) 3, 1, 4, 2

(d) 4, 2, 1, 3 [Understanding]

(xiv) Which aspect of our world today makes it most similar to Leonard Mead’s world in ‘The Pedestrian’?

(a) isolation and alienation

(b) low crime rate

(c) no night traffic

(d) Utopian society

(xv) At the end of the story, ‘The Girl Who Can’, Adjoa thinks,

‘But that’s how I was feeling and thinking all along’

This suggests that Adjoa had known that ____________.

(a) she would win the cup for best all-round junior athlete

(b) Nana had always been right about her legs

(c) her legs were useful for more than child-bearing

(d) Maami was right about the importance of education

(xvi) In the short story, ‘The Elevator’, which of the following does Martin’s father NOT do when Martin expresses his fear of the elevator?

(a) He dismisses Martin’s concerns.

(b) He encourages Martin to use the stairs.

(c) He tells Martin to grow up and be brave.

(d) He watches TV and ignores Martin’s fear.

[16]

SECTION B (Answer one or more questions from this Section.)

DRAMA (Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)

Question 2

Read the extract from ‘Julius Caesar’ Act 3, Scene 2, given below, and answer

the questions that follow:

Antony: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious;

If it were so, it was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest–

For Brutus is an honourable man;

So are they all, all honourable men–

Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

(i) What does Antony say he is there for?

What does he say he is not there for?

What does this tell you about him?

(ii) Mention any two of the conditions that Brutus had laid down before allowing Antony to speak to the citizens of Rome. Why do you think he laid down these conditions?

(iii) List any two arguments that Antony uses immediately after he speaks these lines to prove conclusively that Julius Caesar was not ambitious. What impact do his words have on the listening Romans? 

(iv) Which one argument of Antony’s do you think had the greatest impact on his listeners? Give reasons to support your answer.

(v) Explain the following lines:

‘The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones;’

How can these lines be applied to Brutus and Caesar?

16

Question 3

Read the extract from ‘Julius Caesar’ Act 5, Scene 1, given below, and answer

the questions that follow:

Cassius: Then, if we lose this battle,

You are contented to be led in triumph

Through the streets of Rome?

Brutus: No, Cassius, no: think not, thou noble Roman, That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome;

He bears too great a mind. But this same day

Must end that work the ides of March begun;

And whether we shall meet again I know not.

Therefore our everlasting farewell take:

Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius.

If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;

If not, why then, this parting was well made.

(i) Why does Brutus say, ‘No, Cassius, no’? What conditions may force Brutus to go bound to Rome? Brutus says, ‘And whether we shall meet again I know not.’ What do these words imply?

(ii) Explain the following lines in your own words:

‘Therefore our everlasting farewell take:

 Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius.’

How do these words hint at the manner of Cassius and Brutus’ death?

(iii) How does Brutus die?

How does his manner of dying contradict the philosophy by which he had lived his life?

(iv) At the end of the play, Antony calls Brutus, ‘the noblest Roman of them all’. Why does he say this? What does this reveal of Antony’s character?

(v) What strange occurrence had Cassius observed when his army was marching from Sardis to Philippi? What impact did he admit the experience have on him?

16

Section

Subject Area

Question Structure

Marks

Section A

Objective-type questions

All questions compulsory

16

Section B

Drama - Julius Caesar

Attempt one question

16

Section C

Short Stories - Treasure Chest

Attempt one question

16

Section D

Poetry - Treasure Chest

Attempt one question

16

Additional Question

From Section B, C or D

Attempt one additional question

16

Total

80