Exercise 2 Sample Question Paper 2

Class 7 & 8 - ICSE English Language

Portions covered in this paper:
  • Reading comprehension
  • Letter writing (formal and informal)
  • Narrative/Argumentative composition
  • Grammar (Tenses, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Types of sentences, Direct and Indirect Speech)
  • Exam duration: 2 hours
  • Total marks: 80

Question 1

(Do not spend more than 35 minutes on this question.)

Write a composition (300 - 350 words) on any one of the following: [20]

  1. The character of a person is formed during childhood." Express your views on either for or against this statement.
    2. or
  2. Narrate an incident from your own experience when you helped your parents at home. Explain what happened. What did you do with your parents? What did you learn from the experience?

Question 2

Select any one of the following: [10]

  1. Write a letter to your grandparents telling about your recent school trip.
    2. or
  2. You are the president of the Sport Club at your school. You are conducting an inter-school basketball match in the coming month. Write a letter to your neighbouring school inviting them to join the march. Explain the rules and details about the match in the letter to their Principal.

Question 3

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow

When I was a girl of about twelve, I used to stay in a village in north Karnataka with my grandparents. Those days, the transport system was not very good, so we used to get the morning paper only in the afternoon. The weekly magazine used to come one day late. All of us would wait eagerly for the bus, which used to come with the papers, weekly magazines and the post.

At that time, Triveni was a very popular writer in the Kannada language. She was a wonderful writer. Her style was easy to read and very convincing. Her stories usually dealt with complex psychological problems in the lives of ordinary people and were always very interesting. Unfortunately for Kannada literature, she died very young. Even now, after forty years, people continue to appreciate her novels.

One of her novels, called Kashi Yatre, was appearing as a serial in the Kannada weekly Karmaveera then. It is the story of an old lady and her ardent desire to go to Kashi or Varanasi. Most Hindus believe that going to Kashi and worshipping Lord Vishweshvara is the ultimate punya. This old lady also believed in this, and her struggle to go there was described in that novel. In the story there was also a young orphan girl who falls in love but there was no money for the wedding. In the end, the old lady gives away all her savings without going to Kashi. She says, ‘The happiness of this orphan girl is more important than worshipping Lord Vishweshwara at Kashi.’

My grandmother, Krishtakka, never went to school so she could not read. Every Wednesday the magazine would come and I would read the next episode of this story to her. During that time she would forget all her work and listen with the greatest concentration. Later, she could repeat the entire text by heart. My grandmother too never went to Kashi, and she identified herself with the novel’s protagonist. So more than anybody else she was the one most interested in knowing what happened next in the story and used to insist that I read the serial out to her.

After hearing what happened next in Kashi Yatre, she would join her friends at the temple courtyard where we children would also gather to play hide and seek. She would discuss the latest episode with her friends. At that time, I never understood why there was so much of debate about the story.

(The excerpt is taken from the short story How I taught my Grandmother to Read and Write by Sudha Murthy)

  1. Give the meaning of the following words: [2]

    1. Serial
    2. Debate

  2. Give the antonym of the following words: [2]

    1. Appear
    2. Gather

  3. Answer the following questions: [2]

    1. Where did the narrator stay as a child?
    2. Who was Triveni?
    3. What was the name of the novel mentioned in the passage?
    4. Why was the old lady in the story saving money?
    5. Why did the grandmother identify herself with the protagonist in the novel?

  4. Summarise the life of the narrator at her grandmother’s home in less than 60 words.[6]

Question 4

  1. Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. [5]

    I ____ (come) from a middle-class teacher’s family. In my family, as with many other families of teachers, books and knowledge _____ (consider) to be more important than money. In our village, I still remember the way people _____ (respect) my grandfather. He ____ (be) certainly not the richest man. He _____ (use) to ____ (sit) in front of our house, on a mat below a shady banyan tree. He always ____ (hold)a book in his hand. In the evening people would ____ (come) to him for his advice. Even the richest man, when passing by, would greet him respectfully. I _____ (ask) him once: ‘Why should the teacher be _____ (respect)?’

  2. Fill in each blank with an appropriate word[5]

    1. He shouted angrily __________ the disobedient boy.
    2. I asked them to provide us ___________ a book.
    3. The coconut tree grew at a dangerous slant and had to be cut __________.
    4. My son believes __________ fairies.
    5. She drew a beautiful diagram __________ the board.
    6. He battled his way __________ the crowd.
    7. We were asked to gather __________ the principal.
    8. They had to climb __________ the steep pathway to reach the hilltop.
    9. I was ______ the party all night.
    10. Jeethu is ______ top of that tree to pluck the fruits.

  3. Rewrite these sentences from direct to indirect speech[10]

    1. Shallin remarked, ‘I love playing cricket.’
    2. She replied, ‘My favourite colour is blue.’
    3. The boy said, ‘The dog barked loudly.’
    4. She said, 'Let's go to the park!'
    5. He asked, 'Can you help me with my homework?'
    6. The teacher said, 'Please open your books.'
    7. She said, ‘My mother cooks delicious food.’
    8. Roy explained, ‘It is too hot today!’
    9. Shilpa mentioned, ‘I am feeling sick as I did not sleep well last night.’
    10. Rani said, ‘I am going to the library tomorrow.’

  4. Identify the type of the sentence[5]

    1. The sun was shining brightly, and the birds were singing cheerfully in the trees.
    2. Although it was raining heavily, we decided to go for a walk in the park.
    3. She ran towards the park.
    4. I wanted to go for a swim, but it started raining heavily.
    5. She finished her homework early, so she had time to read a book before bed.

  5. Complete each sentence using the correct correlative conjunction pair from the parenthesis[5]

    1. I will finish my homework _________ before dinner _________ after dinner. (either / or, whether / or, not only / but also)
    2. _________ I go to the beach _________ the pool, I always wear sunscreen. (whether / or, either / or, not only / but also)
    3. _________ had I started the movie _________ the power went out. (no sooner / than, rather / than, scarcely / when)
    4. _________ is the new phone expensive, _________ it has amazing features. (not only / but also, whether / or, not / but)
    5. _________ I study hard for the test, _________ I am confident I will do well. (if / then, when / than, only if / then)

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