Board Exam Prep · English (Language & Literature)
English — solved board-pattern questions
The paper
The Class 10 English (Language & Literature) paper (Code 184) runs for 3 hours and carries 80 marks (the remaining 20 are internal assessment). It is divided into three sections. Section A — Reading Skills (20 marks): two unseen passages — one discursive/literary piece of about 400–450 words and one case-based factual passage of about 200–250 words (often with a visual or graphic) — tested mainly through objective and multiple-choice questions. Section B — Writing Skills & Grammar (20 marks): Grammar (10 marks) covering tenses, modals, subject–verb concord, reported speech, determiners and prepositions through gap-filling, editing/omission and sentence-transformation tasks; and Writing (10 marks) — a formal letter of about 120 words and an analytical/descriptive paragraph of about 100–120 words, each with internal choice. Section C — Literature (40 marks): reference-to-context extracts (prose and poetry) with MCQs, short-answer questions (about 40 words) and long/extended answers (about 100–120 words) drawn from First Flight and Footprints Without a Feet, including value-based and analytical questions, with internal choice throughout.
How to score
- Budget the 3 hours: roughly 35 min for Reading, 45 min for Writing & Grammar, 85 min for Literature, and 15 min to revise. Literature carries 40 of the 80 marks, so never let it run short.
- In Reading, answer strictly from the passage and in your own words. For a vocabulary MCQ, substitute each option into the line and re-read it — do not answer from memory of the word elsewhere.
- Grammar is 10 quick, certain marks: read the full editing/gap-fill sentence before choosing, and write the corrected word itself (not just the rule). One blank wrong = one mark gone, so re-check concord and tense.
- For the letter, format itself carries a mark — sender’s address, date, receiver, subject, salutation, body, complimentary close and name must all be present and correctly placed. Stay within the word limit; over-long letters lose fluency marks, not gain content marks.
- In Literature, open every answer by directly naming the theme/character/value asked about, support it with one or two precise textual references, and respect length — about 40 words for short answers, 100–120 for long. Padding wastes time without earning marks.
- Quote sparingly, and only if you recall the line exactly. Examiners reward your interpretation and the right keywords, not reproduced lines — a misquote can cost more than it earns.
13 solved questions · 45 marks · tap to reveal the model answer
Reading — Case-based passage (worked example). STRATEGY: read the passage twice (skim once for the gist, then scan for the exact line each question targets); answer factual questions in your own words, and for MCQs eliminate the clearly wrong options first. Read the passage and answer the questions that follow. PASSAGE: Across many Indian towns the monsoon arrives generously yet leaves little behind. Rain falls heavily for a few weeks, rushes down concrete roads and vanishes into drains, while the same neighbourhoods queue at water tankers barely two months later. The contradiction is not the weather; it is the way we let water escape. Rooftop rainwater harvesting offers a quiet remedy. A simple network of pipes carries rain from the roof into a pit filled with sand, gravel and charcoal, which filters the water before it sinks down to recharge the well or borewell below. A modest house-roof can capture thousands of litres in a single heavy shower. Schools in several districts have begun building such pits as part of their science projects, and students now measure the rising water table with pride. The lesson is plain: every drop saved during the rains is a drop borrowed back in summer. Conservation, after all, begins not with grand dams but with grateful rooftops. (i) What contradiction does the writer notice in many Indian towns? (ii) How does the filtration pit clean the rainwater before it recharges the groundwater? (iii) The word “remedy” in the passage most nearly means: (a) disease (b) solution (c) shortage (d) delay (iv) What does the writer mean by “Conservation begins not with grand dams but with grateful rooftops”? (v) Suggest a suitable title for the passage. (vi) The writer’s overall tone is best described as: (a) indifferent (b) hopeful and persuasive (c) angry and accusing Show model answer ▾
Model answer
(i) Though it rains heavily for a few weeks, the water runs off into drains and is wasted, yet the same areas face a shortage and depend on tankers within two months. (1)
(ii) The rain passes through a pit packed with sand, gravel and charcoal, which filters out impurities before the water sinks down to recharge the well or borewell. (1)
(iii) (b) solution. (1)
(iv) Large-scale projects are not the only answer; ordinary households can conserve water themselves by harvesting rooftop rain — small individual efforts matter most. (1)
(v) Any apt title, e.g. “Saving the Monsoon” or “Grateful Rooftops / Harvesting the Rain”. (1)
(vi) (b) hopeful and persuasive. (1)
Reading skill: In an unseen passage you are asked (a) “Why does the writer feel hopeful?” (an inference question) and (b) “Find the word from the passage that means ‘something handed down from the past’.” Explain how you should attempt each, and demonstrate with a one-line example for the second. Show model answer ▾
Model answer
Inference question (a): the answer is not stated directly, so locate the cause-and-effect lines, then frame a reason in your own words beginning “The writer feels hopeful because…”. Stay strictly within the passage; never add outside information. (1)
Vocabulary question (b): scan the passage for a single word matching the meaning, then check it fits the part of speech asked for. (1)
Example: if the passage contains the sentence “The old fort is a proud heritage of the town,” the word meaning “something handed down from the past” is heritage. (1)
Subject–verb agreement (choose the correct option): “Neither the class teacher nor the students ____ aware of the sudden change in the timetable.” (a) was (b) were (c) is (d) has been Show model answer ▾
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(b) were.
Rule: in a “neither…nor / either…or” structure the verb agrees with the subject NEARER to it. Here the nearer subject is “the students” (plural), so the verb is “were”.
Reported speech — rewrite in indirect speech: The coach said to the players, “Practise hard for the final.” Show model answer ▾
Model answer
The coach told the players to practise hard for the final.
Rule: a command or request is reported with a reporting verb (told/ordered/asked) + object + the “to”-infinitive; the inverted commas are dropped and “said to” becomes “told”. (A negative command takes “not to” + verb.)
Editing — the paragraph has THREE errors (one each of tense, determiner and subject–verb agreement). Write the incorrect word and its correction. “Last summer my family go to Jaipur. We visited many fort and tasted delicious food. The whole trip were truly memorable.” Show model answer ▾
Model answer
(i) go → went — the paragraph narrates a past event (“Last summer”), so the simple past is required (tense). (1)
(ii) fort → forts — the determiner “many” is used with a plural countable noun (determiner/number). (1)
(iii) were → was — the subject “The whole trip” is singular, so the singular verb “was” is correct (subject–verb agreement). (1)
Writing — Formal Letter (≈120 words): You are Raj/Rani Verma of B-14, Rosewood Colony, Pune. Write a letter to the Editor of a local daily drawing the authorities’ attention to the irregular water supply in your locality and suggesting remedies. Show model answer ▾
Model answer
B-14, Rosewood Colony
Pune – 411001
12 June 2026
The Editor
The Daily Chronicle
Pune
Subject: Irregular water supply in Rosewood Colony
Sir
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I wish to draw the attention of the municipal authorities to the irregular water supply troubling the residents of Rosewood Colony.
For the past three weeks water has been released for barely thirty minutes a day, and often at odd hours past midnight. Families with elderly members and schoolchildren are the worst affected, and repeated complaints at the local office have gone unanswered.
I therefore urge the authorities to restore a fixed morning and evening supply and to repair the leaking main pipeline at the earliest. Prompt action would relieve hundreds of distressed households.
Thanking you
Yours faithfully
Raj Verma
Writing — Analytical Paragraph (100–120 words): A survey of 200 students in a school recorded how they travel to school — Bicycle 35%, School bus 30%, Walking 20%, Private car 15%. Analyse the data in a paragraph. Show model answer ▾
Model answer
The survey of 200 students reveals a clear preference for affordable and active modes of travel. The single largest group, 35%, cycles to school, suggesting that the institution lies within easy reach of most homes. Close behind, 30% use the school bus, the next most popular choice and a sign that organised transport is trusted by many families. A further 20% simply walk, which, together with the cyclists, means more than half the students reach school in an eco-friendly way. Only 15% are dropped by private car — the smallest share — indicating that dependence on personal vehicles is low. Overall, the data points to a commute that is largely economical, healthy and environment-friendly. (≈115 words)
Assertion–Reason (First Flight — “A Letter to God”). Choose the correct option. Assertion (A): Lencho’s faith in God remained unshaken even though he received only part of the money he had asked for. Reason (R): He concluded that it was the post-office employees, and not God, who had taken the missing amount. (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A (c) A is true but R is false (d) A is false but R is true Show model answer ▾
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(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
Lencho trusted God so completely that, finding the money short, he blamed the post-office staff rather than doubt God — so his belief that humans (not God) took the money is precisely why his faith stayed intact.
Why did Anne Frank feel she had no true friend in whom she could confide, and how did keeping a diary help her? (First Flight — “From the Diary of Anne Frank”) Show model answer ▾
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Although Anne had a loving family and many acquaintances, she felt none of them truly understood her deepest thoughts, so she had no real confidante. (1) To fill this emptiness she began a diary, treating it as a patient, non-judgemental friend she named “Kitty”. (1) Writing freely about her feelings comforted her, gave her courage during the family’s years in hiding, and let her express ideas she could share with no one else. (1)
How does Robert Frost present desire and hatred as equally destructive forces in the poem “Fire and Ice”? (First Flight — Poetry) Show model answer ▾
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Frost uses “fire” as a symbol of desire, greed and uncontrolled passion, and “ice” as a symbol of hatred, coldness and indifference. (1) He argues that fire can consume the world, but if it had to perish twice, hatred would do the job just as surely. (1) Through this contrast the poet warns that both burning desire and icy hatred are powerful enough to destroy humanity, so they must be controlled. (1)
Nelson Mandela writes that courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. With reference to “Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, discuss what this idea means and the values it teaches. (≈100–120 words) Show model answer ▾
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Mandela’s belief redefines courage: a brave person is not someone who feels no fear, but someone who masters that fear and acts in spite of it. (1) In his account of the long struggle against apartheid, he recalls comrades who risked imprisonment, torture and death yet refused to give up the fight for equality — their bravery lay in overcoming terror, not escaping it. (1) Recalling the historic 1994 inauguration as South Africa’s first democratically elected, non-racial president, he honours those sacrifices. (1) He also reflects that no one is born hating another for their colour; love comes more naturally to the human heart. (1) The lesson is one of perseverance, self-mastery and forgiveness: real freedom demands the courage to keep struggling, and the generosity to free both the oppressed and the oppressor. (1) These values — fearlessness rooted in conviction, and reconciliation over revenge — make the chapter deeply inspiring. (1)
How does education transform Bholi’s life, and what message does the story convey about a girl’s right to learn? (Footprints Without a Feet — “Bholi”) (≈100–120 words) Show model answer ▾
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At the start, Sulekha — mocked as “Bholi”, the simpleton — is neglected because of her pockmarks and stammer, and is the least valued child in her family. (1) When she is sent to the newly opened village school, her kind teacher’s patience and encouragement awaken her confidence and self-respect. (1) Education gives her the courage to think for herself, so that on her wedding day she boldly rejects the greedy, much older Bishamber Nath when he demands dowry on seeing her face. (1) By refusing the unjust match she saves her father’s honour and dignity, and chooses instead to serve her parents and teach in the same school. (1) Her transformation from a timid, voiceless girl into a self-assured young woman shows that education is the surest route to empowerment. (1) The story argues that every girl deserves the chance to learn, for learning gives her both a voice and the strength to shape her own future. (1)
In “A Tiger in the Zoo”, how does the poet contrast the caged tiger with a tiger in the wild, and what message does this convey? (First Flight — Poetry) Show model answer ▾
Model answer
The caged tiger paces helplessly in a small concrete cell, ignored by visitors and able only to stare at the night sky, while a wild tiger would prowl freely through tall grass and hunt near the village, full of natural power. (1) The contrast highlights how captivity crushes a magnificent creature’s strength and freedom, conveying the message that wild animals suffer when locked up and belong in their natural habitat. (1)
Board-pattern questions modelled on the CBSE Class 10 exam style and NCERT syllabus — not reproductions of any copyrighted paper. Always cross-check with your textbook and the latest CBSE sample paper.