Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options.
(Do not copy the questions, write ONLY the correct answers.)
(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
(ii) When Brutus says, ‘ambition’s debt is paid’, he means that __________.
(a) Caesar’s greed for power and possession 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
(iii) After Antony’s speech following Caesar’s assassination, the angry mob kills __________.
(a) Cinna the conspirator (b) Cinna the poet
(c) Decius Brutus (d) Cicero
(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) WhowerethemembersoftheSecondTriumvirate,formedtoruleoverRomeafterCaesar’sassassination?
(a) Julius Caesar, Crassus, Pompey (b) Marcus Brutus, Caius Cassius, Casca
(c) Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar, Lepidus (d) Octavius Caesar, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony
(vi) Which of the following words best describes Cassius’s mood when he says:
‘Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come,
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,’
(a) anxious (b) regretful
(c) fearful (d) frustrated
(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 (viii) In the poem, ‘The Glove and the Lions’, who does Count de Lorge ‘sigh for’?
(a) The lions that ramped and roared
(b) King Francis who loved a royal sport
(c) The nobles who filled the benches
(d) The beauteous lively dame
(ix) SelecttheoptionthatshowsthecorrectrelationshipbetweenStatements(1)and(2)fromMayaAngelou’s
poem, ‘When Great Trees Fall’:
Statement 1: When great trees fall, the world is left permanently unstable.
Statement 2: In the poem, the natural world is depicted as reacting with fear and uncertainty when great
trees fall.
(a) (1) is false, but (2) is true. (b) Both (1) and (2) are false.
(c) (1) is true, but (2) is false. (d) Both (1) and (2) are 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) And life is too much like a pathless wood
(d) The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn
(xii) Intheshortstory,‘WiththePhotographer’,thenarratorasksthephotographer,“Isitme?”because________.
(a) He is delighted with the photographer’s skill
(b) He looks very handsome in the photograph
(c) He is unable to recognise his own face
(d) He is ashamed of how he looks in the picture
(xiii) 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
(xiv) Choose the option that lists the sequence of events from Ray Bradbury’s short story, ‘The Pedestrian’:
1. One night, as he was nearing home, he was stopped by a police car.
2. Since his answers were considered odd and unacceptable, he was forced to enter the car and taken
away.
3. Leonard Mead loved to walk through the empty streets at night.
4. A metallic voice from the car asked him a series of questions.
(a) 2, 1, 3, 4 (b) 1, 3, 4, 2
(c) 3, 1, 4, 2 (d) 4, 1, 2, 3
(xv) Where was Adjoa born?
(a) Nigeria (b) Ghana
(c) Ethiopia (d) Kenya
(xvi) Why did M. Hamel have to leave the school after forty years of service?
(a) He was not allowed to teach French any longer
(b) He had grown tired of his job as a school teacher
(c) He was thought to be too strict in his ways
(d) He wanted to retire and take up farming SECTION B
(Answer one or more questions from this Section.)
DRAMA
(Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare)
Show SolutionHide Solution↓
(i) Correct option: (d) Caesar’s lifeless body covered in
blood
Explanation: Antony refers to Caesar’s dead body
as a “bleeding piece of earth” to express his sorrow
and rage over Caesar’s assassination.
(ii) Correct option: (a) Caesar’s greed for power and
possession had resulted in his death
Explanation: Brutus justifies the assassination by
saying that Caesar’s ambition led to his downfall,
implying that they killed him to prevent him from
rising to absolute power.
(iii) Correct option: (b) Cinna the poet
Explanation: After Antony’s speech, the angry
Roman mob turns violent. They mistake Cinna
the poet for Cinna the conspirator and kill him,
showing how rage and chaos take over logic and
reason.
(iv) Correct option: (d) Lepidus
Explanation: In Act 4, Scene 1 of Julius Caesar,
Antony refers to Lepidus as “a barren-spirited
fellow” and compares him to a mere beast of
burden, suggesting that he is not fit to rule but
only to carry out orders. Antony and Octavius use
Lepidus for their own purposes but do not consider
him an equal leader.
(v) Correct option: (c) Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar,
Lepidus
Explanation: The Second Triumvirate, formed after
Julius Caesar’s assassination, consisted of Mark
Antony, Octavius Caesar (later Augustus) and
Lepidus.Thisalliancewasestablishedtoconsolidate
power and avenge Caesar’s death, distinguishing it
from the First Triumvirate, which included Julius
Caesar, Crassus and Pompey.
(vi) Correct option: (b) regretful
Explanation: Cassius expresses deep sorrow and
disappointment in this speech. He feels betrayed
and weary of the world, believing that even Brutus,
whom he loves, has turned against him. His words
reflect self-pity and regret, particularly regarding
the state of their friendship and the consequences
of their actions.
(vii) Correct option: (c) the speaker sees both the present
and the past
Explanation: In Haunted Houses by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, the speaker perceives
both the present and the past, seeing the ghosts
and memories that linger in the house. However,
the stranger, who is unfamiliar with the place,
can only see what is physically present. The poem
emphasises how past experiences and spirits
remain present for those who have lived in a place.
(viii) Correct option: (d) The beauteous lively dame
Explanation: In The Glove and the Lions by Leigh
Hunt, Count de Lorge sighs for the “beauteous
lively dame”, the lady he admires. She tests his love
by dropping her glove into the lion’s den, expecting
him to retrieve it as proof of his devotion. However,
after successfully retrieving the glove, he throws it
back at her face, realising that her act was driven by
vanity rather than true affection.
(ix) Correct option: (a) (1) is false, but (2) is true
Explanation: The poem illustrates how the natural
world reacts with fear and uncertainty when great
trees fall, describing trembling rocks, hiding lions
and silent small creatures. This supports Statement
2. However, Statement 1 is incorrect because the
poem does not suggest that the world remains
permanently unstable; instead, it portrays an
initial period of grief and disorientation followed
by gradual healing and restoration, emphasising
that although loss is profound, life continues with
renewed awareness.
(x) Correct option: (b) respect for intelligent life
Explanation: Robert Frost observes a tiny mite on
his manuscript and recognises its intelligence,
hesitation and survival instincts. Rather than
harming it, he allows it to rest, appreciating its
display of mind. The poem conveys admiration
for even the smallest forms of intelligence, rather
than love, indifference, or anger, making respect for
intelligent life the best choice.
(xi) Correct option: (d) The wind lies asleep in the arms of
the dawn
Explanation: The given line “And in the sky the
feathered fly turn turtle while they’re winging”,
from The Power of Music uses personification, as
birds are described as turning turtle mid-flight
in response to the song. Similarly, option (d)
personifies the wind by describing it as lying asleep
inthearmsofthedawn,attributinghumanqualities
to natural elements.
(xii) Correct option: (c) He is unable to recognise his own
face
Explanation: In With the Photographer by Stephen
Leacock, the narrator is shocked when he sees
his photograph because the photographer has
heavily altered his facial features. His eyebrows are
redrawn, his mouth is adjusted, and even his hair
is removed. The excessive retouching makes the
narrator question whether the image is truly his,
leading him to ask, “Is it me?” out of disbelief.
(xiii) Correct option: (b) He encourages Martin to use the
stairs
Explanation: Martin’s father dismisses his concerns,
tells him to grow up and be brave, and watches TV
while ignoring Martin’s fear. However, he does
not encourage Martin to use the stairs. Instead, he
criticises Martin for doing so, implying that he is
weak and cowardly.
(xiv) Correct option: (b) 1, 3, 4, 2
Explanation: Leonard Mead loved to walk through
the empty streets at night, enjoying the silence and
solitude of the city. One night, as he was nearing
home, he was suddenly stopped by a police car, a rare sight in a world where walking was considered
unusual. A metallic voice from the car interrogated
him,questioninghisreasonsforbeingoutside.Since
his answers were deemed odd and unacceptable,
he was forced to enter the car and taken away to
the Psychiatric Centre for Research on Regressive
Tendencies.
(xv) Correct option: (b) Ghana
Explanation: Adjoa was born in a small village
in Ghana.
(xvi) Correct option: (a) He was not allowed to teach
French any longer
Explanation: In The Last Lesson, Prussia’s
annexation of Alsace-Lorraine led to an order from
Berlin mandating German as the sole medium of
instruction.M.Hamel,after40years,wascompelled
to leave because teaching French was banned.