ICSE Solved Paper twenty twenty-three English Paper-one (Language)

ICSE Solved Paper twenty twenty-three English Paper-one (Language)

Attempt all five questions. The intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets. You are advised to spend not more than thirty minutes in answering Question one and twenty minutes in answering Question two.

One. Do not spend more than thirty minutes on this question. Write a composition three hundred to three hundred fifty words on any one of the following: twenty

(i) Write an original short story in which two children and their school teacher are the main characters.

(ii) Imagine a situation where you get an opportunity to change one thing in your school. What would it be? Why do you want to change it? How would you bring about the change?

(iii) School examinations do not test intelligence. Express your views either for or against this statement.

(iv) You are a regular visitor to your school library. Describe your library. Give details of the familiar sights. What do you see and feel as different students come in and check out the books? Why is this place so important?

(v) Study the picture given below. Write a story or 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.

Ans. (i) Once a teacher entered the class and showed a paper to the students. Two friends Emma and Jacob found it mysterious. The teacher said that a question has been written on this paper, on which they have to write an essay. The students noticed that there were no questions on that paper, only a black dot in the middle of it. The students asked the teacher - Sir, this paper is completely white and there is only one black dot in it, there is no question on it. The teacher said, "This black dot is your question, and write an essay on it." Hearing this, all the students got busy with their work.

After a while, all the students submit their answer book to the teacher. The teacher noticed that almost the same thing was written differently in all the essays, that there is a black dot in the middle of the paper. All the students wrote their essays only about this dot, which is a small point of this paper. Now the teacher said, all of you students have written only about the black dot which has taken up a little space on this paper and you have not written anything about the rest of the white part of this paper.

This is what happens with our life, we ignore the happiness, peace, love, success, harmony, and brotherhood around us and focus our attention on those little troubles whose place we have in life as much as the black dot on this white paper. Instead of enjoying what God has given us, we are worried about the small shortcomings which we could not get. This is because our minds and our way of thinking are negative. That is why we should enjoy every color of our life that God has given us because it will have a direct effect on our thinking and understanding. Hearing the words of the teacher, the eyes of the students gleamed, as they had gotten a new way of looking at life. Gautam Buddha had said that to allow negativity in oneself means to drink poison and expect someone else to die. If we can bring the words of Buddha within us, then our life will blossom with positivity, no doubt about it.

(ii) If I could change something about our schools, it would be how we teach everything as individual subjects. Real life doesn't happen in boxes; it's math, reading, history, science, and emotion all thrown together in a beautiful, chaotic mess. Many students don't realize the crossover between subjects, and this makes it harder for them to see how important it all is.

If I could change something about our schools, it would be the structure of the day to allow more flexibility for all. Students who want to start late could. Staffing would be flexible too! Classes could also be flexible, with some delivered by other means along with traditional classroom instruction.

If I could change one thing about our schools, it would be to transform all schools into caring communities that use project-based experiential learning through play where the focus is less on results and more on the process. Instead of zero-tolerance policies, we would have tolerance policies where it is okay to make mistakes. Schools would be centered on taking care of ourselves, each other, and our environment driven by care, not data. I believe all children should have the right to love and the freedom to explore unrestrained.

To overcome these challenges and improve the quality of education, schools can evaluate the following factors:

(a) Maintained infrastructure.

(b) Pedagogy skills.

(c) Quality of teachers.

(d) Extra-curricular activities.

(e) Proper implementation of a government initiative.

(f) Assessment and evaluation tools.

(g) Community building.

(iii) School Examination do not Test Intelligence

For: I strongly agree with this statement as examinations test children's ability to mug up information. Intelligence is the creativity and unique way of every individual's mind. Coursework is a much more genuine assessment of a candidate because it takes into account research, understanding of the issues and ability to express oneself, not just ability to answer a question in a very limited period of time. Coursework is valuable but should be used in conjunction with exams. Everything coming in the examination cannot be covered in the classroom and the questions that are asked in the examinations can vary from that of the course given, it can have a varied style, solemn other angle and the result can be different for each query asked to resolve.

A student may possess required information to solved the query but it is not always accomplished that the answer he applies with his knowledge be true and correct to let him gain the desired marking. Honestly, I think this is a very good system, each subject should have a balance of presentations and exams. But I should also add this, that there should also be an option for students who are dissatisfied with their results to present their understanding of their subject once again to see whether they actually understood the concepts but didn't do well because of the system. No system is perfect, which is why I feel this is a good idea.

Against: Guidelines are neither clear nor measurable. Students are duped into believing their innate abilities and potential are being tested whilst they are largely being tested on test-taking ability, confidence and pushiness. What this system encourages is practicing past papers in the hopes of mastering tests and not the subject. Tests do not encourage the pursuit of knowledge so much as the pursuit of great grades. Education should free the mind, not restrict it to guidelines that are not transparent. Intellectual exploration is impeded with constant pulls towards mastering guess work and memorising 'standard' methods of answering 'repeated types' of questions that were originally set to test a student's response to unfamiliar problems. Subjective/qualitative papers with essay questions are not as easy to measure as mathematics or other quantitative papers. There are times when different examiners grade the same paper by the same student or pupil very differently. Marks on tests are frequently altered on students' coercion or a teacher or examiner's admittance of human error on his or her part. Pushier or convincing students can push examiners or tutors into raising their grades and exercise this talent frequently. Tests simply require students to cram when studying, and after the test is taken, the information studied is almost immediately forgotten, so the purpose of the test in the first place is gone.

(iv) A school library is a structure within the school that houses a collection of books, audio-visual material and other content that serves common use to meet the educational, informative and recreational needs of the users. The chief objective of libraries is to meet the academic needs of the particular educational institution it serves. Besides serving students in their studies and teachers in their research school, libraries aim at creating interest in reading amongst the students who get the best of resources and environment here. The types of books we can have access to in school libraries are fiction books, non-fiction books, reference books, literature books, biographies, general knowledge books, Fables and folktales, cookbooks and craft books, poetry books, books in a series, and wordless books. It provides us with quality fiction and nonfiction books that encourage us to read more for pleasure and enrich our intellectual, artistic, cultural, social and emotional growth. The ambiance of the school library is perfect for learning without getting disturbed.

This makes it easy for us to learn and grasp faster. It provides teachers the access to professional development, relevant information and reference material to plan and implement effective learning programs. Thus, school library is helpful to every member of the school community whether its students, teachers or any other staff member. It helps gain skills

(v) "Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made." The bond between owner and pet is like no other-they're our companions, always along for the ride no matter what ups and downs life brings. They show us joy and make us laugh, and even listen to us like they know exactly what we're saying. How can you help a street dog? If you are able to adopt a street dog/shelter dog, go ahead and do it! You will save a life by doing so. But, if your conditions are not so fine to keep a dog in your house, you can always help street dog(s) by tips and tricks given below:

Feed the doggies daily for once or twice a day. Keep in mind to not give spices or unsafe food to your furry friends! In winters, provide them your old clothes and blankets to keep them warm. In summers, give them cold water to drink and make them sit in a shady place. During rains, keep them inside your house or any safe place to stay for a while. Get them vaccinated by your nearby government veterinary clinic. Provide them a permanent place to sit and sleep. Get them spayed/neutered after consulting a vet. Donate to charities working for street dogs and animals. Donate old toys to street dogs. Use your social media to spread awareness. You will start to fall in love with yourself for helping and saving the lives of these voiceless creatures of the universe. When you give to someone, you actually give yourself respect, love and blessings. In my journey with my dog, I realised how he is the best decision I ever made in my life! I feel so loved and have started to love myself ever since I got him. I also look after street dogs in my area and trust me, it feels so good!