CBSE Class 10 English Question Paper 2020 - Solved Download PDF

About this paper

This is the CBSE Class 10 English (Language and Literature) board paper from 2020, code 2/5/1 (Series JBB/5, Set 1). It carries 80 marks over three hours, with 15 minutes of reading time, and has 11 compulsory questions in three sections: Reading (20 marks), Writing and Grammar (30 marks) and Literature (30 marks). The reading passages are about the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro, with multiple-choice questions, and about family decision-making and listening to children. Writing offers a complaint letter about stray dogs or an article on adult education, then a story. Literature draws on First Flight and Footprints without Feet, including For Anne Gregory, The Midnight Visitor, A Letter to God, Bholi, The Sermon at Benares, Madam Rides the Bus, The Necklace and Footprints without Feet. Internal choices are given in Sections B and C. Questions only.

Exam

CBSE Class 10

Subject

English

Year

2020

Paper code

2/5/1

Maximum marks

80

Time allowed

3 hours

Questions

11

Pages

8

Answers included

No, questions only

Paper pattern

• Section A (Reading)

  20 marks

  Questions 1–2: a passage on the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro with eight one-mark items, mostly multiple choice (8 marks), and a passage on family decision-making with short answers and vocabulary (12 marks)

• Section B (Writing and Grammar)

  30 marks

  Questions 3–7: letter of complaint or article (8), story writing (10), gap filling (4), editing (4) and sentence reordering (4)

• Section C (Literature)

  30 marks

  Questions 8–11: extract-based questions (4), five short answers out of six (10), and two long answers of 100–150 words with internal choice (8 each)

Topics covered

• Reading comprehension
• Letter of complaint
• Article writing
• Story writing
• Gap filling, editing and sentence reordering
• For Anne Gregory
• The Midnight Visitor
• A Letter to God
• Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
• The Sermon at Benares
• The Necklace
• Footprints without Feet

Questions from this paper

1. Write one advantage and one disadvantage of allowing every family member to be a part of the decision-making process.
2. There are many stray dogs in your colony. Write a letter of complaint to the Municipal Commissioner, Kanpur, requesting him to instruct the staff concerned to take appropriate action.
3. Why does Anil not hand Hari Singh over to the police?
4. Why did Ebright lose interest in tagging butterflies?
5. How did the Buddha make Kisa Gotami realise the reality of death?
6. Discoveries of science can be used for the welfare of mankind as well as for its destruction. How is this applicable to Griffin's scientific discovery?