CBSE Class 10 Sample Paper 2025 English Set 1 with Solutions
Mastering the CBSE Class 10 English Board Exam 2025 requires strategic practice with authentic question papers. The CBSE Class 10 Sample Paper 2025 English Set 1 with Solutions reflects the latest question pattern, competency-based marking scheme, and rationalized NCERT syllabus for English Language and Literature (Code 184). By reviewing these official-standard questions and model answers, students can calibrate their writing style, avoid common grammatical pitfalls, and optimize time management for the 80-mark theory paper.
CBSE Class 10 English 2025 Blueprint & Section-Wise Concepts
The Class 10 English Language and Literature examination is designed for a total of 80 marks across 3 hours, divided into three distinct sections:
- Section A: Reading Skills (20 Marks) — Tests inferential reasoning, vocabulary in context, analysis, and evaluative comprehension through one discursive passage (10 marks) and one case-based factual passage with statistical data or charts (10 marks).
- Section B: Grammar and Creative Writing Skills (20 Marks) — Evaluates functional grammar (10 marks) across Determiners, Tenses, Modals, Subject-Verb Concord, and Reported Speech, alongside formal writing (10 marks) covering Letters to the Editor/Complaints/Enquiries (5 marks) and Analytical Paragraphs based on charts, graphs, or cues (5 marks).
- Section C: Literature Textbooks & Supplementary Reading (40 Marks) — Assesses critical thinking, thematic understanding, character dynamics, and interpretive depth from First Flight (prose and poetry) and Footprints Without Feet.
Core Writing & Analytical Frameworks
To secure maximum marks in Section B, students must follow standard structure formulas:
- Formal Letter Structure: Sender’s Address → Date → Receiver’s Designation & Address → Subject Line (concise and underlined) → Salutation → Body (3 paragraphs: Introduction of issue, Detailed impact/consequences, Constructive suggestions) → Subscription (Yours faithfully/truly) → Sender’s Name.
- Analytical Paragraph Formula:
- Introduction (1-2 sentences): Paraphrase the given chart, table, or graph topic.
- Data Overview & Major Trends (3-4 sentences): Highlight dominant patterns, peaks, drops, and significant correlations.
- Comparative Analysis (2-3 sentences): Contrast striking differences or anomalies using connectives like whereas, in contrast, and strikingly.
- Concluding Synthesis (1-2 sentences): Summarize overall takeaway without introducing unsubstantiated personal opinions.
CBSE Class 10 Sample Paper 2025 English Set 1: Questions with Solutions
Below is a curated set of high-yield questions matching the official 2025 CBSE Set 1 difficulty level, accompanied by step-by-step marking rubrics and model answers.
Section A: Reading Comprehension
Passage Excerpt:
“Eco-tourism is frequently advocated as a sustainable pathway to reconcile economic growth with biodiversity conservation. However, unchecked tourist influx into fragile biomes introduces subtle micro-disturbances. Noise pollution alters avian mating calls, artificial trail expansions accelerate soil erosion, and localized waste accumulation disrupts indigenous flora. Sustainable tourism demands rigorous visitor carrying-capacity caps, stringent zoning regulations, and equitable revenue distribution to indigenous guardian communities.”
Question 1: Based on the passage, explain in about 40 words how unchecked eco-tourism inadvertently harms local biodiversity despite its benevolent premise. [2 Marks]
Solution & Value Points:
- Model Answer: Unchecked eco-tourism introduces micro-disturbances such as acoustic pollution altering avian communication, habitat fragmentation from trail expansions causing soil degradation, and localized garbage build-up disrupting native plant ecosystems. Thus, excessive tourist numbers undermine the conservation objectives.
- Marking Scheme: 1 mark for identifying micro-disturbances (noise/trail erosion); 1 mark for connecting these to ecological disruption.
Question 2: Which word from the passage best conveys the meaning of “bringing together or making two opposing ideas compatible”? [1 Mark]
- (a) Reconcile
- (b) Influx
- (c) Stringent
- (d) Indigenous
Answer: (a) Reconcile
Section B: Grammar & Creative Writing Skills
Question 3 (Grammar - Error Correction): Identify the error in the given sentence from a consumer safety notice and supply the correction. [1 Mark]
“Each of the registered participants are requested to verify their biometric credentials before entering the examination hall.”
| Error | Correction |
|---|---|
| are | is |
Grammar Rule: The distributive pronoun “Each of” takes a singular verb according to Subject-Verb Concord rules.
Question 4 (Grammar - Reported Speech): Report the dialogue between a teacher and a student by completing the sentence: [1 Mark]
Teacher: “Have you submitted your environmental science portfolio today?”
Rohan: “I could not print the final project report due to a power outage.”
The teacher asked Rohan if he had submitted his environmental science portfolio that day. Rohan replied that __________.
Solution: ...he had not been able to print the final project report due to a power outage. (Alternative acceptable: ...he could not print the final project report due to a power outage.)
Question 5 (Creative Writing - Letter to the Editor): You are Aarav/Ananya of 45, Green Park Avenue, New Delhi. Write a letter in 100–120 words to the Editor of a national daily highlighting the escalating issue of reckless e-rickshaw driving and unauthorized parking near metro stations, and propose actionable civic measures. [5 Marks]
Model Answer:
45, Green Park Avenue
New Delhi – 110016
15 October 2024
The Editor
The National Chronicle
New Delhi – 110001
Subject: Menace of unregulated e-rickshaw operations near metro stations
Sir/Madam,
Through the esteemed columns of your daily, I wish to draw the attention of the municipal and traffic authorities to the acute congestion caused by reckless e-rickshaw navigation and haphazard parking around major metro station transit points.
Unregistered e-rickshaw operators routinely violate lane discipline, halt abruptly in the middle of arterial roads to solicit passengers, and occupy pedestrian walkways. This chronic indiscipline leads to frequent traffic gridlocks during peak commuter hours and poses grave safety hazards to pedestrians and school children.
To restore order, the civic administration should demarcate dedicated pick-up and drop-off bays, mandate formal driver registration with badge numbers, and enforce strict surveillance through traffic marshals. Timely intervention will streamline multimodal transit and safeguard commuters.
Yours faithfully,
Ananya Sharma
(Concerned Citizen)
Marking Rubric: Format: 1 Mark | Content: 2 Marks | Organization & Coherence: 1 Mark | Accuracy (Spelling/Grammar): 1 Mark.
Section C: Literature (First Flight & Footprints Without Feet)
Question 6 (Extract-Based Question - First Flight): Read the extract and answer the question in 40-50 words. [3 Marks]
“He stalks in his vivid stripes / The few steps of his cage, / On pads of velvet quiet, / In his quiet rage.”
— Leslie Norris, A Tiger in the Zoo
Explain how the poet contrasts the tiger’s natural majesty with the pathos of his captivity in this stanza.
Model Answer: The poet uses the phrase “vivid stripes” and “pads of velvet quiet” to highlight the tiger’s innate elegance, strength, and predatory grace. However, this majesty is constrained within “the few steps of his cage.” The oxymoron “quiet rage” encapsulates his suppressed fury and helpless submission to human confinement, contrasting boundless wild power with suffocating imprisonment.
Question 7 (Long Answer - Footprints Without Feet): In The Necklace, Guy de Maupassant portrays how unrestrained vanity and pride precipitate personal ruin. Justify this statement with reference to Mathilde Loisel’s relentless ordeal. (100–120 words) [6 Marks]
Model Answer: Mathilde Loisel’s tragic downfall stems directly from her chronic dissatisfaction with her modest middle-class life and her obsessive craving for aristocratic glamour. Instead of appreciating her husband’s genuine sacrifices, she borrows a seemingly expensive diamond necklace from Madame Forestier to satisfy her superficial pride at the ministerial ball.
When the necklace is lost, Mathilde’s misplaced vanity and fear of social disgrace prevent her from confessing the truth to her friend. Consequently, the Loisels incur catastrophic debt of 36,000 francs to purchase a replacement. They endure a decade of grueling penury and soul-crushing manual labor, forfeiting their youth, health, and comfort. The final revelation that the original necklace was a mere paste imitation worth 500 francs cements the moral lesson: unbridled vanity and dishonesty yield hollow, avoidable suffering.
Strategic Preparation Checklist for CBSE Class 10 English 2025
- Adhere to Word Limits: In creative writing (100–120 words) and literature long questions, exceeding the limit increases the likelihood of grammatical slips without yielding extra credit.
- Quote Thematic Keywords in Literature: Use precise terminology such as hubris, irony of fate, existential resilience, and pastoral nostalgia when analyzing poems and prose.
- Time Management Split for 180 Minutes:
- Reading Section (A): 45–50 minutes
- Writing & Grammar Section (B): 40–45 minutes
- Literature Section (C): 65–70 minutes
- Revision & Proofreading: 15–20 minutes
Where to Practice More
Elevate your board exam readiness with authentic chapter-wise test series, competency-based reading modules, and full-length simulated mock tests. Practice verified test series and previous years' question banks at qptool.theorify.in to secure a top score in your CBSE Class 10 English examination.