English LanguageISC Class 12 · Chapter 5

ISC Class 12 English Comprehension: Vocabulary, Inference and the Grid Summary

Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Question 4 of ISC English Paper 1 sets a passage of about 700 words for 20 marks: three one-word replacements (3), three same-word-different-meaning choices (3), three short answers in your own words (6) and a 100-word summary of given paragraphs, written in grid form (8). Read twice, answer briefly, and summarise only the paragraphs named.

What Comprehension is about

Comprehension is Question 4 of ISC English Paper 1 (Language) and carries 20 marks. The 2027 syllabus provides 'a passage of about 700 words' with questions that test 'analytical skills, knowledge of vocabulary, ability to understand the content, infer information and meanings from the text', and 'a question that elicits the main ideas of all or part of the passage, where the candidate will be required to frame a summary (keeping to a word limit)'. It adds: 'This part must be done in the grid form. The use of abbreviations and contractions will not be accepted.' Marks are deducted for linguistic errors. The specimen advises not more than 50 minutes for this question.

The 2024 paper (adapted from Chekhov's 'A Chameleon'), the 2025 paper (an adapted National Geographic feature on a volcanologist) and the 2025 specimen (adapted from Stephen Leacock's 'My Financial Career') all used the same pattern:

(i)(a) [3] 'Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the underlined word or words' in three new sentences.
(i)(b) [3] For three words from the passage (with line numbers), 'choose the correct sentence that uses the same word unchanged in spelling, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage' from four options.
(ii) [2 + 2 + 2] Three questions 'as briefly as possible in your own words', usually inferential.
(iii) [8] 'Summarise…' a named range of paragraphs (for example, paragraphs 8 to 14) 'in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised.'

The marking schemes list eight points for the summary. In grid form you write one word per box of a ruled grid, so the examiner can count your words at a glance.

Weightage: Question 4 carries 20 of the 80 marks of English Paper 1: vocabulary 6 (3 + 3), short answers 6 (3 × 2), summary 8. Advised time: not more than 50 minutes.Source: CISCE ISC 2027 English syllabus (Question Four); ISC Specimen Question Paper 2025 and the 2025 board paper (Analysis of Pupil Performance 2025)

Key concepts

One-word replacement: match meaning, part of speech and form: In (i)(a) you find a word in the passage that 'will exactly replace' the underlined words in a new sentence. The answer must fit grammatically in the new sentence: same part of speech, same tense or number. In 2025 the answers were 'turbulence', 'subsides' and 'eludes', and the examiners reported candidates who wrote phrases, misspelt words, used the wrong form, or chose 'descends' for 'subsides'. Method: work out the meaning and part of speech of the underlined words, then scan the passage for a word of that type.; Worked example
Specimen 2025: replace the underlined words with one word from the passage: 'The kind stranger went and got back the ball from where it had rolled into the bush.' (The passage, from 'My Financial Career', contains '…said the accountant and fetched him.')
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
Underlined: 'went and got back', a past-tense verb meaning to go and bring.
Scan for a past-tense verb with that meaning.
'fetched' fits in form and meaning.
Answer: fetched (specimen answer key).
Same word, different meaning (homonym choice): In (i)(b) you are given a word from the passage and four sentences. Choose the sentence in which the word is unchanged in spelling but has a different meaning from its meaning in the passage. Three traps: a sentence with the same meaning; a sentence with a changed form (alarmed, wickets, wicketkeeper); a sentence using the word in an idiom with a related meaning. Write either the option letter or the sentence. The 2025 examiners reported candidates who chose the sentence with the same meaning or a changed form, or 'wrote all the options without selecting the correct choice'.; Worked example
In the specimen passage, 'alarm' (line 8) means sudden fear: 'The Manager looked at me in some alarm.' Choose the sentence with the same word but a different meaning: (A) The silence from the other end set off alarm bells in her head. (B) The pallor of his skin alarmed those standing around. (C) I set my alarm for six o'clock but slept through it. (D) The sound of the approaching jets caused some alarm in the war room.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
(A) 'alarm bells' (idiom): a sense of danger, close to fear; not different enough.
(B) 'alarmed': changed form; rejected.
(C) 'alarm': a clock that rings; same spelling, different meaning.
(D) 'alarm': fear; same meaning.
Answer: (C) I set my alarm for six o'clock but slept through it.
Short answers: brief, own words, all the points: The instruction is 'Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words.' Each 2-mark answer usually needs two to four points from the passage, rephrased. The 2025 examiners wrote that 'most candidates copied entire paragraphs from the passage, many of which were irrelevant to the question'. In 2025 question (ii)(b) on trust needed four points, two about Emma and two about the guide, and only candidates who 'understood the passage well' found them all. Answer the exact question word: 'why' needs a reason, 'how do we know' needs evidence.; Worked example
2024 passage ('A Chameleon', adapted): 'Why does the goldsmith ask for damages?' The passage says he is 'the town's goldsmith', that his is 'fine work', and that he 'shan't be able to use this finger for a week'.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
Point 1: he is a goldsmith whose delicate work needs his fingers.
Point 2: the dog's bite has injured his finger.
Point 3: he will lose a week's work and earnings.
Rephrase in your own words; answer 'why'.
Answer: As the town's goldsmith, he earns his living through delicate work done with his fingers. The bite has injured one of them, so he cannot work for a week and will lose his income; he wants compensation for that loss.
Inference: reading between the lines: Inferential questions ask what the passage implies: a character's motive, an attitude, the meaning of an expression in context. The specimen asked what 'I had burned my boats' means in the passage; 2024 asked how power shapes the Superintendent's decisions (his judgement changes every time the General is mentioned). Answer in two steps: the general meaning or principle, then how it applies in the passage.; Worked example
Specimen 2025: 'With reference to the passage, explain the meaning of the expression I had burned my boats.'
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
General meaning: taking an action that makes it impossible to go back.
In context: the narrator had written fifty-six instead of six on the cheque and felt he could not now explain or undo it.
Answer: To burn one's boats is to take a step that leaves no way back. Here the narrator, having mistakenly written a cheque for all fifty-six dollars, felt he could not retreat from his decision and so went ahead and withdrew everything.
The summary: eight points, about 100 words, grid form: The summary question names a focus ('Summarise Emma's search for the lava lake and her joy at witnessing it finally') and a range of paragraphs. Method: (1) read only those paragraphs; (2) underline every idea that answers the focus, expecting about eight (the 2024 and 2025 schemes each listed eight); (3) note them in your own words; (4) write a connected passage of about 100 words in the third person and the passage's tense; (5) copy it into the grid, one word per box. The 2025 examiners listed 'not following the grid format', irrelevant points, exceeding the limit, using paragraphs outside the range, first-person narration and incorrect tenses.; Worked example
What does 'grid form' mean in practice, and how are words counted?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
Rule a grid (commonly five columns) in the answer booklet.
Write one word in each box; punctuation goes with its word.
Hyphenated words and numbers in figures count as one word.
Count rows × columns to know your total instantly.
Answer: With five boxes to a row, 20 full rows = 100 words. The 2025 examiners told teachers to have students 'place only one word per box in the grid, and strictly adhere to the prescribed word limit'. Abbreviations and contractions are not accepted, so write 'do not', not 'don't'.
Time and order of work: Fifty minutes for 20 marks: about 8 minutes to read the passage twice, 8 for the vocabulary items, 10 for the three short answers and 24 for the summary (6 to pick points, 8 to draft, 10 to copy into the grid and check). Many candidates run out of time on the summary because they draft it at length. The summary is the single largest part (8 marks), so protect its time.; Worked example
You have 15 minutes left and have not started the summary. What should you do?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
List the points in note form from the named paragraphs (4 minutes).
Write directly into the grid, joining points with linking words (9 minutes).
Check word count and tense (2 minutes).
Answer: Skip a full rough draft; a grid summary that covers most of the eight points within 100 words scores far more than an unfinished one.

Comprehension in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Summarising for a purpose

Suppose your father forwards a 700-word circular from his housing society about new parking rules and asks you, 'Just tell me what changes for us.'

How would you summarise it usefully in about 60 words?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Read the whole circular once.
Mark only the points that answer his question (what changes).
Leave out background and legal language.
Write connected sentences in plain words.

Answer: A short paragraph listing the changes (allotted slots, visitor parking timings, fines) and nothing else: the same focus-driven selection the ISC summary demands.

Memory hook: Summarise the question, not the whole passage.

Words with several meanings

Imagine a friend texts 'The match is on, bring your light jacket', and you bring a lamp-like jacket with LEDs.

Which word's meaning did you misread, and how does the ISC homonym question train you to avoid this?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

'light' can mean not heavy, pale in colour, or giving brightness.
Context (a jacket for a match) fixes the meaning as 'not heavy'.
The ISC question asks you to recognise exactly such shifts in meaning.

Answer: You read 'light' as 'giving light' instead of 'not heavy'. Fixing the meaning from context first, then comparing, is the skill tested in (i)(b).

Memory hook: Context first, then compare.

Inference in everyday reading

Suppose an e-mail from your coach says, 'Those who wish to stay in the team may consider attending Saturday's practice.'

What is the coach really saying?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Literal meaning: attendance is optional.
Implied meaning: missing it may cost you your place.
Evidence: 'those who wish to stay in the team'.

Answer: Attendance is effectively compulsory for anyone who wants to stay in the team. Stating the meaning and pointing to the words that imply it is how ISC inference questions are answered.

Memory hook: What is said, what is meant, which words show it.

Topics in this chapter

Vocabulary, Inference Questions and the Grid Summary

How the board asks Comprehension

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Question type	How it is asked	Method
(i)(a) Find a single word to replace the underlined words	'Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the underlined word or words in the following sentences.' Three sentences, 1 mark each.	Identify meaning and part of speech of the underlined words; scan the passage; check that your word fits the new sentence grammatically; spell it exactly as in the passage.
(i)(b) Same word, different meaning	'For each of the words given below, choose the correct sentence that uses the same word unchanged in spelling, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage.' Three words with line numbers, four options each.	Fix the meaning in the passage first. Reject options with the same meaning, a changed form or a related idiom. Write one letter (or that sentence) per word.
(ii) Short answers in your own words	'Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words.' Three questions, 2 marks each: why, how, explain an expression, give two instances.	Locate the lines, pick every relevant point (often two to four), rephrase, and answer the exact question. No copying of paragraphs.
(iii) Summary of named paragraphs in grid form	'Summarise why the narrator decided to bank no more (paragraphs 6 to 10). You are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised.'	Only the named paragraphs; about eight points that answer the focus; third person and correct tense; connected sentences; one word per box; about 100 words.

Tricks to remember Comprehension

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

3-3-6-8
Replace 3, homonyms 3, short answers 6, summary 8: twenty marks.
Use it when: Plan your 50 minutes around the 8-mark summary.
Same spelling, new meaning, one answer
SNO: Spelling unchanged, New meaning, One option.
Use it when: Checklist for each homonym item.
Eight points, one hundred words, one word per box
8-100-1.
Use it when: Summary targets from the 2024 and 2025 schemes and the grid rule.
Third person, passage tense
Never 'I' in a summary unless the passage's narrator is reported as 'the narrator'.
Use it when: Avoids the first-person error the 2025 examiners named.

Comprehension: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Example 1: Practice passage and vocabulary items · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

Read this passage (our own, for practice).

(1) When the monsoon failed for the third year running, the farmers of Dhanpur stopped talking about rain. They spoke instead of debts, of sons who had left for the city, of fields that cracked like old pottery.

(2) Kavita Rane had come back from Pune with a degree in agriculture and a suitcase full of seeds. Her neighbours watched politely as she cleared a corner of her father's land. Nobody expected anything to grow.

(3) The seeds were not ordinary. Over two years she had collected millets and pulses from elderly farmers in remote villages, varieties that had once grown here but had been abandoned for thirstier hybrid crops. Most needed a fraction of the water.

(4) The first harvest was small but stubborn. While the paddy around it withered, her field of foxtail millet stood upright and golden. Slowly, curiosity overcame scepticism. Farmers began to stop at her gate, at first casually, then with questions.

(5) Kavita did not sell the seeds. She lent them. Each farmer who borrowed a handful promised to return twice as much after harvest. Within three seasons, the little seed library in her father's storeroom held enough to sow half the village.

Questions: (i)(a) Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the underlined words: (1) The children's doubt and disbelief vanished when the magician revealed the trick. [underlined: doubt and disbelief] (2) The flowers in the vase had dried up and shrivelled by the evening. [underlined: dried up and shrivelled] (3) The firm gave up the project after the funding was withdrawn. [underlined: gave up]

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(1) Underlined: a noun meaning doubt or disbelief → 'scepticism' (paragraph 4).
(2) Underlined: a past-participle verb meaning dried and shrivelled → 'withered' (paragraph 4), fits 'had withered'.
(3) Underlined: a past-tense verb meaning gave up → 'abandoned' (paragraph 3) fits 'The firm abandoned the project'.

Answer: (1) scepticism (2) withered (3) abandoned

Example 2: Same word, different meaning (on the practice passage) · 3 marks · MCQHarder board level

For each word, choose the sentence that uses it unchanged in spelling but with a different meaning from its meaning in the passage. (1) 'stood' (paragraph 4: 'her field of foxtail millet stood upright'): (A) The tall pine stood straight against the wind. (B) She stood for election to the student council. (C) The guards stood still as the minister passed. (D) He was standing at the gate. (2) 'stop' (paragraph 4: 'Farmers began to stop at her gate'): (A) The bus does not stop at our village. (B) Please stop at the shop on your way home. (C) We waited at the bus stop for an hour. (D) He stopped at the gate to read the notice. (3) 'sow' (paragraph 5): (A) The sow lay in the mud with her piglets. (B) Farmers sow wheat in winter. (C) Rumours can sow distrust in a team. (D) They sowed the seeds too late.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(1) In the passage 'stood' = was upright. (A) and (C) are the same sense; (D) changes form; (B) 'stood for election' = was a candidate: different meaning, same spelling.
(2) In the passage 'stop' = halt briefly at a place. (A) and (B) are the same sense; (D) changes form ('stopped'); (C) 'bus stop' is a noun naming a place where buses halt: same spelling, different meaning.
(3) In the passage 'sow' = plant seed. (B) same; (C) figurative but the same basic sense of planting; (D) changed form; (A) 'sow' = a female pig: different meaning, same spelling.

Answer: (1) (B) (2) (C) (3) (A)

Example 3: Short answers in own words (on the practice passage) · 6 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

(a) Why did Kavita's neighbours expect nothing to grow? (b) How did curiosity gradually overcome scepticism among the farmers? (c) Why do you think Kavita lent the seeds instead of selling them?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(a) Locate paragraphs 1-2: three years of failed monsoon, cracked fields; she was a young newcomer with a degree, not a working farmer.
(b) Paragraph 4: her millet stood while paddy withered; farmers first stopped casually, then asked questions.
(c) Inference from paragraph 5: lending with a promise of double return spreads seeds, keeps the stock growing and makes the community share responsibility; farmers in debt could not afford to buy.

Answer: (a) After three years without a proper monsoon, the land was parched and cracked, and the villagers saw no reason to believe a newcomer's small plot would succeed where their own fields had failed.
(b) When her millet survived and ripened while the surrounding paddy died, the farmers could not ignore the evidence. They began to drop by her gate out of interest and soon came to ask how she had done it.
(c) The farmers were already in debt and could not afford to buy seed. By lending it in return for double the quantity after harvest, she made the seeds available to all and ensured the stock grew every season.

Example 4: Summary in about 100 words, with the point list · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Summarise how Kavita changed farming in Dhanpur (paragraphs 2 to 5) in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Point 1: Kavita returned from Pune with an agriculture degree and seeds.
Point 2: she planted a small plot on her father's land amid neighbours' doubts.
Point 3: the seeds were old millet and pulse varieties collected from elderly farmers.
Point 4: they had been given up for hybrids that needed more water; these needed little.
Point 5: her millet survived and ripened while the paddy withered.
Point 6: farmers became curious and came to ask questions.
Point 7: she lent seeds on condition that twice the quantity be returned after harvest.
Point 8: within three seasons her seed library could sow half the village.

Answer: Kavita Rane returned to Dhanpur from Pune with a degree in agriculture and a collection of seeds, and began farming a corner of her father's land while her neighbours doubted that anything would grow. Her seeds were traditional varieties of millets and pulses, gathered from elderly farmers, which had been abandoned in favour of hybrids that needed far more water. When her millet ripened while the surrounding paddy dried up, the sceptical farmers grew curious and came to learn from her. Instead of selling seeds, she lent them in return for double the quantity after harvest, and within three seasons her seed library could supply half the village. (108 words: within the 'about 100' range; written in the grid, one word per box.)

Example 5: Diagnosing a weak summary (2025 faults) · 8 marks · Long answerHarder board level

A candidate's summary of paragraphs 8-14 of the 2025 volcano passage begins: 'I am Emma and I went down into the crater. On an ice-crusted ridge, 3000 feet above sea level, I took a deep breath…' and runs to 160 words written as a normal paragraph. List the faults and say how each costs marks.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

First-person narration: the 2025 examiners named first-person narration as a linguistic error in summaries.
Material from paragraph 1 (the ice-crusted ridge), outside the range 8-14: the examiners reported loss of marks for referring to paragraphs outside the range.
160 words: the limit is about 100 and 'Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised'.
Not in grid form, which the syllabus requires.

Answer: Rewrite in the third person ('Emma descends deep into the crater…'), use only paragraphs 8 to 14, cover the eight scheme points (the descent into the 'Earth's chimney', failing to find the lava lake, the last day, the photographer pointing up, the shimmering cloud, colours like sunset though the sun had set, realising it is light from the lava lake, her excitement), keep to about 100 words and write one word per box.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.

Question 4 marks as printed on the 2025 paper; the summary split is indicative (the scheme lists eight content points and marks linguistic errors, but prints no split). (20 marks)

Step	Marks
(i)(a) Three single-word replacements, 1 mark each (correct word, form and spelling)	3
(i)(b) Three same-word-different-meaning choices, 1 mark each	3
(ii) Three short answers in own words, 2 marks each (all relevant points)	6
(iii) Summary: content (the scheme's eight points), indicatively about 1/2 mark each	4
(iii) Summary: expression in complete, connected sentences, third person, correct tense, grid form and word limit (indicative)	4

Where students lose marks in Comprehension

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Copying whole paragraphs for short answers
It feels safe to include everything. The 2025 examiners: 'most candidates copied entire paragraphs from the passage, many of which were irrelevant to the question'; the 2024 report notes the same for the question on the Superintendent's use of power.
Do this: Pick only the points that answer the question word (why, how), rephrase them, and stop.
Usually costs: Up to 2 marks per question when the key points are missing or buried.
Mistake: Choosing the same meaning (or a changed form) in the homonym question
Students pick the sentence that 'sounds like' the passage. Both the 2024 and 2025 examiners reported candidates who chose the same meaning or a changed form, or wrote all the options.
Wrong working
For 'alarm' (fear), choosing (D) 'caused some alarm in the war room' or (B) 'alarmed'.
Right working
(C) 'I set my alarm for six o'clock' (an alarm clock).
Do this: Write down the passage meaning first; reject same-meaning, changed-form and related-idiom options; give one answer.
Usually costs: 1 mark each.
Mistake: Phrases or wrong forms in one-word replacement
Students find the right idea but not the right word. The 2025 examiners reported phrases instead of single words, incorrect forms and spelling errors, and 'descends' for 'subsides'.
Do this: Test your word in the new sentence: does it fit in tense, number and part of speech?
Usually costs: 1 mark each.
Mistake: Summary outside the paragraph range, in the first person, or over the limit
Students summarise the whole story they remember. The 2024 and 2025 examiners reported points from outside the named paragraphs, first-person narration, wrong tenses, about 50 words or far over 100, and missing points.
Do this: Bracket the named paragraphs, list about eight points, write in the third person, count in the grid.
Usually costs: A large share of the 8 marks.
Mistake: Not writing the summary in grid form
Students forget or do not know the rule. The syllabus says the summary 'must be done in the grid form', and the 2025 examiners listed 'Not following the grid format' among the difficulties.
Do this: Rule the grid before you start the final copy; one word per box.
Usually costs: Marks for presentation and word-limit control.

Practice questions on Comprehension

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
In the practice passage (paragraph 1), 'running' means 'in succession' ('for the third year running'). Choose the sentence that uses 'running' with a different meaning: (A) It rained for five days running. (B) She has won the prize three years running. (C) The running water in the stream was clear. (D) He was absent for a week running.
Hint
Three options mean 'in succession'.
Answer
(C) The running water in the stream was clear ('running' = flowing).
Q2 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Practice passage, paragraph 1: explain in your own words what the comparison 'fields that cracked like old pottery' suggests about the village's condition.
Hint
What does old pottery look like? What does that say about the soil and the mood?
Answer
Like a dry, ancient clay pot covered in fine cracks, the fields had become hard, parched and brittle after years without rain. The image also suggests that the land, and the farmers' hopes, seemed old, worn out and close to breaking.
Q3 · 2 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Practice passage: why does the writer call the first harvest 'small but stubborn'?
Hint
Two points: size, and resistance to drought.
Answer
The harvest was small because Kavita had planted only a corner of the land. It was 'stubborn' because the drought-hardy millet refused to die and stood upright while the neighbouring paddy withered, as if it were defying the drought.
Q4 · 2 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Practice passage: 'Slowly, curiosity overcame scepticism.' Rewrite the idea in about 20 words, in your own words, without using 'curiosity' or 'scepticism'.
Hint
Own words are tested: change the vocabulary, keep the meaning.
Answer
Gradually, the farmers' wish to know how her crop had survived became stronger than their doubts about her methods.
Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Summarise in about 50 words why Kavita's seeds succeeded where others failed (practice passage, paragraphs 3-4).
Hint
Three or four points: origin, water need, survival in drought.
Answer
Kavita's seeds were traditional millets and pulses, collected from elderly farmers, that had once grown in the area but had been replaced by hybrids needing more water. Because they required very little water, her crop survived the drought and ripened while the neighbouring paddy fields withered. (46 words)
Q6 · 2 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
A candidate answers a 2-mark question 'Why was the expedition important to Emma?' (2025) by copying the whole of paragraph 3 of the passage (about 60 words). What did the examiners say about such answers, and what should the answer contain?
Hint
Two expected points in the 2025 marking scheme.
Answer
The 2025 examiners said most candidates copied entire paragraphs, many of which were irrelevant, and lost marks. The answer needs two points in own words: she would be the first scientist to explore Mount Michael's crater, and she hoped to gather new clues about active volcanoes and find the lava lake.
Q7 · 1 mark · Short answerBoard level
Convert this summary sentence into an acceptable one for the grid: 'Emma's team didn't find the lava lake & they were v. disappointed.'
Hint
The syllabus bans abbreviations and contractions.
Answer
'Emma's team did not find the lava lake, and they were very disappointed.' (No contraction 'didn't', no ampersand, no 'v.' for 'very'.)

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.How long is the ISC comprehension passage and how many marks is Question 4?Show answer
About 700 words; 20 marks.
2.How long should the summary be, and how must it be written?Show answer
About 100 words, as a connected passage, in grid form (one word per box), without abbreviations or contractions.
3.How many points did the 2024 and 2025 summary schemes list?Show answer
Eight.
4.In the homonym question, what must stay the same and what must change?Show answer
The spelling (form) stays the same; the meaning must differ from the passage.
5.What instruction governs the short answers?Show answer
Answer as briefly as possible in your own words.
6.What is the advised time for Question 4?Show answer
Not more than 50 minutes.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

Can you find a word in a passage that fits a new sentence in form and meaning?
Can you reject same-meaning, changed-form and idiom options in a homonym question?
Can you answer a 2-mark 'why' question in two or three own-word sentences?
Can you list eight summary points from a named range of paragraphs?
Can you rule a grid and write exactly about 100 words in it?
Do you write 'do not' and 'cannot' instead of contractions in the summary?

Comprehension: frequently asked questions

What is the grid form for the ISC summary?

A ruled grid in which you write one word per box, so that the word count is visible at a glance. The syllabus says the summary must be done in grid form, and the 2025 examiners asked for only one word per box.

Is there a penalty for exceeding 100 words?

Yes. The question says 'Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised', and the 2025 examiners listed exceeding the limit, as well as writing far too little, among the faults.

Can I write the option letter only in the homonym question?

Yes. The answer key accepts either the correct option or the sentence given against it. Do not write more than one option.

Should the summary have a title?

No title is asked for. It must be a connected passage in complete sentences covering the points of the named paragraphs.

Can I use words from the passage in the summary?

Key nouns and names, yes; but frame the sentences yourself. The short answers specifically ask for your own words, and the summary is marked for expression.

Based on: CISCE ISC 2027 English (801) syllabus: English Language, Question Four; CISCE ISC Specimen Question Paper 2025: English Paper 1 (Language), with answer key; CISCE ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance 2025: English Language (marking scheme and examiners' comments); CISCE ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance 2024: English Language (examiners' comments)