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Answer ANY ONE of the… (Class 10 English 2025, Q10I)

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EnglishCBSE Class 10 · Board exam 2025, set 2/4/1 · 6 marks · Long answer

CBSE Class 10 English 2025: question 10(I)

Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2025, paper 2/4/1, section C, question 10(I), for 6 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q10(I) · 6 marks · Long answerThe Ball Poem

Answer ANY ONE of the following two questions, in about 100-120 words:

Explore the theme of loss as it is depicted in both the "Ball Poem" and "The Sermon at Benares", highlighting the inevitable nature of this aspect in life?

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2025 board paper, set 2/4/1.

Hints

Open one hint at a time and try again before the next.

Hint 1

Take one paragraph per text.

Hint 2

Name what is lost in each: the ball and the son.

Hint 3

End with the lesson each one learns.

Step-by-step solution

Each step shows the marks it earns, as an examiner would award them. Checked by an independent re-solve from the question paper.

  1. Both texts show that loss is an unavoidable part of life. In 'The Ball Poem' a boy loses his prized ball, which rolls into the water. The poet says that nobody can replace it, as the boy is learning that loss is inevitable. The ball stands for childhood and for the impermanence of possessions.

    3 marks

  2. In 'The Sermon at Benares', Kisa Gotami loses her only son and begs for medicine to revive him. The Buddha asks her for a mustard seed from a house where no one has died. She finds none and learns that death comes to every home. Attachment leads to suffering, and prolonged grief cannot bring back the dead.

  3. Expression: organised, coherent paragraph with a linking conclusion that both texts teach acceptance and responsibility.

    2 marks

  4. Accuracy: correct spelling, punctuation and grammar, in 100-120 words.

    1 mark

Answer: Both texts present loss as inevitable. The boy learns responsibility after losing his ball, and Kisa Gotami learns acceptance of death.

Where the marks are

  • Three content points, at least one from each text (3 marks)
  • Expression (2 marks)
  • Accuracy (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

  • Chapter: The Ball Poem (notes, formulas, where marks are lost and every past question)
Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from The Ball Poem, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2025 board paper, set 2/4/1: every question, by section.

The question is transcribed from the official paper; figures are described in words. The solution, hints and chapter tag are ours. Spotted an error? Write tosupport@questionbuddy.in.