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Read the given extracts and… (Class 10 English 2025, Q7a)

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EnglishCBSE Class 10 · Board exam 2025, set 2/6/1 · 5 marks · Reading comprehension

CBSE Class 10 English 2025: question 7(a)

Set in the CBSE Class 10 board exam of 2025, paper 2/6/1, section C, question 7(a), for 5 marks. Try it first; the hints and our step-by-step solution are below.

Q7(a) · 5 marks · Reading comprehensionCompetency-basedThe Trees

Read the given extracts and answer the questions for any ONE of the given two.

My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
into the night. Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.

(The Trees)

  1. (i)

    The metaphorical expression used by the poet to describe the movement of the trees is ________.

    1 mark
  2. (ii)

    Based on the tone, discuss how Adrienne Rich presents the conflict between man and nature.

    2 marks
  3. (iii)

    What is the mood or atmosphere conveyed by the imagery in the passage?

    1. (A)Calm and tranquil
    2. (B)Eerie and foreboding
    3. (C)Joyful and celebratory
    4. (D)Melancholic and traumatic
    1 mark
  4. (iv)

    Why would the whispers be silent tomorrow?

    1 mark

Source: official question paper from cbse.gov.in (PDF). See it in the full 2025 board paper, set 2/6/1.

Hints

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

Hint 1

Look for the phrase that gives the trees a human action.

Hint 2

Think about what breaking glass suggests about the barrier between house and nature.

Hint 3

Ask what will be gone from the room once the trees leave.

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. (i) The metaphor is 'stumbling forward': the trees are shown as living beings struggling to move ahead.

    1 mark

  2. (ii) The tone is eerie and tense. Glass, a man-made barrier, breaks as the trees push out of the house. This shows nature straining to escape human confinement and the discord between human life and the natural world.

    2 marks

  3. (iii) (B) Eerie and foreboding. The breaking glass, the stumbling trees, the rushing winds and the broken moon create an uneasy, ominous mood.

    1 mark

  4. (iv) The whispers would be silent because the trees will have moved out of the house into the forest, so the restless murmurs inside the house will end.

    1 mark

Answer: (i) stumbling forward; (ii) tense tone shows nature struggling against man-made confinement; (iii) B; (iv) the trees will have moved out into the forest

Where the marks are

  • Identifies 'stumbling forward' (1 mark)
  • Two points on the conflict: tone, glass as barrier, trees breaking free (2 marks)
  • Chooses option B (1 mark)
  • States that the trees move out into the forest (1 mark)

Revise the chapter

  • Chapter: The Trees (notes, formulas, where marks are lost and every past question)
Practise this chapterBoard-style questions from The Trees, one at a time, marked against the answer key and marking points.Back to the full paper2025 board paper, set 2/6/1: 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.