ICSE Question Bank

Examined in

2 of 2 papers

Appears almost every year — treat as core

Typically worth

9 marks

Average per paper it appears in · 18 marks in total

Usual form

Reasoning

43% of this chapter's 7 questions

Needs a diagram

0%

No diagram questions in this chapter

Question-type distribution

Reasoning3
MCQ2
Short answer2

Most frequent topics

Frost's attitude to the mite 1First impression of the speck 1The setting 1Recognising intelligence 1The mite had feet 1The poet's decision 1Statement-relationship 1

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Showing 7 of 7 matching questions (18 marks).

7 questions

1

Choose the correct answers to the questions from the given options. (Do not copy the questions, write ONLY the correct answers.)

1(xv)2026

MCQEasy1 mark

Select the option that shows the correct relationship between Statement 1 and Statement 2 based on the poem, ‘A Considerable Speck’. Statement 1: The mite on the paper ran, crept, faltered, hesitated and cowered. Statement 2: The poet-narrator realised that it was an intelligent living creature.

(a)Statement 1 is true and Statement 2 is false.
(b)Statement 1 is false and Statement 2 is true.
(c)Statement 1 is the reason for Statement 2.
(d)Statement 2 is a contradiction of Statement 1.

1(x)2025

MCQEasy1 mark

The poem, 'A Considerable Speck', expresses Frost's ________________.

(a)love for the little organism
(b)respect for intelligent life
(c)indifference to the tiny creature
(d)anger at the mite's escape

7

Read the following extract from Robert Frost's poem, 'A Considerable Speck' and answer the questions that follow:

7

This was no dust speck by my breathing blown, But unmistakably a living mite With inclinations it could call its own.

7(i)2025

Short answerModerate3 marks

What did the narrator first imagine the ‘speck’ to be? What does his use of the words ‘speck’ and ‘mite’ tell us about it?

7(ii)2025

Short answerModerate3 marks

What was the narrator doing when he spotted the speck? Which two words from the poem helped you come to this conclusion?

7(iii)2025

ReasoningModerate3 marks

What made him realise that he was dealing with ‘an intelligence’?

7(iv)2025

ReasoningModerate3 marks

Why did the narrator conclude that the mite had feet?

7(v)2025

ReasoningHard4 marks

Describe the narrator’s initial response to the speck. What did he eventually decide to do about it? Why does he make this decision? What does this decision reveal of his character?