NCERT Class 10 English
Class 10 English: First Flight and Footprints without Feet chapter-wise practice
The prose, the poems and the supplementary reader are the base of every English paper. For each chapter your child practises the plot and characters, key lines, word meanings and the extract based questions schools love to set.
- 18 chapters
- 865 practice questions
- 2 books
First Flight
-
Chapter 1 A Letter to God
Lencho’s ruined crop, his letter to God and the postmaster’s secret help create a sharp story about faith, irony and human kindness. The paired poems by Robert Frost show how small natural images can carry large emotional and moral meanings.
Topics: Lencho’s farm and expected rain, Hailstorm, loss and figurative images, Faith, letter and post office response, Irony, character and conflicts, Dust of Snow mood shift, Fire and Ice symbols, Language work from the unit
-
Chapter 2 Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom
Mandela’s inauguration speech turns a political ceremony into a lesson on justice, courage and shared freedom. The unit’s poem, “A Tiger in the Zoo”, contrasts captive power with natural freedom.
Topics: Inauguration and historic setting, Mandela’s pledge and ideals, Symbols of a new South Africa, Apartheid, sacrifice and patriots, Courage, love and humanity, Freedom and twin obligations, A Tiger in the Zoo, Language, idioms and contrasts
-
Chapter 3 Two Stories about Flying
A young seagull and a Dakota pilot both enter the air under fear, need and risk. The poems in the unit add humour about wild animals and a serious reflection on loss and responsibility.
Topics: Seagull’s fear and family pressure, First flight and new confidence, Dakota pilot’s risky choice, Black aeroplane mystery, Flight vocabulary and word meanings, How to Tell Wild Animals, The Ball Poem, Risk, courage and learning
-
Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank turns a private diary into a living friend and reveals a sharp, honest teenage voice. “Amanda!” pairs repeated instructions with a child’s inner fantasies of freedom.
Topics: Anne’s diary purpose and Kitty, Life sketch and historical background, School and Mr Keesing, Anne’s voice and personality, Compounds, phrasal verbs and idioms, Diary form and contracted language, Amanda’s outer world of instructions, Amanda’s inner fantasies
-
Chapter 5 Glimpses of India
Three prose pieces present Goa’s pader, Coorg’s landscape and Assam’s tea country through memory, travel and dialogue. “The Trees” turns indoor trees into a powerful image of escape and return to nature.
Topics: Goan pader and nostalgia, Bread in Goan social life, Coorg landscape and coffee, Kodavu people and martial culture, Coorg wildlife, adventure and routes, Tea from Assam journey, Tea legends and tea facts, Travel writing and language work, The Trees imagery and symbolism
-
Chapter 6 Mijbil the Otter
Gavin Maxwell's account follows Mijbil from the marshes of Iraq to London, showing affection, anxiety, play and observation. The attached poem "Fog" teaches how a tiny metaphor can make a whole scene come alive.
Topics: Pet responsibility and setting, Basra and Mijbil's arrival, Otter nature: water, play and intelligence, Transporting Mij to England, London life and comic observation, Maxwell's narration and animal ethics, Language: repeated past actions and noun modifiers, Fog: metaphor, free verse and image
-
Chapter 7 Madam Rides the Bus
Valli's first bus ride turns a child's secret wish into an encounter with independence, wonder and death. The paired poem, "The Tale of Custard the Dragon", uses a comic ballad to question loud claims about bravery.
Topics: Valli's curiosity and desire, Planning, fare and secret preparation, Boarding the bus and adult conversations, Sights of the journey, Return journey and the dead cow, Character, theme and point of view, Dialogue, vocabulary and writing tasks, Custard: ballad story and irony, Custard: poetic devices and rhyme
-
Chapter 8 The Sermon at Benares
The chapter presents the Buddha's way of teaching Kisa Gotami that death is common to all and that grief must be understood, not denied. The poem "For Anne Gregory" turns to another deep question: whether people can be loved for themselves rather than for appearance.
Topics: Buddha's life and sermon context, Kisa Gotami's grief, Mustard seed lesson, Sermon on mortality and peace, Modern grief texts and support, Language: old style and semicolons, For Anne Gregory: argument and meaning, For Anne Gregory: poetic craft
-
Chapter 9 The Proposal
Chekhov's one-act farce turns a marriage proposal into a chain of ridiculous quarrels about land, dogs and status. The chapter also builds board skills in character analysis, dramatic irony, reported speech and precise vocabulary.
Topics: Russian wedding and farce context, Lomov's arrival and proposal plan, Oxen Meadows quarrel, Characters, insults and comic conflict, Proposal forgotten and revived, Guess versus Squeezer dog quarrel, Themes: marriage, property, satire and anger, Reported speech, Vocabulary, homophones and stagecraft
Footprints without Feet
-
Chapter 1 A Triumph of Surgery
Tricki's illness comes from rich overfeeding, not from a need for surgery. Herriot cures him with common sense, exercise and a tactful understanding of Mrs Pumphrey's anxious love.
Topics: Pampering and illness, Herriot's practical intervention, Recovery at the surgery, Comedy, irony and title, Character and relationships, Board response skills and vocabulary
-
Chapter 2 The Thief's Story
A fifteen-year-old thief wins Anil's trust, steals from him, and then chooses the harder path of returning the money. The story shows how trust and education can awaken conscience.
Topics: Hari Singh's identity and tricks, Anil's trust and teaching, Theft and escape plan, Conflict, rain and return, Anil's quiet forgiveness, Theme, narration and vocabulary
-
Chapter 3 The Midnight Visitor
Ausable looks nothing like Fowler's idea of a glamorous spy, yet he defeats an armed rival by inventing a believable balcony. The story celebrates calm presence of mind over outward appearance.
Topics: Ausable and spy stereotypes, Max, Fowler and the report, The invented balcony, Knocking, Henry and climax, Presence of mind and suspense, Irony, character and vocabulary
-
Chapter 4 A Question of Trust
Horace Danby is a respectable lock-maker who robs safes to buy rare books, but at Shotover Grange a clever young woman tricks the trickster. The story questions trust, honour and self-justifying crime.
Topics: Horace's double life, Planning the Shotover robbery, The young woman's deception, Mistakes, fingerprints and arrest, Irony, trust and honour among thieves, Character, theme and vocabulary
-
Chapter 5 Footprints without Feet
Griffin discovers invisibility but uses it for revenge, theft and violence instead of service. The lesson mixes science fiction with a moral warning about knowledge without responsibility.
Topics: Invisibility and lawlessness, London store and disguise, Iping inn and Mrs Hall, Burglary, furniture and suspicion, Jaffers, chase and escape, Science ethics, theme and vocabulary
-
Chapter 6 The Making of a Scientist
Richard Ebright's story shows how curiosity, family support, patient experiments and fair competition can shape a scientist. The chapter also links butterfly research with DNA, cell life and the qualities needed for scientific inquiry.
Topics: Early curiosity and mother’s support, Monarch X and tagging work, Science fairs and real experiments, Monarch research and the gold spots, DNA, cell theory and achievements, Qualities of a scientist
-
Chapter 7 The Necklace
Matilda Loisel borrows a necklace for one dazzling evening and then pays for a costly mistake for ten years. The story uses irony to question vanity, social appearance, honesty and contentment.
Topics: Matilda's dissatisfaction, Invitation, dress and borrowed jewels, Ball, loss and replacement, Debt and ten years of hardship, Irony and final revelation, Character, themes and moral choices
-
Chapter 8 Bholi
Bholi's journey from a frightened, neglected child to Sulekha, a self-respecting young woman, shows the power of education and kindness. The story also criticises gender bias, dowry, greed and the habit of judging people by appearance.
Topics: Childhood neglect and family attitudes, First day at school, Teacher's encouragement, Marriage proposal and social pressure, Wedding resistance, Sulekha, education and self-respect
-
Chapter 9 The Book That Saved the Earth
This comic play imagines a Martian invasion stopped by a book of nursery rhymes. Through Think-Tank's foolish certainty and Noodle's tact, it celebrates books, reading and the danger of misunderstanding without context.
Topics: Future museum and Era of the Book, Think-Tank and Noodle, Books mistaken for objects, Nursery rhymes misread as threats, Comedy, satire and dramatic technique, Value of books and reading
Where does the study time go?
In Classes 9 and 10 many children leave home early and come back late after school and coaching. Self-study gets pushed into the last hour of the night, when they are too tired to think clearly. What helps most is knowing exactly which topics deserve that hour.
Tuition is fine, and plenty of children need it. But a tutor with eight or ten children in one batch cannot sit with each of them, and cannot always keep track of what the school did that week. Sometimes the tuition follows its own order of chapters, the child ends up juggling two plans for the same subject, and the confusion shows up in the next test.
NoTuition.in gives that small window some shape: the chapter your child is doing in school, a short activity, practice that explains every mistake, and a clear view for you of what needs work.
Practise Class 10 English the way the book teaches it
The free plan opens one full chapter in every subject, so you can see how your child gets on before you pay anything.