Question Bank Class 12 for English Core
Lesson -1 The Last Lesson
Text-Flamingo
Q.1 Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
Para-A. Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
(i) Why does the narrator refer to M. Hamel as ‘Poor man!’?
a) He empathizes with M. Hamel as he had to leave the village.
b) He believes that M. Hamel’s “fine Sunday clothes” clearly reflected that he was not rich.
c) He feels sorry for M. Hamel as it was his last French lesson.
d) He thinks that M. Hamel’s patriotism and sense of duty resulted in his poverty.
(ii) Which of the following idioms might describe the villagers’ act of attending the last lesson most accurately?
a) ‘Too good to miss’
b) ‘Too little, too late’
c) ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’
d) ‘Too cool for school’
(iii) Choose the option that might raise a question about M. Hamel’s “faithful service”.
a) When Franz came late, M. Hamel told him that he was about to begin class without him.
b) Franz mentioned how cranky M. Hamel was and his “great ruler rapping on the table”.
c) M. Hamel often sent students to water his flowers, and gave a holiday when he wanted to go fishing.
d) M. Hamel permitted villagers put their children “to work on a farm or at the mills” for some extra money.
(iv) Choose the option that most appropriately fills in the blanks, for the following description of the given extract.
The villagers and their children sat in class, forging with their old master a (i) _____ togetherness. In that moment, the class room stood (ii) _____. It was France itself, and the last French lesson a desperate hope to (iii) ______ to the remnants of what they had known and taken for granted. Their own (iv) _______.
a) (i) graceful; (ii) still; (iii) hang on; (iv) country
b) (i) bygone; (ii) up; (iii) keep on; (iv) education
c) (i) beautiful; (ii) mesmerised; (iii) carry on; (iv) unity
d) (i) forgotten; (ii) transformed; (iii) hold on; (iv) identity
Para(B)
M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world — the clearest, the most logical; that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar book and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed so easy, so easy!
(I) Which of the following can be attributed to M. Hamel’s declaration about the French language?
a) subject expertise
b) nostalgic pride
c) factual accuracy
d) patriotic magnification
(II)Read the quotes given below.
Choose the option that might best describe M. Hamel’s viewpoint.
(i) Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(ii) Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going. – Rita Mae Brown
(iii) A poor man is like a foreigner in his own country.– Ali Ibn Abi Talib
(iv) The greatest propaganda in the world is our mother tongue, that is what we learn as children, and which we learn unconsciously. That shapes our perceptions for life. – Marshal McLuhan
a) Option (i)
b) Option (ii)
c) Option (iii)
d) Option (iv)
(III)“I was amazed to see how well I understood it.”
Select the option that does NOT explain why Franz found the grammar lesson “easy”.
a) Franz was paying careful attention in class this time.
b) M. Hamel was being extremely patient and calm in his teaching.
c) Franz was inspired and had found a new meaning and purpose to learning.
d) Franz had realized that French was the clearest and most logical language.
(IV) Franz was able to understand the grammar lesson easily because he was
a) receptive.
b) appreciative.
c) introspective.
d) competitive.
Stand-alone MCQs Lesson -1 The Last Lesson Text-Flamingo
(i) Franz saw a huge crowd assembled in front of the bulletin board, but did not stop. How would you evaluate his reaction?
a) Franz was too little to care about the news of lost battles.
b) Nobody in Franz’s family was in the army, so it did not matter.
c) Bad news had become very normal, so he went about his task.
d) It was too crowded for Franz to find out what news was up on the board.
(ii) There was usually great bustle and noise when school began, but it was all very quiet. Which of the following describes Franz’ emotions most accurately?
a) shock and awe
b) disappointment and anxiety
c) confusion and distress
d) curiosity and uncertainty
(iii) “I never saw him look so tall”. Which of the following best captures M. Hamel on the last day of school?
a) cranky, miserable, dedicated, resigned
b) patient, dignified, emotional, courageous
c) calm, nostalgic, disappointed, patriotic
d) proud, reproachful, persistent, heroic
Lesson -2 Lost Spring / Text-Flamingo
Q.1 Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
Para-A
“I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, wielding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.
Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes. Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being rebuilt.
(i) The simile ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets’ indicates that his dream was
a) a reality, yet seemed distant.
b) lost in the sea of dust.
c) illusory and indistinct. ✓
d) hanging in the dusty air.
(ii) ‘I will learn to drive a car,’ he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence highlights Mukesh was
1) determined
2) fearless
3) hopeful
4) valiant
5) ambitious
6) stern
a) 1 & 5 ✓
b) 2 & 4
c) 2 & 5
d) 3 & 6
(iii) Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE with reference to the extract?
a) Children work in badly lit and poorly ventilated furnaces.
b) The children are unaware that it is forbidden by law to work in the furnaces.
c) Children toil in the furnaces for hours which affects their eyesight.
d) Firozabad has emerged as a nascent producer of bangles in the country. ✓
(iv) Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles indicates that
a) bangle making is the only industry that flourishes in Firozabad.
b) the entire population of Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
c) majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making. ✓
d) bangle making is the most loved occupation in Firozabad.
Para-B
She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya.” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime-that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have done is make a house for the family to live in.”
Hearing him one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head!
The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of the elders. Little has moved with time, it seems in Firozabad, years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.
(i) ‘She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes.’ This implies that
a) she is married but has lost the charm in her eyes.
b) she is a married woman who has lost her grace and beauty.
c) though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness. ✓
d) she is a married woman who has lost her eyesight.
(ii) ‘He has a roof over his head!’ The tone of the author is
a) pessimistic.
b) empathetic.
c) sympathetic.
d) optimistic. ✓
(iii) Choose the term which best matches the statement ‘The young men echo the lament of their elders.’
a) acceptance
b) reflection
c) reiteration ✓
d) doubtfulness
(iv) ‘Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream’. This shows that
a) the bangle makers are exhausted yet they are enterprising and have dreams.
b) the drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot. ✓
c) the daily grind has stolen the dreams of the bangle makers and made them dull.
d) the bangle makers have been working so hard that there’s no time to dream.
Stand Alone MCQs
(i) ‘But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world’. This suggests that
a) there is no dearth of promises which remain unfulfilled. ✓
b) there is a scarcity of people promising things for betterment.
c) people make a lot of promises which are often fulfilled.
d) promises made, live up to the expectations of people.
(ii) From this chapter, it is evident that the author has an attitude of
a) sympathy. ✓
b) apathy.
c) empathy.
d) bewilderment.
(iii) ‘That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city.’ Here ‘gold’ indicates
a) misfortune of circumstances.
b) ample wealth.
c) means of survival. ✓
d) a sign of luxury.
(iv) Choose the statement that is NOT TRUE about ragpickers in Seemapuri.
a) Children are equally involved in rag picking as their parents.
b) The ragpickers settle down in a place permanently.
c) Rag picking has accomplished itself as a skill and form of art. ✓
d) Ragpickers live in unsteady shanties on the outskirts of Delhi.
Lesson-3 Deep Water Text-Flamingo
Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
Para- A
My breath was gone. I was frightened. Father laughed, but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves. My introduction to the Y.M.CA. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears. But in a little while I gathered confidence. I paddled with my new water wings, watching the other boys and trying to learn by aping them. I did this two or three times on different days and was just beginning to feel at ease in the water when the misadventure happened.
(i) Choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The author’s father laughed to mock his son’s inability to swim.
Statement 2: The author wanted to swim just to prove to his father that he can swim.
a) Statement 1 is true but Statement 2 is false.
b) Statement 1 is false but Statement 2 is true.
c) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred. ✓
d) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 can be inferred.
(ii) “My introduction to the Y.M.CA. swimming pool revived unpleasant memories and stirred childish fears.” It can be inferred that this was a clear case of
a) suppression
b) oppression
c) depression
d) repression✓
(iii) The misadventure that took place right after the author felt comfortable was that
a) the author slipped and fell into the swimming pool.
b) a bully tossed him into the pool for the sake of fun. ✓
c) his coach forgot to teach him how to handle deep water.
d) his father couldn’t help him from drowning into the water
Para- B
Then all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and a blackness swept over my brain. It wiped out fear; it wiped out terror. There was no more panic. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing to be afraid of. This is nice… to be drowsy… to go to sleep… no need to jump… too tired to jump… it’s nice to be carried gently… to float along in space… tender arms around me… tender arms like Mother’s… now I must go to sleep… I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.
(i) Choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The author tried his best to jump out of water.
Statement 2: After a while, the author was not anxious in water.
a) If Statement 1 is the cause, Statement 2 is the effect. ✓
b) If Statement 1 is the effect, Statement 2 is the cause.
c) Both the statements are the effects of a common cause.
d) Both the statements are the effects of independent causes.
(ii) The ‘curtain (of life) fell’ corresponds to an aspect of
a) Geometry
b) History
c) Sports
d) Drama ✓
(iii) The purpose of using “…” in the above passage is to
a) show omission.
b) indicate pauses. ✓
c) shorten a dialogue.
d) replace an idea.
(iv) Which option indicates that the poet lost consciousness?
a) ‘It was quiet and peaceful.’
b) ‘I crossed to oblivion.’ ✓
c) ‘Tender arms like Mother’s.’
d) ‘It wiped out fear.’
Stand Alone MCQs
(i) The most appropriate justification for the title of the chapter ‘Deep Water’ is that
a) it’s about the dangerous depth of the swimming pool.
b) It reveals the author’s lack of surety about overcoming his fear of swimming.
c) it underlines the author’s fear of water and how he overcomes it. ✓
d) it includes the methods of the author’s coach to overcome the fear of deep water.
(ii) The chap that threw me in was saying, “But I was only fooling.” Choose the option mentioning the personality traits of this ‘chap’.
1- persuasive
2- irresponsible
3- domineering
4- manipulative
5- callous
a) 1, 2, 4
b) 2, 4, 5
c) 2, 3, 5✓
d) 1, 3, 5
Poetry-1 My Mother at Sixty-six Text-Flamingo
Q. Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
Para- A
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realized with pain
that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away…
(i) Choose the option that best applies to the given extract.
1) a conversation
2) an argument
3) a piece of advice
4) a strategy
5) a recollection
6) a suggestion
a) 1, 3 & 6
b) 2, 4 & 5
c) Only 5✓
d) Only 1
(ii) Choose the book title that perfectly describes the condition of the poet’s mother.
Title 1-You’re Only Old Once! by Dr. Seuss
Title 2- The Gift of Years , by Joan Chittister
Title 3- Somewhere Towards the End -by Diana Athill
Title 4-The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry
a) Title 1
b) Title 2
c) Title 3✓
d) Title 4
(iii) Choose the option that applies correctly to the two statements given below. Assertion: The poet wards off the thought of her mother getting old quickly. Reason: The poet didn’t want to confront the inevitability of fate that was to dawn upon her mother.
a) Assertion can be inferred but the Reason cannot be inferred.
b) Assertion cannot be inferred but the Reason can be inferred.
c) Both Assertion and Reason can be inferred. ✓
d) Both Assertion and Reason cannot be inferred.
(iv) Choose the option that displays the same literary device as in the given lines of the extract.
her face
ashen like that of a corpse…
a) Just as I had I had this thought, she appeared and…
b) My thoughts were as heavy as lead that evening when … ✓
c) I think like everyone else who…
d) I like to think aloud when …
Para- B
And
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache…
(i) What is the most likely reason the poet capitalised ‘Young Trees’?
This was to
a) convey a clearer meaning.
b) highlight the adj.-noun combination.
c) enhance the contrast. ✓
d) draw a connection with the title.
(ii) Choose the option that appropriately describes the relationship between the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet knows her mother has aged.
Statement 2: The poet feels the pain of separation.
a) Beginning – Ending
b) Cause – Effect✓
c) Question – Answer
d) Introduction – Conclusion
(iii)Choose the option that completes the sentence given below.
Just as the brightness of the winter’s moon is veiled behind the haze and mist, similarly, __________________.
a) the pain of separation has shaded mother’s expression.
b) age has fogged mother’s youthful appearance. ✓
c) growing up has developed a seasoned maturity in the poet.
d) memories warm the heart like the pale moon in winter.
Stand Alone MCQs
(i)The phrase ‘old familiar ache’ has been used to refer to a fear, in this extract. This phrase can also be used to
a) compare physical pain with mental agony.
b) elicit someone’s unanswered queries.
c) substantiate reasons for aches and pains.
d) describe a longing one has been aware of. ✓
(ii) The tone of the poet in the poem is primarily a combination of _________ and ________.
1- dauntlessness
2- apprehension
3- dejection
4- disappointment
a) 1, 2
b) 2, 3✓
c) 3, 4
d) 1, 4
Poetry 2-An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Text-Flamingo
Q. Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract.
Para- A
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn around their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-
seeming boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
his lesson, from the desk. At back of the dim class
one unnoted, sweet and young.
(i) The phrase ‘weighed-down head’ DOES NOT refer to being
a) burdened by poverty.
b) ashamed at her plight.
c) distressed due to difficulties.
d) dizzy with a headache. ✓
(ii)Pick the option that enumerates the tone of the poet in this extract.
1- apprehensive
2- compassionate
3- resentful
4- thoughtful
5- disillusioned
6- woeful
a) 2, 4 and 6✓
b) 1, 4 and 5
c) 3, 5 and 6
d) 1, 3 and 6
(iii) The ‘gusty waves’, most likely, indicate
a) survival and struggle.
b) verve and brightness. ✓
c) drudgery and dullness.
d) animation and alertness.
Para- B
This map becomes their windows and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.
(i)Pick the option that is NOT TRUE according to this extract.
a) The children should be allowed to read books and form their opinions.
b) Education without breaking the shackles of poverty, is meaningless.
c) The policy makers show the reality of the real world to the children. ✓
d) The children see the world of poverty and misery through the windows.
(ii) Pick the options that matches best with the phrase ‘break o break open’.
1- break free
2- break silence
3- break out
4- break even
5- break through
6- break ground
a) 1, 3 and 5
b) 2, 3 and 6✓
c) 1, 4 and 6
d) 2, 3 and 5
Stand Alone MCQs
(i) Based on the poem, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet is in anguish at the plight of the children in slums and is sympathetic towards them.
Statement 2: The poet presents an exaggerated version of the struggles of the slum children, to garner sympathy.
a) Statement 1 is true but Statement 2 is false. ✓
b) Statement 1 is false but Statement 2 is true.
c) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are true.
d) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred.
(ii) A child in the slum experiencing the dreary life would have the least access to
a) shelter.
b) information. ✓
c) water.
d) education.
(iii) Pick the quote that highlights the contrasting image portrayed in the poem.
a) ‘The worst form of inequality is to try and make unequal things equal.’
b) ‘An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.’ ✓
c) ‘We must work together to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.’
d) ‘No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individual.’
(iv) Pick phrases that portray ‘poverty and hopelessness’ in the poem.
1- slag heap
2- spectacles of steel
3- gusty waves
4- run azure on gold sands
5- mended glass
6- squirrel’s game
7- language is the sun
a) 2, 4 and 7
b) 1, 3 and 5
c) 3, 4 and 6
d) 1, 2 and 5✓
Poetry -3 Keeping Quiet Text-Flamingo
Q. Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
Para A
For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
(i) The poet uses the word “let’s” to _______
a) initiate a conversation between the poet and the readers.
b) invite readers as part of the poem’s larger call to humanity. ✓
c) welcome readers into the world of the poem and its subject.
d) address readers as fellow members of the human race.
(ii) Margaret Atwood said, “Language divides us into fragments, I wanted to be whole.”
Choose the option that correctly comments on the relationship between Margaret Atwood’s words and the line from the above extract – “let’s not speak in any language”
a) Atwood endorses Neruda’s call to not speak in any language. ✓
b) Atwood justifies Neruda’s request to not engage in any speaking.
c) Atwood undermines Neruda’s intent to stop and not speak in any language.
d) Atwood surrenders to Neruda’s desire for silence and not speak in any language.
(iii) Why do you think the poet employs words like “exotic” and “strangeness”?
a) To highlight the importance of everyone being together suddenly for once.
b) To emphasize the frenetic activity and chaos that usually envelops human life. ✓
c) To indicate the unfamiliarity of a sudden moment without rush or without engine.
d) To direct us towards keeping quiet and how we would all be together in that silence.
Para B.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.
(i)What do you think is the mood of the poet in the above extract?
a) gloomy, cynical
b) reflective, inspired
c) introspective, aware✓
d) critical, demotivated
(ii) Pick the option that DOES NOT complete the given sentence suitably, as per the extract.
Threatening ourselves with death __________
a) feeds on the fear of death.
b) challenges finiteness of life. ✓
c) keeps us rushing through life.
d) makes us restless and impatient.
(iii) What might the “huge silence” signify?
a) melancholy
b) understanding✓
c) discomfort
d) flexibility
Stand-alone MCQs
(i) Read the statements given below carefully. Choose the option that best describes these statements, with reference to the poem.
Statement I – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ calls for change as much in the individual as human society at large.
Statement II – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ implies that individual change will lead to bigger societal change.
Statement III – Neruda believes that when people come together as a community, they will be able to bring a transformation in each person.
a) Statement I is True, Statement II is False, and Statement III cannot be inferred. ✓
b) Statement I and II cannot be inferred, Statement III is True.
c) Statement I is True, Statements II and III cannot be inferred.
d) Statement I cannot be inferred, Statement II cannot be inferred, Statement III is False.
(ii) “What I want should not be confused with total inactivity.”
Choose the option that draws the most accurate parallel.
keeping quiet: total inactivity = ______ : ______
a) reflection and death✓
b) silence and chaos
c) stagnation and introspection
d) mindfulness and fear
(iii) What statement does Neruda make about wars?
a) Wars are of varied kinds – internal, green wars, wars with gas, with fire etc.
b) Wars are wasteful and cause irrecoverable loss and damage to property and life.
c) Wars never yield any winners, and the loss is far greater than what can be measured. ✓
d) Wars are unavoidable in the enduring struggle for human dignity and power.
(iv) “Now I’ll count up to twelve and you keep quiet and I will go.” Why does the poet wish to go at the end of the poem?
a) The poet does not believe people will be quiet.
b) The poet has already invested enough time.
c) The poet will move on and seek to inspire others. ✓
d) The poet is marking the end of the poem by leaving.
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