CBSE Class 12 English Lost Spring VBQs Set 02

Flamingo-Prose

Lost Spring – Anees Jung

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 ragpickers. They have lived here for more than thirty years without an identity, without permits but with ration cards that get their names on voters’ lists and enable them to buy grain. Food is more important for survival than an identity.

Question. How did the author reach Seemapuri?
(a) obliged by his duty
(b) by official orders
(c) by his contact with rag pickers
(d) because of his friend’s work
Answer: (c) by his contact with rag pickers

Question. What does the phrase “devoid of sewage, drainage or running water” help us understand about the condition of the ragpickers?
(a) They live in places unfit for human living
(b) They have made Seemapuri their home
(c) The ragpickers live near sewage pipes
(d) The ragpickers strive for their livelihood
Answer: (a) They live in places unfit for human living

Question. Which people came to reside in Seemapuri?
(a) refugees from Bangladesh
(b) refugees from Punjab
(c) refugees from Pakistan
(d) refugees from Kashmir
Answer: (a) refugees from Bangladesh

Question. How was Seemapuri earlier?
(a) densely populated
(b) uninhabited
(c) a sacred place
(d) forest area
Answer: (b) uninhabited

Food is more important for survival than an identity. ‘’If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,’’ say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is even more.

Question. The phrase ‘transit homes’ refer to the dwellings that are:
(a) unhygienic
(b) inadequate
(c) fragile
(d) temporary
Answer: (d) temporary

Question. Identify the figure of speech used in the sentence ''Garbage to them is gold''.
(a) hyperbole
(b) simile
(c) synecdoche
(d) personification
Answer: (a) hyperbole

Question. Choose the term which best matches the statement 'Food is more important for survival than an identity''?
(a) immorality
(b) necessity
(c) obligation
(d) ambition
Answer: (b) necessity

Question. What does 'acquired the proportions of a fine art' mean?
(a) rag-picking has regained its lost status.
(b) a segment of ragpickers are skilled in fine arts
(c) rag-picking has attained the position of a skill.
(d) only a few people are experts in rag-picking.
Answer: (c) rag-picking has attained the position of a skill.

When the older man enters, she gently withdraws behind the broken wall and brings her veil closer to her face. As custom demands, daughters-in-law must veil their faces before male elders. In this case the elder is an impoverished bangle maker. Despite long years of hard labour, first as a tailor, then a bangle maker, he has failed to renovate a house, send his two sons to school. All he has managed to do is teach them what he knows — the art of making bangles.

Question. Who is the old man?
(a) Mukesh’s grandfather
(b) Mukesh’s father
(c) a villager
(d) village head
Answer: (b) Mukesh’s father

Question. What was the woman’s gesture when the old man entered?
(a) she hid behind the wall
(b) she went out of the house
(c) she went inside the kitchen
(d) she brought him a cup of tea
Answer: (a) she hid behind the wall

Question. The phrase ‘impoverished bangle maker’ here refers to the person who was ………………
(a) very old
(b) penniless
(c) wealthy enough
(d) owner of the house
Answer: (b) penniless

Question. The elder was not able to ..........................
(a) teach good lessons to his son
(b) send his children to school
(c) renovate his house
(d) both (b) and (c)
Answer: (d) both (b) and (c)

“It is his karam, his destiny,” says Mukesh’s grandmother, who has watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. “Can a god-given lineage ever be broken?” She implies. Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad.

Question. What has happened to Mukesh’s grandfather?
(a) he suffered from asthma due to working in glass factory
(b) he went blind with the dust of polishing bangles
(c) he died due to suffocation in dingy cells of glass factory
(d) he purchased the glass factory and became the owner
Answer: (b) he went blind with the dust of polishing bangles

Question. Identify the literary device in this statement ‘for the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival’.
(a) metaphor
(b) antithesis
(c) irony
(d) hyperbole
Answer: (b) antithesis

Question. Why didn’t Mukesh’s family stop working in glass factory?
(a) they were under heavy debt
(b) they were born in the caste of bangle makers
(c) it was their ancestral business
(d) both (b) and (c)
Answer: (d) both (b) and (c)

Question. Which city’s every street is comprised bangle makers?
(a) Firozabad
(b) Faridabad
(c) Ghaziabad
(d) Moradabad
Answer: (a) Firozabad

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 made 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.

Question. ‘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.
Answer: (c) though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness.

Question. ‘He has a roof over his head!’ The tone of the author is:
(a) pessimistic
(b) empathetic
(c) sympathetic
(d) optimistic
Answer: (c) sympathetic

Question. 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
Answer: (c) reiteration

Question. ‘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.
Answer: (b) the drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot.

Question. Who is the author of the story, ‘Lost Spring’?
(a) James Bond
(b) Arundhati Roy
(c) Sudha Murthy
(d) Anees Jung
Answer: (d) Anees Jung

Question. Name the birthplace of the author.
(a) Mumbai
(b) Delhi
(c) Kochi
(d) Rourkela
Answer: (d) Rourkela

Question. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ symbolise?
(a) Lost blooming childhood
(b) Autumn season
(c) Lost money
(d) Lost age
Answer: (a) Lost blooming childhood

Question. What does the author analyse in the story?
(a) Rich people
(b) Garbage
(c) Poor children and their exploitation
(d) Her works
Answer: (c) Poor children and their exploitation

Question. According to the author, what was garbage for the parents?
(a) Means of entertainment
(b) Means of joy
(c) Means of sorrow
(d) Means of survival
Answer: (d) Means of survival

Question. According to the author, what was garbage for the children ?
(a) Means of entertainment
(b) Means of timepass
(c) Means of playing
(d) A wonder
Answer: (d) A wonder

Question. What is the meaning of Saheb-e-Alam?
(a) Owner
(b) Rich man
(c) Poor man
(d) Lord of the Universe
Answer: (d) Lord of the Universe

Question. What was Saheb looking for?
(a) Eggs
(b) Gold
(c) Coins
(d) Toys
Answer: (b) Gold

Question. Saheb hailed from which place?
(a) Delhi
(b) Seemapuri
(c) Greenfields of Dhaka
(d) None of the options
Answer: (c) Greenfields of Dhaka

Question. What do the boys appear like to the author in the story?
(a) Morning crows
(b) Evening crows
(c) Morning birds
(d) Evening birds
Answer: (c) Morning birds

Question. Why did Saheb go through garbage dumps?
(a) To find a silver coin
(b) To find a rupee
(c) To find a ten rupee note
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. Why is the author calling garbage as ‘gold’ in the story?
(a) Because of jewels in it
(b) Because of gems in it
(c) Because of gold in it
(d) Because of its encashment value
Answer: (d) Because of its encashment value

Question. What excuse do the rag pickers give for not wearing chappals?
(a) Mothers don’t give chappals to wear
(b) No interest in wearing chappals
(c) A tradition of not wearing chappals
(d) All of the options
Answer: (c) A tradition of not wearing chappals

Question. What did the man from Udipi pray for, when he was young?
(a) a pair of trousers
(b) a pair of shoes
(c) a few friends
(d) an opportunity to study in a school
Answer: (b) a pair of shoes

Question. What is the metaphorical symbol of Seemapuri in the lesson?
(a) Poverty
(b) Exploitation
(c) Enjoyment
(d) A little hell
Answer: (d) A little hell

Question. Why did Saheb leave Dhaka?
(a) Because of lack of resources
(b) Because of lack of enough food
(c) Because of friends
(d) Because of parents
Answer: (b) Because of lack of enough food

Question. What are the reasons for the migration of people from villages to city in the lesson?
(a) Sweeping of houses and fields by storms
(b) No money
(c) Education and unemployment
(d) Safety
Answer: (a) Sweeping of houses and fields by storms

Question. Where was Saheb employed?
(a) At a tea stall
(b) At a saree shop
(c) At a jewellery shop
(d) At a sweet shop
Answer: (a) At a tea stall

Question. What change did Anees Jung see in Saheb when she saw him standing by the gate of the neighbourhood club?
(a) As if lost his freedom
(b) Lost ownership
(c) Lost joy
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options