CBSE Class 12 English The Last Lesson VBQs Set 02

1. The Last Lesson – Alphonse Daudet

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

Reading the bulletin, called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!’’ I thought he was making fun of me and reached M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.

Question. Who was called ‘bub’?
(a) M. Hamel
(b) villagers
(c) Franz
(d) postmaster
Answer: (c) Franz

Question. Why was the narrator in a hurry?
(a) he was late to school
(b) his teacher has called him immediately
(c) his teacher was going away and he wanted to him one last time
(d) his friends were waiting for him in school
Answer: (a) he was late to school

Question. Identify the tone in which the speaker said the words , “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!’’?
(a) sarcastic
(b) humorous
(c) depressive
(d) cheerful
Answer: (a) sarcastic

Question. M. Hamel taught the children.............................
(a) German
(b) French
(c) Russian
(d) English
Answer: (b) French

While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”

Question. What was the tone of M. Hamel when he was addressing his students?
(a) cheerful
(b) excited
(c) somber
(d) angry
Answer: (c) somber

Question. The grave and gentle tone in which M. Hamel spoke after getting the orders from Berlin was due to……
(a) his patriotic feeling for his country
(b) his love for his mother tongue
(c) the grief of not being able to teach French in future
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. When would Mr. Hamel leave?
(a) the same day
(b) next day
(c) after one week
(d) after one month
Answer: (b) next day

Question. What did he want from the students?
(a) to give him a farewell
(b) to oppose the orders
(c) to be attentive
(d) to leave the school
Answer: (c) to be attentive

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.

Question. Who was called ‘Poor man’?
(a) Hauser
(b) the Frenchman
(c) M. Hamel
(d) blacksmith
Answer: (c) M. Hamel

Question. What kind of feelings were expressed by the villagers when they sat for the last class?
(a) remorseful
(b) joyful
(c) anxious
(d) confused
Answer: (a) remorseful

Question. Why did the old men come for the class?
(a) to honour the Hamel’s services
(b) to learn the French last time
(c) to see the commotion in the school
(d) to bid farewell to the teacher
Answer: (a) to honour the Hamel’s services

Question. Why did the country belong to them no more?
(a) because they were leaving the country
(b) because Germans had taken over their country
(c) because it was destroyed in the war
(d) because their country was merging into some other country
Answer: (b) because Germans had taken over their country

I heard M. Hamel say to me, “I won’t scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Everyday we have said to ourselves, ‘Bah! I’ve plenty of time. I’ll learn it tomorrow.’ And now you see where we’ve come out. Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow.

Question. Why was M. Hamel not angry with Franz?
(a) as it was Hamel’s last lesson
(b) as it was Franz’s last lesson
(c) as it was the last lesson in French
(d) as it was last day of school
Answer: (c) as it was the last lesson in French

Question. What impression do you form of M. Hamel as a teacher when he says, “I won’t scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough”?
1. He is experienced
2. He is exemplary
3. He is strict
4. He is gentle
(a) 1, 2, 4
(b) 2, 3, 4
(c) 1, 4, 3
(d) All of the options
Answer: (a) 1, 2, 4

Question. What does Hamel mean by ‘ourselves’?
(a) teachers
(b) children
(c) villagers
(d) French people
Answer: (d) French people

Question. What was the problem with Alsace? Where they all have come out?
(a) German would be taught to them from then onwards
(b) they would never be able to learn French
(c) it was their last lesson in French
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Then, from one thing to another, 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 and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed so easy, so easy! I think, too, that I had never listened so carefully, and that he had never explained everything with so much patience.

Question. What is M. Hamel’s language/mother tongue?
(a) French
(b) German
(c) English
(d) Spanish
Answer: (a) French

Question. Identify the literary device in ’from one thing to another’.
(a) metaphor
(b) personification
(c) allusion
(d) hyperbole
Answer: (a) metaphor

Question. What is Hamel asking the people to do for their language?
(a) forget their language
(b) begin learning German
(c) guard their language
(d) learn their language
Answer: (c) guard their language

Question. How could the enslaved people have the key to the prison?
(a) if they ask the prisoner for it
(b) if they do not leave their language
(c) if they snatch the key
(d) if they do not leave their country
Answer: (b) if they do not leave their language

Question. Who is the author of ‘The Last Lesson’?
(a) Jane Austen
(b) Rabindranath Tagore
(c) Alphonse Daudet
(d) None of the options
Answer: (c) Alphonse Daudet

Question. “The Last Lesson” story was written in which year?
(a) \( 1869 - 1870 \)
(b) \( 1870 - 1871 \)
(c) \( 1872 - 1873 \)
(d) \( 1870 - 1872 \)
Answer: (b) \( 1870 - 1871 \)

Question. The story ‘The Last Lesson’ highlights which human tendency?
(a) Male Chauvinism
(b) Procrastination
(c) Courage
(d) Cowardice
Answer: (b) Procrastination

Question. What does ‘The Last Lesson’ symbolize?
(a) Loss
(b) Loss of freedom
(c) Loss of language
(d) Loss of language and freedom
Answer: (d) Loss of language and freedom

Question. What does ‘The Last Lesson’ signify?
(a) change of power
(b) change of Government
(c) change in life
(d) change of teachers
Answer: (d) change of teachers

Question. What do the marching soldiers under the windows represent?
(a) The Dawn of Prussia in the defeat of French people
(b) The defeat of Prussia
(c) The victory of French
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) The Dawn of Prussia in the defeat of French people

Question. What was Franz expected to be prepared for at school that day?
(a) song
(b) dance
(c) essay writing
(d) participles
Answer: (d) participles

Question. What does the expression “in great dread of scolding” mean?
(a) to be happy about it
(b) very badly scared of scolding
(c) to be indifferent
(d) None of the options
Answer: (b) very badly scared of scolding

Question. For the last two years, where did all the bad news come from?
(a) The Bulletin Board
(b) Town Hall
(c) School
(d) M. Hamel’s House
Answer: (a) The Bulletin Board

Question. Don’t go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time means ______.
(a) getting late
(b) very early
(c) not early
(d) early enough
Answer: (b) very early

Question. From where did the orders come to teach only German in the districts of Alsace and Lorraine?
(a) France
(b) Lorraine
(c) Berlin
(d) Germany
Answer: (c) Berlin

Question. Which language would the students study from the next day?
(a) English
(b) German
(c) French
(d) Spanish
Answer: (b) German

Question. What was Franz banking on to enter the class as he was late?
(a) M.Hamel’s teaching on the blackboard
(b) commotion in the class
(c) Hauser helping him sneak in
(d) to quietly walk in when everyone was preoccupied with participles
Answer: (b) commotion in the class

Question. What changed Franz’s feelings about M.Hamel and school?
(a) Police Patrolling
(b) Orders from Berlin
(c) Strict words from M. Hamel
(d) old Primer
Answer: (b) Orders from Berlin

Question. Franz looked for opportunities to skip school to do what?
(a) work on mills
(b) go fishing
(c) water the plants
(d) collect birds eggs
Answer: (d) collect birds eggs

Question. Hamel is introduced as a ruler-wielding teacher. This demonstrates that:
(a) he is concerned
(b) he is adamant
(c) he is unfeeling
(d) he is a hard taskmaster
Answer: (d) he is a hard taskmaster

Question. Why was Franz surprised?
(a) because of village elders
(b) because of police patrolling
(c) because of students’ behaviour
(d) because of M.Hamel’s kind and polite behaviour
Answer: (a) because of village elders

Question. What did Hauser bring?
(a) sweets
(b) children
(c) friends
(d) old primer
Answer: (d) old primer

Question. For how many years did M. Hamel serve the school?
(a) 20 years
(b) 35 years
(c) 30 years
(d) 40 years
Answer: (d) 40 years

Question. Why did the villagers come to meet M. Hamel in the school?
(a) to complain
(b) to say goodbye
(c) to gossip
(d) to show gratitude
Answer: (d) to show gratitude