Class 12 English Question Bank

Ans: M. Hamel's announcement that it was their last French lesson was a thunderclap for Franz. He was shocked to learn that an order from Berlin had banned the teaching of French in Alsace and Lorraine, and German would be taught from the next day.

Ans: M. Hamel was overwhelmed with emotion and could not speak. By writing 'Vive La France' (Long Live France) as large as he could, he wanted to express his deep patriotism and instill a sense of pride and resistance in his students before leaving.

Ans: Saheb started working at a tea stall where he was paid 800 rupees and all his meals. However, he lost his carefree look. The steel canister he carried was heavier than his plastic bag. He was now a servant to the tea stall owner and had lost his freedom.

Ans: Mukesh's family accepts bangle-making as their 'karam' or destiny. They are afraid to rebel against the sahukars and police. Mukesh, however, dares to dream differently. He wants to become a motor mechanic and is willing to walk a long distance to the garage to learn.

Ans: This line describes the moment Douglas lost consciousness while drowning in the Y.M.C.A. pool. He stopped struggling, his fear vanished, and he felt a peaceful drowsiness, accepting death as he blacked out.

Ans: The instructor worked step-by-step:
1. Put a belt around Douglas with a rope attached to a pulley to ensure safety.
2. Taught him to put his face underwater and exhale, and raise his nose and inhale.
3. Taught him to kick with his legs.
He pieced together these individual skills over months to create a complete swimmer.

Ans: Edla Willmansson had treated him with the dignity and respect due to a Captain, despite knowing he was a poor peddler. This trust and kindness gave him the power to redeem himself and behave like a real Captain, returning the stolen money.

Ans: While plodding along the road, thinking of his rattraps, he was struck by the idea that the whole world was nothing but a big rattrap. It offered riches and joys just like the rattrap offered cheese and pork as bait to trap people.

Ans: Gandhi explained that the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been forced to return part of the money and, with it, part of their prestige. It broke the deadlock and taught the peasants they had rights.

Ans: The office boy was frustrated because he had joined Gemini Studios hoping to become a star actor, director, or lyricist, but ended up doing makeup for the crowd players. He directed his anger at Subbu, whom he felt had an unfair advantage due to his Brahmin caste and closeness to the Boss.

Ans: Eco explains that he utilizes "interstices" or empty spaces in time. For example, while waiting for an elevator to come up, he would write an article. He calls this working in the empty spaces of our lives.

Ans:
Sophie: A daydreamer who lived in a fantasy world. She wanted to own a boutique or become an actress, despite her poor financial background.
Jansie: Practical and grounded. She knew they were earmarked for the biscuit factory and discouraged Sophie's wild dreams.

Ans: This sentence reflects Franz's innocent anger against the imposition of the German language. It highlights the absurdity of linguistic chauvinism—language is natural to living beings, and forcing a foreign language upon people is as unnatural as trying to force pigeons to coo in German.

Ans: They are trapped in a vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, keepers of law, bureaucrats, and politicians. If they try to organize, they are hauled up by the police, beaten, and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.

Ans: When Douglas was about ten or eleven years old, he was sitting by the side of the Y.M.C.A. pool. A big bruiser of a boy picked him up and tossed him into the deep end (9 feet deep). Douglas nearly drowned, which instilled a deep fear of water in him.

Ans: The crofter was an old man without a wife or child. He was lonely and happy to get someone to talk to in his loneliness. He welcomed the peddler warmly, shared his porridge and tobacco, and even played 'mjolis' with him.

Ans: Gandhi chided them for collecting big fees from the poor sharecroppers. He believed that taking such cases to court did little good when the peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken. Real relief would come from making them free from fear.

Ans: The visitor was Stephen Spender, an English poet and editor. His visit was a mystery because the studio staff (mostly Tamilians) couldn't understand his accent or the purpose of a poet visiting a film studio. Years later, Asokamitran realized he came to talk about communism and 'The God That Failed'.

Ans: Celebrities often see interviews as an unwarranted intrusion into their private lives. They feel it diminishes them, "just as in some primitive cultures it is believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then one is stealing that person’s soul."

Ans: Sophie knew Jansie was 'nosey' and couldn't keep a secret. She feared that if Jansie knew, she would tell the whole neighborhood, and people might come to their house asking questions, which would upset her father.

Ans: It was the first mass civil disobedience movement in India. It proved that the British could not order Indians about in their own country. It helped Gandhi establish his method of Satyagraha and alleviated the distress of poor peasants, making him a national hero.

Ans: She felt compassionate towards the poor man who was chased away everywhere he went. It was Christmas Eve, and she wanted him to enjoy a day of peace and good food. She believed it was wrong to chase away a guest they had promised Christmas cheer.

Ans: For the elders, garbage is their livelihood; it is their daily bread and the roof over their heads. For the children, it is wrapped in wonder—they might find a rupee or a ten-rupee note. Thus, it is as valuable as gold to them.

Ans: Douglas recalled this quote by Roosevelt after he had conquered his fear of water. He realized that the actual experience of death is peaceful; it is only the terror/fear of dying that is crippling. Once the fear is overcome, one feels liberated.

Ans: He wore his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered. He usually wore this special attire only on inspection and prize days, signifying the solemnity and importance of this final lesson.