CBSE Class 12 English Lost Spring Worksheet Set A

Passage 1
My acquaintance with the barefoot rag pickers 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 rag pickers. 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. Where does Saheb live ?
(a) Seemapuri
(b) Manipur
(c) Dhaka
(d) Patna
Answer. A

Question. Where is Seemapuri situated?
(a) in the center of Delhi
(b) on the periphery of Delhi
(c) outside Delhi
(d) in Dhaka
Answer. B

Question. Who lived in Seemapuri?
(a) farmers
(b) traders
(c) politician
(d) ragpickers
Answer. D

Question. What change has come in Seemapuri over the years?
(a) it is no longer a wilderness
(b)structures of mud , with roofs of tin and tarpaulin have appeared here
(c) about 10,000 ragpickers live here
(d) all of the above
Answer. D

Question. The houses in Seemapuri are made of............. ?
(a) bricks and concrete
(b) asbestos sheets
(c) mud, tin and tarpaulin
(d) plywood
Answer. C

Question. For the people of Saheb’s colony, what is more important than identity?
(a) gold
(b) coats
(c) silver
(d) food
Answer. D

Question. Squatters who came from Bangladesh in _______ .
(a) 1970
(b) 1971
(c) 1972
(d) 1973
Answer. B

Question. Seemapuri is the home of ___________.
(a) 10,000 rag pickers
(b) 20,000 rag pickers
(c) 5,000 rag pickers
(d) 15,000 rag pickers
Answer. A

Question. Survival in Seemapuri means ______ .
(a) working in a tea-stall
(b) begging
(c) working in glass factory
(d) rag-picking
Answer. D

Question. Find the word in the passage which means ‘paining ‘.
(a) aching
(b) devoid
(c) squatters
(d) periphery
Answer. A

Passage 2
“I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note,” Saheb says, his eyes lighting up. When you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don’t stop scrounging, for there is hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.

Question. Who sometimes, finds a rupee, even a ten rupee note?
(a) the writer
(b) the story teller
(c) Saheb
(d) the narrator
Answer. C

Question. What does heap of garbage stand for the children's parents?
(a) a source of water
(b) a means of survival
(c) source of unending joy
(d) all of the above
Answer. B

Question. The word ‘garbage’ means --------.
(a) rubbish
(b) rare material
(c) expensive thing
(d) useful material
Answer. A

Question. What does ‘a heap of garbage’ stand for the children?
(a) wrapped in wonder
(b) a means of survival
(c) a source of water
(d) all of the above
Answer. A

Very Short Answer

Question. Why did Saheb’s family settle at Seemapuri?
Answer. Saheb’s family settled at Seemapuri in Delhi because those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971.

Question. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Answer. The people migrate from villages to cities because of natural disasters and resulting poverty. A rag picker recollects many storms that have swept away his fields and home in Dhaka. That is why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.

Question. Why does Anees Jung ‘s promise to open school seem hollow?
Answer. Anees Jung’s promise to open school seems hollow because it takes longer to build a school. Such promises are part and parcel of their bleak world.

Question. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Answer. I agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept. It is easy to tell poor children that they should be in school, but are we ever in position to start a school? As individuals, it is difficult to provide facilities and assistance that can remove poverty.

Question. Why does the Author describe Seemapuri as miles away from Delhi?
Answer. Physically, Seemapuri is very close to Delhi. But if we consider them from the point of view of the conditions in which people live there, they are poles apart. Unlike in Delhi there aren’t even basic necessities of life available in Seemapuri.

Short Answer

Question. Describe the living conditions of Seemapuri slums.
Answer. Seemapuri is a settlement of more than 10,000 rag-pickers. It is a place on the periphery of Delhi. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh in 1971. Ragpickers live in structures of mud. They have roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There is no sewage, drainage or running water. They live here without an identity and without permits.

Question. What is Saheb looking for in garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Answer. Saheb lives on the garbage dumps in Seemapuri on the outskirts of Delhi. His family came from Bangladesh. Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Garbage to them is gold. Saheb looks for coins in the heaps of garbage. He even finds a ten rupee note sometimes. When you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage you don’t stop scrounging for there is hope of finding more.

Question. Mention the circumstances which force the bangle makers to live a life of primeval state in Firozabad.
Answer. Middlemen and Money-lenders have their hold on their lives. They keep them in a state of perpetual poverty. They cannot send their children to school. They can only teach them what they themselves know bangle-making. The administration and the police are hand-in-glove with the middlemen and the money-lenders. No bangle-maker can dare to do anything different. They are fatalists. This has killed their capacity to take an initiative. Thus, they find themselves in a blind alley.

Question. Answer the following questions:
(1) What does the author mean by the expression “Garbage to them is gold”?
(2) How did the author find the wife the Mukesh’s brother?
Answer. (1) The author rightly says that garbage is no less than gold to the rag-pickers. This is the only means for survival for them. They search for something valuable in the garbage and sell it for a little money. They pitch their tents wherever they can find rags.
(2) The wife of Mukesh’s brother was a frail young woman. She was cooking food for the whole family. She commanded respect as the daughter-in-law of the house. She covered her face with a veil when Mukesh’s father entered.

Question. Describe the two types of worlds mentioned by Anees Jung in the ‘Lost Spring’.
Answer. The first type of world is of the rag-pickers of Seemapuri in Delhi. The second type of world is of bangle-makers of Firozabad. Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it. Firozabad is an industrial city yet the bangle makers live in utter poverty. Children in Seemapuri and Firozabad lose their childhood. Vicious circles surround them.

Long Answer

Question. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Answer. The first and the foremost reason for migration of people to cities is lack of employment and opportunities in the villages. The traditional occupations of the village people face a serious challenge from the big industries in the cities. The things produced by villagers are not needed even by villagers. Failure of rains, floods and other natural calamities also force the villagers to migrate to cities in search of employment. Secondly, all big labour intensive industries are located in cities. Labourers here get enough wages to support their families. Thirdly, there are no modern amenities in villages. There are facilities of education, medical services, transportation, communication etc. in cities. And finally the glamour of city life is also an attraction for some people.

Question. 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-
‘These words from ‘Lost Spring’ throw light on the grinding poverty that forces money children in India to lead a life of exploitation whereby they have to slog in subhuman conditions.
Driven by a concern for such children, who lose their childhood and who go through an unjust treatment, write an article in 100-150 words on ‘Child Labour in India’.
Answer. Child Labour in India
A child, whose childhood has been snatched away, now works hard, day and night, to earn a meagre pay.
This is the scenario with more than 10 million children who are employed in hazardous and dangerous trades and industries. At a tender age, they are forced to work for 10-15 hours under sub-human conditions. Fireworks factory, cashew nut industry, banglemaking factories, carpet industry—there are innumerable such factories prevailing in our country where these children are being exploited. They are underpaid and ill-treated. As a result, they develop many life-long deformities like losing their eyesight, asthma, bone deformity, etc.
In spite of the constitutional laws against child labour and RTE which enforces the right to education for each and every child below the age of 14 years, these children are deprived of any education. Their day starts in factories and ends there.
It is said that children are the future of a nation. We need to ponder on what kind of future are we building. With so many children stuck in the clutches of child labour, we are building an uneducated• unhealthy and diseased India. So, it is high time that the government and society work for these underprivileged children by strictly implementing the law and rehabilitating them.

Question. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Answer. Yes, I do agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept. When the author promises to open a school where the poor children like Saheb will be able to study, she is not serious about keeping that promise. She does not even mean to keep it. Neither does the government mean to enforce its law against child labour. If it did enforce these laws, 20,000 children working in bangle industry would be freed. But there is no political will to do so. Rather, the powerful people of the society join hands in exploiting the poor children. A vicious circle of Sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians have imposed the baggage on the child. Poor children are only helpless.

Question. What are the dreams of the poor like ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ and Mukesh? Could these be realised? What is the reality of the situation?
Answer. Poor rag-pickers like Saheb spend the early years of their lives looking for gold in garbage dumps. The parents of these streets’ children have no fixed income. They wage war against poverty and hunger. They have no dreams except finding the means of survival. Garbage to them is gold. It is the source of their daily bread and provides a roof over their heads. He ends up as a servant at a tea-stall and loses his freedom. Mukesh, the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, has a dream of becoming a motor mechanic. He wants to learn to drive a car. He thinks of joining a garage is far away, yet he decided to walk. He realises the reality and is willing to overcome the obstacles. His daring to rise and decision to get free from the trap laid by vicious money lenders and middle men arouse a sense of hope. Deprived of education, proper food and upbringing, these children are forced into labour early in life.

Question. Saheb is not only the rag-picker child that lives in poverty. There are many like him. Support your answer from the text?
Answer. Saheb is one of the many boys who have taken to rag-picking. They go about barefoot in search of garbage heaps. In the garbage they scrounge for something valuable which they can sell in the market. The garbage heaps offer them a meager livelihood. They can’t afford shoes or chappals. One of the boys has shoes that do not match. Another has no shoes because his mother does not bring them down from the shelf for the fear he may lose them. Saheb has his pair of discarded tennis shoes from a tennis player. These boys have to live in abject poverty. At the most they can find some employment in a hazardous industry. Their plight will be no better even there.

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