CBSE Class 12 English Lost Spring Worksheet Set F

Question: Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
Answer : • looking for -try to locate or discover
• slog their daylight hours -struggle persistently during the daytime
• roof over his head -a place to live
• perpetual state of poverty -endless impoverishment
• dark hutments -encampment of huts devoid of any light
• imposed the baggage on the child - force the profession on the child
Think as you read : Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 17

Question: What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Answer : Saheb is looking for coins, rupee notes and any other useful objects in the garbage dumps. Saheb and his family have migrated to Seemapuri, a slum area on the outskirts of Delhi, looking for a source of living after they were uprooted from their native village in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Question: What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Answer : The author comes across many shoeless rag-picker children in her neighbourhood. According to her, oneexplanation of this habit of remaining barefoot is that it is a tradition among the poor children of this country. However, the author quickly mentions that calling it a tradition could be just a means of justification of the utter destitution.

Question: Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Answer : Saheb is not really happy working at the tea-stall because working for a master meant sacrificing his freedom and his "carefree look". Even though the job at the tea-stall pays him 800 rupees and all his meals, he seems less contented than before. The weight of his master's steel canister seems heavier than his rag-picking plastic bag.

Question: How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
Answer : Mukesh was different from the others of his community. By daring to dream, he has already taken the first step towards a big change. He wants to become a motor mechanic and drive a car. He can realise this dream with determination and hard work. There might be many obstacles on his way but a strong willpower will help him move towards the way to success. The fact that he is willing to walk a long distance in order to learn the vocation, underlines his firm resolve. The only thing left for him to do is to make that first journey to that garage and request the owner to take him in and guide and direct him on his journey as a mechanic.

Question: What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Answer : Firozabad is famous for its glass bangles. The place is the centre of India's glass- blowing industry.

Question: What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Answer : There are many factors that cause migration of people from villages to cities. Some villagers voluntarily move to the cities in search for jobs and better civic and health facilities, etc. Others are forced to migrate when natural disasters like flood, storm, drought, famine, etc. destroy their houses and properties. History has records of large scale migrations caused by wars. Also, many villagers who are better off than others manage to send their children to study in the cities. In the lesson 'Lost Spring', Saheb and his family migrates to Seemapuri from Dhaka after their houses were destroyed in the storms.

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, the promises made to poor children are seldom kept. Often, they are not taken seriously or have been made on the pretext of retaining a child's fancy for something. This keeps the child hoping for a better possibility till he/she realises the truth. It is difficult for people to shatter the children's dreams; while it is also painful to see these children thrive of false hopes given to them.
Once, while interacting with Saheb, the narrator ends up encouraging him to study and jokingly talks about opening a school herself. At that time she fails to realise that unknowingly she has sown a seed of hope in Saheb's heart. She becomes conscious of her mistake when, after a few days, Saheb approaches her, enquiring about her school. Her hollow promise leaves her embarrassed.

Question: Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Answer : The impoverished workers in the glass bangles industry toil in potentially hazardous working conditions while welding. The furnaces they work in have extremely high temperature and lack proper ventilation. Persistently working in low light conditions, without any protective eye gear, leaves them blind. Even burns and cuts are quite common. The workers are quite prone to ailments such as lung cancer.

Question: Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Answer : The impoverished workers in the glass bangles industry toil in potentially hazardous working conditions while welding. The furnaces they work in have extremely high temperature and lack proper ventilation. Persistently working in low light conditions, without any protective eye gear, leaves them blind. Even burns and cuts are quite common. The workers are quite prone to ailments such as lung cancer.

Question: What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Answer : The unfavourable social and legal systems, the deceptive middlemen, and their own sad destinies keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in perpetual poverty.

Question: Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Answer : Child labour should be eliminated because it takes away from the child his childhood and the prospect of elementary education. Moreover, since the child labourers are cheap, and consequently engaged in hazardous and dangerous employment, they are often vulnerable to mental and physical illness. In order to curb this problem, it is important to make education easily accessible. Apart from that, the parents must be made aware of the consequences of working in harmful environments. It is also important to make the public aware of the fact that child labour is a criminal offence and is punishable under law. The government must ensure stricter child labour laws and that the offenders are punished.

Question: How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Answer : Mukesh belongs to a family of glass bangle makers in Firozabad. Even though the children of such families usually carry on their family profession, Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car. Unlike his family members, and others of his community, he has dared to dream. His grandmother's words about the unbreakable lineage represent the attitude they have towards their situation in life. They believe that it is their destiny to toil as bangle makers. But Mukesh dreams of a better and safer career. The resolute boy is willing to walk a long distance from his home to learn to be a mechanic, exemplifying the saying, 'where there is a will, there is a way'

Question: Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery it transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices: 
• Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or more exciting than it really is. For example: Garbage to them is gold.
• A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor "transfers" a quality of one thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.
• Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the words "like" or "as". For example: As white as snow.

Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you identify the literary device in each example?

1. Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.
2. Drowned in an air of desolation.
3. Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.
4. For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of survival.
5. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.
6. She still has bangles on her wrist, but not light in her eyes.
7. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.
8. Web of poverty.
9. Scrounging for gold.
10. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.
11. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder
Answer : 1. Irony
2. Metaphor
3. Antithesis
4. Antithesis
5. Simile
6. Pun
7. Pun
8. Metaphor
9. Metaphor
10. Hyberbole
11. Paradox

Question: The beauty of the glass bangles of Firozabad contrasts with the misery of people who produce them.
This paradox is also found in some other situations, for example, those who work in gold and diamond mines, or carpet weaving factories, and the products of their labour, the lives of construction workers, 
and the buildings they build.
• Look around and find examples of such paradoxes.
• Write a paragraph of about 200 to 250 words on any one of them. You can start by making notes.
Here is an example of how one such paragraph may begin:
You never see the poor in this town. By day they toil, working cranes and earthmovers, squirreling deep into the hot sand to lay the foundations of chrome. By night they are banished to bleak labour camps at the outskirts of the city...
Answer : You never see the poor in this town. By day they toil, working cranes and earthmovers, squirreling deep into the hot sand to lay the foundations of chrome. By night they are banished to bleak labour camps at the outskirts of the city. Such is the life of the poor construction workers in this city, Delhi. It is the capital of India, with beautifully constructed buildings everywhere around the city. How often do we reflect on the poor labourers who toil so hard working day in and day out constructing these structures?
These labourers who construct these buildings, ironically, often lead a nomadic life living in temporary settlements in slums or construction areas. They are denied the very fruit of their hard work. It is absurd that bricklayers are forced to live in tents of plastic and rubber sheets. They live in penury; the job is underpaid to such an extent that they fail to manage a proper house of their own. The paradox is even more deplorable when one finds such labourers working in construction sites for schools and hospitals. These people are illiterate and often do not send their children to schools for the lack of resources. Again, these people often work and live in hazardous and unhealthy conditions without any health benefits. Why are such things overlooked by the society and the government? It is high time the government and the rich work together for providing these construction site workers with the basic necessities along with education for their children.

 

               Very Short Answer

Q.1)        Why do the rag-pickers not go back to their native places?

Q.2)        ‘Savita is a symbol of innocence and efficiency’. Comment.

Q.3)        In what way has rag-picking become ‘a fine art’?

Q.4)        Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?

Q.5)        Saheb began to work in a tea-stall. What change came over him?

              

               Short Answer

Q.6)        “But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” What promise does the author recall? In what context was it made? Was it fulfilled?

Q.7)        Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it metaphorically. What does the author mean by this?

Q.8)        What are most of the bangle-makers ignorant of? What would happen if law were enforced strictly?

Q.9)        Answer the following questions:

(1)        Describe Mukesh as an ambitious person.

(2)        Whom does Anees Jung name for the sorry plight of the bangle makers?

Q.10)      Where is Mukesh’s house located? What is he proud of?

              

               Long Answer

Q.11)      ‘Saheb is no longer his own master. Mukesh insists on being his own master.’ Discuss.

Q.12)     Child abuse is a very serious problem in our country. Children are forced by circumstances to work in various factories. Write an article, on the topic ‘Child Abuse’. Take ideas from the following lines:

            “None of them knows that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces 1 with high temperature, 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.”

Q.13)      The paradoxes of the society that we live in are aptly featured in ‘Lost Spring’. Comment.

Q.14)      Why should be child labour be eliminated and how?

Q.15)      Justify the title of the story ‘Lost Spring’.

Question. Which district came under the Prussian rule?
(a) Alsace and Berlin
(b) Berlin and Lorraine
(c) Alsace and Lorraine
(d) the southern districts of France
Answer: C

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

Question. ‘Viva la France’ became an emotional evidence of M. Hamel’s?
(a) sadness and patriotism.
(b) finality and depression.
(c) nostalgia and emotional outburst.
(d) love for the school and teaching as a profession
Answer: D

Question. what does 'Long Live France' prove in the chapter 'The Last Lesson'?
(a) sadness
(b) patriotism
(c) finality
(d) all of the above
Answer: D

Question. What was the name of Franz's school teacher in the chapter The Last Lesson?
(a) robert genero
(b) ogden nash
(c) ruskin timber
(d) M.Hamel
Answer: D

PROSE-2-LESSON:2- THE LOST SPRING

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

Question. This story is an excerpt from which book of the author?
(a) Lost Spring - Stories of Stolen Childhood
(b) Unveiling India
(c) Breaking the Silence
(d) The Song of India
Answer: A

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

Question. What is the central theme of the story Lost Spring?
(a) Pitiable Poor children and their lost childhood
(b) Garbage
(c) Saheb and Mukesh
(d) Spring Season
Answer: A

Question. What forces the children to live a life of exploitation?
(a) Greed
(b) Extreme Poverty
(c) Peers
(d) Parents
Answer: B

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

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

Question. Who was Saheb?
(a) A shopkeeper
(b) A servant
(c) A ragpicker
(d) All
Answer: C

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

Question. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall?
(a) Yes
(b) Yes, he earns money
(c) No earning
(d) No, earning but no freedom
Answer: D

Question. Why did Saheb -e- Alam not go to school?
(a) Not interested
(b) Had no money to pay fees
(c) Wanted to go for movie
(d) Wanted to earn money
Answer: B

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

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

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

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

Question. Name the birthplace of the author.
(a) U.S.A
(b) California
(c) Koch
(d) Rourkela
Answer: D

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

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

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

Question. Why did Saheb leave his house?
(a) Because the storm swept away his house and field
(b) To enjoy a life of leisure
(c) To find friends
(d) To go to college
Answer: A

Question. What forced Saheb to be a ragpicker?
(a) Hard work
(b) Destiny
(c) People around him
(d) Acute poverty
Answer: D

Question. Where is Seemapuri?
(a) In Noida
(b) South Delhi
(c) North Delhi
(d) East Delhi
Answer: D

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

Question. Who are responsible for the poor condition of bangle makers in Firozabad?
(a) Parents
(b) Society
(c) Bureaucrats
(d) All of these
Answer: D

Question. What efforts can help Mukesh materialise his dream of becoming a car driver?
(a) Hard work
(b) Going to garage
(c) Guidance of his owner
(d) All these
Answer: D

Question. What are the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
(a) Poor health
(b) Impaired vision
(c) Miserable life
(d) All of these
Answer: D

Question. Who employs the local families of Firozabad?
(a) Bureaucrats
(b) Merchants
(c) Politicians
(d) The glass blowing industry
Answer: D

Question. What is the function of glass blowing industry?
(a) To make windows
(b) To make doors
(c) To mould glass
(d) To mould glass and make colorful bangles
Answer: D

Question. What makes the working conditions of the children worst in the glass industry?
(a) Dark dingy cells without light and air
(b) Dazzling and sparking of welding light
(c) High temperature
(d) All of these
Answer: D

Question. What excuse do the rag pickers give for not wearing chappals?
(a) Mothers don't give
(b) No interest
(c) A tradition
(d) All these
Answer: D

Question. Who is Mukesh?
(a) Student
(b) Worker
(c) Bangle maker
(d) Ragpicker
Answer: C

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

Question. What compels the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad to poverty?
(a) Cast and ancestral profession
(b) Karam theory and society
(c) Bureaucrats and politicians
(d) All of these
Answer: D

Question. The city of Firozabad is famous for what?
(a) For casteism
(b) For ragpickers
(c) For poverty
(d) For bangles
Answer: D

Question. Firozabad is the centre of which industry?
(a) Cotton industry
(b) Furniture industry
(c) Textile industry
(d) Glassblowing industry
Answer: D

Question. How is Mukesh's attitude different from that of his family?
(a) Being daring, firm and clear
(b) Being a fighter
(c) Being a coward
(d) Not clear
Answer: A

Question. What is the means of survival in Seemapuri?
(a) Work
(b) Merchandising
(c) Education
(d) Ragpicking
Answer: D

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

Question. What is Mukesh's dream?
(a) To be a doctor
(b) To be a merchant
(c) To be a rogue
(d) To be a motor- mechanic
Answer: D

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

Question. How many years later the author visited town and the temple of a man from Udipi?
(a) thirty years
(b) fourty years
(c) ten years
(d) fifty years
Answer: A

Question. In the background, where lived new priest, there were and plastic chairs
(a) red,black
(b) white, black
(c) red, white
(d) blue, white
Answer: C

Question. Those who live here are squatters who came from bangladesh back in which year?
(a) 1972
(b) 1971
(c) 1973
(d) 1970
Answer: B

Question. How many ragpickers are living in seemapuri
(a) 200,000
(b) 20000
(c) 100000
(d) 10000
Answer: D

Question. which is more important for survival than an identity
(a) money
(b) food
(c) garbage
(d) all of these
Answer: B

Question. saheb is on his way to which booth?
(a) milk
(b) garbage
(c) public
(d) all of these
Answer: A

Question. Firozabad is famous for its
(a) bangles
(b) pillow
(c) firewood
(d) none of these
Answer: A

Question. Firozabad is located in which state?
(a) uttarkhand
(b) uttarpradesh
(c) bihar
(d) seemapuri
Answer: B

Question. how many children are working in furance industry?
(a) 10,000
(b) 200000
(c) 20,000
(d) none of these
Answer: C

Please click on below link to download CBSE Class 12 English Lost Spring Worksheet Set F