CBSE Class 12 English Keeping Quiet Worksheet Set D

I. Multiple Choice Questions

Question: ‘Fishermen not harming whales’ means
a) not disturbing the sea
b) not causing extinction of whales
c) not going for fishing
d) not disturbing balance in nature
Answer: b

Question: The poet of ‘Keeping Quiet’ is
a) Kamala Das
b) Vikram Seth
c) Pablo Neruda
d) P.B Shelley
Answer: c

Question: He advises the people not to speak in
a) French
b) Spanish
c) English
d) any language
Answer: d

Question: Who would look at his hurt hands?
a) boys picking rags
b) man gathering stones
c) grave-diggers
d) man gathering salt
Answer: d

Question: ‘Sudden strangeness’ has one of the following poetic devices:
a) simile
b) personification
c) repetition
d) alliteration
Answer: d

Question: The poet appeals to the readers to keep quiet for
a) twenty seconds
b) thirty seconds
c) one hour
d) twelve seconds
Answer: d

Question: The men in clean clothes would be walking with their
a) friends
b) nephews
c) wives
d) brothers
Answer: d

Question: We can learn a lesson from
a) animals
b) nature
c) the trees
d) The Earth
Answer: d

Question: What kind of a moment would it be when everyone is silent
a) painful
b) terrible
c) unforgettable
d) exotic
Answer: d

Question: The types of wars the poet talks about are
a) nuclear wars
b) verbal wars
c) technological warfare
d) green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire
Answer: d

Question: What does man threaten himself with?
a) robbery
b) birth
c) suicide
d) death
Answer: d

Question: ‘Have no truck with death’ means
a) will not drive a truck
b) remove poverty and illiteracy
c) have no association with death
d) will not die of truck accident
Answer: c

Question: Fishermen in the cold sea would not harm
a) sea horses
b) tortoises
c) mermaids
d) whales
Answer: d

Question: The poet advocates the balance of nature to be
a) destroyed
b) ignored
c) temporarily disturbed
d) maintained
Answer: d

Question: Where would they be walking?
a) on the road
b) along the river
c) in the park
d) in the shade
Answer: d

Question: What, according to the poet, would interrupt the sadness of man’s life?
a) arguments
b) fights
c) great laughter
d) huge silence
Answer: d

Question: The poet wants the entire humanity to
a) keep laughing
b) keep talking
c) keep running
d) keep still
Answer: d

Question: When the poet says ‘we will’ count to twelve he means
a) his friends
b) his own family
c) his wife and himself
d) entire mankind
Answer: d

Question: ‘Without rush, without engines’ refers to
a) no holidaying
b) no traveling
c) no hurry to go to office
d) no noise
Answer: d

Question: In the end, he again appeals to the people that he would
a) destroy the Earth
b) completely ignore everyone
c) will not bother at all
d) initiate the state of inactivity
Answer: d

Question: According to the poet wars that are fought have no
a) soldiers
b) weapons
c) fighter planes
d) survivors
Answer: d

Question: ‘Cold sea’ is a poetic device
a) metaphor
b) alliteration
c) personification
d) transferred epithet
Answer: d

Question: The poetic device used in the last line ‘when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive’ is
a) imagery
b) irony
c) transferred epithet
d) paradox
Answer: d

Question: Man needs to learn a lesson from the
a) Moon
b) Sun
c) stars
d) Earth
Answer: d

Question: The man looking at his hurt hands is a
a) diamond cutter
b) surgeon
c) rag-picker
d) salt gatherer
Answer: d

Question: What will counting upto twelve help us with?
a) fulfilling wishes
b) achieving goals and ambitions
c) winning a race
d) achieving harmony, brotherhood
Answer: d

Question: Man should be with nature
a) irresponsible
b) confused
c) at war
d) totally compatible
Answer: d

Question: The poet evokes a symbol in order to invoke that there can be life even with stillness. The symbol is
a) cloud
b) storm
c) rain
d) Earth
Answer: d

Question: The last line of the poem is–
a) life is what it is about
b) I want no truck with death
c) and later proves to be alive
d) and you keep quiet and I will go
Answer: d

Question: The poet uses conversational style and personal pronouns as ‘you’, ‘we’ and ‘I’ because
a) he wants to be intimate with mankind
b) he wants to establish contact easily
c) third person is ineffective
d) he tries to reach out to the readers
Answer: d

Short Answer Questions

Question. What is the poet’s appeal to the people?
Answer. The poet appeals to all the people to count upto twelve and then to be completely silent. During this period of silence, he urges them to remain calm and stop all the physical activity. He only wants peace during this time.

Question. To attain this, what does he expect all of us to do?
Answer. The poet expects the mankind to shun all activity, remain silent and indulge in introspection in order to understand the meaning of life, their own destructive activities and make amends.

Question. Why does he advocate silence?
Answer. He advocates silence because according to him, it is only during the few seconds of silence and inactivity, that a man will be able to take stock of his harmful activities and then try to practise harmony and brotherhood in the world.

Question. What kind of activity does the poet feel is man involved in?
Answer. Man is involved in a large number of destructive activities. He is creating noise pollution, environmental pollution, destroying wildlife and marine life. He is waging wars and is also destroying his own fellow men.

Question. What does the poet mean by ‘exotic moment’ and how can a man achieve it?
Answer. By ‘exotic moment’ the poet means the moment of silence and inactivity which will be extraordinary and memorable because man will reflect on his activities and hence be able to make amends. This exotic moment can only be achieved through total silence and inactivity even it is for a few seconds.

Question. What kind of a feeling would this exotic moment evoke?
Answer. This feeling may be strange because it is not easy to imagine a situation of complete peace and silence. According to the poet, this moment might remove our sadness of never understanding ourselves and indulging in self-destructive activities.

Question. What harm do the fishermen do and why do the salt gatherers’ hands hurt?
Answer.The fishermen harm the marine life by killing the whales in the seas and hastening their extinction. The salt gatherers’ hands hurt because the harsh and coarse texture of the salt causes discomfort and pain to their hands.

Question. What are the kinds of wars mentioned in the poem?
Answer. The poet mentions green wars, i.e., wars that a man is waging against nature hence causing environmental degradation, wars with gas and fire or using harmful biological and nuclear weapons to cause maximum destruction to life and property. War with fire refers to the conventional mode of combat.

Question. What can be the consequence of war on our lives?
Answer. The poet observes that wars cause death and destruction. It leaves behind no survivors and hence no victory for any one. It is an ironical situation which can be avoided if a man takes action and decides never to wage wars.

Question. What could be an ideal situation according to the poet?
Answer. The poet strongly mentions that the ideal situation would be when people walk happily hand in hand under shady trees i.e. amidst a cool and harmonious atmosphere. They will then practise oneness, unity and brotherhood.

Question. How is inactivity different from death? What does the poet mean by ‘to have no truck with death’?
Answer. According to the poet, total inactivity only means a temporary stillness, whereas death means the end of life. ‘No truck with death’ means that the poet does not want any association with death. He only urges mankind to halt the harmful activities for a few seconds.

Question. What are we single-minded about?
Answer. The poet feels that individuals only think about keeping their lives moving and in the process they lose sight of their goals. People only yearn for progress and fulfilment of ambitions, and that remains the only focus while they are alive. Man is single minded in his pursuit of wealth, supremacy and territorial acquistion.

Question. What, according to the poet, causes sadness?
Answer. Mindless destructive activities cause sadness in our lives. Behaviour that threatens mankind leads to sadness and unhappiness.

Question. What can the Earth teach us? How?
Answer. The Earth can teach us to be productive and useful even when there is silence. The Earth nurtures all living beings, plants and animals and quietly maintains the balance in nature. It helps in the rebirth of new life. We can all learn to be productive yet silent.

Question. How does Earth prove to be alive?
Answer. The Earth nurtures life and brings forth new form. There is a regeneration of every living thing on this Earth and all things that die, are reborn and the cycle of life continues.

Question. How would keeping quiet affect life in and around the sea? 
Answer. In the state of stillness and silence, the fishermen will not harm the already endangered whales. In the same way, the salt gatherers whose hands get hurt during the salt gathering process, will stop for a while and rest their hands and introspect.

Long Answer Question

Question. What according to Pablo Neruda would be the ultimate end of man if the present scenario of wars continue? What does the poem ‘Keeping
Quiet’ teach us?
Answer. If the present scenario of conflict continues, there will be victory but no ‘survivors’. Pablo Neruda suggests that we must all keep still and retrospect so that there is peace and world unity. It is only during the few seconds of silence and inactivity, that man will be able to take stock of his harmful activities and then try to practise harmony and brotherhood in the world. Pablo Neruda advocates productive silence and introspection. He emphasises on keeping quiet for a count of twelve so that man can take time and examine his thoughts, feelings and actions. The fisherman will realise that he is harming marine life. Man will understand the futility of war. Introspection will help us understand ourselves leading to a change in our attitude towards life.

Question: What does the title of the poem suggests to you? What do you think the poem is about?
Answer. The title of the poem suggests the importance of silence.
The poem is about the importance of self-examination and introspection. It is also an appeal for universal harmony.
(A model answer has been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students themselves prepare the answer based on their own experience.)

Question: What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
Answer. According to the poet, taking a break from our monotonous routine by 'counting up to twelve' and 'keeping still' will help us understand ourselves and those around us better. The quietness will aid our understanding of the significance of peace and tranquility in this age of futile activities. Thus, they will help us in introspection and self-analysis.

Question: Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
Answer. Although the poet believes that silences assist in introspection and help in taking a break from the world of
frenzy activity, he does not advocate total inactivity and death. Rather, he believes that observing stillness once
in a while helps people to spring back in action, rejuvenated.

Question: What is the 'sadness' that the poet refers to in the poem?
Answer. The poet refers to the 'sadness' of failing to understand oneself in the monotonous every day existence. He also finds it sad that the humanity is moving towards its own ruin owing to its unanalyzed actions. He regrets the rush of outdoing others that has made us forget the values of humanity.

Question: What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent stillness?
Answer. The poet uses the symbol of the earth to illustrate the point that there can be life under apparent stillness.

Question: Choose a quiet corner and keep
Aswner. Yes, I felt a strange stillness engulf me initially. But soon, I started thinking about my day and the activities that I was engaged in. My mind, of its own accord, moved to thoughts or actions that preoccupied my mind. As my thoughts became organized, the skewed priorities, of their own accord, became apparent. It also gave me opportunity to reprioritise and energy to work with a new zeal. All worries seemed unnecessary and I felt relieved of stress. It became easier for me to focus on more important things in life and empty my mind of petty issues that I dwelt on without reason. Thus, these five minutes of silence and introspection brought a huge change in my perspectives. I've now decided to continue this for the rest of my life.

(A model answer has been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students themselves prepare the answer based on their own experience.)

Question. In the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’, what is the appeal made by the poet?
Aswner. The poet appeals the people to keep quiet for a short time. This would help them take stock of their mindless activities and conduct self-analysis. All this will help save mankind from its imminent doom.

Question. “Under the apparent stillness there is life.”
Justify this statement giving an example from the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’.
Aswner. The poet says that just as there will be life below the snow once it melts, similarly, there will be life even in the apparent stillness.

Question. What are the different kinds of wars mentioned in the poem? What is Neruda’s attitude towards these wars?
Aswner. Green wars – cutting the trees, war with environment; war with gas—chemical or nuclear; war with fire, and war with ammunition. Every type of war is useless and must be given up. Whenever there is victory after a war, there are no survivors. War is only destructive.

Question. When everything seems dead, what remains alive?
Aswner. When everything seems to be dead, only the earth remains alive.

Question. What is ‘the fisherman’ symbolic of?
Aswner. The fisherman symbolises man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested interests.

Question. How can suspension of activities help?
Aswner. The poet believes that suspension of activities will allow men to introspect, which can help them by solving many of the problems based on caste, religion and nationality.

Question. According to the poet, what is that human beings can learn from nature?
Aswner. Life under apparent stillness in attitude is important. Just like nature carries on its work even when there is stillness all around, similarly stillness in attitude will help in retrospection.

Question. What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
Aswner. Counting upto twelve will give us time for introspection. It will also help us save the world from disasters and wars.

Question. ‘Life is what it is all about; . . .’ How is keeping quiet related to life?
Aswner. Keeping quiet helps people pursue their goals single-mindedly. They need to understand that silence is productive and stillness is progress.

Question. Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?
Aswner. The absence of hustle and bustle of life would create feeling of peace and quietness, which would make us united in our natural commitment. It will create a strange feeling of universal brotherhood.

Question. How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?
Aswner. Keeping quiet will stop man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested interests. In this moment of inactivity, fishermen will not harm the whales. Indirectly, he would also help himself (e.g. no green wars, no wars with gases, etc.).