CBSE Class 12 English Lost Spring VBQs

Question. From this chapter, it is evident that the author has an attitude of
a) sympathy.
b) apathy.
c) empathy.
d) bewilderment.

Answer : A

Question. ‘That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city.’ Here ‘gold’ indicates
a) misfortune of circumstances.
b) ample wealth.
c) means of survival.
d) a sign of luxury.

Answer : C

Question. ‘But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world’. This suggests that
a) there is no dearth of promises which remain unfulfilled.
b) there is a scarcity of people promising things for betterment.
c) people make a lot of promises which are often fulfilled.
d) promises made, live up to the expectations of people.

Answer : A

Question. Choose the statement that is NOT TRUE about ragpickers in Seemapuri.
a) Children are equally involved in rag picking as their parents.
b) The ragpickers settle down in a place permanently.
c) Rag picking has accomplished itself as a skill and form of art.
d) Ragpickers live in unsteady shanties on the outskirts of Delhi.

Answer : C

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:

“I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, wielding glass,
making bangles for all the women in the land it seems. Mukesh’s family is among them. 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; 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. Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being rebuilt.

Question. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE with reference to the extract?
a) Children work in badly lit and poorly ventilated furnaces.
b) The children are unaware that it is forbidden by law to work in the furnaces.
c) Children toil in the furnaces for hours which affects their eyesight.
d) Firozabad has emerged as a nascent producer of bangles in the country.

Answer : D

Question. The simile ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets’ indicates that his dream was
a) a reality, yet seemed distant.
b) lost in the sea of dust.
c) illusory and indistinct.
d) hanging in the dusty air. 

Answer : C

Question. ‘I will learn to drive a car,’ he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence highlights Mukesh was
1. determined
2. fearless
3. hopeful
4. valiant
5. ambitious
6. stern
a) 1 & 5
b) 2 & 4
c) 2 & 5
d) 3 & 6

Answer : A

Question. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles indicates that 
a) bangle making is the only industry that flourishes in Firozabad.
b) the entire population of Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
c) majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
d) bangle making is the most loved occupation in Firozabad.

Answer : C

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:

She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya.” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime-that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have done is make a house for the family to live in.” Hearing him one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head!
The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of the elders. Little has moved with time, it seems in Firozabad, years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.

Question. Choose the term which best matches the statement ‘The young men echo the lament of their elders.’
a) acceptance
b) reflection
c) reiteration
d) doubtfulness

Answer : C

Question. ‘Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream’. This shows that
a) the bangle makers are exhausted yet they are enterprising and have dreams.
b) the drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot.
c) the daily grind has stolen the dreams of the bangle makers and made them dull.
d) the bangle makers have been working so hard that there’s no time to dream.

Answer : B

Question. ‘She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes.’ This implies that
a) she is married but has lost the charm in her eyes.
b) she is a married woman who has lost her grace and beauty.
c) though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness.
d) she is a married woman who has lost her eyesight.

Answer : C

Question. ‘He has a roof over his head!’ The tone of the author is
a) pessimistic.
b) empathetic.
c) sympathetic.
d) optimistic.

Answer : D

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall ? Explain.
Answer : Saheb was not happy working at the tea stall. There was fixed earning and food to suffice his hunger but he had lost his freedom. Earlier, working as a rag picker, his earning was meagre, but he had enjoyed his work as he was not accountable to anyone. Thus he was no longer his own master.

Question. What makes the city of Firozabad famous ?
Answer : Firozabad is famous for bangle making industry. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India's glass blowing industry where families have spent generation working around furnaces, welding, glass and making bangles for women.

Question. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps ? Where is he and where has he come from ?
Answer : Saheb scrounged and explored the garbage dumps in search of 'gold'. He along with thousands of other rag pickers resided at Seemapuri a slum on the periphery of Delhi. Along with his parents, he had migrated from Bangladesh as their house and fields were swept away by repeated storms.

Question. How was Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family ?
Answer : Mukesh was willing to come out from the vicious circle and lineage of glass makers. He listened to his tender heart to become a motor mechanic. He willingly took up the hardship to walk a long way to the garage to acquire his necessary training and skills. Thus he dared to fulfil his dream.

Question. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry ?
Answer : Workers in the glass bangle industry slogged their daylight hours working near hot furnaces in dingy cells having no proper lighting and proper ventilation. At times they lost their eyesight because of the dust emitted while polishing glass bangles. In Firozabad, children also labored in glass bangle industries where they fell prey to such hazardous working atmosphere.

Question. What trade does the family of Mukesh follow? Why does the writer feel that it’s difficult for Mukesh to break away from this tradition?
Answer : Engaged in bangle making for decades, it is difficult to break away from this trade. He belongs to the caste of bangle makers. His family is caught in the web of sahukars, the middlemen, policemen, politicians and bureaucrats, from which there is no escape.

Question. What does Saheb do for living? Why?
Answer : Saheb is a rag picker. His family has left the life of poverty behind in Dhaka to pursue their dream of finding a better life. The children like him have no access to Education and are forced into rag picking.

Question. Why did people migrate from the village in Dhaka to Delhi?
Answer : There were many storms that swept away their houses and fields. Their lands became barren and political turmoil at that time made the condition for these people to very difficult to live. So they migrated from the village in Dhaka to Delhi in the hope for better education, job opportunities and living conditions.

Question. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear ?
Answer : The author had seen children walking barefoot, in cities as well as on village roads. It was a tradition to stay barefoot, as they felt their tattered attire and barefoot emphasized their permanent state of poverty and traced an ancient tradition preserved by the poor rag pickers.

Question. What does garbage symbolize for the adults and children?
Answer : 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. “Saheb is no longer his own master”, says the writer. What does she mean?
Answer : The writer means that having accepted the job at the tea-stall, Saheb has lost the independence that he has enjoyed as a rag picker despite being poor. Although he will now be able to supplement the family income, it will be at the cost of his freedom, which is difficult, binding and unfair for someone so young.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Question. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty ?
Answer : Anees Jung had rightly analyzed two distinct classes that operated in the town of Firozabad. The first comprised of families caught in the lineage of making bangles. They had never thought beyound their ancestral profession. They knew that their earning was meagre and it was difficult to meet both ends.
The second strata comprised of sahukars, bureaucrats, policemen and shrewd politicians who forced the children into child labor in hazardous environment of bangle making industry. Young as well as old were trapped into this vicious cycle. If they raised a voice against this ongoing system, they were hauled up by the police. They took it as a God given lineage that was never to be broken. This thought had killed the initiative in them. They never thought of forming a union. They had accepted it as their fate and never raised a voice to come out from the web of poverty and clutches of bureaucrats.

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 : We agree to the fact that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept. We organize different talk shows to eradicate child labor, yet India accounts for the maximum number of child workers in the world. Child labour inflicts physical and mental harm to the children. In the lesson 'Lost Spring', the author presented a clear picture of children employed in rag-picking and bangle making industry. She saw the plight of rag pickers and asked Saheb whether he would go to a school if she opened one in the neighbourhood. Later she felt embarrassed for making a promise to a child that was never meant to be fulfilled. Rag pickers of Seemapuri and child labourers of Firozabad had never been to school. They were the soft and easy target of exploitation of the sahukars, middlemen, policeman and the politiciAnswer : They were lured into that profession killing all their initiative, drive and ability to dream in life.

Question. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangle industry.
Answer : Working in the glass bangle industry is quite hazardous. Workers spend long hours near the glass furnaces operating under high temperature. They slog their daylight hours working in dingy cells having neither proper lighting nor ventilation. Their eyes become more adjusted to the darkness prevailing inside their workshop than the light and open air outside. Many a times they lose their eyesight because of the dust emitted while polishing glass bangles. Even though child labor is banned by law, children of tender age are mostly employed in this hazardous profession. They sit in dark hutment along with their parents or elders giving shape to pieces of coloured glass to beautiful round bangles. Working in such uncouth conditions make them more prone to accidents and also kill their initiative to pursue their dream and break the shackles to come out from the linage.

Question. How in your opinion, can Mukesh realize his dream?
Answer : Mukesh belonged to a family of bangle makers who followed their ancestral profession and believed it as a God given lineage and accepted the poverty, misery and exploitation connected with it as a part of their fate. He dared to listen to his . tender heart and chose the profession of his choice. He was willing to come out from the vicious circle and lineage of glass makers. He did not let poverty kill his dreams. He dreamt to become a motor mechanic and wanted to join a garage as an apprentice. He was willing to walk a long way to the garage and dreamt to obtain the license to drive a car so he could possibly take up a job as a mechanic or a driver. In this way, he dared to realize and fulfill his dream.

Question. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities.
Answer : With the passage of time, more and more people are migrating from villages to cities. The pressure on the village has increased due to over-population, illiteracy and unemployment. Moreover, with the advent of mechanized farming, landless labourers arc compelled to migrate to cities for job. In earlier days, agriculture was their main profession, but with extensive industrialization and advanced education, the youth migrate to cities in search of job and education. They do not want to stay in unhealthy and unhygienic rural surroundings. The village crafts also have been replaced with modern machines. The market is full of competition, quality and economical, goods. The villagers fail to compete with the new system of extensive industrialization and hence they fail to sell their products. Most of the time they get indebted due to agricultural loans and end up losing their lands and properties. Lastly, due to urbanization, the villagers migrate to cities to have a modern lifestyle for themselves.

Question. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Answer : Employment of child labour is an offense. It is banned under law. Yet it goes on unabated in many cities and towns. It is hazardous in nature. It inflicts physical and mental harm which they are neither able to understand nor express. Many a times, they lose or damage their vital organs while working. They lose their innocence before they become adults. Slogging day and night kills all their initiative, drive and desire to dream in life. They are even deprived of the school education and proper growth. Employing children in perilous industries manufacturing fireworks, bangle and carpet industry is life threatening. If any accident or disaster occurs, these children are totally unaware to protect themselves.
The only possible solution with the government and the society lies in punishing the exploiters ruthlessly. The laws against child labor should become more strict and implemented in totality. Only exemplary punishment can put an end to such a crime.

Extract Based Question :

"Why do you do this?" I ask Saheb whom I encounter every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my neighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That's why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.

Question. Saheb's home, before Delhi, was in
(A) Bengal
(B) Orissa
(C) Dhaka
(D) Bihar

Answer : C

Question. Why did Saheb and his family move to Delhi?
(A) because storms had swept away their fields and homes
(B) their village was flooded
(C) there were landslides
(D) there was a deadly epidemic in the village

Answer : A

Question. 'Why do you do this?' This question was asked by the author to
(A) the bangle sellers
(B) Mahesh
(C) Saheb
(D) Saheb's mother

Answer : C

Question. Saheb's profession was that of a
(A) cook
(B) rag-picker
(C) bangle seller
(D) driver

Answer : B