CBSE Class 12 English Value Based Questions – Practice Test – 2

Question 1:
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow. (1 x 4 = 4)
‘When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid!

1. What does ‘terrified hands’ signify?
2. Explain the implication of ‘ringed’.
3. “Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid!” What is the poetic device used here? What is the effect?
4. Why has the poet referred to Aunt Jennifer only as ‘Aunt’ in the first line?

Or

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.
The paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes.

1. What does “Far far from gusty waves” mean?
2. ‘Why are the children compared to ‘rootless weeds’?
3. What words imply that the children were unhealthy?
4. What does the ‘paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes’ imply?

Answer:

1. They signify the terror Aunt Jennifer feels due to the ordeals and hardships she faced in her married life. They will not even go away after her death.
2. The word ‘ringed’ indicates the wedding ring on Aunt Jennifer’s finger, and the difficulties in her married life that will continue to surround her even after her death.
3. Here alliteration is used in ‘prancing, proud’. It heightens the sense of irony because the tigers are just opposite in character to Aunt Jennifer who has created them.
4. Aunt Jennifer allowed herself to become so subservient to her husband, that she lost her identity, her name. So the poet has referred to her only as ‘Aunt’.

Or

1. “Far far from gusty waves” means that instead of enjoying their childhood in the lap of nature, the children are confined to the dark and dingy slums.
2. The children are ill-fed and not looked after.
   Besides, they are unwanted like weeds in a garden; hence the comparison.
3. The use of words and phrases like ‘rootless weeds’, ‘the hair torn around their pallor’ and ‘paper-seeming boy’ implies that the children were unhealthy.
4. It suggests that a very sickly lean boy in the classroom has eyes like those of a rat that are always searching for food. The boy is undernourished.

Question 2:
Answer any four of the following questions.    (3 x 4 = 12)

1. What does Sophie mean when she says, “this was a Geoff thing not a Jansie thihg”?
2. What were the two observations that the daughter made about the peddler that the ironmaster had overlooked?
3. Why is ‘Shakespeare wicked’ and the ‘map a bad example’?
4. Inspite of strict vigilance, how did Evans’ friend manage to pass the material for disguise into the cell?
5. What idea do you form about the author’s friend Judewin from her comment about hair cutting, “We have to submit, because they are strong”?
6. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry in Firozabad in poverty?

Answer:

1. Sophie had made up the incident of her meeting Danny Casey in order to impress Geoff, who was a great fan of Casey. The news, she knew, would thrill and excite her lovable brother. Moreover, she felt that he would keep this information secret. But Geoff told it to Jansie’s brother Frank, who told it to Jansie. She did not want Jansie to know about it because she was a gossip monger who could never keep things to herself and soon this secret of hers would become the talk of the town,
2. Unlike her father, Edla was very observant. When she went to the ironworks to get the peddler home she noticed that the man was afraid. She felt he had either stolen something or had escaped from jail. She also noticed that there was nothing about his appearance to suggest that he had been an educated man.
3. Stephen Spender calls Shakespeare wicked because his literature raises false hopes and aspirations for these poor children in a slum school. The map is a bad example because it is exclusively for the rich and has no significance for the poor. Neither literary beauty nor scenic beauty enthrals them.
4. Despite all vigilance, Evans’ friend disguised as McLeery the invigilator, managed to smuggle the disguise material into the cell with ingenuity. He came wearing two parson’s dresses with black fronts and collars. Apart from it he also brought an extra pair of spectacles with ‘pebble lenses’. All this was passed on to Evans when Stephen’s vigilant eyes were away from the peephole.
5. On the face of it, Judewin’s comment reflects practical wisdom, because it is foolish to fight a losing battle; but if one reads deeper meaning into the line, one gets to understand that she is cowardly and spineless because she chooses to surrender without any fight.
6. The workers in the bangle industry in Firozabad are exploited by the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the lawmakers, the bureaucrats and the politicians. They are neither paid properly, nor allowed to form cooperatives for their betterment. Thus they are kept in poverty.

Question 3:
Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words.    (6)
With reference to the above statement and the story, ‘On the Face of it’, bring out the values of concern and compassion portrayed by Mr Lamb. Also emphasise the need to accept people for who they are and not how they look like.

Or

“Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.” How did Gandhiji manage to do this? Explain in the context of the chapter ‘Indigo’.
Answer:
Derek suffers more on account of the pain caused by how much others hate and ignore him because of his ugliness than from the pain actually caused by the acid. He suffers from an acute inferiority complex and a deep lack of self-regard which stems from people’s gross indifference, hatred and dislike for handicaps and deformities, and their utter lack of concern and compassion.
An individual may be quite different from what he or she appears to be at first glance. In contrast to Derek, Mr Lamb has accepted his disability and the very fact that he asks Derek to come and go whenever he liked because his house was always open, shows that Mr Lamb is compassionate to Derek and concerned about him so that he changes his thinking about his deformity.

Or

Self-reliance was a virtue which was of utmost importance to Gandhiji. He wanted to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free. During the Champaran episode, when the lawyers wanted to take the help and support of CF Andrews, an Englishman, Gandhiji was strongly opposed to the idea. He made the lawyers understand that as their cause was just, they should rely on themselves to win the battle. Gandhiji thus taugh them a lesson in self-reliance.
The success of the Champaran episode marked the triumph of civil disobedience in India, and also proved that the British authority could be challenged by the Indians. It was therefore a stepping stone to the beginning of India’s freedom movement. As Gandhiji’s main objective behind the launching of the Champaran movement was to bring justice to the sharecroppers, the three ideas i.e. self-reliance, Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all naturally bound together.

Question 4:
Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words.    (6)
Explain: “The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag.”

Or

In the story ‘Deep Water’, how does the author make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned? Describe the details that have been added to make the description vivid.
Answer:
When the writer saw Saheb one morning, she noticed that he was on his way to the milk booth. He was carrying a steel canister. He informed her that he had taken up employment in a tea stall down the road. The employer had offered him ₹ 800 and all his meals.
The writer noticed that Saheb’s face had lost the carefree look. Now, burdened with the responsibility of a job, he seemed fraught with the weight of the steel canistfer. It seemed far heavier than the plastic bag that he carried ‘lightly’ over his shoulder earlier, when he was unemployed. It was light because the bag was his. The canister belonged to the owner of the tea shop. Saheb was burdened as he was no longer the master of his own free will.

Or

The author has vividly mentioned each and every detail of his near-drewning experience, in order to make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned. Although panicky, the author had planned his strategy to come popping up like a cork and then paddling to the edge of the pool, thus saving himself. Unfortunately, his first attempt failed and terror seized him. He tried to grab a rope but his hands clutched only at water. He was suffocating and tried to yell, but no sound came out. His legs were paralysed, his lungs ached and his head throbbed. He was dizzy and trembled with fright. He tried to come out of water a third time, but in vain. He sucked for air, but got only water. Finally, he gave up, and fainted into oblivion.

Question 5:
Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words.    (6)
Is Silas’ equating Eppie with his lost gold justified? Give reasons for your answer.

Or

Who was Mrs Hall? What was her initial reaction when she saw/met the stranger?
Answer:
It was during one of Silas’ fits that Eppie toddled her way into his cottage and fell asleep near the fire. When Silas regained his senses and found the child by the hearth, her blond hair glowing in the firelight, he mistook her yellow curls to be his lost gold. Ever since he lost his money, Silas had a strange feeling that his money will one day return to him. No wonder he equated the child with his gold.
Even after realising the truth, he was unwilling to part with the child. His possessiveness for Eppie right from the beginning spoke of the strong bond ‘hat he will develop with the girl. The fact that Silas continued to equate Eppie with the gold indicated that she had effectively replaced his gold as the object of his affections. In fact, with Eppie, Silas realised that he had found something greater. His entire life changed, and life had a new meaning for him after he found Eppie. The child was like an angel guiding him from the darkness of loneliness into light and radiance.

Or

Mrs Hall was the owner of the ‘Coach and Horses Inn’ at Iping. The stranger arrived at the inn at a time of the year when no tourists visited the place. At such a time when the business was low, he was a welcome visitor, and Mrs Hall was happy to have him for a guest. Besides, he didn’t even argue over the rent. So, Mrs Hall gave him accommodation without giving much consideration about his identity. However, Mrs Hall was a little surprised at the appearance of the stranger. He was fully covered from head to toe, except for his pinkish bright nose. His head too was all bandaged up. His hair escaping through them gave him a very grotesque appearance. Mrs Hall was too shocked to speak. Mrs Hall found the stranger’s behaviour rather rude, as whenever she tried to start a conversation with him, she noticed that he didn’t like to talk much. However, she didn’t say anything, and put up with him quite calmly, as she didn’t want to lose the customer.

Question 6:
Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words.    (6)
Mrs Dolly Winthrop was a selfless and patient woman. Discuss.

Or

Why was Mr Cuss keenly interested in the stranger? Describe his meeting with the stranger.
Answer:
Dolly Winthrop was the wheelwright’s wife. She was ‘a woman of scrupulous conscience’ and was eager to fulfil her duties. She was quite patient by nature and was not at all quarrelsome. Besides, she had a mellow character, and was an example of the classical country woman. She was selfless and was always offering comfort and advice when most needed.
She, in fact, epitomised comfort, devotion and joy. She thus represented the best of Raveloe, the community spirit and real interest and concern for others. Dolly’s efforts to comfort Silas after he has lost his gold are also quite noteworthy. She not only gets her famous lard cakes for Silas, but also offers some sound advice to the bereaved and troubled soul.

Or

Mr Cuss, the medical practitioner at the village of Iping, was a curious cat by nature. He was particularly interested in the stranger, as the latter’s bandages excited his professional interest. Besides, the news of the stranger possessing thousand and one bottles aroused his jealously. Mrs Hall told everybody that he was an experimental investigator.
Mr Cuss was, therefore devoured by curiosity regarding the stranger. He used the excuse of a subscription list to meet the stranger. When he finally presented himself in the stranger’s company, Mrs Hall heard murmurs of voices followed by a cry of surprise, a stirring of feet, a chair flung aside, a bark of laughter, and finally quick steps to the door. Soon, she saw Mr Cuss appear out of the door white faced and eyes bulging. He left the door open behind him and ran down and out of the house.

NCERT English for Class 12 Solutions