CBSE QUESTION BANK CLASS XII MCQs ' LOST SPRING' Stories of Stolen Childhood by Anees Jung

 “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.

i 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.

ii ‘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

iii 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.

iv 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.

B 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 carrying 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.

i ‘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.

ii ‘He has a roof over his head!’ The tone of the author is

a) pessimistic.

b) empathetic.

c) sympathetic.

d) optimistic.

iii 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

iv ‘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.

Q 5 Stand Alone MCQs

i ‘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.

ii From this chapter, it is evident that the author has an attitude of

a) sympathy.

b) apathy.

c) empathy.

d) bewilderment.

iii ‘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.

iv 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.

ANSWERS

Q3

A. i – c); ii - a); iii – d); iv – c)

B i – c); ii – d); iii – c); iv – b)

Q5

 i – a); ii – a); iii – c); iv – c); v – b)