PREVIOUS YEAR Questions
Extract Based Qs (6 marks)
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the
street, the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our
hands over our ears to understand better, and the teacher's great ruler rapping on the
table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk
without being seen; but, of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday
morning. Through the window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M.
Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had to open the
door and go in before everybody. You can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I
was.
(A) List any two sensory details present in this extract.
(B) Why does the protagonist feel anxious about entering the classroom on this
particular day?
(a) The classmates have started the lesson.
(b) The teacher is in a bad mood.
(c) The classroom is too quiet.
(d) The protagonist is running late.
(C) Complete the sentence appropriately.
The phrase "as quiet as Sunday morning" suggests that
(D) Pick an evidence from the extract that helps one infer that this was not the
protagonist's first time being late to school.
(E) What does the term 'terrible iron ruler' indicate about M. Hamel?
(F) Which of the following headlines best suggests the central idea of the extract?
(a) The Fears of a Latecomer
(b) The Importance of Punctuality
(c) The Rigidity of the School System
(d) The Anxiety of a Young Student
[CBSE SQP 2023]
Short Answer Type Qs (2 marks)
Answer the following questions, in about 40-50 words.
1. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in the school? (CBSE 2013)
1. Explain the inference that can be drawn from the line "Will they make them sing
in German, even the pigeons?" [CBSE 2024]
Long Answer Type Q (5 marks)
Answer the following question, in about 120-150 words.
1. Describe the atmosphere and mood in M. Hamel's last class.[CBSE 2015]
Extract Based Qs (6 marks)
1. Read the given extract and answer the following questions:
What a thunderclap these words were to me! Oh, the wretches; that was what they had
put up at the town-hall! My last French lesson! Why I hardly knew how to write! I should
never learn anymore! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my
lessons for seeking birds' eggs or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed
such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the
saints were old friends now that I couldn't give up. And [Link] too the idea that he
was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler
and how cranky he was.
(A) What was the writer's purpose in using the metaphor of a 'thunderclap'?
(B) Select the correct option from those given in brackets to fill in the blank.
The use of exclamatory marks in the first five sentences of the extract serves to express
the speaker's (hidden/ intense) emotions.
(C) Complete the following suitably. The activities of seeking birds' eggs and sliding on
the Saar reveal two things about Franz's character before his change in perspective.
First, his youthful carefree nature and second, his preference for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\
_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
(D) What is reflected through the shift in the speaker's perception of Mr. Hamel,
conveyed through his readiness to forget the ruler?
(E) Select the textual option that is closest to indicating a sense of panic.
(a) Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons....
(b) Why, I hardly knew how to write!
(c) Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall!
(d) And M. Hamel, too;
(F) What does the following line from the extract, showcase?
My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my
grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn't give up
(a) realisation
(b) confusion
(c) expectation
(d) affirmation
[CBSE SQP 2024]
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
My Last French Lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn any
more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for
seeking birds' eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a
nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints,
were old friends now that I couldn't give up and M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was
going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and
how cranky he was.
Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday
clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the
back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school
more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of
showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
(A) Choose the correct option. What is the tone of the speaker in the expression 'I
hardly knew how to write! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons'?
(a) confused
(b) regretful
(c) surprised
(d) happy
(B) Choose the correct option:
The speaker refers to 'seeking birds' eggs' and 'sliding on the Saar' as:
(a) part of his routine
(b) his daily routine
(c) source of distraction from learning
(d) fun time with friends
(C) What is reflected through the shift in the speaker's perception of his books through
his expression of calling them his 'old friends' rather than considering them as
'nuisance'?
(D) Select the correct option from those given in brackets to fill in the blank:
"It was because they were sorry too..."
They were sorry for ......(not following the government order / not learning their
language).
(E) What is inferred from the expression 'the country that was theirs no more'?
(F) What does M. Hamel's ruler reflect about his image?
[CBSE 2025]
Short Answer Type Qs (2 marks)
Answer the following questions, in about 40-50 words.
1. What does the contrasting imagery of the church clock and the Prussian
trumpets represent, in 'The Last Lesson'?
1. "You realise the true value of a thing only on losing it." Comment on this
statement in the light of the story, 'The Last Lesson'.
[CBSE SQP 2022]
1. 'A crisis brings out our true capacity for compassion and kindness'.
Support the above statement using M. Hamel from 'The Last Lesson' as an example.
State any one detail from the text.
[CBSE Practice Set-1 2023]
1. Deduce why the act of M. Hamel writing "Vive La France!", on the blackboard, is
considered symbolic. [CBSE Practice Set-2 2023]
Long Answer Type Q (5 marks)
Answer the following question, in about 120-150 words.
1. What does it mean when M. Hamel says: 'We've all a great deal to reproach
ourselves with'? [CBSE 2015]