LOST SPRING

Reference to Context
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct
option.

1. 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.

(a) Who is 'his' here?

(i) Mukesh (ii) Saheb (iii) Father (iv) Author

(b) Where is he from?

(i) Dhaka (ii) Firozabad (iii) Delhi (iv) Seemapuri

(c) That's why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives." What is
'gold' referred to here?
(i) Ways of living (ii) Yellow precious metal (iii) Means of earing (iv)None of these

(d) Which word from the following means the same as 'tween'?
(i)Distant (ii)Amidst (iii)Field (iv)Swept

(e)What did his mother tell him?

(i) That they have to look or gold
(ii) That their home is in Dhaka
(iii)That there were many storms that swept away their fields and homes
(iv) None of these

(f) Where is Seemapuri situated?

(i)On the outskirts of Punjab (ii)On the outskirts of Delhi
(iii)On the outskirts of Firozabad (iv)On the outskirts of Dhaka

2. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow
up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.
Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.

(a) Who are they' here?

(i) Poor people (ii) Children (iii) Saheb and his family (iv) None of
these

(b) What does survival mean in Seemapuri?

(i) Begging (ii) Rag-picking (iii) Bangle-making (iv) Shoe polishing

(c) Children who grow up in transit homes become:

(i) partners in crime (ii) friends (iii) partners in survival (iv) none of these

(d) What has acquired the proportions of a fine art?

(i) Food search (ii) Begging (iii) Rag-picking (iv) None of these
(e) What is meant by transit homes'?
(i) Permanent homes (ii) Waterproof homes
(iii) Temporary homes (iv) None of these

(f) Which of the following sentence replicates the meaning of 'acquired' as it has been
used in the extract?
(i) He has acquired a reputation for dishonesty.
(ii) The business was acquired from Orion four years ago
(iii) She has acquired a good knowledge of English.
(iv) infectious disease can be acquired in several ways.

3, Saheb, too, is wearing tennis shoes that look strange over his discolored shirt and shorts,
"Someone gave them to me," he says in the manner of an explanation. The fact that they are
discarded shoes of some rich boy, who perhaps refused to wear them because of a hole in one
of them, does not bother him,

(a) What is Saheb wearing?

(i) Jacket (ii) Tennis shoes (iii) Pants (iv) None of these

(b) The shoes were discarded because:

(i) they were old (ii) hey were of different size
(iii) they had a hole in one of them (iv) both (i) and(ii)

(e) Which word from the following means the same as 'bustle'?
(i) Discoloured (ii) Discarded (iii) Bother (iv) Hole

(d) Whose shoes was Saheb wearing?

(i) Poor boy's (ii) Neighbour's (iii) Rich boy's (iv) Both(i) and(iii)

(e) Who is Saheb?

(i)A bangle-maker (ii) A motor mechanic (iii) A rag-picker (iv) An author

(f) What is the tone of the author in the above lines?

(i) Appreciation (ii) Sarcasm (iii) Regret (iv)Humour

4. Mukesh's eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being
rebuilt, We walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels
with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans and
animals coexisting in a primeval state. He stops at the door of one such house, bangs a
wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open.

(a) What does Mukesh volunteer for?

(i) Mukesh volunteers to participate in the competition,
(iii) Mukesh volunteers to take the author to his home,
(iii) Mukesh volunteers to drive a car.
(iv) None of these
(b) Where are they walking?
(i) They are walking in the park,
(ii) They are walking down the stinking lanes choked with garbage.
(iii) They are walking on the dirty terrace.
(iv) None of these

(c) Where does Mukesh stop?

(i) At his own house (ii) Near garbage (iii) In the park (iv) On the road

(d)Which word from the following is the antonym of 'balanced'?

(i) Hovels (ii) Crumbly (iii) Primeval (iv) Wobbly

(e) These bangle-makers live a_______________________ life.

(i) pathetic (ii) harmful (iii) hazardous (iv) all of these

(f)Which of the following sentence uses the word 'beam' in the same context as used in
the extract?
(i)I lifted the heavy wood beam that crossed their door, securing it.
(ii)He turned the beam around the yard and then shut the door.
(iii) He stepped through the doorway and turned the beam of light on her.
(iv)The bride's eyes seemed to beam with expectations of a wonderful future.

5.”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.

(a) The simile ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets' indicates that his
dream was:
(i) lost in the sea of dust. (ii) hanging in the dusty air.
(iii)a reality, yet seemed distant (iv) illusionary and indistinct

(b) "I will learn to drive a car,' he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence
highlights Mukesh was:
(1) Determined (2) Hopeful (3) Ambitious
(4) Fearless (5) Valiant (6) Stern

(i) (1) and (3) (ii) (2) and (5) (iii) (2) and (4) (iv) (3) and (6)
(c)Which of the following statement is NOT TRUE with reference to the extract?
(i) Children work in badly lit and poorly ventilated furnaces.
(ii) The children are unaware that it is forbidden by law to work in the furnaces.
(iii) Children toil in the furnaces for hours which affect their eyesight.
(iv) Firozabad has emerged as a nascent producer of bangles in the country,

(d) Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles indicates that:
(i)bangle-making is the only industry that flourishes in Firozabad
(ii)majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle-making,
(iii)the entire population of Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
(iv)bangle-making is the most loved occupation in Firozabad.

(e) Why is Mukesh considered different from other bangle makers?

(i) Becase he wants to be a slave (ii) Because he wants to be his own master
(iii) Because he wants to open his garage (iv) Because he wants to befriend the Sahukars

(f)"children out of 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," Which literary device has the author used in these
lines?

(i) Irony (ii) Symbolism (iii) Imagery (iv) Hyperbole

6. 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 life time 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 makes 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 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.

(a) She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes.' This implies that:
(i) she is married but has lost the charm in her eyes.
(ii) she is a married woman who has lost her grace and beauty.
(iii) though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness.
(iv) she is a married woman who has lost her eyesight.

(b) "He has a roof over his head!" The tone of the author is:
(i) pessimistic (ii) sympathetic (iii) empathetic (iv) optimistic

(c) Choose the term which best matches the statement; the young men echo the lament
of their elders.
(i) Acceptance (ii) Reiteration (iii) Reflection (iv)Doubtfulness
(d)Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream'. This
shows that:
(i) the bangle makers are exhausted yet they are enterprising and have dreams.
(ii) the drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot.
(iii) the daily grind has stolen the dreams of the bangle makers and made them dull.
(iv) the bangle makers have been working so hard that there's no time to dream.

(e) "Ek wagt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya." she says. Who is speaking this line?
(i) Elderly woman (ii) Mukesh's mother
(i) Both (i) and (ii) (iv) Neither (i) nor (ii)

(f) In which of the following sentence has the word’ initiative’ been used in the same
context as used in the extract?
(i) I wish my son would show more initiative.
(ii) He believed in giving his staff scope for initiative.
(iii) She knew she had to take the initiative and maintain an aggressive game throughout.
iv) By failing to get its products to the market on schedule, the workers seem to have lost the
initiative to move ahead.