LOST SPRING: PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Extract 1

“I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my

eyes. His dream is 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, welding glass, making bangles for all the
women in the land it seems.

i. How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers?

a) He wants to open his own bangle making company.

b) He wants to become a pilot.

c) He wants to open his own garage.

d) He wants to be his own master.

ii. The phrase “dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of
streets” indicates that Mukesh’s 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

iii. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in bangle making
indicates that

a) Bangle making is the only industry that flourishes in Firozabad.

b) The entire population of Firozabad is involved in making bangles.

c) Majority of population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making.

d) Bangle making is the most loved occupation in Firozabad.

iv. Why is the writer calling it as his 'dream'?

a) He cannot become a driver.

b) He will not be allowed to go as per his wish and work else were.

c) His parent will not allow him to work elsewhere.

d) He is lazy and dreaming.

Extract 2

Their fathers are as tired as they are. They talk endlessly in a spiral
that moves from poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice.
Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds— one of the family,
caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste in
which they are born; the other a vicious circle of the sahukars, the
middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats
and the politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage on
the child that he cannot put down. Before he is aware, he accepts it
as naturally as his father. To do anything else would mean to dare.
And daring is not part of his growing up.

i. “Their Fathers are as tired as they are” which figure of speech is

used in this statement

a) Metaphor
b) Simile

c) Alliteration

d) Repetition

ii. What does the term “Apathy” imply?

A. A state without emotions

B. A state without enthusiasm

C. A state without zeal

D. A state with zest

a) Both A & C b) A, B, C

c) A, B, D d) Both A & B

iii. Why doesn’t any bangle makers dare to speak against the
bureaucrats?

a) For they don’t want to waste their time.

b) For daring is not the part for growing up.

c) For they are illiterate and backward.

d) For they don’t have enough time and money.

iv. Why is the narrator asking them to organize in a cooperative?

a) For a better income and better life.

b) For fixing them in a vicious circle.

c) For upgrading themselves in a foreign society.

d) For making govt profit.

Extract 3

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 made 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 their elders.

i. “She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime”
Which of the following describes narrator’s emotions accurately?

a) Shock and awe

b) Nuisance and harassment

c) Despondency and woe

d) Contentment and despondency

ii. “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.

iii. Choose the term which best matches the statement, “the young
men echo the lament of their elders”

a) Acceptance

b) Reflections

c) Reiteration

d) Doubtfulness

iv. From the above extract, author has an attitude of

a) Sympathy

b) Apathy

c) Empathy

d) Bewilderment

STAND ALONE MCQs

1 What forces the children to live a life of exploitation?

A) greed

B) Extreme Poverty

C) peers

D) parents

2 According to the author what was garbage for the parents?

A) Means of entertainment

B) Means of joy
C) Means of sorrow

D) Means of survival

3 According to the author what was garbage for the children?

A) Means of entertainment

B) Means of time pass

C) Means of playing

D) a wonder

4 Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall?

A) Yes

B) Yes, he earns money

C) No earning

D) No, earning but no freedom

5 What is the meaning of Saheb E Alam?

A) Owner

B) Rich man

C) Poor man

D) Lord of the Universe

6 What do the boys appear like to the author in the story?

A) Morning crows

B) Evening crows

C) Morning birds
D) Evening Birds

7 What are the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?

A) Poor health

B) impaired vision

C) Miserable life

D) All of these

8 How is Mukesh's attitude different from that of his family?

A) being daring, firm and clear

B) being a fighter

C) being a coward

D) not clear

QUESTIONS BASED ON ASSERTION & REASON

1. Statement: Saheb and his family migrated from Dhaka in
Bangladesh.

Reason: His home and fields had been destroyed by the storm, he
had to migrate.

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.

2 Assertion: Garbage to them is gold.

 Reason: They could find gold coins to enjoy life.

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.

3 Statement 1: Saheb was getting eight hundred rupees and meals

at the tea stall

Reason: Mukesh’s dream was to be a motor mechanic.

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.

4 Statement 1: One day, Saheb was seen by the author, watching

some young men playing soccer.

Statement 2: The colony of rag pickers is situated in Seetapuri.

A - Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

B - Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

C - A is true but R is false.

D - A is false but R is true.

E - Both A and R are false.