SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (2-MARKS)
1. Hassan’s Attendance Problem
1. During which days would Hassan show up in the class?
Ans: During the exam days, Hassan would show up in the class. He would ask the teacher to condone the shortage of lectures.
2. What made Hassan feel optimistic when he left the narrator’s office?
Ans: Hassan felt optimistic as the narrator told him that he could change his faults and his habits if he wanted.
3. How did Hassan study when he was in his college?
Ans: Hassan was an irregular student. He often missed his classes and asked the teacher to condone the shortage of his lectures. He would study only important questions and pass the exams.
4. Why was Hassan not noticed by the teacher in the class?
Ans: The teacher did not notice Hassan in the class because he was an irregular student and was hardly ever present.
5. Which profession did Hassan adopt after completing his education?
Ans: Hassan started selling software which was useful in teaching Maths, Physics and Chemistry. It was of help to both teachers and students.
6. What had the narrator expected Hassan to become in his life?
Ans: The narrator had expected Hassan would do well in life as he was a bright student.
7. Why was Hassan’s mother’s plea to his father?
Ans: Hassan’s mother told his father that he should talk to him firmly. She also told him that it was difficult to control the boys and that he should talk to him man to man.
8. According to Hassan, who were nerds?
Ans: According to Hassan hard workers were nerds. He used to make fun of them.
9. What was the narrator’s profession?
Ans: The narrator was a teacher. She was teaching Computer Science to students studying for MCA at a college in Bangalore.
10. Why did Hassan start living separately?
Ans: When Hassan became very quarrelsome, his father got fed up of his ways and told him to live separately.
11. Why did parents-teacher meeting end fruitlessly?
Ans: The meeting ended fruitlessly because they could not decide how to correct Hassan.
12. Why were Hassan’s parents called to school?
Ans: Hassan’s parents were called to school because of his irregularity. The teacher got tired of his stories and excuses.
13. Describe the physical appearance of Hassan when he met his teacher after several years?
Ans: When Hassan met his teacher after several years, he was a man of 35 years, fat with bald head and not smartly dressed.
2. The March King
1. How was Philip a success as the leader of the Marine Band?
Ans: Philip served as a Band leader for five US Presidents. He composed more than hundred marches. The Washington Post March was the most famous of all. It made him a successful band leader known as the March King.
2. Why couldn’t Philip work at the bakery?
Ans: The bakery work was boring and tiring. He had to go to school too. Being a child, he could not pursue this tough routine.
3. Why did Philip get into trouble on the day of the concert?
Ans: Philip was playing baseball on the day of the concert and he could not get ready in time.
4. How was Philip lured to work in a circus?
Ans: The stranger gave a colourful description of the circus work. He told Philip that he would get money and fame with it. Philip was allured to join the circus.
5. What made the concert a flop show for Philip?
Ans: The pins used to fix the shirt dropped and the shirt fell down from his neck. All started laughing at Philip. He was perplexed and forgot what he was playing. Then he left the stage abruptly.
6. What did Philip want to become when he was a child?
Ans. Philip was very impressed by his father when he saw him marching along the Marine Band. It was then that he decided to be a musician.
7. Why did Philip learn violin quickly?
Ans. Philip was talented as well as eager to learn. Thus, he learnt the violin quickly.
8. Why did Philip’s father take him for a walk?
Ans. Philip's father took him for a walk to talk to him and convince him to join Marine Band.
9. How did Philip manage to get a clean dress?
Ans. Mrs. Esputa helped him in getting the clean dress. She gave him a white shirt of Mr. Esputa. It was too big and she got it fitted with pins.
10. Which job did Philip take up after he quarreled with Mr.Esputa?
Ans. When Philip quarreled with his music teacher, he convinced his father that he no longer wanted to learn music and instead wanted to be a baker. His father sent him to a bakery nearby to learn.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS PSEB CLASS 12 SUBJECT ENGLISH (2-MARKS)
3. Thinking Out of the Box: Lateral Thinking
1. What trick did the money–lender cunningly play to win the game?
Ans. The money-lender picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.
2. Why was the loan officer amazed to know that Thomas had borrowed a loan for $5000?
Ans. The loan officer was amazed to know that Thomas had borrowed a loan for $5000 because Thomas was one of the richest men of America.
3. What was Edward de Bono’s notion about ‘lateral thinking’?
Ans. Edward de Bono’s notion about ‘lateral thinking’ was that ‘Lateral Thinking’ is a skill which helps us to use our potential well.
4. What would have happened if the girl had selected a black pebble in the ‘pebble-game’?
Ans. If the girl had selected a black pebble, she would have become the money-lender’s wife and her father’s debt would have been written off.
5. Why did the millionaire not reveal the fact of his affluence to the bank officials?
Ans. The millionaire did not reveal it to get the services of an underground bank garage at a cheap price and safety for his car.
6. What do you understand by the term ‘lateral thinking’ after reading the chapter?
Ans. Lateral Thinking means thinking differently and being creative. It is doing something that might be quite novel and unconventional in nature.
7. What was the proposal given to the poor farmer by the money-lender?
Ans. The proposal was that the money-lender would write off the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter.
8. How did the girl intelligently win?
Ans. The girl left a black pebble in the bag and changed the impossible situation, into an advantageous one.
9. What was the millionaire’s trick in borrowing the loan?
Ans. The millionaire’s trick in borrowing the loan was that he got the best safety for his very expensive Ferrari at a cheap rate.
4. On Saying Please
1. How could the liftman have avoided the trouble?
Ans. The liftman could have embarrassed that man by being extra polite and witty. That way his revenge would have been sweeter.
2. What were the good qualities of the conductor?
Ans. The conductor was polite, courteous, helpful, kind and amicable gentleman. With old people he was as considerate as a son, and with children as solicitous as a father.
3. Why was the passenger hurled out of the lift?
Ans. The passenger was hurled out by the lift man for not saying ‘please’.
4. What is the first requirement of ‘civility’?
Ans. The first requirement of civility is that we should acknowledge a service. “Please” and “Thank you” are the small change with which we pave our way as social beings.
5. What serves as little courtesies in our daily life?
Ans. Saying "Please" and "Thank you" are the little courtesies of life by which we keep the machine of life oiled and running sweetly.
6. Describe the ‘glow of pleasure’ that the narrator experienced.
Ans. The polite conductor helped the narrator in need. This gave him a 'glow of pleasure’.
7. Why was the narrator annoyed at himself in the bus?
Ans. He was annoyed because he had left his home without money and looked like a fool at the best, and like a knave at the worst.
8. How could the liftman restore his equilibrium?
Ans. The lift-man restored his equilibrium with the relief of throwing the passenger out of the lift.
9. What does a conductor in the bus generally think about the passengers?
Ans. A conductor in the bus generally considers the passengers as his natural enemies, who are there to cheat him, and who can only be kept honest by a loud voice and an aggressive manner.
5. The Story of My Life
1. What did the narrator learn at the well-house?
Ans. She attained consciousness and learnt the mystery of language as the cool water flowed over her hands.
2. Why did the narrator dash the doll upon the floor?
Ans. The narrator did so because she was annoyed with her teacher. She was unable to understand the difference between the mug and the water.
3. What was the wordless cry of the narrator’s soul?
Ans. ”Light, give me light!” was the wordless cry of the narrator’s soul.
4. Who had sent the doll for the narrator?
Ans. The blind children from Perkins Institution had sent the doll.
5. Who was Anne Mansfield Sullivan?
Ans. Anne Mansfield Sullivan was Helen Keller’s teacher. She taught Helen Keller with such love and affection that she felt a huge contrast between her life before she met her teacher and after she met her.
6. What made the narrator repent and feel sorrowful?
Ans. Helen dashed the doll on the floor in frustration. She realized what she had done, and for the first time she felt repentance and sorrow.
7. How did the narrator learn to spell the words?
Ans. The narrator learnt to spell the words by learning finger-play.
8. What was the narrator doing while sitting on the steps?
Ans. She was waiting anxiously because from her mother’s movements she could guess that something unusual was about to happen.
9. List the few words that the narrator’s teacher made her learn?
Ans. The words were pin, hat, cup, and some verbs like sit, stand and walk.
10. What was something unusual happening at the narrator’s home?
Ans. Helen's teacher was expected to come and the preparations for her welcome were in progress.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (2-MARKS)
6. Two Gentlemen of Verona
1. Why did the two boys work endlessly?
Ans. They worked very hard to pay for the treatment of their sister suffering from tuberculosis of the spine.
2. What made the narrator follow the boys?
Ans. The narrator followed the boys Nicola and Jacopo to see whom they were visiting. He was eager to know all about them as he found them very sincere.
3. What were the jobs that the two boys undertook?
Ans. They polished shoes, sold fruit, hawked newspapers, conducted tourists round the town and carried messages.
4. Why was the narrator deeply moved?
Ans. He was deeply moved by the two boys' devotion to their sick sister. He thought that their selfless action brought a new nobility to human life.
5. What did Lucia aspire to be?
Ans. Lucia’s father was a well-known singer who died in the war. She had always known cultured life and aspired to be a singer.
6. Where did the narrator drive the two boys to?
Ans. He drove them to a village beyond Poleta to enable them to see their sister in the hospital.
7. What made the two brothers and their sister orphans?
Ans. They were the children of a widower, who died in the war and it made them orphans.
8. Who was the woman at the village?
Ans. She was a pleasant-looking trained nurse looking after Lucia. She was eager to share the story of the boys and their sister with the narrator.
9. What is the message conveyed by the two boys in the story?
Ans. The message conveyed by the two boys is that whatever may be the circumstances we must be positive. We must work sincerely and care for our loved ones.
10. Describe the physical appearance of both the boys.
Ans. The two brothers were little figures with their brown skins, tangled hair and earnest eyes; Jocopo was lively as a squirrel and Nicola had an attractive smile.
11. How were the two boys useful for the narrator and his friend in many ways?
Ans. They were useful in getting them American chocolates, booking seats for the opera or informing about a good restaurant etc.
7. In Celebration of Being Alive
1. What was Dr. Barnard's father's attitude towards life?
Ans. He believed that God tests man through suffering which ennobles him and makes him a better person.
2. Why couldn't Barnard's brother survive?
Ans. Bernard’s brother was born with an abnormal heart. He could not survive because proper surgical treatment was not available to him.
3. According to Dr. Barnard what is the business of living?
Ans. The business of living is joy in the real sense of the world, not just something for pleasure, amusement and recreation.
4. What made the driver and the mechanic choose their roles?
Ans. They chose their roles because the mechanic was totally blind and the driver had only one arm.
5. Why does Dr. Barnard consider the sufferings of the children heart-breaking?
Ans. He considers them heart-breaking because they have total faith in the ability of doctors and nurses.
6. What do the people with brave and positive attitude teach us?
Ans. They teach us to move forward in life and not to cry and weep. We should enjoy whatever we have and not feel sad for what we don’t have.
7. In which incident were Barnard's gloomy thoughts rooted?
Ans. They were rooted in an accident in which he and his wife got involved and then hospitalized.
8. What introduced Dr. Barnard to the sufferings of the children?
Ans. He came to know about the sufferings of children when his father told him about his brother who was with an abnormal heart.
8. Ghadri Babas in Kalapani Jail
1. Why was Jyotish Chandra Pal removed to a mental hospital?
Ans. On a long hunger strike Jyotish Chandra Pal refused to relent and after a month he went totally mad.
2. What were the physical conditions of the cellular jail?
Ans. The Cellular jail in Port Blair was very dirty. Due to highly inclement weather, it was full of mosquitoes and blood-sucking leeches. The bad and inadequate food made the conditions worse.
3. What was the mantra of Ghadarites, right in the beginning of their conviction period?
Ans. Their mantra was not to suffer any insult without a determined retaliation.
4. Who were addressed as ‘demi-gods’ and why?
Ans. The warders, petty officers and Jamadars were called demi gods. They too, like the Jailor and the Superintendent, ill-treated the prisoners and made their lives miserable.
5. Who were the chief governing officials in the cellular jail?
Ans. Jailor David Barry, Superintendent Murray and the Chief Commissioner.
6. What was the mode of torturing brave fighters by the British government?
Ans. They were forced to work at the oil mill and whipped in public. They were also kept in dirty cells.
7. Why did jail authorities discontinue some of their practices of bad treatment?
Ans. The long hunger strikes forced the jail authorities to discontinue some of their practices of bad treatment.
8. What were the other two names for ‘cellular jail’?
Ans. ‘Kalapani’ and ‘The Devil’s Island’.
9. List a few key members of the Ghadar Party.
Ans. Some of the key members of the Ghadar Party were Lala Har Dayal, V.G. Pingley, Baba Nidhan Singh, Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna and Kartar Singh Sarabha.
10. How were the ‘convicts’ punished when they failed to work properly?
Ans. When the convicts failed to work properly, they were abused and given thirty whip lashes in public.
