CBSE Class 10 English The Sermon at Benares MCQs

Question :  He who seeks peace should draw out the arrow of lamentation and complaint and grief.
He who has drawn out the arrow and has become composed will obtain peace of mind;
He who has overcome all sorrow will become free from sorrow and be blessed.

(A) The speaker of these lines is _____________.
(a) Sant Kabirdas
(b) Gautama Buddha
(c) Lord Mahavira
(d) Sant Surdas

Answer : B 

(B) He who seeks ____________ should draw out the arrow of lamentation, complaint and grief.
(a) solitude
(b) knowledge
(c) worldly pleasures
(d) peace

Answer : D

(C) He who has overcome all sorrows will become free from sorrows and be ____________.
(a) blessed
(b) rewarded
(c) awarded
(d) protected

Answer : A

(D) What does ‘lamentation’ mean?
(a) weeping
(b) repenting
(c) feeling sorry
(d) analysing

Answer : A 

Question :  The Buddha said : ‘‘The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching at certain age, there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death. 

(A) One whose life is troubled, brief and combined with pain ?
(a) immortal
(b) plants
(c) rocks
(d) mortal

Answer : D

(B) Which fruit fears falling down ?
(a) ripe
(b) unripe
(c) semi-ripe
(d) completely unripe

Answer : A 

(C) Find the word from the passage that means ‘living beings who have to die’.
(a) troubled
(b) enlightenment
(c) mortals
(d) scriptures

Answer : C

(D) What is natural ?
(a) death
(b) life
(c) living style
(d) nature

Answer : A

Question : At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the prince heretofore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while going out on hunting, chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

(A) At what age Gautam was sent away for schooling ?
(a) thirteen
(b) twelve
(c) eleven
(d) fourteen

Answer : B 

(B) For how many years he lived in befitted royalty ?
(a) 5 years
(b) 15 years
(c) 10 years
(d) 12 years

Answer : C

(C) Who was begging for alms ?
(a) a beggar
(b) an old lady
(c) a monk
(d) a poor child

Answer : C

(D) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘holy’.
(a) sacred
(b) befitted
(c) shielded
(d) royalty

Answer : A

Question : By no means death can be avoided by those:
(a) that have been born
(b) that have never born
(c) that have courage
(d) that have ambition

Answer : A

Question : Where did he vow to stay until his enlightenment came?
(a) his palace
(b) under peepal tree
(c) under banyan tree
(d) under a tree

Answer : B

Question : When was Budhha sent for Schooling?
(a) At the age of eight
(b) At the age of ten
(c) At the age of twelve
(d) At the age of fourteen

Answer : C

Question : Where was Budhha born?
(a) South India
(b) North India
(c) West part of India
(d) None of the Above

Answer : B

Question : Both young and adults, fools and wise fall into the power of _____
(a) life
(b) death
(c) food
(d) all of the above

Answer : B

Question : Kisa Gotami felt tired and:
(a) bored
(b) depressed
(c) delighted
(d) devoid of hope

Answer : D

Question : Why was Kisa Gotami sad?
(a) her only son had died.
(b) her all property was snatched.
(c) she was beaten up.
(d) None of the Above

Answer : A

Question : What was Gautama Buddha’s early name?
(a) Sidhha
(b) Sadhu
(c) Siddhartha
(d) Sidhanth

Answer : C

Question : She asked the villagers ¡f they had:
(a) lost a loved one in their family
(b) some rice for her
(c) worshipped Buddha
(d) lost their pet

Answer : A

Question : In which city did Buddha deliver his first sermon?
(a) Patna
(b) Benaras
(c) Lumbini
(d) Gaya

Answer : B

Question : By no means death can be avoided by those:
(a) that have been born
(b) that have never born
(c) that have courage
(d) that have ambition

Answer : A

Question : According to Buddha, what is an inscrutable kind of suffering?
(a) loss of a loved one
(b) beating
(c) hatred
(d) verbal abuse

Answer : A

Question : What did Kisa Gotami learn in the end?
(a) Love is common
(b) Death is common
(c) War is common
(d) None of the Above

Answer : B

Question :  Buddha gave the name the tree as:
(a) Bo tree
(b) Go tree
(c) No tree
(d) To tree

Answer : A

Question : What did he name the tree?
(a) Bodhi tree
(b) Buddha tree
(c) Gautama tree
(d) Siddhartha tree

Answer : A

Question : What did the flickering lights made her realise?
(a) she is being selfish
(b) death is common to all
(c) men are mortals
(d) all of the above

Answer : D

Question : What does Kisa search for from house to house in the first place?
(a) mustard seed
(b) a medicine to bring her son back to life
(c) pumpkin seeds
(d) None of the above

Answer : B

Question : He got enlightenment after how many days?
(a) 10
(b) 15
(c) 7
(d) 1

Answer : C

Question . The mortals are always In danger of:
(a) birth
(b) death
(c) sickness
(d) rudeness

Answer : B

Question : For how many years did he wander?
(a) 7
(b) 8
(c) 9
(d) 6

Answer : A

Question :  Which seed did Buddha ask Kisa to bring?
(a) Pumpkin seeds
(b) Mustard seeds
(c) Sunflower seeds
(d) Seesame seeds

Answer : B

Question : Who is free from sorrow?
(a) who overcomes sorrow
(b) who does not see sorrow
(c) who remains happy
(d) who gives sorrow to others

Answer : A

Question : Where did Budhha sit?
(a) Peepal Tree
(b) Fig Tree
(c) Mango Tree
(d) Deodar cedar

Answer : B

Question : What quantity of Mustard seeds did Buddha ask for?
(a) a sackful
(b) a handful
(c) a pinch
(d) a cup

Answer : C

Question : Buddha gave this sermon to:
(a) Ananda
(b) Kisa Gotami
(c) author
(d) a crowd

Answer : B

Question : According to Buddha, what is an inscrutable kind of suffering?
(a) loss of a loved one
(b) beating
(c) hatred
(d) verbal abuse

Answer : A

Question : What is the world afflicted with?
(a) Love
(b) Diseases
(c) Death and decay
(d) None of the Above

Answer : C

Question : Where did Budhha sit?
(a) Peepal Tree
(b) Fig Tree
(c) Mango Tree
(d) Deodar cedar

Answer : B

INTRODUCTION—

‘The Sermon at Benares’ is a chapter written by Betty Renshaw. The chapter covers the journey of Gautam Buddha from princehood to his saintly life. After seeing the suffering of the world, he decided to give up all worldly pleasures and sought enlightenment. He finally attained salvation under a tree at Bodhgaya.

SUMMARY—

Gautam Buddha (563 B.C to 483 B.C) was a prince. His parents had named him Siddhartha Gautama.
He had been shielded from the sufferings of the world. At the age of twenty five he saw a sick man, an aged man and a dead man. He also saw an ascetic begging for alms. Unable to understand that, he went in search of spiritual knowledge.
After wandering for seven years, he sat under a Peepal tree and vowed that he would stay there until he got enlightenment. He got that after a week and named the tree as ‘Tree of Wisdom’. He himself came to be known as Buddha.
He gave his first sermon at Benares. This sermon contained ten important points. These points were conveyed through the story about Kisa Gotami whose only son had died. She went to people asking medicine for him. At last a man told her to go to Buddha, the Sakyamuni.
Buddha told her that he would cure her son if she brought some mustard seeds from a house where no death had taken place. Kisa went from house to house but was unable to find one where no death had been seen.
She finally realised that death was common to all and no one could avoid dying. No one can save their relatives. People weep over their dead ones. It is only the wise who do not grieve as they have accepted the truth.
If a person weeps, his sufferings only become greater. Those who do not grieve have peace of mind and will overcome sorrow.

Extract Based Questions

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

He who seeks peace should draw out the arrow of lamentation and complaint and grief.
He who has drawn out the arrow and has become composed will obtain peace of mind;
He who has overcome all sorrow will become free from sorrow and be blessed.

(a) The speaker of these lines is _____________.
(a) Sant Kabirdas
(b) Gautama Buddha
(c) Lord Mahavira
(d) Sant Surdas

Answer : B

(b) He who seeks ____________ should draw out the arrow of lamentation, complaint and grief.
(a) solitude
(b) knowledge
(c) worldly pleasures
(d) peace

Answer : D

(c) He who has overcome all sorrows will become free from sorrows and be ____________.
(a) blessed
(b) rewarded
(c) awarded
(d) protected

Answer : A

(d) What does ‘lamentation’ mean?
(a) weeping
(b) repenting
(c) feeling sorry
(d) analysing

Answer : A

At about the age of twenty five, the Prince, thereof shielded from the sufferings of the world, while hunting out glanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms.
These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

(a) What was the age of Gautama Buddha when he had thereof shielded himself from the sufferings of the world ?
(a) twenty two
(b) twenty four
(c) twenty eight
(d) twenty five

Answer : D

(b) The Prince was ___________ by the effect of sights.
(a) moved
(b) carried away
(c) not moved
(d) not disturbed

Answer : A

(c) The Prince left the palace in search of
(a) freedom
(b) treasure
(c) knowledge
(d) enlightenment

Answer : D

(d) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘looked at’.
(a) shielded
(b) glanced
(c) procession
(d) enlightenment

Answer : B

At twelve, he was sent away for schooling in the Hindu sacred scriptures and years later he returned home to marry a princess. They had a son and lived for ten years as befitted royalty. At about the age of twenty-five, the prince heretofore shielded from the sufferings of the world, while going out on hunting, chanced upon a sick man, then an aged man, then a funeral procession, and finally a monk begging for alms. These sights so moved him that he at once became a beggar and went out into the world to seek enlightenment concerning the sorrows he had witnessed.

(a) At what age Gautam was sent away for schooling ?
(a) thirteen
(b) twelve
(c) eleven
(d) fourteen

Answer : B

(b) For how many years he lived in befitted royalty ?
(a) 5 years
(b) 15 years
(c) 10 years
(d) 12 years

Answer : C

(c) Who was begging for alms ?
(a) a beggar
(b) an old lady
(c) a monk
(d) a poor child

Answer : C

(d) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘holy’.
(a) sacred
(b) befitted
(c) shielded
(d) royalty

Answer : A

The Buddha answered : ‘‘I want a handful of mustard seeds.’’ And when the girl in her joy promised to procure it, then Buddha added : The mustard-seed must be taken from a house where no one has lost a child, husband, parent or friend.’’

(a) Who is ‘I’ in the passage ?
(a) Kisa Gotami
(b) A monk
(c) Gotam’s son
(d) Buddha

Answer : D

(b) Buddha asked the girl for a handful of ___________ seeds.
(a) wheat
(b) rice
(c) mustard
(d) maize

Answer : C

(c) Find the word from the passage which means the same as ‘Obtain’.
(a) get it
(b) procure
(c) ordered
(d) found

Answer : B

(d) Whom did Buddha asked for a handful of mustard seeds ?
(a) girl
(b) man
(c) boy
(d) child

Answer : A

The Buddha said : ‘‘The life of mortals in this world is troubled and brief and combined with pain. For there is not any means by which those that have been born can avoid dying; after reaching at certain age, there is death; of such a nature are living beings. As ripe fruits are early in danger of falling, so mortals when born are always in danger of death.

(a) One whose life is troubled, brief and combined with pain ?
(a) immortal
(b) plants
(c) rocks
(d) mortal

Answer : D

(b) Which fruit fears falling down ?
(a) ripe
(b) unripe
(c) semi-ripe
(d) completely unripe

Answer : A

(c) Find the word from the passage that means ‘living beings who have to die’.
(a) troubled
(b) enlightenment
(c) mortals
(d) scriptures

Answer : C

(d) What is natural ?
(a) death
(b) life
(c) living style
(d) nature

Answer : A

Mark ! while relatives are looking on and lamenting deeply, one by one mortals are carried off, like an ox that is led to the slaughter. So the world is afflicted with death and decay, therefore the wise do not grieve, knowing the terms of the world.

(a) Who are carried off one by one ?
(a) Rocks
(b) Mortals
(c) Immortals
(d) Stones

Answer : B

(b) Who have accepted the truth that death is common to all ?
(a) The wise
(b) The foolish
(c) The literates
(d) The illiterates

Answer : A

(c) The ___________ is afflicted with death and decay.
(a) universe
(b) city
(c) earth
(d) world

Answer : D

(d) Find the word from the passage that means ‘expressing sorrow’.
(a) lamenting
(b) slaughter
(c) afflicted
(d) decay

Answer : A