CBSE Class 12 English An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Worksheet

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

1. You may have read about Romulus and Remus whose culture shock came when they went back to the world of human beings after being raised by a wolf. Tarzan’s culture shock came when he discovered he was not a ‘white ape’ but a human being. Emily Carr preferred the culture of the First Nations people and the life she led on her explorations to the dresses and the polite conversations of her own culture. You now know that the First Nations culture did not include school or even business activity; people spent most of their time in nature or around the fire of their home talking, telling stories and making the things they needed to survive. You now know that the First Nations culture did not include school or even business activity; people spent most of their time in nature or around the fire of their home talking, telling stories and making the things they needed to survive.

2. Psychologists tell us that there are four basic stages that human beings pass through when they enter and live in a new culture. This process, which helps them to deal with culture shock, is the way our brain and our personality reacts to the strange new things we encounterwhen we move from one culture to another. If our culture involves bowing when we greet someone, we may feel very uncomfortable in a culture that does not involve bowing. If levels of formality based on other person’s age and status influence the language we use when talking to someone in our own culture, it may be difficult for us to feel comfortable communicating with people in the new culture. 

3. Culture begins with the ‘honeymoon stage’. This is the period of time when we first arrive and everything about the new culture is strange and exciting. We may be suffering from ‘jet lag’ but we are thrilled to be in the new environment, seeing new sights, hearing new sounds and language, eating new kinds of food. This honeymoon stage can last for quite a long time because we feel we are involved in some kind of great adventure.

4. Unfortunately, the second stage of culture shock can be more difficult. After we have settled

down into our new life, working or studying, buying groceries, doing laundry, or living with a home-stay family, we can become very tired and begin to miss our homeland and our family, girlfriend/boyfriend, pets. All the little problems that everybody in life has seem to be much bigger and more disturbing when you face them in a foreign culture. This period of cultural adjustment can be very difficult and lead to the new arrival rejecting or pulling away from the new culture. This ‘rejection stage’ can be quite dangerous because the visitor may develop unhealthy habits (smoking and drinking too much, being too concerned over food or contact with people from the new culture). This can, unfortunately, lead to the person getting sick or developing skin infections or rashes which then makes the person feel even more scared and confused and helpless. This stage is considered a crisis in the process of cultural adjustment and many people choose to go back to their homeland or spend all their time with people from their own culture speaking their native language.

5. The third stage of culture shock is called the ‘adjustment stage’. This is when you begin to realise things are not so bad in the host culture. Your sense of humour usually becomes stronger and you realise you are becoming stronger by learning to take care of yourself in thenew place. Things are still difficult. But you are now a survivor!

6. The fourth stage can be called ‘at ease at last’. Now you feel quite comfortable in your new surroundings. You can cope with most of your problems that occur. You may still have problems with the language, but you know you are strong enough to deal with them. If you meet someone from your country who has just arrived, you can be the expert on life in the new culture and help them to deal with the culture shock.

Stanza 1
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paperseeming
boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a fathers gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrels game, in tree room, other than this.

Question. From which poem have these lines been taken?
(a) Keeping Quiet
(b) My Mother at Sixty-Six
(c) A Thing of Beauty
(d) An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Answer : D

Question. Who is the poet of this poem?
(a) Kamala Das
(b) Stephen Spender
(c) John Keats
(d) Pablo Neruda

Answer : B

Question. Why does the poet call the boy the paper- seeming boy?
(a) he is very thin
(b) he is very strong
(c) he is very much healthy
(d) all of the above

Answer : A

Question. How are the faces of the children in the class?
(a) lively
(b) robust
(c) pale and lifeless
(d) rosy

Answer : C

Question. How is the boy sitting at the end of the class?
(a) sweet and young
(b) rough and dry
(c) sick and wrinkled
(d) none of the above

Answer : A

Question. How does the poet describe the children’s hair?
(a) rootless weeds
(b) scattered on their pale face
(c) neat and clean
(d) both ‘a’ & ‘b’

Answer : D

Question. Whose faces are far from the gusty waves?
(a) poet’s
(b) faces of children sitting in the classroom
(c) faces of children playing
(d) faces of children enjoying

Answer : C

Question. Find the word from the stanza which means 'stormy'
(a) gnarled
(b) gusty
(c) weeds
(d) reciting

Answer : B

Question. Find the word from the stanza which means 'useless plants'
(a) gusty
(b) pallor
(c) weeds
(d) heir

Answer : C

Question. Find the word from the stanza which means 'twisted'
(a) gnarled
(b) unlucky
(c) waves
(d) pallor

Answer : A

Question. Find the word from the stanza which means ‘ uttering'
(a) twisted
(b) stunted
(c) unnoted
(d) reciting

Answer : D

Question. Why do you think the class was dim?
(a) it was night time
(b) it was not provided with any electric lights
(c) both ‘a’ & ‘b’
(d) the weather was cloudy

Answer : B

Question. Who was sitting at the back of the class?
(a) paper seeming boy
(b) tall girl
(c) sweet young boy
(d) all of the above

Answer : C

Question. What was the little one dreaming of?
(a) squirrel’s game
(b) lion’s game
(c) tiger’s game
(d) none of the above

Answer : A

Question. Which poetic device is used in ‘paper-seeming boy’?
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) alliteration
(d) oxymoron

Answer : B

Question. Which poetic device is used in ‘like rootless weeds’?
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) alliteration
(d) oxymoron

Answer : A

Question. Which word in the stanza means 'successor'?
(a) stunted
(b) gnarled
(c) heir
(d) twisted

Answer : C 

Stanza 2
On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Question. What walls have been referred to in these lines?
(a) walls of a house
(b) walls of a primary school
(c) walls of an elementary school
(d) walls of a high school

Answer : C

Question. Why has the map been said to be ‘open- handed ‘?
(a) it shows all the world
(b) it gives knowledge about all the seas
(c) it gives knowledge about all the lands of the world
(d) all of the above

Answer : D

Question. How is the future of the children painted?
(a) with a bright colour
(b) with fog
(c) with black colour
(d) all of the above

Answer : B

Question. What has been said to be the world for these children?
(a) a narrow street
(b) under the dull sky
(c) both ‘a’ & ‘b’
(d) a bright world

Answer : C

Question. What does the poet mean by 'stars of words'?
(a) false promises made by teacher
(b) false promises made by principal
(c) false promises made by politicians
(d) all of the above

Answer : C

Question. How are the classroom’s walls painted?
(a) green
(b) pink
(c) yellow
(d) sour cream

Answer : D

Question. What is painted on the wall?
(a) the list of donators
(b) picture of Shakespeare
(c) picture of civilized dome
(d) all of the above

Answer : D

Question. How is the future of these children?
(a) bright
(b) dim
(c) both ‘a’ & ‘b’
(d) none of the above

Answer : B

Question. What does ‘sour cream walls’ refer to?
(a) the walls are painted regularly with cream colour
(b) the walls have not been painted for a long time
(c) the walls were brilliant new
(d) all of the above

Answer : B

Question. Which poetic device is used in “lead sky’?
(a) alliteration
(b) metaphor
(c) simile
(d) personification

Answer : B

Question. Who was Shakespeare?
(a) A famous playwright
(b) A famous novelist
(c) an American writer
(d) an African writer

Answer : A

Question. Which word in the stanza means 'morning'?
(a) fog
(b) dawn
(c) valley
(d) belled

Answer : B

Question. Which word in the stanza means 'mist'?
(a) fog
(b) valley
(c) narrow
(d) lead

Answer : A

Question. Which word in the stanza means 'distant'?
(a) dawn
(b) sealed
(c) far
(d) capes

Answer : C

Questions on the Extracts from the Poem

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.
The paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk.

(a) The poetic device used in Line 1 is:
(a) Pun
(b) Parody
(c) Satire
(d) Repetition
Answer : D

(b) The children’s faces are compared to ‘rootless weeds’ because they are:
(a) Undernourished
(b) Unwanted
(c) Unhealthy
(d) Shabby
Answer : B

(c) The girl’s head is way down due to:
(a) Misfortunes
(b) Fatigue
(c) Disparity
(d) Exhaustion
Answer : A

(d) The stunted boy is reciting:
(a) his father’s gnarled disease
(b) A lesson
(c) His composition
(d) Shakespeare’s work
Answer : B

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom

(a) Stephen Spender refers to Shakespeare as wicked because:
(a) there is no correlation between his works and the slum children.
(b) the slum children think he is a bad person.
(c) the slum children do not like him.
(d) he portrays a pessimistic world.
Answer : A

(b) The map is a bad example for the slum children because:
(a) it does not include their slum.
(b) they are forced to spend their lives in cramped holes.
(c) they cannot be a part of the world.
(d) all of the above.
Answer : D

(c) ‘Sun’ and ‘love’ symbolise:
(a) Vigour and vitality
(b) Power and strength
(c) Joy and happiness
(d) Temptation and desire
Answer : C

(d) ‘From fog to endless night’ implies:
(a) cold weather
(b) bleak future
(c) less opportunities
(d) poverty
Answer : B

(e) By the term ‘slag heap’, Stephen Spender means:
(a) Bleak future
(b) Waste material
(c) Undernourished
(d) Pathetic life
Answer : D

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this

(a) Why is the boy referred to as ‘unlucky’?
(a) because of his misfortunes
(b) a congenial problem has been passed on to him
(c) his future is bleak
(d) all of the above
Answer : B

(b) The poet uses the word ‘reciting’ as:
(a) imagery
(b) irony
(c) symbol
(d) pun
Answer : D

(c) How is the boy sitting at the back of the class different?
(a) he looks sweet
(b) he represents hope
(c) he is quiet and submissive
(d) he is indifferent and aloof
Answer : B

(d) What does the ‘squirrel’s game’ symbolise?
(a) the bounties of nature
(b) the boy’s inability to play
(c) carefree joy
(d) outdoor activities
Answer : C

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilised dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

(a) What does the expression—sour cream walls—suggest?
(a) Display of donated artifacts on the walls.
(b) Badly maintained walls.
(c) Wall-to wall furniture.
(d) A poor choice of paint for walls.
Answer : B

(b) The map of the world in the classroom symbolizes:
(a) hopes and aspirations of the children.
(b) travel plans of the school authorities.
(c) a world that is unconnected to the children.
(d) interconnectivity within the world.
Answer : C

(c) The expression, Shakespeare’s head is an example of
(a) pun
(b) satire
(c) parody
(d) irony
Answer : B

(d) In the extract, ‘future’s painted with a fog’ suggests that the
(a) classroom is as foggy as the paint on the walls.
(b) beautiful valleys are not a part of the children’s future.
(c) life ahead for the slum children is as unclear and hazy as fog.
(d) fog often finds itself in the classrooms through broken windows.
Answer : C

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

(a) The poet wants the map to become their windows so that:
(a) they are able to overcome all hurdles
(b) they are not deprived of opportunities
(c) they can see a clear sky
(d) they can understand the importance of the map
Answer : B

(b) ‘That shut upon their lives like catacombs’ is an example of:
(a) Simile
(b) Metaphor
(c) Imagery
(d) Symbol
Answer : A

(c) The phrase ‘Break O break’ is a symbol of:
(a) tyranny
(b) revolt
(c) oppression
(d) violence
Answer : B

(d) Explain: ‘Let their tongues run naked into books’.
(a) to receive quality education
(b) to make them learned
(c) to expose them to the world of able
(d) all of the above
Answer : D

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

(a) Their future painted with a fog suggests a ........... future.
(a) bleak
(b) hopeless
(c) dim
(d) All of the above
Answer : D

(b) Identify the literary device in ‘Future’ painted with a fog’.
(a) Simile
(b) Metaphor
(c) Personification
(d) Alliteration
Answer : B

(c) ‘A lead sky’ indicates:
(a) Poor education
(b) A dark future
(c) A vague life
(d) Deprivation
Answer : B

(d) The phrase ‘stars of words’ is a reference to:
(a) Shakespeare’s works
(b) A star lit sky
(c) Basic education
(d) Social justice
Answer : C

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn around their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.
The paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
his lesson, from the desk. At back of the dim class
one unnoted, sweet and young

(a) The phrase ‘weighed-down head’ DOES NOT refer to being
(a) burdened by poverty
(b) ashamed at her plight.
(c) distressed due to difficulties.
(d) dizzy with a headache.
Answer : D

(b) Pick the option that matches the words / phrases with the literary device.

(a) 1-A, 2-D, 3-C
(b) 1-D, 2-B, 3-A
(c) 1-D, 2-A, 3-B
(d) 1-B, 2-A, 3-C
Answer : C

(c) Pick the option that enumerates the tone of the poet in this extract.
1. apprehensive 2. compassionate 3. resentful 4. thoughtful
5. disillusioned 6. woeful
(a) 2, 4 and 6
(b) 1, 4 and 5
(c) 3, 5 and 6
(d) 1, 3 and 6
Answer : A

(d) The ‘gusty waves’, most likely, indicate
(a) survival and struggle
(b) verve and brightness
(c) drudgery and dullness
(d) animation and alertness
Answer : B

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
This map becomes their windows and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

(a) Pick the option that is NOT TRUE according to this extract.
(a) The children should be allowed to read books and form their opinions.
(b) Education without breaking the shackles of poverty, is meaningless.
(c) The policy makers show the reality of the real world to the children.
(d) The children see the world of poverty and misery through the windows.
Answer : C

(b) Pick the options that matches best with the phrase ‘break o break open’.
1. break free 2. break silence 3. break out
4. break even 5. break through 6. break ground
(a) 1, 3 and 5
(b) 2, 3 and 6
(c) 1, 4 and 6
(d) 2, 3 and 5
Answer : B

(c) Look at the given book covers. Pick the option that reflects the meaning of ‘catacomb’ in the extract.

(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4
Answer : C

(d) On the basis of the extract, pick the opinion that is closest to that of the poet

(a) Option 1
(b) Option 2
(c) Option 3
(d) Option 4
Answer : B

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Far far from gusty waves
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paperseeming
boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir

Question. What are the children equaled with?
(i) gusty waves
(ii) rootless weeds
(iii) rat’s eyes
(iv) paper
Answer. B

Question. Why do you think the tall girl is sitting with a weighed down head?
(i) because she is depressed
(ii) due to her miserable life
(iii) she feels embarrassed
(iv) all of these
Answer. D

Question. The literary device used by the poet in ‘rat’s eyes’ is……………
(i) metaphor
(ii) simile
(iii) alliteration
(iv) symbol
Answer. A

Question. What is the condition of the boy?
(i) he is contented
(ii) he is unhappy
(iii) he is thin as paper
(iv) he wants to revolt
Answer. C 

2. On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilised dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

Question. What does the expression - sour cream walls - suggest?
(i) display of donated artefacts on the walls.
(ii) badly maintained walls.
(iii) wall-to wall furniture.
(iv) a poor choice of paint for walls.
Answer. B

Question. The map of the world in the classroom symbolises.
(i) hopes and aspirations of the children
(ii) travel plans of the school authorities
(iii) a world that is unconnected to the children.
(iv) interconnectivity within the world
Answer. A

Question. The expression, Shakespeare's head is an example of:
(i) pun
(ii) satire
(iii) parody
(iv) irony
Answer. D

Question. In the extract. 'future's painted with a fog' suggests that the:
(i) classroom is as foggy as the paint on the walls.
(ii) beautiful valleys are not a part of the children's future.
(iii) life ahead for the slum childen is as unclear and hazy as fog.
(iv) fog often finds itself in the classrooms through broken windows.
Answer. C

3. Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children

Question. Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?
(i) children have no idea of literary genius of Shakesp eare
(ii) he map a bad example
(iii) children are bothered by hunger and despair
(iv) all of these
Answer. B

Question. What is the symbolic meaning of “from fog to endless night”?
(i) from early morning to late night
(ii) everyday was the same for the slum children
(iii) from winter’s long night till morning
(iv) atmosphere without sunlight
Answer. B

Question. What is the poetic device used in the words ‘slag heap’?
(i) hyperbole
(ii) metaphor
(iii) imagery
(iv) symbol
Answer. B

Question. Why is it called that children live in holes?
(i) their houses look like rat’s hole
(ii) their houses are small, dirty and congested
(iii) children live in rat holes
(iv) none of these
Answer. B

4. This map becomes their windows and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Question. Pick the option that is NOT TRUE according to this extract.
(i) The children should be allowed to read books and form their opinions.
(ii) Education without breaking the shackles of poverty, is meaningless.
(iii) The policy makers show the reality of the real world to the children.
(iv) The children see the world of poverty and misery through the windows.
Answer. C

Question. Pick the options that matches best with the phrase ‘break o break open’.
(1) break free
(2) break silence
(3) break out
(4) break even
(5) break through
(6) break ground
(i) 1, 3 and 5
(ii) 2, 3 and 6
(iii) 1, 4 and 6
(iv) 2, 3 and 5
Answer. B

Question. On the basis of the extract, pick the opinion that is closest to that of the poet.
(1) The children should be given free time to play in the fields to develop their creativity.
(2) The children must be given freedom to experience the wholesome bounties of nature.
(3) The condition of the children can improve if they are shown the beautiful world out of their window.
(4) The children can spread light and awareness if they become morally responsible.
(i) option 1
(ii) option 2
(iii) option 3
(iv) option 4
Answer. B

Stand-Alone Multiple Choice Questions

Question. Why does the poet refer to the future of slum children as ‘pointed with a fog’?
(a) Because the day is cloudy.
(b) Due to the pollution in the slum.
(c) Hopelessness that lies ahead of them.
(d) They can’t breathe fresh air.
Answer : C

Question. What is the literary device used in ‘spectacles of steel’?
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) alliteration
(d) personification
Answer : B

Question. Spender uses the metaphor ‘slums as big as dooms’ to highlight:
(a) The unhygienic conditions in the slum
(b) The slums will lead them to their ruin
(c) Their pathetic lives in these slums
(d) All of the above
Answer : B

Question. The poet uses harsh images like bones, mended glass, spectacles of steel etc. in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’, to convey:
(a) the doomed life of the slum children
(b) their bleak future
(c) that their life is full of hardships
(d) their economic status
Answer : C

Question. Spender’s use of imagery in “His eyes live in a dream, of squirrel game, in tree room, other than this”, brings out:
(a) the similarity between the frail bodies of a squirrel and the children in the classroom.
(b) the contrast between studying in the dreary classroom and playing outside freely.
(c) the comparison of the dingy home of the squirrel and the dreary classroom.
(d) the difference between the games of the squirrel and those of the children.
Answer : B

Question. The lives of the slum children turn slyly:
(a) in their cramped holes.
(b) on stars of words.
(c) on mended glass.
(d) in their classroom.
Answer : A

Question. The slum children’s future is painted with a fog. This symbolises:
(a) uncertainty
(b) Hopelessness
(c) Gloominess
(d) All of the above
Answer : D

Question. Pick the quote that highlights the contrasting image portrayed in the poem.
(a) ‘The worst form of inequality is to try and make unequal things equal.’
(b) An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.’
(c) ‘We must work together to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.’
(d) ‘No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individual.’
Answer : B

Question. The children of the slum are compared to ‘rootless weeds’ because:
(a) they are wild and untamed
(b) they are unwanted
(c) their life is being wasted
(d) their hair is unkept
Answer : A

Question. A child in the slum experiencing the dreary life would have the least access to
(a) shelter
(b) information
(c) water
(d) education
Answer : B

Question. Pick phrases that portray ‘poverty and hopelessness’ in the poem.
1. slag heap 2. spectacles of steel 3. gusty waves 4. run azure on gold sands
5. mended glass 6. squirrel’s game 7. language is the sun
(a) 2, 4, and 7
(b) 1, 3 and 5
(c) 3, 4 and 6
(d) 1, 2 and 5
Answer : D

Question. Based on the poem, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet is in anguish at the plight of the children in slums and is sympathetic towards them.
Statement 2: The poet presents an exaggerated version of the struggles of the slum children, to garner sympathy.
(a) Statement 1 is true but Statement 2 is false.
(b) Statement 1 is false but Statement 2 is true.
(c) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are true.
(d) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred.
Answer : A

Question. Who is the poet of the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’?
(a) Kipling
(b) Wordsworth
(c) Kamlanath
(d) Stephen Spender
Answer. D

Question. What theme did the poet concentrate on in the poem?
(a) theme of social injustice and class inequalities
(b) theme of children and their happiness
(c) theme of insecurities
(d) None of the above
Answer. A

Question. What does the poet portray in the poem?
(a) young minds
(b) playfulness of the children
(c) questions of children
(d) the plight of young children in the slums
Answer. D

Question. What are the poetic devices used in the poem?
(a) alliteration and simile
(b) metaphor and imagery
(c) synecdoche, and irony
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. “Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces. Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor”:
what do these words express?
(a) poor state of the classroom
(b) poor plight of children’s homes
(c) poor plight of teachers
(d) poor plight of the slum children
Answer. D

Question. Why is the head of the tall girl ‘weighed down’?
(a) by the burden of studies
(b) by the burden of work
(c) by the burden of her world
(d) All of these
Answer. C

Question. What is the meaning of ‘The paper seeming boy, with rat eyes’?
(a) rich people
(b) rich children
(c) powerful people and their influence
(d) weak and malnutrition boy
Answer. D

Question. What does paper-seeming boy mean?
(a) had a paper in his hand
(b) was as thin as a sheet of paper
(c) was white in colour like a sheet of paper
(d) All of these
Answer. B

Question. What is the stunted boy reciting?
(a) a happy song from his seat
(b) a religious song in a group
(c) a sad song from the front of the class
(d) a lesson from his desk
Answer. D

Question. Who is the unlucky heir and what has he inherited?
(a) a fat boy, has inherited obesity from his mother
(b) a short, thin boy, has inherited stunted growth from his family
(c) an intelligent boy, has inherited intelligence
(d) thin boy with rat’s eyes, has inherited a deformed body from his father
Answer. A

Question. “His eyes live in a dream”- what is the dream?
(a) watching a movie
(b) going abroad
(c) eating ice cream
Answer. D

Question. What other freedom does the poet wants the slum children to enjoy?
(a) freedom of roaming
(b) freedom to spend money
(c) freedom to eat
(d) freedom of knowledge,wisdom and expression
Answer. D

Question. What does the poet compare the colour of walls with?
(a) rotten fruits
(b) stale chapatis
(c) rotten vegetables
(d) sour cream
Answer. D