CBSE Class 12 English The Rattrap VBQs

The Rattrap

Question. Where has the story been set up?
(a) jewellery shops
(b) forests of Sweden
(c) roads of Sweden
(d) mines of Sweden

Answer : D

Question. Sweden Mines are rich in which ore?
(a) Brass
(b) copper
(c) steel
(d) iron ore

Answer : D

Question. In what manner has the story been narrated?
(a) non - fiction style
(b) realistic manner
(c) fiction fairy tale manner
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. What is the message of the story?
(a) love and kindness are powerful reformers.
(b) kindness is powerless
(c) kindness encourages thieves
(d) thieves need reprimand

Answer : A

Question. Why did the peddler have to take shelter?
(a) because of his wishes
(b) because he wants to steal
(c) because he wants to be with his friends
(d) because he had no home

Answer : D

Question. What made the Peddler finally change his ways?
(a) Edla's beauty
(b) his mistaken identity
(c) his greed
(d) kindness and care

Answer : D

Question. This story revolves around whom?
(a) around Crofter and his daughter
(b) around crofter
(c) around ironman
(d) around peddler- the Rattrap seller

Answer : D

Question. Who is the author of The Rattrap?
(a)Selma Lagerlof
(b) Thomas B. Allen
(c) Howard Phillips
(d) Sudha Murthy

Answer : A

Question. What lightens the seriousness of the lesson?
(a) Peddlar's greed
(b) Peddlar's gossip
(c) Peddlar's tricks
(d) Peddlar's sense of humour

Answer : D

Question. Which country does the author belong to?
(a) Singapore
(b) Sydney
(c) Sweden
(d) Switzerland

Answer : C

Question. Who offered shelter to the Peddler?
(a) a beggar
(b) a friend
(c) a milkman
(d) an old Crofter

Answer : D

Question. Why was he amused by his idea of a rattrap?
(a) it was a bad joke
(b) it was a good comparison
(c) it was the exact situation and was humorous
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. According to the seller what leads us to various miseries?
(a) attractions
(b) people
(c) friends
(d) wishes and greed of comfort

Answer : D

Question. What does the metaphor Rattrap in the lesson signify?
(a) humans
(b) thieves
(c) attractions
(d) human greed and distractions

Answer : D

Question. What earns the sympathy of the reader towards the peddler?
(a) his actions
(b) his stories
(c) his face
(d) his sense of humour and innocent acceptance

Answer : D

Question. Why did Peddler not reveal his true identity?
(a) because of fear
(b) he didn't want to hurt them
(c) in the greed of getting money
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. Why did the Peddler have to resort to begging and thievery?
(a)Poverty
(b)miserable life
(c) because of non-profitability of his business
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. Who used to make rattraps?
(a) Crofter
(b) Edla
(c) Crofter and Edla
(d) Peddler

Answer : D

Question. From where did the Peddler get the idea of the world being a Rattrap?
(a) from his friends' situation
(b) from Crofter's behaviour
(c) from Edla's words
(d) from his circumstances and miserable life condition

Answer : D

Question. Why was the Crofter so talkative and friendly with the Peddler?
(a) because he knew him.
(b) he was his friend
(c) he was his neighbour
(d) because of his resemblance to one of his old friend

Answer : D

Question. Why did Elda bring the Peddler to her house for Christmas cheer?
(a) because she knew him
(b) he was very funny
(c) he was good looking
(d) because of his resemblance to her father's old friend

Answer : D

Question. What doubts did Edla have about Peddler?
(a) his behaviour
(b) his words
(c) his fear and appearance
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. “My name is EdlaWillmansson,’’ said the young girl. ‘‘
(a) The young girl said that my name was EdlaWillmansson.
(b) The young girl said that her name is EdlaWillmansson.
(c)The young girl said that his name was EdlaWillmansson.
(d) The young girl said that her name was EdlaWillmansson.

Answer : D

Question. What does the rattrap seller have to do to make his both ends meet?
(a) Peddling
(b) selling
(c) begging
(d) thievery and begging

Answer : D

Question. Why does the peddler knit up various kind of thoughts?
(a) because of greed
(b) because of travelling
(c) because of loneliness and poverty
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. In peddler's view, what does the world look like?
(a) a rat
(b) a jungle
(c) a jigsaw
(d) a rattrap

Answer : D

Question. She ………. at him compassionately, with her heavy eyes, and then she noticed that the man was afraid.
(a) had looked
(b) looking
(c) look
(d) looked

Answer : D

Question. From where did the Peddler get the material to make rattraps?
(a) shops
(b) roads
(c) streets
(d) stores

Answer : C

Question. How did Crofter treat the Peddler?
(a) very rudely
(b) in a strange manner
(c) friendly manner
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. Why did the Peddler leave the stolen money in a Rattrap?
(a) because of his plan
(b) to deceive them
(c) because of fear of Iron master
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. How is the Peddler influenced by meeting the Crofter and Edla?
(a)he was encouraged to steal money
(b) he became a rattrap seller
(c) his heart was changed
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. Why did Peddler sign himself as Captain Von Stahle?
(a) he didn't want to hurt them
(b) because of love and care
(c) because of mistaken identity
(d) none

Answer : C

Question. Why did ironmaster realise his mistake?
(a) because of Edla
(b) because of pedlar's words
(c) because of his friend
(d) because of uncertain reflections and Edla

Answer : D

Question. Why did the Peddler feel that he had fallen into the Rattrap?
(a) because he fell into a pit
(b) because he fell in love with Edla
(c) because his heart is changed
(d) because of his greedy action and pitiable circumstances

Answer : D

Question. Why did Crofter show 30 Kronor to the Peddler?
(a) to boast
(b) to flaunt
(c) because he considers him a friend
(d) to share his feelings of pride

Answer : D

Question. He realised, of course, that at first he ………….. not continue on the public highway
(a) may
(b) could
(c) would
(d) dared

Answer : D

Question. He …………… nothing but a long shirt and a pair of wooden shoes.
(a) wear
(b) worn
(c) wore
(d) wearing

Answer : C

Question. He accepted the fur coat.
(a) The fur coat will be accepted by him.
(b) The fur coat were accepted by him.
(c)The fur coat is accepted by him.
(d) The fur coat was accepted by him.

Answer : D

Question. What made the Peddler finally change his heart?
(a) Edla's words
(b) Edla's appearance
(c) Edla's father
(d) Edla's goodness and care

Answer : D

Question. What was the Peddler's profession and who he was?
(a) selling, traveller
(b) begging, traveller
(c) stealing, thief
(c) none

Answer : C

Question. Imagine that the peddler from ‘The Rattrap’ turned his life around, and decided to write of his experience. Which of the following is likely to be the peddler’s book, from the popular books shown below?

a) Option (i)
b) Option (ii)
c) Option (iii)
d) Option (iv

e peddler as his old friend, the Captain and invites him home.

b) The reader realizes the peddler is actually Captain von Stahle when he signs off the letter.
c) Edla attends to the peddler as respectfully, caringly and kindly, as she would have the Captain.
d) The peddler accepts the error of his ways, and displays the qualities expected of a Captain.

Answer : C

Question. “Left to his own meditations”, one day the peddler fell into “a line of thought, which really seemed to him entertaining”. What does the peddler’s conception of the world as a rattrap, signify about him? 
a) The peddler had a lot of time on his hands, with nothing much to do.
b) The peddler was a reflective man whose wisdom did not depend on his status.
c) The peddler was a lonely vagrant trying to make sense of his fortunes.
d) The peddler was a rattrap seller, and his work deeply inspired him.

Answer : A

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:

“Since you have been so nice to me all day long, as if I was a captain, I want to be nice to you, in return, as if I was a real captain — for I do not want you to be embarrassed at this Christmas season by a thief; but you can give back the money to the old man on the roadside, who has the money pouch hanging on the window frame as a bait for poor wanderers.
The rattrap is a Christmas present from a rat who would have been caught in this world’s rattrap if he had not been raised to captain, because in that way he got power to clear himself.
“Written with friendship and high regard, Captain von Stahle.”

Question. Which of the following CANNOT be attributed to the peddler, according to the above extract?
a) indebtedness
b) reform
c) self-pity
d) self-awareness

Answer : B

Question. The word ‘frame’ has been used to indicate a rigid structure that surrounds something such as a picture, door, or windowpane. There are other meanings of ‘frame’ too.
Choose the option that DOES NOT list the meaning of ‘frame’.
a) Option (1)
b) Option (2)
c) Option (3)
d) Option (4)

Answer : A

Question. This communication includes
1) a promise
2) regret
3) an apology
4) shame
a) only 4
b) only 1
c) 1 & 3
d) 2 & 4

Answer : B

Question. Why did the peddler gift a rattrap as a Christmas present?
a) It was all the peddler had that he could give away, and represented his turn to honesty.
b) It symbolized his successful escape from entrapment as he returned the stolen money.
c) It served as a reminder for Edla to be wary of the dangerous temptations of the world.
d) It was a practical and convenient present that the lady of the house could effectively use.

Answer : C

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:

…it was a big and confusing forest which he had gotten into. He tried, to be sure, to walk in a definite direction, but the paths twisted back and forth so strangely! He walked and walked without coming to the end of the wood, and finally he realised that he had only been walking around in the same part of the forest. All at once he recalled his thoughts about the world and the rattrap. Now his own turn had come. He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught. The whole forest, with its trunks and branches, its thickets and fallen logs, closed in upon him like an impenetrable prison from which he could never escape.

Question. The consequence of ‘his own turn’ having come was that the peddler had ___________
a) got irreversibly lost in the thick, warped forest.
b) been fooled and imprisoned in a hopeless prison.
c) been walking around the same part of the forest.
d) walked the whole forest without finding the end.

Answer : A

Question. How would you characterise the mood of the above extract?
a) mysterious, restful
b) ominous, despairing
c) thoughtful, whimsical
d) philosophical, anguished

Answer : B

Question. By what bait had the peddler been fooled?
a) He had chosen to take the ‘safe’ forest route.
b) He had decided to avoid the public highway.
c) He had stolen money from the trusting crofter.
d) He didn’t realize the power of his rattrap analogy.

Answer : C

Short Answer Type Questions :

Question. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
Answer : The crofter was a lonely fellow who lived alone in a little gray cottage by the roadside. He had no wife or children, and longed for a company and friends. So, when the peddler reached at his doorstep, he was happy to find someone to talk to and felt happy to be relieved of his boredom and monotony. This is the reason he was so talkative and friendly with the peddler.

Question. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler ?
Answer : Edla had shown great trust in the peddler by letting him to stay at their manor on the Christmas Eve. But the news about the robbery of thirty kroner at the crofter's cottage had left her dejected. So she was overjoyed when she reached home to find the package and the letter left by the peddler. This gesture of appreciation from the peddler made her happy.

Question. What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
Answer : After stealing the money from the crofter, the peddler tried to escape through the forest but soon lost his way. He was left in despair and he recollected his own thoughts on the world being a giant rattrap. A sudden realization came upon him and he felt as if he had finally got himself caught in the rattrap because he had allowed himself to be tempted by the bait, the thirty kronor bills. Similarly, on his way to the ironmaster's home, he felt himself caught in the trap. He was again haunted by such thoughts when the ironmaster after coming to know about the truth of the peddler, threatened to get him arrested. The rattrap seller strongly realized that the worldly bait had, once more, tempted and trapped him.

Question. Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?
Answer : The crofter was a simple and trusting man who craved for a company more than anything else. He wanted to share his joy of earning the money with someone. He got this chance when the peddler turned up to his house one day. Moreover, thinking that the peddler did not believe him, he showed the peddler the thirty kronor bills that he kept in a leather pouch.

Question. Why did Edla entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him ?
Answer : Edla was a lady with a king and sympathetic heart and was moved by the plight of the peddler. She had requested her father to allow him to spend one day in peace as a respite from the struggle he had endured round the year. Her principles did not allow her to throw the man out of her house especially when they had promised him a Christmas cheer. Moreover, she had been in high spirits that moring thinking of the ways to help the tramp. Therfore she entertained the peddler even after knowing the truth about him.

Question. Why did the Peddler not reveal his true identity when the ironmaster mistook him to be the Captain?
Answer : The Peddler thought that the ironmaster might take pity on him, give him some money if he thought he was an old acquaintance. So he kept quiet and allowed the iron master to presume that he was the captain.

Question. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
Answer : The ironmaster of the Ramsjo Ironworks spoke kindly to the peddler because he had mistaken him for an old regimental comrade, Captain Von Stahle. So, the ironmaster wanted to help the peddler, not only in regaining his health but also in taking up a new vocation. Moreover, the ironmaster was a lonely fellow who lived with his oldest daughter after the death of his wife and the departure of his sons. As he longed for some company on the Christmas Eve, he invited the peddler to his home.

Question. Why did the Peddler choose to go through the forest?
Answer : After stealing the thirty kroner from the crofter, the Peddler knew that he would be caught and put in prison if he continued to walk by the main road. So he chose the back roads that went through the forest.

Question. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
Answer : No, the peddler did not respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter. In fact, he betrayed his trust by robbing the thirty kroner. But somehow later in the story, his conscience was awakened by his stay with the Willmanssons and he decided to return the money.

Question. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
Answer : The peddler was alarmed at the idea and request of the ironmaster of spending the night at the manor of the ironmaster, of the Ramsjo Ironworks, who also happened to be an ex-army man. He did not make any attempt to correct the ironmaster when he was mistaken for an old acquaintance. Moreover, he was more worried about the fact that, he had the stolen thirty kronor bills with him, and accepting the invitation would be like throwing himself voluntarily into the lion's den. Therefore, the peddler thought it better to decline the invitation.

Question. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain Van Stahle ?
Answer : The peddler had never known respect throughout his life. He was always treated coldly by the world. For the first time in his life, he was being honored and respected. Even after the truth was exposed, the daughter treated him as before. The behavior he received encouraged him to behave in the similar manner. He signed as Captain Van Stahle so as to underline the impact of Edla's goodness to him.

Question. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson's invitation?
Answer : Looking at the frightened expressions on the peddler's face, Edla guessed that the peddler had either stolen something or had escaped prison. So she hinted an assurance that he would be free to leave whenever he wanted. Reassured, by what Edla had spoken he accepted the invitation.

Question. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
Answer : During one of his usual plodding, the peddler thought on the subject of rattraps. It presented him with the idea of the world being a rattrap and he grew fond of dunking this way.

Question. Why was he amused by this idea?
Answer : The peddler was amused by the idea of the world being a giant rattrap as he was never treated very kindly by the world. Therefore, he developed hard feelings for this harsh world and loved 'to think ill of it' by comparing it with a giant rattrap.

Question. When did the ironmaster realize his mistake?
Answer : The iromaster realized his mistake the next day when the peddler turned up for breakfast. The valet had bathed the peddler, cut his hair, shaved him and given him clothes. The ironmaster thought that he had been deceived in recognizing the person because of the shade of the furnace the previous night.

Question. Why did the tramp sign the letter as Captain Von Stahle?
Answer : The tramp, though illiterate and a thief, found himself raised to the level of a captain through Edla’s kindness and compassion, he got a chance to redeem himself, hence he signed the letter as Captain Von Stahle.

Question. How did the peddler defend himself when it was clear that he was not the person the ironmaster had thought he was?
Answer : The peddler defended himself by arguing time and again that he had never told that he was a captain or the old comrade of the iromaster. In fact he had repeatedly declined the ironmaster's invitation to the peddler to spend the Christmas night at his manor.

Question. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?
Answer : No, the peddler did not expect the kind of hospitality that he had received from the crofter. This was because he was generally greeted by harsh, sour and unfriendly faces whenever he knocked on doors and requested for shelter.

Question. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
Answer : When Edla went to the iron mill to fetch the peddler, she noticed that he was frightened. She had doubts that either the peddler had stolen something or had escaped prison. His appearance and behavior also left her in doubts whether he was actually an educated man, as claimed by her father.

Question. Why did it please the tramp to compare the world to a rattrap?
Answer : The world was not very kind to the tramp so it gave him unwonted pleasure to think of it as a rattrap.

Extract Based Question :

Once upon a time there was a man who went around selling small rattraps of wire. He made them himself at odd moments, from the material he got by begging in the stores or at the big farms. But even so, the business was not especially profitable, so he had to resort to both begging and petty thievery to keep body and soul together. Even so, his clothes were in rags, his cheeks were sunken, and hunger gleamed in his eyes. No one can imagine how sad and monotonous life can appear to such a vagabond, who plods along the road, left to his own meditations. But one day this man had fallen into a line of thought, which really seemed to him entertaining. He had naturally been thinking of his rattraps when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole world about him - the whole world with its lands and seas, its cities and villages - was nothing but a big rattrap.

Question. The peddler's rattraps were made of
(A) plastic
(B) wire
(C) aluminium
(D) wood 
Answer : B

Question. The peddler often thought about people who
(A) were priests
(B) were thieves
(C) who had been tempted to touch the bait
(D) had caught rats
Answer : C

Question. The rattrap peddler used to resort to
(A) preaching
(B) counselling
(C) teaching
(D) thievery and begging 
Answer : D

Question. The vagabond compared the whole world to a
(A) rattrap
(B) space
(C) universe
(D) planet 
Answer : A