English Core > Literature Class 12 > Flamingo Prose

Read the following extracts and answer the questions: (B) My Last French Lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds 'eggs or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn't give up and M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was. Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more. (The Last Lesson)

(i) Choose the correct option: What is the tone of the speaker in the expression 'I hardly knew how to write .... how sorry I was for not learning my lessons'? (1 mark) (A) confused (B) regretful (C) surprised (D) happy (ii) Choose the correct option: The speaker refers to 'seeking birds' egg' and 'sliding on the Saar' as (1 mark) (A) part of his routine (B) his daily routine (C) source of distraction from learning (D) fun time with friends (iii) What is reflected through the shift in the speaker's perception of his books through his expression of calling them his 'old friends' rather than considering them as 'nuisance'? (1 mark) (iv) Select the correct option from those given in brackets to fill in the blank: "It was because they were sorry too...." They were sorry for ________ (not following the government order / not learning their language). (1 mark) (v) What is inferred from the expression 'the country that was theirs no more'? (1 mark) (vi) What does M. Hamel's ruler reflect about his image? (1 mark)