Question Bank
Class 12 English Core
, Foreword
With a view to support teachers in the endeavour to move away from a culture of
rote learning and impact pedagogy in the classroom, CBSE is delighted to share this
Resource for Teachers in English Core for Class XII. Exemplar questions from each
chapter of both the books have been prepared. These exemplar questions are for
the question number 3,4,5,10,11,12, and 13 of the Sample Question Paper 2020-21
and have been numbered accordingly.
This resource will equip teachers and learners to become familiar with the new
patterns and understand, acquire and practice the requisite skills and competencies
listed in the curriculum. It will also serve as a guideline for teachers to prepare a
question bank individually and collaboratively.
As you will observe, the questions in the document are not based on mere recall or
rudimentary comprehension. Rather, they have been designed to foster in students
the skill to think critically and creatively with a focus on inferential abilities.
It is important to note that the larger intent of this resource is providing to teachers an
indicative framework to conceptualise and practice analysis-based learning and
problem solving. It is hoped that the questions herein will also enable teachers to
reflect on their teaching practices, and promote a movement away from ‘teaching to
the test’ towards a focus on the process of discovery, openness, imaginative
engagement and activity-based learning in ways that they bring the text to the child,
as much as the child to the text.
It is our belief that the potential of the English Core curriculum, to stimulate learners
and teachers, can be glimpsed in this Resource. We hope that teachers will welcome
this document as a reminder of this potential, and find in it a ready resource not only
to equip their students, but to jumpstart their own thinking and engagement
processes.
,L-1 The Last Lesson Text-Flamingo
Q3 Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
A. 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.
i Why does the narrator refer to M. Hamel as ‘Poor man!’?
a) He empathizes with M. Hamel as he had to leave the village.
b) He believes that M. Hamel’s “fine Sunday clothes” clearly reflected that
he was not rich.
c) He feels sorry for M. Hamel as it was his last French lesson.
d) He thinks that M. Hamel’s patriotism and sense of duty resulted in his
poverty.
ii Which of the following idioms might describe the villagers’ act of attending
the last lesson most accurately?
a) ‘Too good to miss’
b) ‘Too little, too late’
c) ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’
d) ‘Too cool for school’
iii Choose the option that might raise a question about M. Hamel’s “faithful
service”.
a) When Franz came late, M. Hamel told him that he was about to begin
class without him.
b) Franz mentioned how cranky M. Hamel was and his “great ruler
rapping on the table”.
c) M. Hamel often sent students to water his flowers, and gave a holiday
when he wanted to go fishing.
d) M. Hamel permitted villagers put their children “to work on a farm or at
the mills” for some extra money.
iv Choose the option that most appropriately fills in the blanks, for the
following description of the given extract.
The villagers and their children sat in class, forging with their old master
a (i) _____ togetherness. In that moment, the class room stood (ii)
_____. It was France itself, and the last French lesson a desperate
hope to (iii) ______ to the remnants of what they had known and taken
for granted. Their own (iv) _______.
a) (i) graceful; (ii) still; (iii) hang on; (iv) country
b) (i) bygone; (ii) up; (iii) keep on; (iv) education
, c) (i) beautiful; (ii) mesmerised; (iii) carry on; (iv) unity
d) (i) forgotten; (ii) transformed; (iii) hold on; (iv) identity
B. M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the
most beautiful language in the world — the clearest, the most logical; that
we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are
enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the
key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar book and read us our
lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed
so easy, so easy!
i Which of the following can be attributed to M. Hamel’s declaration about the
French language?
a) subject expertise
b) nostalgic pride
c) factual accuracy
d) patriotic magnification
ii Read the quotes given below.
Choose the option that might best describe M. Hamel’s viewpoint.
(i) Those who know nothing of (ii) Language is the road map of a
foreign languages know nothing of culture. It tells you where its
their own. people come from and where they
are going. – Rita Mae Brown
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(iii) A poor man is like a (iv) The greatest propaganda in the world
foreigner in his own is our mother tongue, that is what we
country. learn as children, and which we learn
unconsciously. That shapes our
– Ali Ibn Abi Talib
perceptions for life. – Marshal McLuhan
a) Option (i)
b) Option (ii)
c) Option (iii)
d) Option (iv)
iii “I was amazed to see how well I understood it.”
Select the option that does NOT explain why Franz found the grammar
lesson “easy”.
a) Franz was paying careful attention in class this time.
b) M. Hamel was being extremely patient and calm in his teaching.
c) Franz was inspired and had found a new meaning and purpose to
learning.
Class 12 English Core
, Foreword
With a view to support teachers in the endeavour to move away from a culture of
rote learning and impact pedagogy in the classroom, CBSE is delighted to share this
Resource for Teachers in English Core for Class XII. Exemplar questions from each
chapter of both the books have been prepared. These exemplar questions are for
the question number 3,4,5,10,11,12, and 13 of the Sample Question Paper 2020-21
and have been numbered accordingly.
This resource will equip teachers and learners to become familiar with the new
patterns and understand, acquire and practice the requisite skills and competencies
listed in the curriculum. It will also serve as a guideline for teachers to prepare a
question bank individually and collaboratively.
As you will observe, the questions in the document are not based on mere recall or
rudimentary comprehension. Rather, they have been designed to foster in students
the skill to think critically and creatively with a focus on inferential abilities.
It is important to note that the larger intent of this resource is providing to teachers an
indicative framework to conceptualise and practice analysis-based learning and
problem solving. It is hoped that the questions herein will also enable teachers to
reflect on their teaching practices, and promote a movement away from ‘teaching to
the test’ towards a focus on the process of discovery, openness, imaginative
engagement and activity-based learning in ways that they bring the text to the child,
as much as the child to the text.
It is our belief that the potential of the English Core curriculum, to stimulate learners
and teachers, can be glimpsed in this Resource. We hope that teachers will welcome
this document as a reminder of this potential, and find in it a ready resource not only
to equip their students, but to jumpstart their own thinking and engagement
processes.
,L-1 The Last Lesson Text-Flamingo
Q3 Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract
A. 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.
i Why does the narrator refer to M. Hamel as ‘Poor man!’?
a) He empathizes with M. Hamel as he had to leave the village.
b) He believes that M. Hamel’s “fine Sunday clothes” clearly reflected that
he was not rich.
c) He feels sorry for M. Hamel as it was his last French lesson.
d) He thinks that M. Hamel’s patriotism and sense of duty resulted in his
poverty.
ii Which of the following idioms might describe the villagers’ act of attending
the last lesson most accurately?
a) ‘Too good to miss’
b) ‘Too little, too late’
c) ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’
d) ‘Too cool for school’
iii Choose the option that might raise a question about M. Hamel’s “faithful
service”.
a) When Franz came late, M. Hamel told him that he was about to begin
class without him.
b) Franz mentioned how cranky M. Hamel was and his “great ruler
rapping on the table”.
c) M. Hamel often sent students to water his flowers, and gave a holiday
when he wanted to go fishing.
d) M. Hamel permitted villagers put their children “to work on a farm or at
the mills” for some extra money.
iv Choose the option that most appropriately fills in the blanks, for the
following description of the given extract.
The villagers and their children sat in class, forging with their old master
a (i) _____ togetherness. In that moment, the class room stood (ii)
_____. It was France itself, and the last French lesson a desperate
hope to (iii) ______ to the remnants of what they had known and taken
for granted. Their own (iv) _______.
a) (i) graceful; (ii) still; (iii) hang on; (iv) country
b) (i) bygone; (ii) up; (iii) keep on; (iv) education
, c) (i) beautiful; (ii) mesmerised; (iii) carry on; (iv) unity
d) (i) forgotten; (ii) transformed; (iii) hold on; (iv) identity
B. M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the
most beautiful language in the world — the clearest, the most logical; that
we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are
enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the
key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar book and read us our
lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed
so easy, so easy!
i Which of the following can be attributed to M. Hamel’s declaration about the
French language?
a) subject expertise
b) nostalgic pride
c) factual accuracy
d) patriotic magnification
ii Read the quotes given below.
Choose the option that might best describe M. Hamel’s viewpoint.
(i) Those who know nothing of (ii) Language is the road map of a
foreign languages know nothing of culture. It tells you where its
their own. people come from and where they
are going. – Rita Mae Brown
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(iii) A poor man is like a (iv) The greatest propaganda in the world
foreigner in his own is our mother tongue, that is what we
country. learn as children, and which we learn
unconsciously. That shapes our
– Ali Ibn Abi Talib
perceptions for life. – Marshal McLuhan
a) Option (i)
b) Option (ii)
c) Option (iii)
d) Option (iv)
iii “I was amazed to see how well I understood it.”
Select the option that does NOT explain why Franz found the grammar
lesson “easy”.
a) Franz was paying careful attention in class this time.
b) M. Hamel was being extremely patient and calm in his teaching.
c) Franz was inspired and had found a new meaning and purpose to
learning.
