Flamingo Lost Spring -Test Papers

 CBSE TEST PAPER-01

Class 12 English Core (Lost Spring)

General Instructions:-

  • All questions are compulsory.
  • Question No.1 to 7 carries 3 marks each.
  • Question No. 8 to 10 caries 6 marks each.
  1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
  2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
  3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
  4. What was Saheb looking at the club and why?
  5. What was the initial routine of Saheb and subsequently what was his job?
  6. When the writer asked one of the boys why was he not wearing chappals, what was the reply?
  7. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
  8. Why did Saheb take up the job? Was he happy with his job?
  9. Why was Saheb happy to wear tennis shoes with a hole in one of them?
  10. What are the dreams of the poor like 'Saheb-e-Alam' and Mukesh? Could these be realised? What is the reality of the situation?

CBSE TEST PAPER-01
Class 12 English Core (Lost Spring)
Answers

  1. Saheb is looking for something valuable or amusing in the garbage dumps. He is in Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi. Saheb has come from Bangladesh. He came with his mother in 1971. His house was set amidst the green fields of Dhaka. Storms swept away their fields and homes. So they left it.
  2. The author offers an explanation that it was a custom not to wear chappals or shoes for the poor children of this country. Generally, children shirk wearing footwears as they find them encroaching their freedom. However, the author quickly mentions that calling it a tradition could be just a means of justification of the utter destitution.
  3. No, Saheb was not happy working at the tea-stall. As per Saheb he got eight hundred rupees and three-square meals. However, the carefree look on his face was lost and the work seemed a burden to him. The steel canister seemed heavier than his plastic bag. He was no longer his own master. He had become a servant at the tea-stall.
  4. Saheb was looking at the game of tennis being played at the club. He told the writer that he liked the game. He was very intent at playing the game, though it was out of his reach. He was happy to get even the tennis shoes with a hole.
  5. The initial routine of Saheb was to roam around in the streets of Seemapuri and collect rags scrounging through the garbage. Subsequently, Saheb got employed in a tea stall. He was not happy as he had lost his freedom. But he had no choice in the matter.
  6. When the writer asked one of the boys why was he not wearing chappals, his reply was that his mother did not take it down from the shelf. However, another boy replied in his place and said that he would have thrown them away even if she had brought them down.
  7. There are many factors that cause migration of people from villages to cities. Some villagers voluntarily move to the cities in search for jobs and better civic and health facilities, etc. Others are forced to migrate when natural disasters like flood, storm, drought, famine, etc. destroy their houses and properties. History has records of large scale migrations caused by wars. Also, many villagers who are better off than others manage to send their children to study in the cities. In the story ‘Lost Spring’, Saheb and his family migrates to Seemapuri from Dhaka after their houses were destroyed in the storms.
  8. Saheb took up the job because it provided a secure earning during the month. It also provided him three-square meals every day giving him ample to meet his needs. When the writer met him, he was carrying a milk canister. She asked him if he liked the job. Though the writer did not mention the reply given by Saheb, but she conveyed his unhappiness by saying that he had lost the carefree look which was there when he was engaged in rag picking. She said that the canister he was carrying looked heavy, but the plastic bag was very light. The canister belonged to the tea shop owner whereas bag was his.
  9. Saheb was very fond of the game of tennis. He used to watch the game very intently being played at the neighborhood club. He would stand out and watch the game. He would go in when no one was there. The watchman would allow him to use the swing. He was very happy to wear tennis shoes. He told the writer that they were given to him by a boy who used to play in the club. Though the shoes were with a hole in one of them, it didn’t matter to Saheb as he was content wearing the shoes since he hadn’t owned one in all his life.
  10. There are no dreams of poor children like 'Saheb-e-Alam' and Mukesh except finding the means of survival. The parents of these children have no fixed income. They wage war against poverty and hunger everyday. For poor rag-pickers like Saheb, garbage is gold as it is the source of their daily bread and shelter. On the other hand, Mukesh from a family of poor bangle-makers of Firozabad tries to rise above their traditional occupation and dreams of becoming a motor mechanic. He doesn't dream big, he dares not cross his limitations even within his dreams. He wants to drive a car not an aeroplane, he thinks of joining a garage to fulfill his dream. He knows that garage was far away, yet decided to walk. He realises the reality and was willing to overcome the obstacles. Saheb ends up as a servant at a tea-stall at the cost of his freedom. Even of these children dream, they dream something practical that could be realised.