NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo–prose Chapter 1 - The Last Lesson

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Text Book Questions :-

Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.

(a) In great dread of —having a lot of fear
(b) Counted on—depended on
(c) Thumbed at the edges—slightly damaged at the corners
(d) In unison—all together, combined
(e) A great bustle—lot of noise
(f) Reproach ourselves with—blaming oneself.

Think as you Read :-

1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?

Ans. Franz was expected to be prepared with the lesson on participles for school that day.

2. What was unusual about school for Franz that day?

Ans. Franz noticed the absence of the routine hustle and bustle caused by the opening and closing of desks,repeating of the lessons and rapping of the teacher’s ruler on the table. The usual hustle-bustle was replaced by a strange stillness that was usually characteristic on a Sunday morning in a school.

3. What had been put up on the bulletin board?

Ans. A notice to the general public regarding an order from Berlin was put up at the bulletin board. It stated thatfrom then onwards, only German as to be taught to students in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

4. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?

Ans. The order from Berlin brought the routine hustle-bustle of school life to a standstill. M. Hamel taught hislessons with patience and became more sympathetic to his students. The students became more attentive in their classes. The villagers, who were sitting as usual at the empty back benches had come to show their respect and gratitude to M. Hamel, and regretted about not going to school more often. The order had also brought about a great change in the feelings of the people towards their country and their native language. There was a general sadness about not being able to utilise the opportunities of learning French when it was easily accessible.

5. How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?

Ans. Franz was shocked to hear whatever M. Hamel told the students about the order from Berlin. He was shocked to learn that it was their last French lesson. He remembered nothing about his teacher’s strictness and crankiness. He had developed a fondness for M. Hamel and he became more sympathetic towards him. He was troubled at the very idea of being separated from him forever. He understood the pain and agony his teacher was undergoing. For him, his school too, now, carried a different meaning. His books and lessons seemed to be old friends to him whom he couldn’t give up. He now realised with pain how much French meant to him and regretted not being attentive in his classes earlier. Suddenly, he felt that the ‘difficult concepts’ had never been difficult.

Understanding the Text :-

1. The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?

Ans. The crowd of villagers at and around the bulletin-board, the silent presence of the villagers in the class, the silence in place of the routine hustle and bustle of the school, the emotions gripping M. Hamel and Franz, representing the teacher and the student community respectively, were all indicators of the realisation of the importance of their language to them. In the story, M. Hamel said that people realise the importance of somebody or something in their lives very often only when they lose it or it is snatched away from them. Similarly, it was the order from Berlin that made the people realise the importance of their language for them.

2. Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could this mean?

Ans. This sentence could possibly mean that however hard the authorities try to embed German language in the culture of Alsace and Lorraine, the natural status of French, for them, will remain unchanged. French flows in the air and the entire place is imbued with its effect. Even though they train students in German, the basic mode of communication would remain unchanged like the cooing of the pigeons.

Talking about the Text :-

1. “When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.” Can you think of examples in history where conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?

Ans. Some examples of the native language being taken away from its people and/or imposition of the language of the conqueror are:

(a) Portuguese becoming the lingua franca of Angola.
(b) English imposed on the various Celtic people.
(c) Spanish imposed on the Basques and the Catalans.
(d) Turkish imposed on the Kurds.

2. What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you think they can keep their language alive? For example:

Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in Mumbai
Kannadigas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata

Ans. A linguistic minority in a state does not have as much liberty to exercise linguistic skills as the natives of the state. They initially try to learn the jargons in order to cope with the day-to-day life activities and finally begin to understand the native language with regular interactions At the workplace and educational organisations, English or any other language, helps a lot to cope up with the work and learning process. But, when it comes to understanding the basic norms of the society, in order to socialise, one does face a sort of linguistic barrier during communication.
To keep their language alive, the linguistic minorities can form small communities where they can celebrate their festivals as per their traditions. Moreover, they can continue to speak their native language at their homes in order to make their children learn and get used to the language. People must visit their native places at regular intervals in order to stay close to their roots.

3. Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what ‘linguistic chauvinism’ means?

Ans. Yes, it is possible to carry pride in one’s language too far if one is fond of one’s own language at the cost of others. Indifference towards other languages is not healthy for any democracy like India.
When the sense of belonging to one’s own language crosses the thin line between ‘pride’ and ‘arrogance’, it becomes linguistic chauvinism. If people feel good about their language and traditions, they must have a tolerance for other languages too. Everybody has the right to follow their religion and speak the language as per their desire. In fact, it is disparaging to distort the names of communities, for example, Bongs for Bengalis, Gujju for Gujratis, etc.

Working with words :-

1. English is a language that contains words from many other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is now a world language. For example:

Petite—French
Kindergarten—German
Capital—Latin
Democracy—Greek
Bazaar—Hindi

Find out the origins of the following words :

Tycoon
Tulip
Logo
Bandicoot
Barbecue
Veranda
Robot
Zero
Ski
Trek

Ans. Word Origin

Tycoon — Japanese (taikun)
Tulip — French (tulipe)
Logo — German (logos)
Bandicoot — Telugu (pandikokku)
Barbecue — Spanish (barbacoa)
Veranda — Portuguese (‘veranda’)
Robot — Czech (Robota)
Zero — Arabic (‘cipher’)
Ski — Norwegian
Trek — Dutch (trekken)

2. Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meaning.

(a) ‘What a thunderclap these words were to me!’ The words were ___________

(i) loud and clear
(ii) startling and unexpected
(iii) pleasant and welcome

Ans. (ii) startling and unexpected

(b) ‘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.’
It is as if they have the key to the prison as long as they ___________

(i) do not lose their language
(ii) are attached to their language
(iii) quickly learn the conqueror’s language

Ans. (ii) are attached to their language

(c) Don’t go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time. You will get to your school ___________

(i) very late
(ii) too early
(iii) early enough

Ans. (iii) early enough

(d) I never saw him look so tall. M. Hamel ___________

(i) had grown physically taller
(ii) seemed very confident
(iii) stood on the chair

Ans. (iii) seemed very confident

Noticing Form :-

Read this sentence
M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles. In this sentence above, the verb form ‘had said’ in the first part is used to indicate an ‘earlier past’. The whole story is narrated in the past. M. Hamel’s ‘saying’ happened earlier than the events in this story. This form of the verb is called the Past Perfect. Pick out fiv e sentences from the story with this form of the verb and say why this form has been used.

Ans. In the above sentences, two activities of past, occurring at two different points of time in the past, are indicated. The one that happens earlier takes the ‘had’ + past form of verb (V3), while the one that follows it takes the simple past form of verb (V2).

Sentences in Past Perfect form	Reason/Explanation
I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning.	The protagonist decided to depend on the commotion to sneak into the classroom before he encountered the quietness at the school.
Not till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our teacher had put on his beautiful green coat … prize days.	Getting over the fright happened before, he noticed his teacher’s green coat.
Hauser had brought an old primer, thumbed at the edge, and he held it open on his knees with his great spectacles lying across the pages.	Of the two actions, Hauser’s bringing of the old primer happened before he held it open on his knees.
It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more.	The feeling of regret comes after they realise they did not go to school more than what they did.
My books, that had seemed such a nuisance … were old friends now that I couldn’t give up.	The books were a nuisance earlier. It is only later that the protagonist talked about them in a different light.

Writing :-

1. Write a notice for your school bulletin board. Your notice could be an announcement of a forthcoming event, or a requirement to be fulfilled, or a rule to be followed.

Ans.

DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, PANIPAT CITY

NOTICE

October 4, 20XX

SPORTS DAY

The school has decided to celebrate its Annual Sports Day on October 14, 20XX. All those students who are interested to participate in the various sports activities are requested to give their names to their respective class teachers latest by 6 October 20XX in the following format.
Name:
Class & Section:
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
Activity 3:
A copy of the list of sports activities has been sent to your class teacher. Please note that no student is allowed to participate in more than three sport activities.
Rahul Sinha,
Head Boy

2. Write a paragraph of about 100 words arguing for or against having to study three languages at school.

Ans. Studying three languages

For :
Knowledge of additional language gives an individual an edge over others. It makes a person more competitive in today’s fast-paced world as it helps the person to cope with the day-to-day life activities. There is a brighter chance to get better employment opportunities with fluency in a foreign language. As in the fast developing world of today, in which most of the countries are heading towards globalisation, multi-national companies send professionals for on-site projects to other countries. Similarly, delegates from other countries come to interact with people of our country. An individual having command of a foreign language can work as a translator, interpreter or tourist guide, etc. The practice of learning three languages at school will also help in preservation of culture and tradition through the native language.

Against :
Today, students are already burdened with two languages .There is no need for a third language as one does not have any sort of natural inclination for foreign language. A foreign language is not of much use in daily life in non-native countries and gradually gets forgotten. In fact, any foreign language should not be forced on people who do not need it. A language can be taught only to those who demand it. So much of time and effort should not be wasted on something of no clear use.

3. Have you ever changed your opinion about someone or something that you had earlier liked or disliked? Narrate what led you to change your mind.

Ans. Facts are sometimes stranger than fiction. Many occurrences in life come as life changers. Such an experience took place some days back which led me to change my opinion about my class teacher Ms. Anju Verma. Overnight the titan was changed into loving and caring mother full of human kindness. Now, whenever I remember how much I disliked her and invented nicknames and played pranks on her in order to tease her, I feel ashamed of myself. It so happened that one night I had a terrible dream in which I saw all my family members met with an accident. I cried and wept so much that my roommates found it hard to console me and I had fever. They reported the matter to my class teacher the very next morning. My teacher took me under her care and consoled me. She made me realise that it was only a nightmare and I need not worry about it. She comforted me a great deal and I am still grateful to her for her help.

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