The Last Lesson questions and answers: Ncert Solutions for Class 12 English flamingo Chapter 1 The Last Lesson
| Textbook | Ncert |
| Class | Class 12 |
| Subject | English flamingo |
| Chapter | Chapter 1 |
| Chapter Name | The Last Lesson ncert solutions |
| Category | Ncert Solutions |
| Medium | English |
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The Last Lesson Think As you Read:
Question 1: What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Answer 1: That day Franz was expected to be prepared with participles because M. Hamel had said that he would question them on participles. Franz did not know anything about participles.
Question 2: What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Answer 2: Usually when the school began there would be a lot of commotion. But that day everything was quiet and it appeared to be like a Sunday, but the students were at their places and Mr. Hamel was walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm.
Question 3: What had been put up on the bulletin-board?
Answer 3: For the last two years all the bad news had come from the bulletin-board. An order had come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The Germans had put up this notice on the bulletin-board.
The Last Lesson Think As you Read:
Question 1: What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
Answer 1: The order from Berlin brought all the routine hustle-bustle of the school life to a stand-still. The teacher, M. Hamel, became more sympathetic to his students and taught his lessons with more patience. The students became more attentive in their classes. The villagers, who were sitting at the usually empty back benches and had come to show their respect and gratitude to M. Hamel, regretted not going to school more than they did. The order 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.
Question 2: How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change ?
Answer 2: Franz came to know that it was the last lesson in French that M. Hamel would give them. From the next day they will be taught only German. Then he felt sorry for not learning his lessons properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier were now old friends. His feelings about M. Hamel also changed. He forgot all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
The Last Lesson UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT:
Question 1: The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Answer 1: In the story, Alsace and Lorraine, which were French regions, came under control of Prussia. They got a rule from Berlin that said only German should be taught in schools there. This made everyone realize how important their own language was. The school became very quiet, like a church on a peaceful Sunday. Students worked quietly, and the only noise was the sound of pens writing. Even villagers came and quietly sat with the students in class. Everyone seemed sad.
M. Hamel, the teacher whom the students didn’t usually like, made them feel sorry. Franz wished he had listened more to him. M. Hamel was also sad about leaving, but he explained things patiently that day like never before. It was like he wanted to share everything he knew before leaving. His words captured the mood well when he said, “We all have a lot of things to be ashamed of.’
Question 2: Franz thinks, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?” What could this mean?
Answer 2: Franz’s question about pigeons singing in German shows that while humans can control some things, like rules and laws, they can’t control everything, especially nature. It means that people have limits to their power and can’t have total control over everything in the world. Just like the Prussians can make rules about schools and learning, they can’t take away people’s pride in their country and language.
The Last Lesson Talking about the text:
Question 1: “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.”
Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?
Answer 1: Mother tongue helps a person to express his feelings and thoughts most lucidly and intimately. Conquerors try to subdue and control the people of the enslaved territory by enforcing many measures such as use of force to crush dissent and imposing their own language on them.
From time immemorial the victorious nations have imposed their own language on the conquered people and taken away their own language from them. The Romans conquered many parts of Europe and replaced the local languages by their own language— Latin. Later on Spanish, Pourtuguese, Italian and French developed from Latin. The Muslim invaders imposed Arabic and Persian in the countries of Asia overpowered by them. In many Arab countries the local religion and language have disappeared. In India, a new language Urdu developed from the mixture of Persian and Hindi.
Question 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
Answer 2: 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 interaction. At the workplace and educational organisations, English or the link 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 socialize, 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 the language. People must, even, try to visit their native places at regular intervals in order to stay close to their roots.
Question 3: Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what ‘linguistic chauvinism’ means?
Answer 3: People often take quite enough pride in their native tongues and repress others. This is incorrect as we should treat all languages and cultures equally.
Linguistic chauvinism refers to a person’s excessive pride in their native language. Being overly aggressive and fanatical about one’s language is referred to as carrying pride.
The Last Lesson Working with words:
Question 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 origin of the following words.
Tycoon, tulip, logo, bandicoot, barbecue, veranda, robot, zero, ski, trek
- Answer 1:
- Tycoon – It originated from the Japanese word “taikun”, which means great lord.
- Barbecue – It originated from the Caribbean word “barbacoa”, which refers to a wooden structure used to cook.
- Meat – It has Germanic origins.
- Zero – The word zero has French origins but it originated from Arabic ‘cipher’.
- Tulip – It originated from French but has its origins in Persian dulband means flower shaped turban.
- Veranda – It originated from Hindi ‘baranda’ which means railing.
- Ski – Norwegian ‘snowshoe’
- Logo – It has its origins in Greek logos means ‘imprint’
- Robot – It originated from Czech word ‘forced labour’
- Trek – South African word means to travel in Dutch
- Bandicoot – Telugu word pandikokku, means pig-rat
Question 2: 2. Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meanings.
(a) “What a thunderclap these words were to me!”
The words were ___________________
(i) loud and clear.
(ii) startling and unexpected.
(iii) pleasant and welcome.
(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.
(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.
(d) I never saw him look so tall.
M. Hamel _____________________
(a) had grown physically taller.
(b) seemed very confident.
(c) stood on the chair.
Answer 2:
- (a) (ii) unexpected and quite startling.
- (b) (ii) are attached to their language.
- (c) (iii) early enough.
- (d) (b) seemed very confident.
The Last Lesson Read this sentence:
M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles.
In the 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 five sentences from the story with this form of verb and say why this form has been used.
Answer: Five sentences in the past perfect tense:
1. For the last two years, all our bad news had come from there- the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding officer, I thought to myself. In this sentence, first the information had come and then Franz thought to himself.
2. I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen.
In this sentence, first he got scared and then he tried to get to the desk without being seen.
3. I had to open the door and go in before everybody.
In this sentence, he had to open the door before getting in.
4. When people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they had key to their prison.
In this sentence, they had their key to prison before they were enslaved.
5. But he had the courage to hear every lesson to the very last.
This tense has been used because in the story, the incidents are happening at two different points of time. In this sentence, he had the courage and so, he listened to the lesson to the end.
The Last Lesson Writing:
Question 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.
Answer 1:
NOTICE
ABC Public School
Essay Competition
On 05 – 09 – 2017, the school will host an essay competition. “The Qualities I Admire in My Favorite Teacher” is the topic. All interested students should contact the undersigned by September 2, 2017.
Secretary,
School Literary Club,
Your name
Question 2: Write a paragraph of about 100 words arguing for or against having to study three languages at school.
Answer 2: At school it is quite logical to teach three languages. One should learn one’s mother tongue. It is the backbone of any nation and it should be kept with us. The other languages may be a national language that helps to integrate a country by increasing understanding. There should also be a place for an international language.
It helps the students to know the world where they are born, grow up. Now-a-days learning of an international language is considered a positive point everywhere. In this age of globalization we must adapt our students to the global environment. So, it is necessary to have the knowledge of three languages. The study of three languages only compliments and supplements one another.
Question 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.
Answer 3: Yes, I had to change my opinion about my mathematics teacher. He was a strict and disciplined person. He made us practise mathematics so seriously that I felt annoyed at his method. He used to give us much advise not to fear the subject. Sometimes, he scolded the entire class for neglecting their subject. At first it seemed to me that he wanted us to read mathematics only. He behaved as if we had no other subjects to study.
But now, I understand why he behaved in that way. Though he was rough to us there always was an under current of love in his heart. I have also made out that to be good at mathematics we must work hard and everyday, through his hard endeavour he wanted to remind of this fact. Therefore, my heart is now full of respect for him.