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Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year English study materials
Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year English study resources

Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year English practice questions

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Question 1Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

The prose piece 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' in the Tamil Nadu Second Year English textbook is a first-person account of two Italian boys. Who is its author?

  1. George Orwell
  2. A. G. Gardiner
  3. Christiaan Barnard
  4. A. J. Cronin Correct answer.

Explanation

A. J. Cronin, the Scottish physician turned novelist, narrates how he met Nicola and Jacopo while touring Italy. Orwell and Gardiner contribute other prose essays to the same textbook, while Barnard wrote 'In Celebration of Being Alive'.

Question 2Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'Two Gentlemen of Verona', Nicola and Jacopo sell strawberries, polish shoes and run errands from dawn to dusk. What does the narrator finally learn is the reason for their relentless work?

  1. They are saving to emigrate to America and set themselves up in business there.
  2. They are repaying a debt left behind by their father, who was killed in the war.
  3. They must pay the hospital bills for their elder sister, who has tuberculosis of the spine. Correct answer.
  4. They want to buy back the family villa that was sold after their father's death.

Explanation

Their sister Lucia is being treated for tuberculosis of the spine, and the brothers refuse to beg, so they earn every rupee of her treatment themselves. This revelation is what makes the narrator revise his first, impatient impression of them.

Question 3Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

The narrator calls Nicola and Jacopo 'two gentlemen' although they shine shoes and run errands in ragged clothes. Which reading best explains the title?

  1. The boys belong to an old Veronese family, and the title simply states their social rank.
  2. The title names a quality of character: self-respect, sacrifice and courtesy. Correct answer.
  3. The title refers to Shakespeare's play, which the boys perform for tourists in Verona.
  4. The title is ironic, since their ragged dress makes them look like beggars from beginning to end.

Explanation

Gentlemanliness in the story is measured by conduct rather than by dress or income: the brothers refuse to beg, care for Lucia and treat the narrator courteously. The Shakespearean echo works as a contrast, showing that true nobility appears in humble guise.

Question 4Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'A Nice Cup of Tea', Orwell lays down his rules for a proper brew. What does he say about the pot?

  1. It should be a glass pot, so that the colour can be judged by eye.
  2. It should be a warmed china or earthenware pot. Correct answer.
  3. It should be a metal pot, so that the liquor stays hot longer.
  4. It should be an aluminium pot, from which the tea is poured into china cups.

Explanation

Orwell insists on china or earthenware because he believes metal gives the tea a metallic taste, and he adds that the pot must be warmed before the water goes in. The fussiness of such rules is itself part of the essay's comedy.

Question 5Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Orwell devotes eleven numbered rules to making tea and calls the drink 'one of the mainstays of civilisation'. What is the effect of this manner in 'A Nice Cup of Tea'?

  1. It is nostalgic, recalling a lost world in which tea was drunk only by the wealthy.
  2. It is solemn and devotional, presenting tea as a religious observance to be conducted in silence.
  3. It is mock-serious: a small domestic habit is given national importance. Correct answer.
  4. It is sarcastic, mocking British readers for caring about so trivial a subject.

Explanation

The humour arises from the mismatch between a homely subject and Orwell's legislative tone, complete with numbered rules and talk of civilisation. He is not sneering at tea drinkers; the affection for the habit is real, and that is what makes the exaggeration amusing.

Question 6Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

'In Celebration of Being Alive' is by Dr Christiaan Barnard. Outside literature, what is he best known for?

  1. Describing the circulation of the blood
  2. Discovering penicillin
  3. Performing the first human-to-human heart transplant Correct answer.
  4. Developing the polio vaccine

Explanation

Barnard was the South African cardiac surgeon whose team carried out the world's first human-to-human heart transplant in Cape Town in 1967. That medical experience lends authority to his writing about patients and their will to live.

Question 7Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Barnard's title is 'In Celebration of Being Alive' rather than, say, 'On the Prevention of Death'. Which statement best captures the argument the title announces?

  1. Survival is largely a matter of luck, and celebrating it is therefore a superstitious habit.
  2. Happiness depends on health, so the sick have the most to teach us about suffering.
  3. Medicine exists to serve life, and gratitude for survival outranks grief over what has been lost. Correct answer.
  4. Doctors should stop trying to prolong life artificially and instead let patients die peacefully and with dignity.

Explanation

As a surgeon, Barnard treats the safeguarding of life as the end that justifies his profession's effort, and he finds in his patients a lesson about celebrating existence itself. The title points to gratitude for being alive, not to resignation about dying.

Question 8Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'The Accidental Tourist', Bryson describes spilling drinks, snapping a shoelace and setting off alarms. How does the essay generate its humour?

  1. By blaming airline and hotel staff for the mishaps that befall him
  2. By contrasting his efficient travel routine with the chaos of foreign cities
  3. By turning his own clumsiness into elaborate catastrophe and letting the reader laugh at him Correct answer.
  4. By using heavy irony to suggest that travelling abroad is not worth the trouble

Explanation

The comedy is self-deprecating: Bryson inflates his ordinary accidents into disasters and never pretends to competence. Because the narrator is the victim of his own hands, the reader laughs with him rather than at the places he visits.

Question 9Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Gardiner argues that some parts of life are properly the individual's own affair and others are not. Which of these would he place in the first category, where society has no business to interfere?

  1. The direction in which traffic moves along a one-way street
  2. The speed at which a car is driven through a village
  3. The side of the road on which a pedestrian walks at night
  4. The colour of a person's tie and the form of his religion Correct answer.

Explanation

For Gardiner, dress, worship and private opinion belong to the individual alone, while conduct on the road affects other people's safety and must therefore be regulated. The rule of the road is his working model for the second kind of case.

Question 10Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'On the Rule of the Road', Gardiner uses the phrase well beyond traffic. What does 'the rule of the road' stand for in his argument?

  1. The voluntary surrender of a little private liberty so that everyone may enjoy the rest Correct answer.
  2. The habit of courtesy that polite people show to strangers in public places
  3. The natural right of the stronger to decide how public space is used
  4. The written law of the land, which citizens must obey whether they agree or not

Explanation

The road is a small-scale model of society: drivers and walkers give up a fraction of their freedom so that movement stays possible for all. Gardiner extends this to social life generally, where each person's liberty must be trimmed by the liberties of others.

Question 11Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In A.J. Cronin's 'Two Gentlemen of Verona', what illness is the boys' sister Lucia suffering from?

  1. Typhoid fever and pneumonia
  2. Rheumatic fever and anaemia
  3. Influenza and bronchitis
  4. Tuberculosis of the spine Correct answer.

Explanation

The narrator learns that Lucia, trained as a singer, is in hospital with tuberculosis of the spine; the brothers work to pay for her care. This is the central reason for their relentless errands.

Question 12Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'A Nice Cup of Tea', which tea does Orwell recommend as the best for a proper brew?

  1. Japanese green tea from Kyoto
  2. Ceylon or Indian tea Correct answer.
  3. Chinese tea from the highlands
  4. African black tea from Kenya

Explanation

Orwell's first rule is to use Indian or Ceylon tea, not Chinese tea, because he finds the latter lacking in strength. He values a strong, invigorating cup.

Question 13Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'In Celebration of Being Alive', what disabilities do the two children have whom Barnard observes?

  1. One is deaf and the other is mute
  2. One is legless and the other blind Correct answer.
  3. One has no arms and the other is deaf
  4. Both are confined to wheelchairs

Explanation

Barnard sees a legless boy being pushed in a wheelchair by a blind boy; their laughter and play transform his view of suffering. The scene is the emotional centre of the essay.

Question 14Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'Two Gentlemen of Verona', what had happened to Nicola and Jacopo's father?

  1. He had been killed in the war Correct answer.
  2. He had died of influenza in the winter
  3. He had abandoned the family and left Verona
  4. He had emigrated to America to find work

Explanation

The boys' father was killed in the war, and their mother later died of influenza; this left the brothers to care for Lucia. Their orphaned status sharpens the pathos of their labour.

Question 15Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

According to Orwell's rules in 'A Nice Cup of Tea', what should the tea be drunk from?

  1. A silver goblet
  2. A china cup Correct answer.
  3. A Thermos flask
  4. A glass tumbler

Explanation

Orwell insists on a china cup rather than a mug, because china preserves the heat and flavour of the tea. He regards the vessel as part of the ritual of a proper cup.

Question 16Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Which phrase best describes the tone Bill Bryson adopts in 'The Accidental Tourist'?

  1. Formal detachment from his mishaps
  2. Righteous indignation at modern travel
  3. Bitter sarcasm directed at airline staff
  4. Self-deprecating humour about his own clumsiness Correct answer.

Explanation

Bryson turns his repeated travel disasters into comedy by mocking himself rather than blaming others. The humour depends on his exaggerated account of his own ineptitude.

Question 17Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'On the Rule of the Road', which example does Gardiner use of an activity that may be acceptable in private but not in public?

  1. Playing a trombone in the street Correct answer.
  2. Reading a newspaper on a train
  3. Keeping a dog in a flat
  4. Wearing a hat indoors

Explanation

Gardiner uses the trombone player to show that personal liberty must stop where it becomes a public nuisance. The example illustrates the difference between private freedom and social responsibility.

Question 18Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

What conclusion does Barnard draw from the laughing children in 'In Celebration of Being Alive'?

  1. Happiness is impossible for the seriously ill and disabled
  2. Medical science can eventually cure every disability
  3. Life remains worth living despite severe suffering Correct answer.
  4. Children do not really understand the nature of pain

Explanation

The children's joy despite their disabilities leads Barnard to celebrate life itself, not merely its comforts. He concludes that the human spirit can find meaning even in suffering.

Question 19Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Why is the title 'The Accidental Tourist' ironic?

  1. Bryson refuses to call himself a tourist at all
  2. Bryson has never travelled outside his home country
  3. Bryson is writing about a tourist who is literally involved in a car accident
  4. Bryson is a professional travel writer who is routinely inept as a traveller Correct answer.

Explanation

The title implies someone who becomes a tourist by chance, but Bryson travels professionally and still cannot manage the simplest travel tasks. The irony lies in the gap between his occupation and his incompetence.

Question 20Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Gardiner calls the rule of the road a paradox because it requires people to...

  1. treat strangers with more courtesy than their own families
  2. obey traffic laws only when a policeman is watching
  3. follow ancient customs that no longer have any purpose
  4. surrender some freedom to protect everyone's freedom Correct answer.

Explanation

The paradox is that liberty is preserved only when individuals restrain their own desires for the sake of public order. Gardiner extends this principle from traffic to the whole of social life.

Question 21Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

The title of A.J. Cronin's prose lesson 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' deliberately echoes the title of a play by which writer?

  1. R.K. Narayan
  2. George Bernard Shaw
  3. John Galsworthy
  4. William Shakespeare Correct answer.

Explanation

The title alludes to Shakespeare's comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Cronin borrows the phrase to dignify two poor Italian boys whose conduct proves them gentlemen.

Question 22Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'A Nice Cup of Tea', what does Orwell finally say about adding sugar to tea?

  1. It is essential for a strong brew
  2. It should be avoided: it spoils the flavour Correct answer.
  3. It should be replaced with honey
  4. It should be added only after the milk

Explanation

Orwell's final rule is that tea should be drunk without sugar. He holds that sugar masks the flavour of a good brew rather than improving it.

Question 23Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Which prose lesson in the prescribed textbook is a self-mocking first-person account of a travel writer's small disasters?

  1. A Nice Cup of Tea
  2. On the Rule of the Road
  3. In Celebration of Being Alive
  4. The Accidental Tourist Correct answer.

Explanation

The Accidental Tourist is Bill Bryson's first-person essay about his own travel mishaps. The other three titles belong to essays on tea, liberty and illness.

Question 24Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona', why does Nicola politely decline the narrator's offer of money and help?

  1. He wants the narrator to employ Jacopo instead
  2. He is too proud to accept charity Correct answer.
  3. He believes the hospital will refuse outside payment
  4. He suspects the narrator is a policeman

Explanation

Nicola's refusal is a matter of self-respect: the brothers prefer to earn money for Lucia's treatment rather than accept charity. The narrator admires this dignity.

Question 25Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Orwell advises taking the teapot to the kettle rather than the kettle to the teapot. What does this rule chiefly protect?

  1. The strength of the tea leaves
  2. The colour of the porcelain pot
  3. The water's boiling temperature Correct answer.
  4. The freshness of the milk

Explanation

Orwell wants boiling water to reach the leaves. Carrying the pot to the kettle keeps the water hotter than carrying the kettle to the pot.

Question 26Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'In Celebration of Being Alive', how does Barnard's response to the two disabled children develop?

  1. From fear to professional curiosity
  2. From amusement to indifference
  3. From pity to admiration of their joy Correct answer.
  4. From anger to acceptance of hospital rules

Explanation

Barnard first notices the children's disabilities, but their laughter and play change pity into admiration. He sees that being alive can be celebrated even in suffering.

Question 27Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

A reader applies Gardiner's 'rule of the road' to a library. Which action best fits his principle?

  1. Reading aloud to prove that knowledge should be shared
  2. Lowering one's voice so other readers are not disturbed Correct answer.
  3. Borrowing every book one wants before others can
  4. Rearranging the shelves to suit one's own system

Explanation

Gardiner's principle is that personal freedom stops where it harms others. Quiet reading in a library is a social courtesy that protects everyone's equal use of the room.

Question 28Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'The Accidental Tourist', why do Bryson's accounts of spilled drinks and snapped shoelaces remain comic rather than distressing?

  1. He blames airline staff for every mishap
  2. He describes them with scientific detachment
  3. He presents them as moral lessons for readers
  4. He exaggerates them and mocks himself Correct answer.

Explanation

Bryson's comedy depends on self-deprecating exaggeration. He turns ordinary embarrassments into absurd set pieces instead of treating them as serious misfortunes.

Question 29Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'On the Rule of the Road', Gardiner begins with the familiar example of traffic. What is the main rhetorical purpose of this opening?

  1. To link a familiar road rule to social liberty Correct answer.
  2. To argue that all rules should be abolished
  3. To show that pedestrians are irresponsible
  4. To prove that traffic laws matter most

Explanation

The traffic example gives readers a familiar rule before Gardiner extends it to liberty. The concrete case makes his abstract argument about social order easier to accept.

Question 30Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Read Orwell's eleven tea rules as social commentary. What is the most defensible reading of their elaborate seriousness?

  1. They satirise the fussy dogmatism around a domestic ritual Correct answer.
  2. They argue that only professional chefs should make tea
  3. They attack the British habit of drinking tea altogether
  4. They prove that tea-making is an exact science with no cultural meaning

Explanation

Orwell inflates small preferences about tea into firm numbered laws. The exaggerated seriousness gently mocks the confident dogmatism of English domestic life.

Question 31Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In A.J. Cronin's 'Two Gentlemen of Verona', what are Nicola and Jacopo doing when the narrator first encounters them?

  1. Shining shoes near a hotel
  2. Carrying luggage for tourists
  3. Selling newspapers at a station
  4. Selling strawberries by the roadside Correct answer.

Explanation

The narrator first meets the brothers on the outskirts of Verona while they are selling strawberries. This opening encounter makes him curious about their hard work. Later he sees them selling newspapers and shining shoes.

Question 32Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In George Orwell's 'A Nice Cup of Tea', what kind of teapot does he say the tea should be made in?

  1. A metal pot that retains heat
  2. A glass pot for showing colour
  3. A china or earthenware pot Correct answer.
  4. A silver pot for serving guests

Explanation

Orwell's second rule specifies a teapot, preferably one made of china or earthenware. He values the material because it affects the brew, and he also insists that the pot be warmed first.

Question 33Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'In Celebration of Being Alive', what is Christian Barnard's profession, which shapes his perspective on the hospital children?

  1. A heart surgeon Correct answer.
  2. A school teacher
  3. A travel writer
  4. A newspaper editor

Explanation

Barnard was a pioneering heart surgeon, and his medical background makes his encounter with the disabled children especially striking. He contrasts their joy with his own knowledge of suffering and illness.

Question 34Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

After the narrator first buys strawberries from Nicola and Jacopo, which two jobs does he later see them doing in Verona?

  1. Selling flowers and cleaning cars
  2. Guiding tourists and washing windows
  3. Selling newspapers and shining shoes Correct answer.
  4. Delivering milk and sweeping shops

Explanation

The narrator notices the brothers working at several humble jobs; after strawberries, he sees them selling newspapers and shining shoes. This pattern reveals their relentless effort to earn money for their sister's treatment.

Question 35Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Orwell rejects a flat teacup in favour of a cylindrical one mainly because the cylindrical cup...

  1. makes the tea look stronger
  2. keeps the tea hotter for longer Correct answer.
  3. holds more milk comfortably
  4. is easier to wash after use

Explanation

Orwell argues that a flat cup lets the tea cool too quickly, while a cylindrical cup retains heat better. His concern is practical: the temperature of the tea affects its taste and strength.

Question 36Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'On the Rule of the Road', Gardiner treats the rule of the road as a model of liberty because it shows that personal freedom must be...

  1. balanced against the freedom of others Correct answer.
  2. protected by strict traffic laws
  3. exercised without any external limit
  4. granted only to responsible drivers

Explanation

Gardiner uses the rule of the road to argue that liberty in a community is not absolute; each person's freedom must respect the freedom of others. The rule works through mutual restraint, not mere legal punishment.

Question 37Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

In 'The Accidental Tourist', Bryson's accounts of spilled drinks and snapped shoelaces mainly present him as...

  1. a careless critic of modern travel
  2. a heroic survivor of real danger
  3. a man defeated by small tasks Correct answer.
  4. a calm expert in foreign travel

Explanation

Bryson's humour depends on his persona as a competent travel writer who cannot manage ordinary life. The petty disasters expose the gap between his public expertise and private clumsiness.

Question 38Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

When Barnard first observes the two disabled children laughing in 'In Celebration of Being Alive', how does he respond?

  1. He is amused and joins their game
  2. He is indifferent to their condition
  3. He is astonished by their joy Correct answer.
  4. He is angry at the hospital staff

Explanation

Barnard is initially puzzled because the children's severe disabilities seem incompatible with such happiness. Their laughter challenges his assumptions and begins his reassessment of his own troubles.

Question 39Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

Cronin calls Nicola and Jacopo 'gentlemen' chiefly because, despite their poverty, they display...

  1. ambition to become rich businessmen
  2. shame about their family's condition
  3. dignity, sacrifice and self-respect Correct answer.
  4. obedience to the narrator's advice

Explanation

The boys work at humble jobs without begging or complaining, and they spend their earnings on their sick sister. Their gentle conduct, not their social class, earns them the title.

Question 40Prose - prescribed textbook prose lessons (themes, character, author context, inference)

What is Gardiner's central argument about liberty in 'On the Rule of the Road'?

  1. Liberty is a privilege reserved for educated citizens.
  2. Liberty means accepting necessary limits for the common good. Correct answer.
  3. Liberty belongs to the individual and has no social dimension.
  4. Liberty is valuable only when the state removes all restraints.

Explanation

Gardiner distinguishes between personal liberty and social liberty; in public life, freedom must be exercised with regard to others. The rule of the road exemplifies this voluntary acceptance of limits for the sake of order.

Question 41Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Shakespeare's 'All the World's a Stage,' how many ages of human life does Jaques enumerate in his famous speech?

  1. Four
  2. Five
  3. Ten
  4. Seven Correct answer.

Explanation

Jaques divides human life into seven ages: the infant, the schoolboy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the pantaloon and second childishness. Each age is presented through a typical role and costume. The number seven gives the speech its familiar shape and its sense of a complete cycle.

Question 42Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Edwin Muir's 'The Castle,' what causes the fortress to fall to the enemy?

  1. A storm that destroys the walls
  2. A famine that starves the garrison
  3. A breach made by enemy cannon
  4. Treachery by the warder inside Correct answer.

Explanation

The soldiers believe the castle is impregnable, but the poem reveals that the gate was opened from inside. The warder lets the portcullis down for the foe, so the fortress falls through treachery rather than siegecraft. Muir's point is that internal disloyalty defeats even the strongest walls.

Question 43Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Longfellow's 'A Psalm of Life,' which line best states the speaker's central advice?

  1. "Dust thou art, to dust returnest"
  2. "Life is but an empty dream"
  3. "Let us, then, be up and doing" Correct answer.
  4. "Art is long, and Time is fleeting"

Explanation

The speaker rejects the idea that life is an empty dream and calls instead for purposeful action. 'Be up and doing' is the poem's clearest imperative, urging steady work and noble achievement. The other quotations are used within the argument but do not state its central advice.

Question 44Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Toru Dutt's 'Our Casuarina Tree,' the creeper winding around the tree is described through which comparison?

  1. A river of green flowing to the sky
  2. A huge python winding round the trunk Correct answer.
  3. A bridal veil draped over the boughs
  4. A necklace of pearls hung on the bark

Explanation

The creeper is likened to a 'huge python' winding round and round the rugged trunk. The simile gives the tree a strange, almost serpentine life and prepares for its later association with memory and grief. It is one of the poem's most memorable visual images.

Question 45Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Tennyson's 'Ulysses,' what does the line 'I am a part of all that I have met' most nearly mean?

  1. He feels detached from the people he once knew.
  2. He believes travel has made him superior to others.
  3. He regrets the many places he has visited.
  4. His experiences have become inseparable from his identity. Correct answer.

Explanation

Ulysses says that everything he has encountered has entered into his own nature, so his identity is inseparable from his experience. The line supports the poem's celebration of an active, outward-looking life. It is not a claim of superiority or detachment.

Question 46Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In 'The Hollow Crown' from Richard II, the lines 'For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground / And tell sad stories of the death of kings' express which tone?

  1. Light-hearted and playful
  2. Elegiac and mournful Correct answer.
  3. Militant and defiant
  4. Angry and accusatory

Explanation

Richard asks his followers to sit on the ground and tell sad stories about the deaths of kings. The invitation is to collective mourning and reflection on mortality rather than to resistance. The tone is therefore elegiac, not defiant or playful.

Question 47Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In 'All the World's a Stage,' the statement that 'all the men and women merely players' works chiefly as which poetic device?

  1. Metaphor, because the world is called a stage Correct answer.
  2. Personification, because players act like people
  3. Simile, because it uses like or as
  4. Alliteration, because of repeated m sounds

Explanation

The opening line calls the world a stage and all men and women 'merely players,' an implied comparison without like or as. This is metaphor, and it is extended through the seven ages of the speech. Simile would require an explicit word of comparison.

Question 48Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In 'The Castle,' which theme is most clearly developed by the contrast between the fortress's strong walls and its eventual fall?

  1. The glory of dying honourably on the battlefield
  2. The power of poetry to preserve heroic deeds
  3. The vulnerability of strong defences to betrayal within Correct answer.
  4. The vanity of military engineering in the face of nature

Explanation

Muir emphasises that the walls, turrets and battlements were secure, yet the castle fell because the warder opened the gate. The contrast makes internal treachery, rather than external force, the real danger. The poem therefore warns that no defence can protect a community from disloyalty within.

Question 49Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In 'A Psalm of Life,' the image of leaving 'footprints on the sands of time' is meant to urge the reader to do what?

  1. Write poetry that will preserve the poet's name
  2. Abandon ambition because time erases every trace
  3. Live so that noble deeds inspire later generations Correct answer.
  4. Travel widely before death overtakes youth

Explanation

The footprints are left by 'Lives of great men' whose example heartens a later 'forlorn and shipwrecked brother.' Longfellow therefore urges actions whose example inspires those who come after. The image answers the fear that life might leave no lasting trace.

Question 50Poetry - prescribed poems (central idea, poetic devices, tone, paraphrase, appreciation)

In Toru Dutt's 'Our Casuarina Tree,' why does the speaker love the tree 'beyond all measure' despite its scars?

  1. Because it recalls her childhood and lost companions Correct answer.
  2. Because it is the oldest tree in the village
  3. Because it shelters travellers from the monsoon
  4. Because it produces the finest fruit in the whole garden

Explanation

The tree is dear to the poet because it is bound up with memories of her childhood and of companions she has lost. Its scarred trunk and the creeper's coil matter less than the recollections it holds. The poem moves from description to elegy, making the tree a memorial.