20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in the common exam-style shapes. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markWho wrote “On the Face of It”?
(A) Pearl S. Buck(B) Kalki(C) Anees Jung(D) Susan Hill - 1 markWhat literary form is “On the Face of It”?
(A) A travelogue(B) A one-act play(C) A poem(D) A short story - 1 markWhat is Derry’s real name, which he says he hates?
(A) David(B) Derrick Lamb(C) Derek(D) Denny - 1 markWhat is Derry’s exact age?
(A) Thirteen(B) Fourteen(C) Twelve(D) Fifteen - 1 markWhat caused the disfigurement on one side of Derry’s face?
(A) A car accident(B) Fire(C) A dog bite(D) Acid - 1 markWhat nickname do local children give Mr Lamb?
(A) Old Lamb(B) Tin-Man(C) Lamey-Lamb(D) Peg-Leg Lamb - 1 markIn Mr Lamb’s parable, how does the fearful man die?
(A) A bus runs him over(B) He slips on a banana skin(C) A picture falls off the wall onto his head(D) Lightning strikes him
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Derry claims he knows what people think of him, even when they do not say it.
Reason (R): Derry says, “I know. I can see,” and, asked what he sees, answers, “What they think.”
(A) A and R are both true, and R correctly explains A(B) A and R are both true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Mr Lamb is deeply troubled by being called “Lamey-Lamb.”
Reason (R): The nickname was given to him because he lost his real leg in the war.
(A) A and R are both true, and R correctly explains A(B) A and R are both true, but R does not explain A(C) A is true, but R is false(D) A is false, but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) Mr Lamb (ii) Derry (iii) Derry’s Mother (iv) The man in the parable
List II: (a) Killed by a falling picture (b) Forbids the garden visit (c) Has a tin leg (d) Has a burned face
(A) i-c, ii-d, iii-b, iv-a(B) i-d, ii-c, iii-a, iv-b(C) i-b, ii-a, iii-d, iv-c(D) i-a, ii-b, iii-c, iv-d - 1 markMatch List I with List II.
List I: (i) The weed-garden argument (ii) The parable of the fearful man (iii) “What kind of a world would that be?” (iv) “People are never just nothing. Never.”
List II: (a) Rejects segregating people who are different (b) A label doesn’t change what something truly is (c) Hiding from life doesn’t protect you from it (d) Every person you meet matters, even briefly
(A) i-b, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d(B) i-d, ii-a, iii-c, iv-b(C) i-c, ii-b, iii-d, iv-a(D) i-a, ii-d, iii-b, iv-c
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Derry’s mother says she forgives him: “It’s bound to make you feel bad things….and say them.”
Statement II: Derry himself states that his wish has nothing to do with his face.
(A) Statement I is false, Statement II is true(B) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(C) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(D) Statement I is true, Statement II is false - 1 markConsider the following statements.
Statement I: Mr Lamb has never had any friends and lives in total isolation.
Statement II: Mr Lamb claims to have “Hundreds” of friends who visit his garden freely.
(A) Statement I is false, Statement II is true(B) Both statements are true, and Statement II explains Statement I(C) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I(D) Statement I is true, Statement II is false
5 Arrange in the Correct Order
Arrange in the Correct Order
- 1 markArrange these events from Scene One in the order they happen.
1. Derry gives his name as “Derry”
2. Mr Lamb tells the parable of the fearful man
3. Derry climbs over the garden wall
4. Derry promises, “I’ll be back”
(A) 2-1-3-4(B) 1-2-3-4(C) 3-2-1-4(D) 4-3-2-1 - 1 markArrange these events in the order they occur across the whole play.
1. Mr Lamb falls from the ladder
2. Derry’s mother forbids him from returning
3. Derry and Mr Lamb meet for the first time
4. Derry promises to come back
(A) 3-2-4-1(B) 4-3-1-2(C) 1-2-3-4(D) 3-4-2-1
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markWhat word completes Mr Lamb’s opening warning to Derry: “Mind the ______!”?
(A) bees(B) apples(C) weeds(D) gate - 1 markComplete Derry’s line: “I got ______ all down that side of my face and it burned it all away.”
(A) oil(B) fire(C) chemicals(D) acid
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markThree of these are things Mr Lamb keeps or grows in his garden. Which one is NOT mentioned in the play?
(A) A pet dog(B) Crab apples(C) Bees(D) Sunflowers
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
Mr Lamb: You’re a boy who came into the garden. Plenty do. I’m interested in anybody. Anything. There’s nothing God made that doesn’t interest me. Look over there…. over beside the far wall. What can you see?
Derry: Rubbish.
Mr Lamb: Rubbish? Look, boy, look…. what do you see?
Derry: Just…. grass and stuff. Weeds.
Mr Lamb: Some call them weeds. If you like, then…. a weed garden, that. There’s fruit and there are flowers, and trees and herbs. All sorts. But over there…. weeds. I grow weeds there. Why is one green, growing plant called a weed and another ‘flower’? Where’s the difference. It’s all life…. growing. Same as you and me.
Derry: Rubbish.
Mr Lamb: Rubbish? Look, boy, look…. what do you see?
Derry: Just…. grass and stuff. Weeds.
Mr Lamb: Some call them weeds. If you like, then…. a weed garden, that. There’s fruit and there are flowers, and trees and herbs. All sorts. But over there…. weeds. I grow weeds there. Why is one green, growing plant called a weed and another ‘flower’? Where’s the difference. It’s all life…. growing. Same as you and me.
- 1 markAccording to the passage, what does Mr Lamb call the untidy area near the far wall?
(A) An orchard(B) A jungle(C) A weed garden(D) A wasteland - 1 markAccording to the passage, what is Mr Lamb’s argument for growing ‘weeds’ deliberately?
(A) Weeds are more profitable than flowers(B) “It’s all life…. growing. Same as you and me”(C) He is too old to remove them(D) Weeds keep pests away from the flowers
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (D) The play is written by the English author Susan Hill.
- (B) This chapter is a play, told almost entirely through dialogue and stage directions.
- (C) “Derry. Only it’s Derek…. but I hate that. Derry.”
- (B) Mr Lamb guesses “Thirteen or so”; Derry corrects him: “Fourteen.”
- (D) “Not in a fire. I got acid all down that side of my face and it burned it all away.”
- (C) Children call him “Lamey-Lamb” because of his tin leg; he says it “doesn’t trouble” him.
- (C) Despite locking himself away from every danger he feared, “a picture fell off the wall on to his head and killed him.”
Assertion-Reason
- (B) (B) A and R are both true, but R does not explain A: R restates A (“I can see” what people think) and gives no cause for it.
- (D) A is false: Mr Lamb says the nickname “doesn’t trouble” him. R is true: the nickname refers to his tin leg, lost in the war.
Match the Following
- (A) Mr Lamb has the tin leg (c), Derry has the burned face (d), the mother forbids the visit (b), and the parable’s man is killed by a falling picture (a).
- (A) The weed garden argues a label doesn’t change what something truly is (b); the parable argues hiding doesn’t protect you (c); “what kind of a world” rejects segregation (a); “never just nothing” argues every person matters (d).
Statement-Based Questions
- (C) Both statements are true, but Statement II does not explain Statement I. Derry’s reply, “It’s got nothing to do with my face and what I look like,” suggests his mother has linked his anger to his face, and he rejects that.
- (A) Statement I is false: nothing in the play supports total isolation. Statement II is directly stated: “Friends everywhere…. So have you.”
Arrange in the Correct Order
- (C) Derry climbs the wall first (3), Mr Lamb tells the parable in the middle of their talk (2), Derry gives his name later (1), and the scene ends with his promise to return (4).
- (D) They meet first in Scene One (3), Derry promises to return at the end of Scene One (4), his mother forbids it in Scene Two (2), and Mr Lamb falls in Scene Three (1).
Fill in the Blanks
- (B) The play’s opening line is Mr Lamb’s warning, “Mind the apples!”
- (D) Derry corrects Mr Lamb’s guess of “a fire”: “Not in a fire. I got acid all down that side of my face.”
Odd One Out
- (A) The play mentions crab apples, sunflowers and bees in Mr Lamb’s garden. No pet dog is ever mentioned.
Passage-Based Questions
- (C) The passage has Mr Lamb say, “a weed garden, that.”
- (B) Mr Lamb’s own words in the passage give this exact reasoning: weeds and flowers are both simply life, growing.
More for this chapter