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 is the author of ‘Lost Spring’?
(A) Kamala Das(B) Umberto Eco(C) Anees Jung(D) William Douglas - 1 markWhere did Saheb’s family originally live before coming to Delhi?
(A) Near Chittagong hills(B) Near Kathmandu, Nepal(C) Near Lahore, Pakistan(D) Near Dhaka, Bangladesh - 1 markIn what year did the squatters of Seemapuri come from Bangladesh?
(A) 1991(B) 1965(C) 1971(D) 1984 - 1 markWhat job does Saheb finally take up towards the end of Part I?
(A) Working at a tea stall(B) Working at the tennis club(C) Working in a garage(D) Selling newspapers - 1 markFirozabad, the setting of Part II, is famous as the centre of India’s:
(A) Steel industry(B) Leather industry(C) Glass-blowing (bangle) industry(D) Cotton textile industry - 1 markAbout how many children does the chapter say work in Firozabad’s glass furnaces?
(A) 20,000(B) 2,000(C) 50,000(D) 10,000
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): Saheb becomes happier after he starts working at the tea stall.
Reason (R): He now earns a fixed wage of ₹800 and all his meals.
(A) A is true, R is true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) A is true, R is true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true but R is false(D) A is false but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): Mukesh wants to become a motor mechanic and learn to drive a car.
Reason (R): His family has worked as bangle makers in Firozabad for generations.
(A) A is true, R is true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) A is true, R is true, but R is not the correct explanation of 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 the character in Column A with the correct description in Column B.
Column A: 1. Saheb 2. Mukesh 3. Savita 4. Mukesh’s grandmother
Column B: (i) Wants to be a motor mechanic (ii) Solders pieces of glass beside an elderly woman (iii) Says, “It is his karam, his destiny” (iv) Works at a tea stall, loses his freedom
(A) 1-iv, 2-i, 3-ii, 4-iii(B) 1-i, 2-iv, 3-iii, 4-ii(C) 1-ii, 2-iii, 3-i, 4-iv(D) 1-iii, 2-ii, 3-iv, 4-i - 1 markMatch the literary device in Column A with its example from the chapter in Column B.
Column A: 1. Hyperbole 2. Metaphor 3. Simile 4. Irony
Column B: (i) “her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine” (ii) “Garbage to them is gold” (iii) “Web of poverty” (iv) Saheb-e-Alam meaning “lord of the universe”
(A) 1-i, 2-ii, 3-iii, 4-iv(B) 1-ii, 2-iii, 3-i, 4-iv(C) 1-iii, 2-iv, 3-i, 4-ii(D) 1-iv, 2-i, 3-ii, 4-iii
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markRead the two statements and choose the correct option.
Statement I: Saheb’s family left Dhaka because storms swept away their fields and homes.
Statement II: Saheb’s family came to Delhi in search of better schools for their children.
(A) Both Statement I and Statement II are true(B) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(C) Both Statement I and Statement II are false(D) Statement I is false, Statement II is true - 1 markRead the two statements and choose the correct option.
Statement I: The young men of Firozabad have a strong leader guiding them to organise against the middlemen.
Statement II: The vicious circle in Firozabad includes only middlemen, with no role played by police, bureaucrats or politicians.
(A) Statement I is true, Statement II is false(B) Statement I is false, Statement II is true(C) Both Statement I and Statement II are true(D) Both Statement I and Statement II are false
5 Arrange in the Correct Order
Arrange in the Correct Order
- 1 markArrange the following events from Part II in the order they happen in the chapter.
(1) The author meets Savita soldering bangles
(2) Mukesh says he wants to be a motor mechanic
(3) The author asks the young men why they don’t form a cooperative
(4) Mukesh takes the author to his home
(A) 1, 2, 3, 4(B) 2, 4, 1, 3(C) 4, 3, 2, 1(D) 3, 1, 4, 2 - 1 markArrange the following by the number the chapter gives for each, from the smallest to the largest.
(1) Children working in Firozabad’s glass furnaces
(2) Garbage collectors and scrap buyers interviewed in Delhi (Writing section)
(3) Ragpickers living in Seemapuri
(A) 2, 3, 1(B) 3, 1, 2(C) 1, 2, 3(D) 2, 1, 3
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 markSaheb’s name, ______, means “lord of the universe.”
(A) Anees Jung(B) Mukesh Kumar(C) Ali Baba(D) Saheb-e-Alam - 1 markBangles symbolise ______ , the auspiciousness of marriage, for an Indian woman.
(A) karam(B) swaraj(C) suhaag(D) sampatti
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markWhich of these is the odd one out?
(A) Mukesh’s father(B) Mukesh’s grandmother(C) The gatekeeper of the tennis club(D) Savita
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
“I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note,” Saheb says, his eyes lighting up. When you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don’t stop scrounging, for there is hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.
- 1 markWho is speaking in this passage, and what has he found in the garbage?
(A) Mukesh; a broken bangle(B) Saheb; a pair of shoes(C) The author; a lost coin(D) Saheb; a rupee, even a ten-rupee note
Passage
“It is his karam, his destiny,” says Mukesh’s grandmother, who has watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. “Can a god-given lineage ever be broken?” she implies. Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles — in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad.
- 1 markWhat has happened to the grandmother’s own husband, as mentioned in this passage?
(A) He has become a successful trader(B) He has taught himself to read(C) He has gone blind from polishing bangle glass(D) He has left the family
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 markRead the statements and choose the option with the correct True/False combination.
(a) Saheb’s family came from near Dhaka.
(b) Ration cards let Seemapuri’s residents get their names on voters’ lists.
(c) Seemapuri has running water and proper drainage.
(d) Saheb is happier after he starts working at the tea stall.
(A) (a) T (b) T (c) F (d) F(B) (a) T (b) F (c) T (d) F(C) (a) F (b) T (c) F (d) T(D) (a) F (b) F (c) T (d) T
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (C) Anees Jung wrote ‘Lost Spring’; it is an excerpt from her book Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood.
- (D) Saheb’s home was set amid the green fields near Dhaka; storms swept away their fields and homes, so the family left for Delhi.
- (C) The chapter states the squatters of Seemapuri came from Bangladesh back in 1971.
- (A) Saheb starts working at a tea stall down the road, carrying a steel canister, paid ₹800 and all his meals.
- (C) The chapter states Firozabad is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry, famous for its bangles.
- (A) The chapter states that if enforced, the law could free ‘all those 20,000 children’ from the furnaces.
Assertion-Reason
- (D) A is false: his face “has lost the carefree look”, and the book says “Saheb is no longer his own master!” (the canister belongs to the owner, not him). R is a true fact from the chapter, so the answer is (D).
- (B) Both statements are true, but R does not explain A: the family’s long history in bangle making is the very thing Mukesh wants to escape, not the reason for his new ambition. The answer is (B).
Match the Following
- (A) Saheb ends up at the tea stall (iv); Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic (i); Savita solders pieces of glass beside an elderly woman (ii); the grandmother says, “It is his karam, his destiny” (iii).
- (B) “Garbage to them is gold” is hyperbole (ii); “web of poverty” is a metaphor (iii); the tongs-of-a-machine line uses “like,” so it is a simile (i); the name Saheb-e-Alam is ironic (iv).
Statement-Based Questions
- (B) Statement I is true (the chapter gives this exact reason). Statement II is false: the chapter says they came “looking for gold,” not for schools.
- (D) Both statements are false: the chapter says there is no leader among them, and the vicious circle it describes includes sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians together, not middlemen alone.
Arrange in the Correct Order
- (B) Mukesh first states his dream (2), then takes the author home (4), then the author describes Savita soldering bangles beside an elderly woman (1), and later the cooperative question comes up (3).
- (A) More than 100 garbage collectors and scrap buyers were interviewed in Delhi (2), Seemapuri is home to 10,000 ragpickers (3), and the law could free “all those 20,000 children” in Firozabad’s furnaces (1).
Fill in the Blanks
- (D) The chapter gives Saheb’s name as Saheb-e-Alam; he does not know that it means “lord of the universe.”
- (C) The chapter uses the word “suhaag” specifically for this meaning of the bangles.
Odd One Out
- (C) Mukesh’s father, Mukesh’s grandmother and Savita all belong to Part II’s Firozabad bangle-making world. The gatekeeper of the tennis club belongs to Part I (Saheb’s story in Seemapuri), so it is the odd one out.
Passage-Based Questions
- (D) The passage is Saheb speaking about finding coins in the garbage.
- (C) The passage states the grandmother “has watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles.”
True / False
- (A) (a) True, matches the chapter. (b) True, exactly as the chapter states. (c) False, Seemapuri has no such facilities. (d) False, Saheb loses his freedom and is not happier. The pattern T,T,F,F is option (A).
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