Case Study Chapter 2 Lost Spring

Please refer to Chapter 2 Lost Spring Case Study Questions with answers provided below. We have provided Case Study Questions for Class 12 English for all chapters as per CBSE, NCERT and KVS examination guidelines. These case based questions are expected to come in your exams this year. Please practise these case study based Class 12 English Questions and answers to get more marks in examinations.

Case Study Questions Chapter 2 Lost Spring

‘The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in Firozabad. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.
“Why not organise yourselves into a cooperative?” I ask a group of young men who have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and forefathers. “Even if we get organised, we are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal,” they say. There is no leader among them, no one who could help them see things differently. Their fathers are as tired as they are. They talk endlessly in a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice.’

Question. Choose the term which best matches the statement, ‘The young men echo the lament of their elders’.
a) acceptance
b) reflection
c) reiteration
d) doubtfulness

Question. ‘Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.’ This shows that
a) the bangle makers are exhausted yet they are enterprising and have dreams
b) the drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot
c) the daily grind has stolen the dream of the bangle makers and made them dull
d) the bangle makers have been working so hard that there’s no time to dream.

 “Go to school,” I say glibly, realising immediately how hollow the advice must sound.
“There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they build one, I will go.”
“If I start a school, will you come?’’ I ask, half-joking.
“Yes,” he says, smiling broadly.

Question. Choose the most suitable meaning of ‘glibly’
a) Speaking persuasively but without sincerity.
b) Speaking confidently
c) Speaking with sincerity.
d) Inaudible

Question. Why did the advice seem hollow?
a) Because the writer had no powerful connection
b) Because the writer had no means to build a school
c) Because the writer wasn’t interested in the welfare of the poor children
d) Because the writer was poor

Question. “If I start a school, will you come?’’ – Why did the writer ask this ?
a) to check if Saheb was interested to go to the school
b) to show her superiority
c) to confirm his admission
d) to embarrass him

Question. Why did the boy smile broadly?
a) Couldn’t believe the writer’s offer
b) Happy at the prospect of attending a school
c) Knew that the writer was joking
d) None of the above

“I will learn to drive a car,’’ he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass- blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems. Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light.

Question. The phrase ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets…’ indicates that his dream wasa-
a) reality yet seemed distant.
b) Lost in sea of dust.
c) Illusory and indistinct.
d) Hanging in the dusty air

Question. “I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence highlights that Mukesh was
a) Determined and ambitious
b) Fearless
c) Hopeful
d) stern

Question. ‘None of them know that It is illegal for children like him.’ Here ‘it’ indicates
a) To make bangles
b) To make pots
c) To work in hazardous conditions
d) To dream big

Question. Where is the centre of India’s glass blowing industry?
a) Delhi
b) Mumbai
c) Firozabad
d) Amritsar

Question. Choose the literary device used in this line:
‘His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles.’
a) alliteration
b) simile
c) metaphor
d) personification

Question. What does Mukesh insist?
a) to be the boss of a factory
b) to be the owner of a car
c) to be independent
d ) none of the above

Question. Which of the following statements is not true?
a) People of Firozabad are working in the industry of bangle making for generations.
b) Majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
c) Children love to spend their time around the furnaces.
d) Firozabad is the major producer of bangles in the country.

Question. ‘….making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.’ This shows that:
a) It is the only industry in Firozabad.
b) A large number of bangles are made in Firozabad.
c) Bangles are made only in Firozabad.
d) none of the above

‘Food is more important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,” say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children 
grow up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is even more.’

Question. The phrase ‘transit homes’ refers to the dwellings that are ____.
a) Unhygienic
b) Inadequate
c) Fragile
d) Temporary

Question. Identify the figure of speech that is used in the ‘garbage to them is gold’
a) Metaphor
b) Simile
c) Synecdoche
d) Personification

Question. Choose the term that best matches the statement, ‘Food is more important for survival than any identity.’
a) Immorality
b) necessity
c) Obligation
d) Ambition

Question. What does ‘acquired the proportions of a fine art’ mean?
a) Rag picking has regained to its lost status.
b) A segment of rag pickers are skilled in fine arts.
c) Rag picking has attained the position of a skill.
d) Only a few people are expert in rag picking.

‘This morning, Saheb is on his way to the milk booth. In his hand is a steel canister. “I now work in a tea stall down the road,’’ he says, pointing in the distance. “I am paid 800 rupees and all my meals.” Does he like the job? I ask. His face, I see, has lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who owns the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his own master.’

Question. “Saheb is no longer his own master.’’ Because3
a) He is not a rag picker now
b) He has a steel canister.
c) He is a child labour now and working at a tea stall
d) None of the above

Question. ‘His face, I see, has lost the carefree look.’ As per the assumption of the author, Saheb is—-
a) Not burdened with responsibility
b) Burdened with responsibility
c) Burdened but without any responsibility
d) Not burdened but feels responsible

Question. The narrator wants to highlight the evil of—-
a) Child labour and exploitation
b) Poverty
c) Dowry
d) corruption

Question. Child labour is a crime under which article of Indian Constitution?
A) Article 26
b) Article 21 A
c) Article 24
d) Article 51 A

Question. The antonym of ‘carefree’ is _____.
a) Relaxed
b) Cheerful
c) Stress free
d) Distressed

‘She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya.” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime-that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard, says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have done is make a house for the family to live in.” Hearing him one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head!’

Question. She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes.’ This implies that-
a) She is married but has lost the charm in her eyes.
b) She is a married woman who has lost her grace and beauty.
c) Though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness.
d) She is a married woman who has lost her eyesight.

Question. What is the tone of the author in this passage?
a) Pessimistic.
b) Empathetic.
c) Sympathetic.
d) Optimistic.

“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.”

Question. What does the phrase ‘lighting up’ imply here?
a) Bright with excitement
b) Dark with sadness
c) Glowing with pride
d) Simmering with anger

Question. Choose the phrase that best summarises the meaning of garbage for adults and children:
a) Rural and urban
b) Theory and experiment
c) Reality and fantasy
d) Tradition and modernity

QuestionC. The mood conveyed in the above extract is ____.
a) Humorous
b) Melancholy
c) Mysterious
d) Peaceful

Question. Synonym of ‘survival’ is ____.
a) Extinction
b) Annihilation
c) Demise
d) Endurance

‘My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 rag-pickers.’

Question. Who was the ‘acquaintance’ talked about in the above lines?
a) Mukesh
b) Saheb
c) The narrator’s gardener’s son
d) Children of Seemapuri

Question. Why is Seemapuri miles away from Delhi?
a) It is a home to illegal immigrants
b) It is a home to poverty-stricken families
c) It lacks even the basic facilities
d) It is in the outskirts of Delhi

Question. As per the author, residents of Seemapuri lacks
a) occupation
b) humanity
c) proper sanitation
d) values

“Travelling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder
if this only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty”

Question. Who is ‘I’ in the given extract?
a) Anees Jung
b) Mukesh
c) Saheb
d) Grandmother

Question. What has often been seen by the author?
a) Children working in the tea stall
b) Children selling newspapers
c) Children walking barefoot on streets
d) Children working in bangle industry

Question. What explanation do people give for staying barefoot?
a) Lack of money
b) Religious barriers
c) Traditional barriers
d) One’s habit

Question. What is the author’s viewpoint towards people walking barefoot?
a) Due to poverty
b) Due to tradition
c) Due to unemployment
d) Due to religious barriers