CBSE Class 12 English Extract-Based Questions: Prose, FREE PDF Download

CBSE Class 12 English Extract-Based Questions From Prose: Are you also a student looking to practise for the half-yearly English exam? Don’t worry, as we have got you covered. Students can refer to this article to find extract-based questions from prose. Extract-based questions can be asked from various chapters, like Deep Water and The Rattrap or many other chapters too. When students understand the meaning of the extract, they will be easily able to find the answers. 

CBSE Class 12 English Extract-Based Questions: Prose

1. The Last Lesson – Alphonse Daudet

Extract:
“My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”

Questions:

1. Who is the speaker of these words?

2. What order had come from Berlin?

3. How did the order affect the people of Alsace?

4. Why does the speaker urge the students to be attentive?
   

Answers:

1. The speaker is M. Hamel, the French teacher.

2. The order was to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

3. The order shocked and saddened the people as they were losing their language and identity.

4. Because it was their last French lesson, and he wanted them to value their language.

2. Lost Spring – Anees Jung

Extract:
“I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note. 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 garbage has a meaning different from me.”

Questions:

1. Who is the speaker here?

2. What does he find in the garbage?

3. What does garbage mean for the elders?

4. What does garbage mean for the children?

Answers:

1. The speaker is Saheb, a ragpicker boy.

2. He sometimes finds coins and notes.

3. For the elders, garbage means a means of livelihood.

4. For the children, garbage means hope of finding something valuable.

3. Deep Water – William O. Douglas

Extract:
“At last I felt released—free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and brush aside fear.”

Questions:

1. What fear is the author referring to?

2. How did he overcome this fear?

3. What lesson did he learn from this experience?

4. Which quality of the author is revealed here?

Answers:

1. The fear of drowning in water.

2. He overcame it through training, courage, and determination.

3. He learnt that fear itself is a hindrance and can be defeated with willpower.

4. His perseverance and determination.

4. The Rattrap – Selma Lagerlöf

Extract:
“The world had never been kind to him, so it gave him unwanted joy to think ill of it in this way. It became a cherished pastime of his during many dreary plodding.”

Questions:

1. Who is “him” in this extract?

2. What was the world’s attitude towards him?
   How did he find joy despite hardships?

3. What philosophy of life did he develop?

Answers:

1. “Him” refers to the rattrap peddler.

2. The world was unkind and harsh towards him.

3. He found joy in thinking ill of the world.

4. He believed the world was like a rattrap, tempting people with material things.

5.  Indigo – Louis Fischer

Extract:
“The peasants were ready to follow Gandhi into any battle he might lead.”

Questions:

1. Which battle is being referred to here?

2. Why were the peasants ready to follow Gandhi?

3. What qualities of Gandhi made him their leader?

4. What lesson can we learn from this?

Answers:

1. The Champaran movement.

2. Because Gandhi was fighting for their rights and justice.

3. His courage, simplicity, and truthfulness.

4. That unity and non-violence can defeat injustice.

6.  Poets and Pancakes – Asokamitran

Extract:
“In all instances of frustration, however, you will always find the director tearing his hair out in a corner. He did not have the energy to fight back, and he would invariably lose his temper.”

Questions:

1. Who is referred to as “the director” here?

2. Why was he tearing his hair out in frustration?

3. What does this reveal about the work environment at Gemini Studios?

4. Who is the author of Poets and Pancakes?

Answers:

1. The director was the head of Gemini Studios’ film production team.

2. He was frustrated due to constant issues and chaos on the film set.

3. It reveals that the studio’s environment was stressful and disorganised.

4. The author is Asokamitran.
   

7.  The Interview – Christopher Silvester

Extract:
“Since its invention, the interview has become a commonplace of journalism. Today, almost everybody, literate or illiterate, knows what an interview is.”

Questions:

1. According to the extract, what has become a commonplace of journalism?

2. Who is the author of The Interview?

3. What does this extract suggest about the popularity of interviews?

4. Why is the interview considered important in journalism?
   

Answers:

1. The interview.

2. Christopher Silvester.

3. Interviews are widely recognised and understood by all sections of society.

4. Because it is an important tool to gather information, express opinions, and understand personalities.

8.  Going Places – A.R. Barton

Extract:
“She was always lost in her dreams of a better life. She wished to rise above the ordinary and wanted to achieve something big.”

Questions:

1. Who is “she” in the above extract?

2. What kind of life did she dream of?

3. How was her thinking different from her friend Jansie?

4. What is the main theme of Going Places?

Answers:

1. “She” refers to Sophie, the main character of the story.
   She dreamed of a better, glamorous life full of success and recognition.

2. Sophie was imaginative and unrealistic, while Jansie was practical and grounded.

3. The story highlights the gap between youthful dreams and harsh realities.

Students can practise from these extracts from every chapter. We will keep adding more extract-based questions so that the students can score well. 

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