THE LAST LESSON BY ALPHONSE DAUDET

PREPARED BY: Vinay Dubey

Competency Based Questions
Directions: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow:
1.For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were
chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the Prussian soldiers were drilling.
(a) Who is ‘l' in the given extract?
(i) M. Hamel (ii)One of the elders present in the class (iii)The narrator (iv) None of the above
(b) Why does 'l' say 'I thought of running away'?
(i) He was sick (ii) He had not learnt his lesson (iii)He had an urgent piece of work (iv)None of the above
© Who were drilling at the back of the saw mill?
(i) Franz (ii) Officers (iii) Prussian soldiers (iv) None of the above
(d) Who is the author?
(e)Why was 'l'in a hurry?
(f)Give a synonym of edge'.
2. What a thunderclap these words were to me! Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the townhall!(CBSE
2018)
(a)' Who is the speaker of the words which were a 'thunderclap'?
(i) Franz (ii) M. Hamel (iii) Hauser (iv) The blacksmith
(b) Choose the antonym of put up'.
(i) Build (ii) Erect (iii) Create (iv) Ruin
© Who does 'me' in the above lines refer to?
(d) Which words were a 'thunderclap' for the person?
(e)What had been put up at the town-hall?
(f) Give the meaning of the word wretches'.
3. When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had
come from there-the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding officer-and I thought to myself, without
stopping, "What can be the matter now?" Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, wachter, who was
there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, called after me.
(a) Where was the crowd?
(i) Near the church (ii) In the market place (iii) In front of the bulletin-board (iv) None of the above
(b) Who passed the town Hall?
(i) Franz (ii) M Hamel (iii)The blacksmith Watcher (iv) None of the above
(c) Why was the bulletin-board an attraction to the crowd?
(i) There were beautiful pictures pasted on it (ii) It had the list of winners in the competition
(iii) For the last two years all bad news had come from it (iv) None of the above
(d) Who called after the narrator?
(e) Give an antonym of 'apprentice.
(f) What was the blacksmith doing?
3. Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of
desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better, and the teacher's great,
ruler rapping on the table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen;
but of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning.
(a) What was so unusual in the school as observed by Franz?
(i) The opening and closing of desks (ii) Lessons repeated in unison (iii) Ruler rapping on the table (iv) It was all still
(b) What was M. Hamel doing?
(i) Sitting quietly (ii) Shouting at the students (iii) Rapping his ruler (iv)Walking up and down
(c) What did Hamel carry under his arm?
(i) Books (ii) Files (iii) Iron ruler (iv) None of the above
(d) Give a synonym of commotion.
(e)What was the narrator relying on?
(f) What does 'rapping' mean?
5. Not till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled
shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on inspection and prize days. Besides, the
whole school seemed so strange and solemn. But the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that
were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three-cornered hat, the former
mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides.
(a) Who is the speaker here?
(i) M. Hamel (ii) Franz (iii) Hauser (iv) None of these
(b) What did the narrator notice after 'getting over his fright'?
(i) The back benches were occupied by the children (ii)The old Hauser was writing something
(iii) M. Hamel was in his special dress (iv) None of the above
(c) Why do you think M. Hamel wore his special dress?
(i) It was the annual day (ii)It was the inspection day (iii) It was Christmas (iv) It was his last lesson to the class
(d) What is the name of the lesson?
(e) Give a synonym of Fright'.
(f) What was it that surprised Franz the most?
6. "Bah! I've plenty of time. I'll learn it tomorrow." And now you see where we've come out. Ah, that's the great trouble
with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you. 'How is it;
you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?' But you are not worst, poor
little Franz. We've all a great deal to reproach ourselves with."
(a) What does 'we've come out' imply?
(i) Become free (ii) Attainment (iii) Result (iv) None of the above
(b) What does she' refer to in the extract?
(i) Franz's mother (ii) A girl student (iii) Alsace (iv) None of these
(c) What do you think is the trouble with Alsace?
(i) It has been taken over by Prussia (ii) It is in the habit of 'postponing things till tomorrow'
(iii) It cannot speak french language (iv) None of the above
(d) Give a synonym of 'reproach'.
(e) Who is the author?
(f) What does 'pretend' mean?
7…….that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to
their language it is as if they had the key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar and read us our lesson. I was amazed
to see how well I understood it.
(a) How does M. Hamel explain the french language to the students?
(i) It was the most beautiful language in the world (ii) It is easy to learn it
(iii) It is better than German (iv) None of the above
(b) Why does Franz say 'I was amazed to see'?
(i) His teacher did not scold him like other days (ii) The class was sitting quietly
(iii) He understood the lesson so well (iv) None of the above
© What is the synonym of the word 'astonished'? Find from the given extract.
(i) Guard (ii) Enslaved (iii) Amazed (iv) None of the above
(d) What must 'we' guard?
(e) Who is 'he'?
(f) Give an antonym of 'enslaved'.
 THE LAST LESSON BY ALPHONSE DAUDET
PREPARED BY: Vinay Dubey
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Q 1. Franz was in great dread of a scolding because:
a. his teacher did not love him b. his uniform was always shabby
c. he had not learnt his lesson d. None of the above
Q 2. Why does Franz think of running away and spending the day out of doors? (Tick the false answer)
a. It was so warm, so bright! b. The Prussian soldiers were drilling
c. He had not learnt the participles d.He was injured on the way
Q 3. What did Franz notice on his way to school?
a. A snake charmer b.A crowd in front of the bulletin-board c.Prussian musicians d.None of the above
Q 4. "Don't go so fast, bub; you'll get to your school in plenty of time". What does this sentence speak of wachter the
blacksmith's intention for Franz?
a. He is concerned about Franz b. He is making fun of Franz
c. He warns Franz against having a bad fall d. None of the above
Q 5. "What a thunder clap these words were to me" which were the words that shocked and surprised little Franz?
a. The school is going to be closed b. The new teacher was to arrive the following day to teach German
c. Prussia has taken over France d.None of the above
Q 6. "This is your last French lesson". How did Franz react to this declaration of M. Hamel?
a. He jumped with joy b. Long Live France c. God save France d. None of the above
Q 10. Concluding his last lesson by writing "Vive La France!' on the blackboard shows that M. Hamel:(CBSE Sample paper 2020)
a. was overwhelmed with emotions b. wanted to distract all attending the class that day
c. was keen on not leaving the country d. wanted to teach French participles through it
11. Onhiswaytoschool, Franz says that he had the strength to resist and chose to hurry off to school. The underlined phrase
suggests that Franz was: (CBSE Sample Paper 2021)
a.hesitant b. threatened c. tempted d. repentant
12."Ihadcounted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen." In the light of Franz's statement select the option
that rightly brings out his intention. (CBSE 2021, Term-1)
a. He tried to avoid his friends b. He tried to cheat his teacher M. Hamel
c. He did not want to face the villagers in the class d. He wanted to escape M. Hamel's scolding
FILL IN THE BLANKS
Q1. Your parents were not ..............enough to have you learn.
Q2. After the grammar, we had a lesson in..............
Q3. My books, that had seemed such a..............a while ago.
Q4. It was so funny to hear him that we all wanted to..............and cry.
Q5. Then he stopped and leaned his---------against the wall
Q6. M. Hamel had been there in the same place for forty years. (True/False)
Q7. All at once the church clock struck twelve. (True/False)
8. M. Hamel had said that he would question us on gerunds. (True/False)