THE LAST LESSON
1. The moral that Alphonso Daudet wants to bring out through the lesson is …
a. Not to put off things that one can do
b. Old order changed to new
c. One should accept everything that happens
d. Teachers should be respected.
2. The last lesson taught by M. Hamel symbolizes …
a. Learning of German in Alsace and Lorraine
b. Loss of language and freedom
c. The value of the language the French didn’t pay much attention to
d. Domination of Prussians
3. M. Hamel blamed himself of …
a. Not being strict
b. Having procrastinated.
c. Giving students a holiday at times
d. Not being a responsible teacher
4. The narrator of ‘The Last Lesson’ is ..
a. M. Hamel
b. Franz
c. Alphonso Daudet
d. None of them
5. Franz was late to school and feared …
a. Being teased by his friends
b. Being punished by the leader
c. Being rebuked rapped by the teacher.
d. Being sent out of school
6. The last two years the people of Alsace and Lorraine had seen …
a. News about wars in the notice board
b. News about German language being imposed in schools.
c. News about French no more being taught in schools.
d. All the bad news in the notice board
7. Franz felt sorry for ..
a. Coming late to school
b. Not being prepared for the test
c. Not respecting his teacher
d. Not learning French when he had the opportunity.
8. The people of Alsace and Lorraine took for granted …
a. Prussian rule,
b. The school
c. Teachers
d. Time and school
9. The Last Lesson signifies …
a. Change of power
b. Change of government
c. Change in rules
d. Change of teachers
10.M. Hamel considered the French language the most beautiful because ..
a. It was his native language
b. He was teaching the language
c. He was talking to French people
d. It was the clearest and most logical language.
Read the extract given and answer the questions that follow:
I. I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. 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 looked so strange and solemn. But the thing
that surprised me was to see, on the back benches that were always
empty, the village people sitting quietly.
1. Why was the speaker frightened?
a. because he was late
b. scared of the Prussian soldiers marching
c. He was afraid of being rapped by the teacher’s ruler.
d. He was not prepared for the test.
2. The teacher was dressed in his formals for ..
a. An inspection
b. The last French lesson
c. His farewell
d. The prize day
3. The school seemed ..
a. Quiet
b. Solemn
c. Serious
d. All the above.
4. The villagers were sitting on the back benches because …
a. They had come to learn French.
b. They had come to express their gratitude and bid farewell to M.
Hamel.
c. The front benches were occupied.
d. They wanted to attend the last lesson.
II. Reading the bulletin, called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your
school in plenty of time!’’ I thought he was making fun of me and reached M.
Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
(a) Who was called ‘bub’?
(i) M. Hamel
(ii) villagers
(iii) Franz
(iv) postmaster
(b) Identify the tone in which the speaker said the words, “Don’t go so fast, bub;
you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!’’?
(i) sarcastic
(ii) humorous
(iii) depressive
(iv) cheerful
(c) M. Hamel taught the children............................
(i) German (ii) French (iii) Russian (iv) English
III. Then, from one thing to another, M. Hamel went on to talk of the French
language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world — the
clearest, the most logical; 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.
(a) Which is M.Hamel’s language?
(i) French (ii) German (iii) English (iv) Spanish
(b) Identify the literary device in ’from one thing to another’.
(i) metaphor (ii) personification (iii) allusion (iv) hyperbole
(c) What is Hamel asking the people to do for their language?
(i) forget their language
(ii) begin learning German
(iii) guard their language
(iv) learn their language
IV. Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine
Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were
sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that
they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for
his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country
that was theirs no more.
(a) Who was called ‘Poor man’?
(i) Hauser (ii) the Frenchman (iii) M. Hamel (iv) blacksmith
(b) What kind of feelings were expressed by the villagers when they sat for the
last class?
(i) remorseful (ii) joyful (iii) anxious (iv) confused
(c) Why did the old men come for the class?
(i) to honor the Hamel’s services
(ii) to learn the French last time
(iii) to see the commotion in the school
(iv) to Bid farewell to the teacher
(d) Why did the country belong to them no more?
(i) because they were leaving the country
(ii) because Germans had taken over their country
iii) because it was destroyed in the war
(iv) because their country was merging into some other country
