Preparing for Class 12 English exams can feel overwhelming, especially when you have to hunt through multiple books, guides, and websites for Previous Year Questions (PYQs), model answers, and practice passages. That’s exactly why we’ve created this space for you.
Here, you’ll find all PYQs, model comprehension passages, and exam-ready answers for “Lost Spring” (for summary and themes, click here) . No subscriptions, no scattered resources — just everything in one convenient place.
Each passage and answer is prepared in clear, topper-level language that matches CBSE’s expectations. And here’s the best part: at the end of this post, you’ll find a special bonus question — and when you attempt it, we provide personalized feedback just for you.
So, get ready to study stress-free — because we’ve brought all the tools you need for success right to your fingertips.
Comprehension Passages
Passage 1
“Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage. Once I even found a ten-rupee note.” His eyes light 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.
One winter morning I see Saheb standing by the fenced gate of the neighbourhood club, watching two young men, dressed in white, playing tennis. “I like the game,” he hums, content to watch it standing behind the fence. “I go inside when no one is around.” “The gatekeeper lets me use the swing.”
Questions:
(i) MCQ:
What was the most valuable thing Saheb once found in the garbage?
(a) A silver coin
(b) A rupee note
(c) A ten-rupee note
(d) A gold chain
(ii) Answer the following question: (1 marks)
Q.- What does garbage mean to elders in Seemapuri?
(iii) Fill in the blank:
For Saheb, garbage is wrapped in __________.
(iv) True/False:
Saheb was allowed to play tennis with the men at the club.
(v) Short answer: (2 marks)
Q.- How does Saheb feel about tennis?
(vi) Vocabulary:
Find a word from the passage that means ‘searching through waste’.
Passage 2
“Firozabad is 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. Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for children to work in the glass furnaces with such high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light. The law exists only on paper.”
Questions:
(i) MCQ:
Firozabad is known for which industry?
(a) Textile
(b) Glass-blowing
(c) Leather
(d) Carpet weaving
(ii) Short answer (1 mark):
Q.- What is Mukesh’s family occupation?
(iii) Fill in the blank:
The law prohibiting child labour in glass furnaces exists only on __________.
(iv) True/False:
Children legally work in the glass-blowing industry of Firozabad.
(v) Short answer (2 marks):
Q.- What working conditions do children face in the glass-blowing industry?
(vi) Vocabulary:
Find the word from the passage which means ‘very dark and poorly lit’.
Answers:
Passage 1
(i)- (c) A ten-rupee note.
(ii)- For them, it is a means of survival.
(iii)- wonder
(iv)- False
(v)- He likes the game and feels content to watch it, though he can only use the swing when the club is empty.
(vi)- scrounging.
Passage 2
(i)- (b) Glass-blowing
(ii)- They are engaged in making bangles in Firozabad.
(iii)- paper
(iv)- False
(v)- Children work in high temperatures, in small, dingy, poorly lit rooms without air, which is hazardous to their health and eyesight.
(vi)- dingy
Answer the following questions in 30-40 words- (2 marks each)
Q.1 Why can the bangle makers not organize themselves into a cooperative?
A.- The bangle makers of Firozabad cannot organize into a cooperative because they are trapped by poverty, lack of awareness, and fear. They face exploitation from middlemen, sahukars, policemen, bureaucrats, and politicians. Any attempt at unity invites suppression, keeping them divided, helpless, and bound to generational exploitation.
Q.2 What does Anees Jung mean by the expression “Children becoming partners in survival”?
A.- By this expression, Anees Jung means that poverty forces children to share the burden of survival with their families. Instead of enjoying childhood or education, they work as ragpickers or bangle makers. Their labour ensures daily sustenance, making them unwilling yet essential contributors to family survival.
Q.3 Explain the sentence, “an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at night.”
A.- Anees Jung describes ragpicker children of Seemapuri who come out in groups every morning, like birds, to collect garbage for survival. Barefoot and deprived, they spend the whole day searching for scraps and return home at night. The comparison highlights their poverty and lost childhood.
Q.4 Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.
A.- Saheb’s full name is Saheb-e-Alam, meaning “Lord of the Universe.” The irony lies in the contrast between his grand name and harsh reality. Far from being a lord, he is a poor ragpicker in Seemapuri, struggling for survival, symbolising how poverty snatches dignity and childhood dreams.
Q.5 What is Mukesh’s attitude towards the family business of making bangles?
A.- Unlike others in Firozabad, Mukesh does not want to continue the traditional bangle-making occupation. Aware of its hardships, poverty, and health hazards, he dreams of becoming a motor mechanic. His determination reflects hope, courage, and a desire to break free from generational exploitation and despair.
Q.6 What does the reference to chappals in Lost Spring tell us about the economic condition of the ragpickers?
A.- The reference to chappals highlights the acute poverty of ragpickers. Most children walk barefoot, symbolizing deprivation and neglect. Owning footwear becomes a dream, reflecting the sharp contrast between their harsh reality and basic human needs. It reveals their struggle for survival amidst extreme economic hardship and social apathy.
Answer the following question in 120-150 words- (5 marks each)
Q.1 Firozabad presents a strange paradox- the beauty of the glass bangles and the misery of the people who make bangles. Discuss.
A.- Firozabad, famous for its beautiful glass bangles, presents a tragic paradox. The bangles are symbols of beauty, festivity and tradition, adorning the hands of brides and women across India. Yet, behind this brilliance lies the dark reality of the bangle makers’ lives. Families, including young children, spend their entire lives in dingy, airless workshops, toiling for meagre wages. Their eyes get damaged, their health deteriorates, and their childhood is lost in the process of creating beauty for others. Generations remain trapped in poverty, unable to break free from this vicious cycle due to lack of education, money, and awareness. Ironically, the same bangles that symbolize joy and prosperity for society become chains of misery for the artisans. Thus, Firozabad reflects the stark contrast between dazzling artistry and the bleak existence of those who create it, highlighting the cruelty of social inequality and neglect.
Q.2 Saheb and Mukesh are victims of the apathy of the government and society. Support your answer with a rationale.
A.- Saheb and Mukesh, the two central figures in Lost Spring, symbolize the indifference of government and society towards the marginalized. Saheb, a ragpicker in Seemapuri, spends his childhood collecting garbage instead of going to school. Promises of education remain unfulfilled, reflecting governmental neglect. Society too remains passive, accepting child labour as normal. Similarly, Mukesh, belonging to a family of bangle makers in Firozabad, grows up amidst poverty, suffocation, and exploitation. Generations before him have been victims of the same cycle, with no effective intervention from authorities to provide education, healthcare, or alternative employment. Even laws against child labour and hazardous working conditions are ignored. Both boys desire a better future, yet their dreams are stifled by systemic failure. Their plight reveals the stark apathy of a society that celebrates beauty and prosperity while turning a blind eye to the suffering of those who create it.
Q.3 ‘For the children, it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.’ What kind of life do the ragpickers of Seemapuri lead?
A.- The ragpickers of Seemapuri lead a life marked by poverty, deprivation, and uncertainty. For the children, ragpicking is “wrapped in wonder” because they associate garbage with surprises—sometimes finding coins gives them momentary joy. Their innocence turns poverty into a game. However, for the elders, garbage is not play but a means of survival. It is their only source of livelihood, providing food and shelter, however fragile. Seemapuri itself has no basic amenities like sanitation, clean water, or health care. Families live in tattered huts, battling hunger and disease, with no secure employment or education for their children. Despite being illegal migrants, they have voter cards and ration cards, yet the government remains indifferent to their plight. Thus, their existence is one of despair, where survival is the only goal, and childhood dreams are sacrificed at the altar of poverty and neglect.
Q. 4 Rajkumar Shukla in ‘Indigo’ decided to take up the cause of the peasants and raise his voice against injustice. The bangle-makers were a stark contrast and accepted their plight of oppression because of tradition and caste. write a comparative analysis of the two different attitudes towards unjust domination.
A.- In Indigo, Rajkumar Shukla symbolizes courage and determination. Though an ordinary peasant, he chose to challenge the unjust domination of the British landlords who exploited farmers through the sharecropping system. His persistent efforts drew Mahatma Gandhi to Champaran, eventually leading to justice and reform. Shukla’s attitude shows that awareness, unity, and resistance can break the cycle of oppression.
In contrast, the bangle-makers of Firozabad in Lost Spring represent silent submission. Bound by tradition, caste restrictions, and fear of authority, they accept poverty and exploitation as their destiny. Their lives are trapped in a vicious cycle where raising a voice seems impossible.
The comparative analysis highlights two different responses to injustice: Shukla’s courage brought change, while the bangle-makers’ resignation perpetuated their suffering. The two accounts show how challenging oppression requires collective willpower, awareness, and the courage to resist, rather than passive acceptance.
Q. 5 ‘A Roadside Stand’ and ‘Lost Spring’ depict two contrasting worlds existing in society. Justify this statement with reference to the poem ‘A Roadside Stand’ and the text ‘Lost Spring’. You may begin. Social satire in the two texts portrays two contrasting worlds that exist in society.
A.- Social satire in the two texts portrays two contrasting worlds that exist in society. In Robert Frost’s poem A Roadside Stand, the rural poor are shown waiting hopefully for urban passers-by to stop and buy something from their small stand. Their longing for money and dignity contrasts with the indifference of the rich who rush past, unmindful of their struggles. Frost criticises the selfishness of the affluent who ignore the needs of the deprived.
Similarly, Anees Jung’s Lost Spring highlights the plight of children in Seemapuri and Firozabad. The ragpickers live in squalor, while the bangle-makers remain trapped in poverty and exploitation. Here too, the privileged and the authorities remain indifferent to their condition.
Together, the texts expose two worlds: one of abundance, privilege, and neglect, and the other of poverty, struggle, and helplessness. The satire urges readers to acknowledge inequality and develop empathy for the underprivileged.
Q. 6 Where the peasants are so crushed and fear-stricken, law courts are useless. The real relief for them is to be free from fear (Indigo). The people of Firozabad (Lost Spring) are fear-stricken to form a cooperative as there is a vicious circle of middlemen, politicians etc. These exploiters don’t allow them to take any initiative. You agree that fear is the worst deterrent factor in one’s life.
As a motivational speaker, give a speech advising students how to overcome fear and lead a successful life. Use material from the two texts to support your views.
You may begin like this.
Dear students, The emotion of fear will always interfere and interrupt your path to success…
A.- Dear students,
The emotion of fear will always interfere and interrupt your path to success. Fear is the biggest enemy of human progress because it paralyzes action and silences the voice of courage. In Louis Fischer’s Indigo, we see how the peasants of Champaran remained oppressed because fear kept them away from justice. They felt helpless, for law courts were useless until Gandhi inspired them to shed fear. Once they overcame it, they could reclaim their dignity and freedom.
Similarly, in Anees Jung’s Lost Spring, the bangle-makers of Firozabad are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. Though they dream of change, fear of authority, middlemen, and politicians stops them from forming cooperatives or breaking free from tradition.
Students, we must learn that fear only sustains oppression. The moment you replace fear with determination, courage, and self-belief, you become unstoppable. Break free from fear, and you will find the doors of success wide open.
Thank you.
Here’s a question for you:
Q. ‘Lost Spring’ and ‘Indigo’ bring out how the common man is a victim of exploitation. Explain.
You can write your answers in the comment section. Feedback and suggestions to improve will be provided to each of the answers.
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