| Board | CBSE |
| Textbook | NCERT |
| Class | Class 12 |
| Subject | English |
| Chapter | CUET English Chapter For Comprehension-My mother |
| Chapter Name | My mother |
| Category | CUET (Common University Entrance Test) UG |
CUET English Practice Questions from Language Section IA Chapter-My mother
Find MCQ Based questions for CUET English Language Section IA Chapter-My mother. All the important questions from CUET English Clauses are covered with proper explanations of each and every question.
This chapter will help you to build and solve questions based on Reading Comprehension
There will be three types of passages (maximum 300-500 words)
i. Factual
ii. Narrative
iii. Literary
Solving questions from chapter My mother will help you understand the chapter which strengthens your Reading Comprehension.
CUET English Practice Questions Chapter-My mother Set-1
English - MCQ on My Mother At Sixty Six
Introduction (Theme)
‘My Mother at Sixty Six’ captures the fear of the poet of losing her mother due to declining health and loss of energy which accompanies old age. The poet accepts this reality and is disturbed by her mother’s need for her on one hand, and her own duties and responsibilities on the other hand. This helplessness is poignantly brought out in this poem. The poem is written in a single sentence punctuated by commas. This highlights the stream of continuous effect where one thought leads to another. The treatment is different as it emphasizes the subtlety of a mother-daughter relationship. The tone is reflective and the mood is one of resignation and acceptance.
In the poem the poet is driving to the airport. The mother is with her. She realizes that her mother is old when she dozes off. She is pale and looks like corpse. When the mother wakes up she says nothing and the poet is pained on having to leave her frail and cold mother behind.
Kamala Das has beautifully balanced the contrast in the poem. Old age is shown as ashen face, a corpse. This is contrasted with words and ideas expressing vitality, energy and movement. For example, ‘Trees sprinting’ and ‘children spilling out’. Old age is like a winter’s moon and the mother is pale and wan. The poet is pained yet with a smile says ‘see you soon’. The separation is not merely of a daughter leaving, but there is pain and a fear of death, a permanent separation, yet the poet must leave- probably to fulfill her commitment.
The poem ends with a tone of resignation. The poet accepts reality. She smiles as she parts from her mother. The repetition of the word smile reiterates the façade the daughter puts up for the sake of the mother- the brave act, the cheerful parting – the resignation and finally the acceptance that as she goes away she may never see her mother again.
SHORT ANSWERS (2 marks each)
Q.1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Answer:
The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is the realization that her mother has gone old and is frail and pale like a corpse. She is dependent on her children.
Q.2. Why are the young trees described as sprinting?
Answer:
The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to be running in the opposite direction when seen through the window of the moving car. The movement is juxtaposed with the expression on the mother’s face i.e. ashen like a corpse.
Q.3. Why has the poet bought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Answer:
The poet highlights the helplessness and frailty of old age with the help of contrasts. The mother dozes off mouth open, whereas the children spilling out of their homes signify movement and energy, which the old people are bereft off.
Q.4. Why has the mother been compared to ‘late winter’s moon’?
Answer:
The mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon which is dull and shrouded. It symbolizes the ebbing of life. The moon brings to the poets mind night or the approaching end of life.
Q.5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Answer:
The parting words ‘see you soon Amma’ are used by the poet to reassure the mother and to infuse optimism in the poet herself. Kamala Das accepts the reality yet keeps up the façade of smiling in order to put up a brave front. It requires a lot of effort and hence the poet has used the poetic device of repetition.
Q.6. What childhood fears do you think the poet is referring to in the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’?
Answer:
The poet refers to the fears a child has of losing a parent or getting lost somewhere and thus getting separated from them. The poet felt this kind of fear while looking at her mother’s aged and pale face. She was afraid that she might never see her again.
Q.7. What does the poet mean by ‘all I did was smile and smile and smile…’?
Answer:
The poet realizes the pain and ache she would get at separating from her mother. It was her childhood fear that she experienced again. She was trying to hide her true emotions by smiling and smiling.
Q.8. What does the poet mean by ‘she thought away’?
Answer:
The poet felt that perhaps her mother too would be feeling insecure about her future. She saw these expressions on her mother’s face as well.
Q.9. What does the poet’s mother look like? What kind of images has the poet used to signify her ageing decay?
Answer:
The poet’s mother at sixty-six, is sitting beside the poet and is dozing off with her mouth open. This is a sign of old age. Her face was pale like a corpse’s. Imagery of death has been created by the poet in this comparison.
Q.10. What were the activities that the poet saw outside the car window?
Answer:
The poet saw young trees speeding past and it seemed as if they were sprinting or running fast. Happy, enthusiastic and energetic children could be seen running out of their homes. They present an image of youth and energy in comparison to the poet’s mother.
Q.11. Why does the poet look outside? What does she perceive?
Answer:
The very thought of separation from her mother upsets and depresses the poet. She experiences the fear that she may never meet her mother again. In order to drive away such negative thoughts, she looks out of the window and her mind gets diverted when she sees trees moving rapidly and children playing merrily.
Q.12. What does Kamala Das do after the security check-up? What does she notice?
Answer:
Immediately after the security check-up at the airport, and standing a few yards away from her mother, the poet observes her mother once again and compares her to the pale, colourless winter’s moon, marking the last phase of her life i.e. her old age. She is pained to see her and the fear of separation returns in her, once again.
Q.13. What is the poet’s familiar ache and why does it return?
Answer:
The poet is pained to see her mother old and suffering. The sight of her mother’s pale and arouses like face like that of a corpse, arouses her childhood ‘familiar ache’ in her heart. She probably feels gained to imagine herself in this situation after some years.
Q.14. Why does the poet smile and what does she say while bidding goodbye to her mother?
Answer:
The poet smiles in order to put up a brave front so that her mother may not observe her pained and frightened look. She smiles in order to reassure her mother and says that she would soon see her again.
Q.15. What poetic devices has the poet used in ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’?
Answer:
The poem is rich in imagery. Devices of comparisons and contrasts are also used by the poet to draw out the differences in young age and old age. She describes her mother’s age as ‘ashen like a corpse’, using simile and age compares her to late winter’s moon, using a simile again. The merry children playing happily are contrasted with the old, weak and pale mother of the poet.
Q.1. Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday morning, I saw my mother, beside me, doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse and realized with pain that she was as old as she looked and thought away…
a) Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
Answer:
The poet was driving to the airport in Cochin. Her mother was sitting next to her.
b) What did the poet notice about her mother?
Answer:
The poet noticed that her mother was looking old, pale and weak. She had dozed off.
c) Why did her mother’s face look like that of a corpse?
Answer:
She was old, pale and ashen. Since she had dozed off, with mouth open the poet felt she looked like a corpse in that condition.
d) Find words from the passage which mean
i) Sleep lightly
ii) Dead body
Answer:
i) Dozed; ii) Corpse
Q.2. ….and looked but soon put that thought away, and looked out at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes
a) What did the poet realize? How did she feel?
Answer:
The poet realized that her mother too, was lost in some distant thoughts. It pained her to see that.
b) What did she do then?
Answer:
She started looking out in order to divert her own attention to something else.
c) What did she see outside?
Answer:
She saw young trees moving fast as if they were sprinting and also saw young children happily running out of their homes to play.
d) Find words from the passage which mean
i) Running fast
ii) Happy
Answer:
i) Sprinting; ii) Merry
Q.3. ….but after the airport’s security check, standing a few yards away, I looked again at her, wan, pale as a late winter’s moon
a) Name the poem and the poet.
Answer:
The poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty six’ and the poet is ‘Kamala Das’.
b) What did the poet do after the security check?
Answer:
The poet stood a few yards away and looked at her mother’s face again.
c) Why did the poet compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon?
Answer:
The poet’s mother is old, frail and very pale like the moon in late winter. Hence, the comparison.
d) Find words from the extract which mean the same as
i) Colourless
ii) Faded yellowish
Answer:
i) Pale; ii) Wan
Q.4. ….as a late winter’s moon and felt that old familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
a) What is compared to a late winter’s moon?
Answer:
The poet’s ageing mother is compared to the late winter’s moon.
b) Why is the comparison made?
Answer:
The poet’s mother is old, frail and very pale like the moon in late winter. Hence, the comparison.
c) Identify the poetic device in the lines.
Answer:
‘as a late winter’s moon’ is a simile.
d) What is the familiar ache of the poet?
Answer:
The poet’s childhood fear of losing a parent or fear of separation is the familiar ache being talked about.
Q.5. but all I said was, see you soon, Amma, all I did was smile and smile and smile…’
a) Why did the poet say ‘see you soon, Amma’?
Answer:
The poet says this to reassure her mother that she would see her soon. After the pain, there is a mood of acceptance of reality.
b) Why did the poet smile and smile?
Answer:
The poet tries to put up a brave front in order to hide her true feelings of pain at seeing the old and weak mother.
c) ‘Smile and smile and smile’ is a poetic device. Identify it.
Answer:
It is repetition and is used to emphasize the tone of acceptance of the poet and the brave front she puts up.
d) Amma is the fond way of addressing someone. Who is being addressed here?
Answer:
The poet’s mother. She addresses her as ‘Amma’ and reassures her that she would meet her again.
Answer:
Q.1. Kamala Das was a
a) Bengali
b) Punjabi
c) Keralite
d) Gujarati
Answer:
c) Keralite
Q.2. The poet was leaving the house of
a) Her parents
b) Her aunt
c) Her in laws
d) Her nephew
Answer:
a) Her parents
Q.3. She was going to
a) Goa
b) Mumbai
c) Cochin
Answer:
c) Cochin
Q.4. The poet was driving towards the
a) Railway station
b) Bus-stand
c) Airport
d) Metro station
Answer:
c) Airport
Q.5. The person in the car, beside the poetess was,
a) Her aunt
b) Her niece
c) Her uncle
d) Her mother
Answer:
d) Her mother
Q.6. The mother of the poetess was
a) Smiling
b) Laughing
c) Crying
d) Dozing off
Answer:
d) Dozing off
Q.7. The poetess says her mother looked pale like a
a) Corpse
b) Ghost
c) Malnourished child
d) Anaemic person
Answer:
a) Corpse
Q.8. Kamala Das realized that her mother was very
a) Young
b) Energetic
c) Old
d) Ill
Answer:
Q.9. She soon put that thought out of her mind and
a) Smiled
b) Laughed heartily
c) Cried bitterly
d) Looked out of the window
Answer:
d) Looked out of the window
Q.10. Out of the car window she saw
a) Cows and buffaloes
b) Pigs and goats
c) Trees sprinting
d) People digging
Answer:
c) Trees sprinting
Q.11. ‘Trees sprinting’ is a poetic device. It is
a) Personification
b) Alliteration
c) Repetition
d) Simile
Answer:
a) Personification
Q.12. The poetess also saw children running out of
a) Their homes
b) Schools
c) Parks
d) Football ground
Answer:
a) Their homes
Q.13. ‘Children spilling out’ is a
a) Simile
b) Metaphor
c) Personification
d) Transferred epithet
Answer:
b) Metaphor
Q.14. The poetess looked at her mother again after
a) The security check
b) The green signal
c) After they left the car parking
d) After the luggage check-in
Answer:
a) The security check
Q.15. The poetess again compared her mother to
a) Summer’s sun
b) Rain clouds
c) Late winter’s moon
d) Trees and plants
Answer:
c) Late winter’s moon
Q.16. ‘Winter’s moon’ is a reference to the mother’s
a) Old age
b) Illness
c) Colour of skin
d) Young age
Answer:
a) Old age
Q.17. When the poetess looked at her mother again she felt a pang of
a) Her familiar ache
b) Guilt
c) Heartache
d) Headache
Answer:
a) Her familiar ache
Q.18. The childhood fear was the fear of
a) Separation from mother
b) Exams
c) Medical check-up
d) Dental treatment
Answer:
a) Separation from mother
Q.19. She said to her mother
a) Goodbye
b) Au revoir
c) Good morning
d) See you soon. Amma
Answer:
d) See you soon. Amma
Q.20. What was the expression on the poetess’ face?
a) Smiling face
b) Angry look
c) Sarcastic expression
d) Frowning face
Answer:
a) Smiling face
Q.21. Smile and smile and smile is
a) Alliteration
b) Repetition
c) Simile
d) Metaphor
Answer:
b) Repetition
Q.22. The mood in the last two lines is that of
a) Regret
b) Guilt
c) Acceptance of reality
d) Anger
Answer:
c) Acceptance of reality
Q.23. The poetess is only using her smile to
a) Cover up her pain
b) Make herself happy
c) To make her mother happy
d) To make her father happy
Answer:
a) Cover up her pain
Q.24. Kamala Das has successfully drawn comparisons between the
a) Children and her mother
b) Father and mother
c) Uncle and Aunt
d) Nephew and niece
Answer:
a) Children and her mother
CUET English Practice Questions Chapter-My mother Set-2
Q.25. The image of merry children has been brought out by the poetess in order to
a) Show energy and exuberance of young children
b) To show the children playing
c) To show the children playing pranks
d) To compare with herself
Answer:
a) Show energy and exuberance of young children
Q.26. ‘Trees sprinting’ and ‘merry children spilling’ is an attempt by the poet to create
a) Suspense
b) Laughter
c) Visual imagery
d) Chaos
Answer:
c) Visual imagery
Q.27. The poem is made up of
a) Twenty lines
b) A single sentence
c) Ten stanzas
d) Five stanzas
Answer:
b) A single sentence
Q.28. Theme of the poem is
a) Separation from friends
b) Separation from relatives
c) Fear of separation from mother
d) Love ad hatred
Answer:
c) Fear of separation from mother
Q.29. The mother’s old age and lack of energy is a depiction of
a) The poet’s helplessness in old age
b) Joy and fun of old age
c) Bonding of mother with family members
d) Sickness and ill-health
Answer:
a) The poet’s helplessness in old age
Q.30. ‘Sprinting’ means
a) Short fast race
b) Rowing a boat
c) Playing tricks
d) Running around trees
Answer:
a) Short fast race