The Interview Previous Years Question with Answers (2019 to 2024)

by Meenu Saini | Dec 21, 2024 | General | 0 comments

CBSE Class 12 English Core Flamingo Book Chapter 7 The Interview Question Answers from previous years question papers (2019-2024)

The Interview Previous Year Questions with Answers – Question Answers from Previous years Board Exam Question papers provide valuable insights into how chapters are typically presented in exams. They are essential for preparing for the CBSE Board Exams, serving as a valuable resource.They can reveal the types of questions commonly asked and highlight the key concepts that require more attention. In this post, we have shared Previous Year Questions for Class 12 English Core Chapter 7, “The Interview”.

Questions which came in 2024 Board Exam

Q1. What according to Umberto Eco is the belief that most journalists and publishers have? [40-50 Words]

Ans. According to Umberto Eco, most journalists believe their work is a form of creative writing. They see themselves as narrators shaping reality and public perception through their storytelling skills.

Q2. Umberto Eco has a formidable reputation as a novelist after the success of ‘The Name of the Rose’. Why does he still have apprehensions of being called a novelist? [40-50 Words]

Ans. Umberto Eco considered himself an academic who wrote novels as a hobby. Despite gaining a lot of fame through his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’, he had apprehensions being called a novelist because only a small percentage of readers had read his book. He identified himself with the academic community than with pen clubs and writers.

Q3. Did Umberto Eco like to be identified as a novelist? Give reasons in support of your answer. [40-50 Words]

Ans. No, Umberto Eco did not primarily want to be identified as a novelist. He considered himself a scholar and a semiotician, and his work in literature was an extension of his academic interests in signs, symbols, and communication.

Q4. What do you understand by “interstices”? How does Umberto Eco utilize his interstices? [40-50 Words]

Ans. ‘Interstices’ refer to the small gaps or intervals of time between major tasks. Umberto Eco utilizes these interstices effectively by writing and conducting research during these brief periods, thus maximizing his productivity and output.

Q5. What evidence from the text reveals that Rudyard Kipling did not walk the talk? [40-50 Words]

Ans. The evidence is that Kipling’s own son was not allowed to read his works despite Kipling’s public persona of advocating for children’s literature and education. This contradiction between his public statements and private actions shows he did not practice what he preached.

Q6. Imagine you are Mukund Padmanabhan (The Interview) and you interviewed M. Hamel, after he had finished delivering the last lesson (The Last Lesson). Write a paragraph on Hamel’s views on individual responsibility and nationalism. [120-150 Words]

Ans. It is an individual’s responsibility towards his nation, to protect its freedom. M hamel insists that an individual can retain his freedom and his country’s sovereignty if he is attached to the mother tongue. Hamel lays stress on the importance of one’s language which is a key to freedom from slavery. When Germany annexes two districts of France, it orders that German instead of French be taught in the schools. This order shows the importance of language and the enemy is trying to snatch the mother tongue from the people so that they can be enslaved. The language of a country plays a major role in display of nationalism because it s binding factor which runs through the fabric of the country.

Q7. Umberto Eco (The Interview) has a talk with Danny Casey from the story “Going Places”. Danny, being a football prodigy, feels his popularity may affect his game as he can’t devote much time to it. What advice will Umberto Eco give Danny about time management? Write a paragraph on the interaction between the two and the advice given by Umberto Eco. [120-150 Words]

Ans. In their conversation, Umberto Eco would likely advise Danny Casey on the importance of structured time management to balance his professional commitments and personal life. Eco, known for his prolific writing and academic work, would suggest that Danny create a detailed schedule that allocates specific time slots for practice, games, and public appearances, while also ensuring time for rest and personal interests. Eco might highlight the importance of prioritizing tasks, delegating responsibilities when possible, and setting boundaries to protect his time from being consumed entirely by public demands. By managing his time effectively, Danny can maintain his performance on the field while also enjoying the benefits of his popularity without feeling overwhelmed. Eco’s advice would focus on finding a sustainable balance that allows Danny to excel both as an athlete and a public figure, emphasizing the significance of discipline and strategic planning in achieving long-term success.

Questions from the Chapter in 2023 Board Exams

Q1. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :

Others, usually celebrities who see themselves as its victims, might despise the interview as an unwarranted intrusion into their lives, or feel that it somehow diminishes them, just as in some primitive cultures it is believed that if one takes a photographic portrait of somebody then one is stealing that person’s soul. V.S. Naipaul ‘feels that some people are wounded by interviews and lose a part of themselves,’ Lewis Carroll, the creator of Alice in Wonderland, was said to have had ‘a just horror of the interviewer’ and he never consented to be interviewed.

(i) Choose the appropriate option with reference to the given extract :

Most of the celebrities dislike being interviewed because

(a) it is sheer nonsense.

(b) nobody reveals his/her inner self.

(d) it is an unwanted intrusion into their lives.

Ans. (d) it is an unwanted intrusion into their lives.

(ii) Complete the analogy with a word from the extract:

light : darkness: : ______ : refused

Ans. consented

(iii) In primitive cultures being photographed implied

(a) announcing victory.

(b) soul has been stolen.

(d) becoming popular.

Ans. (b) soul has been stolen.

(iv) From the given extract, we know that _______ never agreed to be interviewed.

(a) Lewis Carroll

(b) V.S. Naipaul

(d) Charlie Sheen

Ans. (a) Lewis Carroll

(v) In the given extract, the word ‘diminish’ most nearly means

(a) deepens

(b) disappoints

(d) languishes

Ans. (c) lessens

(vi) In the given extract, the writer indicates that most people ______ interviews.

(a) celebrated

(b) read

(d) despised

Ans. (d) despised

Q2. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :

Rudyard Kipling expressed an even more condemnatory attitude towards the interviewer. His wife, Caroline, writes in her diary for 14 October, 1892 that their day was ‘wrecked by two reporters from Boston’. She reports her husband as saying to the reporters, “Why do I refuse to be interviewed? Because it is immoral ! It is a crime, just as much of a crime as an offence against my person, as an assault, and just as much merits punishment. It is cowardly and vile. No respectable man would ask it, much less give it.” Yet Kipling had himself perpetrated such an ‘assault’ on Mark Twain only a few years before. H.G. Wells in an interview in 1894 referred to the `interviewing ordeal’, but was a fairly frequent interviewee and forty years later found himself interviewing Joseph Stalin. (The Interview)

(i) Kipling viewed interviews with

(a) compassion.

(b) condemnation.

(d) gratitude.

Ans. (b) condemnation.

(ii) Kipling assaulted _________ with an interview.

(a) H.G. Wells

(b) Joseph Stalin

(d) Mark Twain

Ans. (a) H.G. Wells

(iii) Complete the analogy with a word from the extract :

attack : assault : : committed : ____________

Ans. permitted

(iv) The word ‘wrecked’ in the extract most nearly means

(a) ravaged.

(b) annihilated.

(d) ruined.

Ans. (d) ruined.

(v) Rudyard Kipling uses the phrase ‘it is a crime’ because he feels it is

(a) illegal.

(b) an offence against his person.

(d) a waste of time.

Ans. (b) an offence against his person.

(vi) Kipling violated his own observation on interviewing by _____________.

Ans. permitting himself to be interviewed.

Q3. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow :

Similarly, we have a lot of empty spaces in our lives. I call them interstices. Say you are coming over to my place. You are in the elevator and while you are coming up, I am waiting for you. This is an interstice, an empty space. I work in empty spaces. While waiting for your elevator to come up from the first to the third floor, I have already written an article !

(i) Umberto Eco, was

(a) a professor of semiotics, an author

(b) an interviewer, a novelist

(d) a publisher, an author

Ans. (a) a professor of semiotics, an author

(ii) Rationalise, to support the given statement :

Similarly, we have a lot of empty spaces in our lives.

Ans. Umberto Eco believes that there are empty spaces in our lives, just as there are in atoms and the world, and that we must use that time to create something constructive.

(iii) Rewrite the sentence by replacing the underlined phrase with its inference :

I call them interstices.

Ans. intervals

(iv) On the basis of the extract, study the two statements, I and II given below :

Umberto Eco works even in the spare time between activities.
Umberto Eco does not like to be interviewed.

Choose the most appropriate option :

(a) I can be inferred from the extract, but II cannot

(b) I cannot be inferred from the extract, but II can

(d) II is the reason for I

Ans. (a) I can be inferred from the extract, but II cannot

(v) Replace the underlined word with its antonym from the extract.

Umberto Eco does not like to waste time. He writes an article while he is proceeding to the elevator.

Ans. waiting

(vi) Umberto Eco’s views on his manner of work are based on _______.

(a) facts

(b) an interview

(d) hypothesis

Ans. (b) an interview

Questions from the Chapter in 2020 Board Exams

Q1. What does Umberto Eco mean by the concept of ‘Interstices’ in our lives? [30-40 words]

Ans. Eco is a University professor who attends academic conferences all through the week. He finds so much time to write by utilizing the empty spaces that we all have in our lives, just like the structure of atoms and the Universe. He terms these empty spaces as ‘interstices’. If he is waiting for someone coming to his house via the escalator, he would use that free time to write an essay rather than sit idle and wait. Therefore, he considers himself a scholar who writes novels on Sundays. He calls this utilization of interstices as time management.

Q2. What are some of the positive views on interviews? [30-40 words]

Ans. Interview, in the 130 years of its existence, has become an inherent part of journalism. It is a useful means of communication that is, at times, considered to be an art, serving as a source of truth. Denis Brian has stated that in today’s world we get to know “our contemporaries” through their interviews.

Q3. Why did Rudyard Kipling dislike being interviewed? Give two reasons. [30-40 words]

Ans. He felt that being interviewed was immoral. It was a crime against his person like assault and deserved similar punishment.

Q4. What impressions do you form of Umberto Eco as a scholar and writer on the basis of your study of ‘The Interview’? [120-150 words]

Ans. Umberto Eco, a university professor at the University of Bologna in Italy, is an academician and a famous novelist. He, through various interviews, discloses his secret of success in life and never hates the interviewers. He has his taste in various fields of writings as academic texts. fiction and nonfiction, literary fiction essays, children’s books, newspaper articles etc.

He always wanted to be called an academician not a novelist. He used to participate in academic conferences, on the other hand, he avoided the meetings of writers and Pen Club Members. He has written forty scholarly works and five novels. He used to denote time for writing novels on only Sundays. He discovered a magical trick of working in interstices.

He used to use even the seconds of his time. He captured the empty spaces for writing notes or any content. He had an expertise in Semiotics, the study of signs. He never became a slave of pride as he openly admitted that his novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ got success accidently and the time was in his favour. He didn’t have any celebrity attitude though his novel was bought by more than 10 million readers.

Q5. Was Umberto Eco a novelist or an academic scholar? Give a reasoned answer. [120-150 words]

Ans.Umberto Eco wrote novels and was an academician as well but according to him, he was an academic scholar first. He wrote novels on Sundays, as a hobby. He attended academic conferences and not meetings of Pen clubs. Thus, he visualized himself as an academic scholar to whom novel writing happened by chance.

Also see:

The Interview Important Questions, NCERT Solutions, Extra Questions

The Interview Summary, Explanation

The Interview MCQs

The Interview Character Sketches