PSEB Class 12 Chapter 5 The Story Of My Life Important Question Answers from A Rainbow of English book
PSEB Class 12 English The Story Of My Life Question Answers – Looking for questions and answers for PSEB Class 12 A Rainbow of English Book Chapter 5 The Story Of My Life? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 12 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Chapter 5 The Story Of My Life now. The questions listed below are based on the latest PSEB exam pattern. All the Questions Answers given at the back of the lesson have also been covered.
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PSEB Class 12 English Chapter 5 The Story Of My Life Textbook Questions
I COMPREHENSION
Short Answer Type Questions:
1. Who was Anne Mansfield Sullivan?
Ans. Anne Mansfield Sullivan was a teacher who specialized in teaching blind and deaf children. She was partially blind herself and so she could connect with the children well. She is famous for being Helen’s teacher and lifelong companion.
2. What was something unusual happening at the narrator’s home?
Ans. The narrator was standing on the porch of the house, waiting for something to happen. She could not see or hear, but she could feel her mother hurriedly coming in and out of the house repeatedly, which made Helen wonder if something was about to happen.
3. What was the narrator doing while sitting on the steps?
Ans. The narrator was waiting for something to happen because of her mother’s unusual behavior. The sunlight fell on her face through the honeysuckle while Helen’s fingers touched and felt the fresh flowers and leaves of the spring season.
4. What was the wordless cry of the narrator’s soul?
Ans. The narrator often felt like a ship that was lost in the dense fog and relied only on the plummet and sounding-line to come back to shore. She felt tense and anxious about her future since she was blind and deaf. She felt hopeless and miserable because she desperately wanted to live but could not because of her disabilities.
5. Who had sent the doll for the narrator?
Ans. The Perkins Institution had sent the doll which was dressed up by Laura Bridgman, a blind and deaf educator and Anne Sullivan’s friend.
6. How did the narrator learn to spell the words?
Ans. Miss Sullivan handed the narrator a doll. While the narrator played with the doll, the teacher took her hand and wrote the letters ‘d-o-l-l’ on her hand with her finger slowly and then encouraged the narrator to mimic what she wrote on her hand. After many tries, the narrator was able to write ‘d-o-l-l’ on her hand. She was then able to spell words like cup, pin, hat and verbs like sit, stand and walk.
7. Why did the narrator dash the doll upon the floor?
Ans. The narrator and her teacher were learning the difference between ‘m-u-g’ and ‘w-a-t-e-r’. However, the lesson always ended in an argument. So when Miss Sullivan took up the lesson again, the narrator became so irritated that she dashed the doll on the floor and it shattered into pieces.
8. List the few words that the narrator’s teacher made her learn?
Ans. The teacher, Miss Sullivan, made the narrator learn words like doll, cup, pin, mother, father, sister, teacher, and verbs like stand, sit and walk.
9. What did the narrator learn at the well-house?
Ans. The narrator was having trouble learning the difference between ‘m-u-g’ and ‘w-a-t-e-r’. So, Miss Sullivan took the narrator’s hand and kept it under the sprout. Cool water gushed over the narrator’s hand. On the other hand, Miss Sullivan spelt ‘w-a-t-e-r’ first slowly and then quickly. Then, the narrator finally realized that the cool liquid pouring on her hand was ‘w-a-t-e-r’.
10. What made the narrator repent and feel sorrowful?
Ans. The narrator, after learning the meaning of ‘w-a-t-e-r’, realized that everything has a name and every object she touched quivered with life. Excited, she wished to touch the doll again. However, earlier she had broken the doll out of anger and frustration. The narrator picked up the pieces from the hearth and tried to put the doll back together. She then realized that the doll was broken beyond repair. This made her repent her earlier careless actions and feel sorrowful over the loss of the doll.
2. Long Answer Type Questions:
1. Write the theme of the chapter ‘The Story of My Life’ in your own words.
Ans. The story highlights the importance of a good role model and teacher in the life of a child. Anne Sullivan was a good role model and teacher to Helen Keller and was able to successfully teach the blind and deaf little girl the beauty of vocabulary. The story is centralized around positive growth or transformation. For example, the day Miss Sullivan came into Helen’s life is also depicted by nature and how the winter season was being replaced by spring. Winter is usually depicted to be bleak in contrast to spring, which is a season of new beginnings and life. The story also sheds light on the importance of education and knowledge. When Helen did not understand the things around her, she was bitter and full of hopelessness. However, when she properly understood what the word ‘water’ meant, she became happier, curious and full of spark, determination and emotion. The understanding of vocabulary was like light and Miss Sullivan was the one guiding her towards it.
2. Draw a brief character-sketch of the narrator. (Hellen Keller)
Ans. Helen Keller was a young girl who was three months away from turning seven years of age when her teacher arrived. She had become blind and deaf after suffering from a fever at a very young age (of just nineteen months). Due to her disabilities, she often felt isolated and frustrated. She couldn’t understand her emotions or if she felt anything at all. She lacked knowledge and understanding of basic vocabulary, and was illiterate due to her disabilities. She often felt like she was a ship that couldn’t see its way because of a dense fog and could only rely on the plummet and sounding-line. She would internally cry for help, but she believed that no one would help her because of how blind and deaf people were treated back then. However, with Anne’s steady patience and kindness, she was able to become more eager, emotional and hopeful. By the end of the lesson, she became happier and more determined to get more understanding of the world around her.
3. Describe the narrator’s experience with her teacher.
Ans. Helen was not even seven years of age when her teacher Anne entered her life. Helen was confused like a ship surrounded by dense fog which cannot find its way ahead. Anne introduced her to the world of words and language which removed the fog and brought sunshine into her life. Anne gave Helen love, acceptance and knowledge. She was patient and determined to teach Helen and thus, she transformed Helen’s life. Helen says that Anne was the most special person in her light because she took her from darkness to light!
II VOCABULARY PRACTICE
1. Helen Keller has written many words in this lesson that express certain feelings. Match the feelings in box A with the most appropriate words for them in the column B
A
| 1. The pleasant state of feeling lazy and without energy. |
| 2. A very strong feeling of love, hatred, anger etc. |
| 3. The state of feeling nervous or worried that something bad is going to happen. |
| 4. A feeling of great pleasure. |
| 5. A feeling of great sadness. |
| 6. A feeling of pleasure and satisfaction when you have done something well and admirable. |
| 7. A feeling of having lost all hope. |
B
| pride | sorrow | languor |
| passion | anxiety | despair |
| delight |
Ans.
| 1. The pleasant state of feeling lazy and without energy. | languor |
| 2. A very strong feeling of love, hatred, anger etc. | passion |
| 3. The state of feeling nervous or worried that something bad is going to happen. | anxiety |
| 4. A feeling of great pleasure. | delight |
| 5. A feeling of great sadness. | sorrow |
| 6. A feeling of pleasure and satisfaction when you have done something well and admirable. | pride |
| 7. A feeling of having lost all hope. | despair |
2. A list of nouns is given below. Pick out the nouns that are…
(a) singular
(b) Plural
(c) Used with ‘a pair of…….
| measles | phonetics | pliers |
| odds | sunglasses | binoculars |
| goods | news | basics |
Ans.
| (a) | Singular noun | measles, news |
| (b) | Plural noun | phonetics, goods, odds, basics |
| (c) | Used with ‘a pair of……. | pliers, sunglasses, binoculars |
III GRAMMAR EXERCISES
1. Change the Voice
1. Do not keep bad company.
Ans. Bad company should not be kept.
2. They will have missed the train.
Ans. The train will have been missed by them.
3. I shall not show you my book.
Ans. My book shall not be shown to you.
4. You are to help him.
Ans. He is to be helped by you.
5. Who invented the gramophone?
Ans. The gramophone was invented by whom?
6. I was given your message by him.
Ans. He gave me your message.
7. Open the door.
Ans.The door must be opened.
8. What do you want?
Ans. What is wanted by you?
9. The fire will have destroyed the house.
Ans. The house will have been destroyed by the fire.
10. We ought to love our country.
Ans. Our country ought to be loved by us.
2. Do as directed:
1. He is slow………….(forgive) (Fill in the blank with an infinitive)
Ans. He is slow to forgive
2. I am sorry……….. (hear) this. (Fill in the blank with an infinitive)
Ans. I am sorry to hear this.
3. Combine the following sentences using an Infinitive
i. He collects old stamps even at great expense.
ii. It is his hobby.
Ans. His hobby is to collect old stamps even at great expense.
4. Combine the following into a single sentence
i. I have no aptitude for business.
ii. I must speak out frankly.
Ans. Frankly speaking, I have no aptitude for business.
5. ……(Run) water is not always fit for drinking. (Fill in the blank with a Participle)
Ans. Running water is not always fit for drinking.
6. ……(Carry) by the wind, seeds are scattered far and wide. (Fill in the blank with a Participle)
Ans. Carried by the wind, seeds are scattered far and wide.
7. Combine the following sentences using a Participle.
i. He was dissatisfied.
ii. He resigned his post.
Ans. Being dissatisfied, he resigned his post.
8. Combine the following sentences using a Participle.
i. We met a girl.
ii. She was carrying a basket of flowers.
Ans. We met a girl carrying a basket of flowers.
9 He is fond of……….. (swim). (Fill in the blank with a Gerund)
Ans. He is fond of swimming.
10. Are you afraid of his……….. (hear) you? (Fill in the blank with a Gerund)
Ans. Are you afraid of him hearing you.
3. Do as directed:
1. The news was too good to be true. (Remove ‘too’)
Ans. The news was so good that it couldn’t be true.
2. It is better to starve than beg.
Ans. Starving is better than begging.
3. (Change the degree of Comparison)
Ans. Instead of begging, starving is the best option.
4. At the sight of the police, the thief ran away. (Change into a Complex Sentence)
Ans. When the thief saw the police, he ran away.
5. You need not fear if you are just. (Change into a Compound Sentence)
Ans. You are just so you need not fear.
6. His victory is certain. (Use the Adverb form of certain)
Ans. He is certainly the winner.
7. i. Delhi is the capital of India.
ii. It is situated on the banks of the river, Yamuna. (Combine the two sentences)
Ans. Delhi is the capital of India which is situated on the banks of the river, Yamuna.
8. Her daughter is as beautiful as the moon. (Change into Negative sentence)
(Hint: The moon is not more…….)
Ans. The moon is not more beautiful than her daughter.
Punjab Board Class 12 English Chapter 5 The Story Of My Life Extra Question and Answers
Extract-Based Questions
A. The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old.
On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb, expectant. I guessed vaguely from my mother’s signs and from the hurrying to and fro in the house that something unusual was about to happen. So I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face. My fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this passionate struggle.
Q1. What was the name of Helen’s teacher?
Ans. Anne Mansfield Sullivan
Q2. Helen was ______ years old then.
Ans. six
Q3. Which season was it?
Ans. spring
Q4. Which flowers grew on the porch?
Ans. Honeysuckle
Q5. The most important day in Helen’s life was when _______
Ans. Anne came into her life.
B. I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as I supposed to my mother. Some one took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.
The morning after my teacher came she led me into her room and gave me a doll. The little blind children at the Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not know this until afterwards. When I had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my hand the word “d-o-l-l.” I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. When I finally succeeded in making the letters correctly I was flushed with childish pleasure and pride. Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.
Q1. The approaching footsteps were of ______
Ans. Anne Sullivan
Q2. ____________ held helen in her arms just like her mother did.
Ans. Anne Sullivan
Q3. What did Anne give to Helen?
Ans. She gave her a rag doll sent by the blind children at the Perkins institute.
Q4. What technique did Anne use to teach words?
Ans. She used finger play to write words in Helen’s hand.
Q5. Why was Helen simply imitating words like a monkey?
Ans. Helen did not know what the fingerplay meant. She did not knew about the existence of language and words. Thus, she considered the fingerplay to be a sort of game and simply imitated her teacher like a monkey.
C. We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten, a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.
I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house, every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That is because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.
Q1. What was there in the well-house?
Ans. There was a well which had water in it.
Q2. Which flowers covered the well-house?
Ans. Honeysuckle
Q3. Identify whether the following statement is true or false-
Anne spelled the word ‘well’ into Helen’s hand.
Ans. False
Q4. Anne spelled the word ____ into Helen’s hand.
Ans. water
Q5. Identify whether the following statement is true or false-
Helen felt repentance and sorrow for discovering language.
Ans. False
D. Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. “Light! Give me light!” was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.
Q1. Helen compares herself to a ___
Ans. ship in dense fog
Q2. What is the white darkness?
Ans. dense fog
Q3. groped means –
Ans. to search by using hands because one cannot see.
Q4. What does a compass do?
Ans. it tells the directions.
Q5. Who cried for light?
Ans. Helen’s soul would give out a wordless cry for light.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
Q1. At what age was Hellen rendered blind?
A. from birth
B. six months
C. twelve months
D. nineteen months
Ans. D. nineteen months
Q2. What made Helen blind?
A. fever
B. accident
C. birth defect
D. heredity
Ans. A. fever
Q3. Who was Anne Sullivan?
A. Helen’s mother
B. Helen’s Teacher
C. Helen’s Sister
D. Helen’s friend
Ans. B. Helen’s Teacher
Q4. The most important day in Helen’s life was when ____
A. She got a degree
B. She became blind
C. Anne came into her life
D. She visited New York
Ans. C. Anne came into her life
Q5. Helen Keller was born in the year ___
A. 1890
B.1880
C. 1887
D. 1900
Ans. B.1880
Q6. Which flowers hung from the porch?
A. lilies
B. magnolia
C. honeysuckle
D. roses
Ans. C. honeysuckle
Q7. What marvel did the future hold for Helen?
A. Everything had a place
B. Everything had a name
C. Everything had an owner
D. Everything had an end
Ans. B. Everything had a name
Q8. Helen wore a ____ before going in the warm sunshine.
A. jacket
B. hat
C. coat
D. dress
Ans. B. hat
Q9. Anne placed Helen’s hand under the flowing _____.
A. water
B. river
C. lava
D. syrup
Ans. A. water
Q10. The first word spelled by Miss Sullivan in Helen’s hand was ______
A. mug
B. water
C. doll
D. help
Ans. C. doll
Q11. What does Helen break?
A. vase
B. doll
C. shoe
D. mug
Ans. B. doll
Q12. Helen experienced sorrow and repentance for the first time when __________
A. she lost her dad
B. she realized that she had broken the doll
C. her teacher left
D. none of these
Ans. B. she realized that she had broken the doll
Q13. Which of the following best describes a crib?
A. playground
B. bed
C. dress
D. blanket
Ans. B. bed
Q14. Anne used _______ to spell words into Helen’s hand.
A. hair
B. pens
C. fingers
D. eyes
Ans. C. fingers
Q15. Miss Sullivan got a ____ doll for Helen.
A. rag
B. Voodoo
C. baby
D. broken
Ans. A. rag
Q16. Helen’s soul would cry for _____
A. dark
B. light
C. help
D. peace
Ans. B. light
Q17. Helen was moving her fingers, imitating her teacher like a ________ did.
A. tiger
B. cat
C. monkey
D. Bear
Ans. C. monkey
Q18. The path to the well-house was covered with ___________
A. moss
B. ivy
C. honeysuckle
D. rose
Ans. C. honeysuckle
Q19. Which of the following is closely associated to a hearth?
A. fireplace
B. bed
C. sofa
D. table
Ans. A. fireplace
Q20. The water gushed from the pipe means that __________
A. it came out slowly
B. it stopped
C. it came out with force
D. it flowed with pauses
Ans. C. it came out with force
True or False
Identify whether the following statements are true or false-
1. Helen became blind due to fever.
2. Helen was blind since birth.
3. Helen was blind from birth and became deaf due to fever at nineteen months of age.
4. Anne Sullivan disclosed the world of words to Helen.
5. Helen got light when she realized that everything had a name.
6. Anne used a stick to write words in Helen’s palm.
7. Anne got two dolls for Helen.
8. Anne got a rag doll.
9. Helen compares herself to a ship and a monkey.
10. Helen broke everything.
Ans.
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. False
8. True
9. true
10. False
Fill in the blanks
1. Helen imitated Anne like a ________
2. Helen’s life changed when _______ came into her life.
3. The lesson is set in the season of _______
4. ______ flowers hung from the porch of Helen’s house.
5. Helen was like a ship gripped in dense fog before her _______ started.
6. Anne took Helen to __________ and gave her a doll.
7. Success gave Helen pleasure and _____
8. Helen understood that everything has a _____
9. Upon breaking the doll, the initial feeling experienced by Helen was of _____
10. At the well, the mystery of _________ was revealed to Helen.
Ans.
1. monkey
2. Anne Sullivan
3. spring
4. Honeysuckle
5. education
6. Her room
7. pride
8. name
9. satisfaction
10. language
Extra Questions
Answer the following questions-
Q1. Describe the doll that Anne got for Helen.
Ans. It was a rag doll made by the blind children at the Perkins Institution. The doll had been dressed up by Laura Bridgman.
Q2. How did Helen Keller become blind and deaf?
Ans. At the age of nineteen months, Helen suffered a fever that made her blind and deaf.
Q3. Describe Helen’s life before Anne came.
Ans. Helen describes her life as that of a ship that is surrounded by dense fog. It seems to surround one, and one is tense and anxious as one tries to find one’s way ahead to the shore.
Q4. Why did Helen remain angry and bitter?
Ans. Her condition of blindness and deafness made her feel lost. Thus, she remained angry and bitter. She failed to understand anything.
Q5. Which act of Anne made Helen realize the existence of language?
Ans. When Anne used her finger to spell the word d-o-l-l in Helen’s hand, she imitated Anne mindlessly, like a monkey. However, later, she realized that everything had a name and this realization liberated her soul.
Q6. Who held Helen in her arms just like Helen’s mother did?
Ans. The teacher Anne Sullivan held Helen in her arms just like her mother did.
Q7. To whom did Helen go and show the finger play that Anne had taught her?
Ans. Helen ran to her mother and imitated her teacher’;s finger play to spell the word “doll”.
Q8. Spelling which two words caused a tussle between Helen and Anne?
Ans. Anne was trying to differentiate between the words ‘mug’ and ‘water’ which represented different things. However, Helen was reluctant in accepting this difference which led to the tussle.
Q9. How was Helen’s world?
Ans. Helen says that her world was dark and she groped her way forth. She yearned for light, which came to her when her teacher introduced her to the world of language.
Q10. Could Helen smell? If yes, how do we know it?
Ans. Yes, she could smell. She says that the way to the well-house was filled with the fragrance of the honeysuckle flowers which covered it.