Long Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela – Extract Based questions
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
1. It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence Force and Police, their chests bedecked with the ribbons and medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me. (All India)
(a) What type of government were chosen in South Africa?
(b) How was it chosen?
(c) What did the Generals of the Army do?
(d) What was Mandela conscious of?
(f) Find a word from the passage which is the noun form of ‘demonstrate ‘.
Answer: Do yourself
2. A few moments later we all lifted our eyes in awe as a spectacular array of South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union Buildings. It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy, to a new government that had been freely and fairly elected. Only moments before, the highest generals of the South African defence force and police, their chests bedecked with ribbons and medals from days gone by, saluted me and pledged their loyalty. I was not unmindful of the fact that not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me.
(i) What made everyone look up?
(ii) “It was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force…” What does Mr. Mandela mean by this?
(iii) What had changed about the defence personnel and police that day?
(iv) Which word in the given extract means the same as ‘embellished’?
Answers:
(i) A magnificent array of South African jets, helicopters and troop carriers roared in perfect formation over the Union Buildings made everyone look up.
(ii) By the given line Mr. Mandela means to say that it was more than just a spectacular air show. It was a demonstration of the military’s loyalty towards democracy and a new government, which had been freely and fairly elected.
(iii) The same people who would have arrested Mr. Mandela a few years back, were saluting and pledging their loyalty to him that day.
(iv) Bedecked
3. It is from these comrades in the struggle that I learned the meaning of courage. Time and again, I have seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea. I have seen men stand up to attack and torture without breaking, showing a strength and resilience that defies the imagination. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he, who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
(i) Who taught the real meaning of courage to Mr. Mandela?
(ii) What according to Mr. Mandela defies the imagination?
(iii) What is the real meaning of courage?
(iv) Which word in the given extract means the same as ‘toughness’?
Answers:
(i) The comrades in the struggle against apartheid taught Mr. Mandela the real meaning of courage.
(ii) People risking and giving their lives for an idea, braving torture without breaking, showing strength and resilience when faced with atrocities, simply defies one’s imagination.
(iii) Courage is not merely the absence of fear but the triumph over it. One who conquers his/her fear is truly a brave person.
(iv) Resilience
4. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion, when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honourable freedoms of achieving my potential, of earning my keep, of marrying and having a family – the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life.
(i) Who is ‘I’ in the given extract?
(ii) As a young man in Johannesburg, what did ‘I’ crave for?
(iii) Which word in the extract means the same as ‘temporary’?
(iv) What does ‘earning my keep’ mean?
Answers:
(i) ‘I’ refers to Mr. Nelson Mandela.
(ii) As a young man in Johannesburg, ‘I’ craved for basic freedom, which was also honourable freedom to achieve his potential, earning money to fulfil his fundamental needs, of marrying and having his own family.
(iii) Transitory
(iv) It means to earn enough money to take care of one’s fundamental needs.
5. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart that its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
(i) Why is it easy to teach someone to love?
(ii) What are Mr. Mandela views on man’s goodness?
(iii) Which word in the extract means the same as ‘most severe’?
(iv) What kept Mr. Mandela’s going even in the grimmest times in prison?
Answers:
(i) It is easy to teach someone to love because love comes naturally to everybody.
(ii) Mr. Mandela believes that ‘man’s goodness’ is like a flame, which may be easy to hide, but it never extinguishes.
(iii) Grimmest
(iv) Even in the most difficult times in prison, when Mr. Mandela saw a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, it gave him hope and helped him to keep going.
6. That day had come about through the unimaginable sacrifices of thousands of my people, people whose suffering and courage can never be counted or repaid. I felt that day, as I have on so many other days, that I was simply the sum of all those African patriots who had gone before me. That long and noble line ended and now began again with me. I was pained that I was not able to thank them and that they were not able to see what their sacrifices had wrought.
(i) Which occasion is taking place that the speaker is talking about?
(ii) What did the people of South Africa suffer from?
(iii) Which word in the given extract means the same as ‘bravery’?
(iv) What does ‘gone before me’ in the extract mean?
Answers:
(i) The speaker is talking about the independence of South Africa.
(ii) The people of South Africa suffered apartheid.
(iii) Courage
(iv) ‘Gone before me’ means died.
