A Roadside Stand Class 12 Questions and Answers, HS 2nd Year English by kjv Teachers
A roadside stand class 12 Questions and Answers
Think it out
Q.1. The city folk who drove through the country side hardly paid any heed to the roadside stand or to the people who ran it. If at all they did, it was to complain which lines bring this out? What was their complaint about ?
Ans: The lines that show this are:
Complaining about the simple paint ruining the landscape.
Complaining that the letters ‘N’ and ‘S’ were written incorrectly.
Their complaint was that the roadside stand’s simple paint ruined the view and that the letters ‘N’ and ‘S’ were placed the wrong way.
Q.2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand ?
Ans: The people who set up the roadside stand begged for customers. They wanted to make some money and hoped city folks would stop and buy something from them.
Q.3. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the poor rural people but actually do them no good. Pick out the words and phrases that the poet uses to show their double standard.
Ans : The government and the party in power were thoroughly indifferent to the welfare of the poor rural people. No social services agencies were doing any good to them. The words and phrases show their double standard :
“While greedy good doers, beneficent beasts of prey………….. That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits”.
Q.4. What is the childish longing that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
Ans: The poet refers to the childish longing of the roadside stand owners who eagerly wait for customers. They keep their windows open, hoping someone will stop, and listen for the sound of a car braking. This longing is ‘vain’ because no customers ever come, and their hopes are always disappointed.
Q.5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the plight of the poor rural people ?
Ans: The lines that show the poet’s deep pain are:
“I can’t help feeling how much relief it would bring / To end their suffering all at once.”
1. Answer each of the following questions in about 30-40 words:
1. Why do the people who run the roadside stand wait for the squeal of brakes so eagerly?
Ans: The people who run the roadside stand eagerly waiting for the sound of brakes because it means a car has stopped. They hope this means city people will buy something from them, bringing in some money.
2.Explain: “soothe them out of them wits” with reference to the poem The Roadside Stand’.
Ans: In the poem, “soothe them out of their wits” means that powerful people make false promises to the country folk about improving their lives. The simple, trusting people believe these promises and feel comforted, not realizing that they are being deceived and exploited.
Answer: The ‘childish longing’, the poet refers to, is the dreams and desires of the rural folk who have a child-like longing for a better life that they hope to live with the help from the city dwellers. Their longing is in vain because the city folk are not willing to help them and so their ‘childish longings’ are not likely to be fulfilled.
Ans: The people at the roadside stand ask for city money because they are poor and need money to improve their lives. They believe that city money will help them live better and fulfill the promises made to them by those in power.
