HSC Science इयत्ता १२ - Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education Question Bank Solutions

What does the phrase ‘full galloping’ suggest?

Why was the rider in a hurry?

What did the rider do when he reached Napoleon?

Why did the rider keep his lips compressed?

Where did the rider plant the French flag after Ratisbon was captured?

What was Napoleon’s reaction on hearing the news of victory?

When did the narrator find that the boy was badly wounded?

Why did Napoleon’s eyes become soft as a mother eagle’s eyes?

How did the young soldier face his end?

Literary Devices

Mark the rhyme scheme of the poem. The rhyme scheme for the first stanza is as follows.

Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.

Legs wide, arms locked behind As if to balance the prone brow Oppressive with its mind.

1. Whose action is described here?
2. What is meant by prone brow?
3. What is his state of mind?

Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.

‘You’re wounded!’ ‘Nay’, his soldier’s pride Touched to the quick, he said:

1. Why did the boy contradict Napoleon’s words?
2. Why was his pride touched?

Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.

A film the mother eagles eye When her bruised eaglet breathes

1. Who is compared to the mother eagle in the above lines?
2. Explain the comparison.

Explain the following line with reference to the context.

Then off there flung in smiling joy, And held himself erect

Explain the following line with reference to the context.

‘I’m killed, Sire!’ And, his Chief beside, Smiling, the boy fell dead.

Explain the following line with reference to the context.

To see your flag-bird flap his vans Where I, to heart’s desire, Perched him!’

The young soldier matched his emperor in courage and patriotism. Elucidate your answer.

What is the role of the young soldier in the victory of the French at Ratisbon?

Napoleon was a great source of inspiration to his army. Justify.

Some words have been left out in the poem below. First, read the poem. Then, fill in the missing words on listening to the reading or the recording of it in full. You may listen again, if required.

The Drum

John Scott (1731–83)

I hate that drum’s ______ sound,

Parading round, and round, and round:

To thoughtless ______ it pleasure yields,

And lures from cities and from fields, sell their ______ for charms

Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms;

And when______ voice commands,

To march, and fight, and fall, in______.

I hate that drum’s discordant sound, Parading round, and round, and round; To me, it talks of______plains, And burning towns and ruin’d swains, And all that Misery’s hand bestows, To fill the______of human woes.