Question 4 - Chapter 1 - The Last Lesson - Flamingo - Chapters (Literature) - English Class 12

Read the extract and answer the following questions.

Extract:

I heard M. Hamel say to me, “I won’t scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Every day we have said to ourselves, ‘Bah! I’ve plenty of time. I’ll learn it tomorrow.’ And now you see where we’ve come out. Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.”

(The last lesson)

Question (i)

What did M. Hamel blame for the situation of Alsace?

    A) The Prussian occupation

    B) The French government

    C) The lack of learning

    D) The loss of culture

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

C) The lack of learning

  Step-by-Step explanation of the answer:

•           🌱To answer this question, we need to recall what M. Hamel said in the extract. He said that that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow.
•           🤔Let's look at the other options and see why they are wrong.
•              A) The Prussian occupation. This is not wha t M. Hamel blamed for the situation of Alsace, and it is not the main cause . The Prussian occupation was the result of the FrancoPrussian war, and it was the reason why the order came from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.
•              B) The French government. This is also not what M. Hamel blamed for the situation of Alsace, and it is not the direct cause. The French government was responsible for losing the war and ceding Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia, but it did not stop the people from learning and speaking their language.
•              D) The loss of culture. This is also not what M. Hamel blamed for the situation of Alsace, and it is not the original cause. The loss of culture was the consequence of the lack of learning and the Prussian occupation, and it was what M. Hamel tried to prevent by giving his last lesson in French.
•           ✅Therefore, the correct answer is C) The lack of learning.

Question (ii)

 What did M. Hamel mean by "we've all a great deal to reproach ourselves with"?

    Answer: