Keeping Quiet Class 12 MCQ Quiz – Test Your Understanding!

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing. (poem - Keeping Quiet)

What does the imagery of ‘walking about with their brothers in the shade’ primarily represent?

Identify the tone of Pablo Neruda in the following line:

Perhaps the Earth can teach us….

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Look at the images given below. Choose the image to which the above extract can be seen as an appropriate response.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

What do you think is the mood of the poet in the above extract?

In ‘Keeping Quiet’ the poet does not want the reader to confuse his advice for _____ with total inactivity.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

What might the “huge silence” signify?

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with
their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity. (Keeping Quiet)

Which of these uses the same poetic device as used in the third line of the extract?

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with
their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity. (Keeping Quiet)

Based on the extract, select the correct option with reference to (1) and (2).

1. Not every win is a triumph.
2. Self-reflection is crucial to evolution.

Which of these is NOT a theme in the poem 'Keeping Quiet'?

For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Why do you think the poet employs words like “exotic” and “strangeness”?

• Assertion: The poet advocates for 'doing nothing' as a way to prevent the devastation of war.
• Reason: 'Doing nothing' refers to a time for stopping any action for a few moments.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with
their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity. (Keeping Quiet)

Which of these is an appropriate title for the extract?

Read the statements given below carefully. Choose the option that best describes these statements, with reference to the poem.

• Statement I – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ calls for change as much in the individual as human society at large.
• Statement II – The poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ implies that individual change will lead to bigger societal change.
• Statement III – Neruda believes that when people come together as a community, they will be able to bring a transformation in each person.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Pick the option that DOES NOT complete the given sentence suitably, as per the extract.

Threatening ourselves with death __________

For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Margaret Atwood said, “Language divides us into fragments, I wanted to be whole.”

Choose the option that correctly comments on the relationship between Margaret Atwood’s words and the line from the above extract – “let’s not speak in any language”