Reading Comprehension passages of Poets and Pancakes in Class 12 English will enhance the student’s reading comprehension skills. Students will learn how to understand the text of Poets and Pancakes by reading passages and answering questions about those paragraphs. The question on reading comprehension comes under the Reading section of the question paper and will carry five marks. Students can score full marks in this section of the CBSE/BSEH of Class 12 English(core).
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
1. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
The pancake was the brand name of the make-up material that Gemini Studios bought in truckloads. Greta Garbo1 must have used it, Miss Gohar must have used it, and Vyjayantimala2 must also have used it but Rati Agnihotri may not have even heard of it. The make-up department of the Gemini Studios was in upstairs a building that was believed to have been Robert Clive’s stables. A dozen other buildings
Q.1. What is the brand name of the make-up material?
Ans. Pancake is the brand name of makeup material.
Q.2. How did the pancake come to Gemini Studio?
Ans. It came by truck.
Q.3. Who was Vyjayantimala?
Ans. Vyjayantimala was an Indian actress.
Q.4. Where is the make-up room located in the studios?
Ans. It was located upstairs in the studios.
Q.5. What was there before Gemini Studios?
Ans. It was Robert Clive’s stable.
Q.6. Who was Robert Clive?
Ans. He was Governor-General.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
2. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
The make-up room had the look of a hair-cutting salon with lights at all angles around half a dozen large mirrors. They were all incandescent lights, so you can imagine the fiery misery of those subjected to make-up. The make-up department was first headed by a Bengali who became too big for a studio and left. He was succeeded by a Maharashtrian who was assisted by a Dharwar Kannadiga, an Andhra, a Madras Indian Christian, an Anglo-Burmese, and the usual local Tamils. All this shows that there was a great deal of national integration long before A.I.R. and Doordarshan began broadcasting programs on national integration.
Q.1. What does the make-up room look like?
Ans. The make-up room looks like a hair salon.
Q.2. What is there in the studio that makes it very hot?
Ans. There are lights and mirrors in the studio.
Q.3. What does light create?
Ans. There was a miserable situation due to the hot lights.
Q.4. Who was the first head of a make-up room?
Ans. A Bengali was in charge.
Q.5. How was the studio the symbol of national integration?
Ans. People from different states woke up in the make-up room.
Q.6. How can pancakes change one’s personality?
Ans. The people of the make-up branch could change one’s personality with pancakes.
Reading Comprehension: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
3. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
Ans. Asokamitran is the writer of Poets and Pancakes.
Q.2. How is Gemini Studio a symbol of national integration?
Ans. Gemini Studios is a symbol of national integration as people from different states work there.
Q.4. When did Doordarshan start?
Ans. It started with programs on national integration.
Q.5. How can pancakes change an individual?
Ans. It can change the personality of an individual.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
4. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
A strict hierarchy was maintained in the make-up department. The chief make-up man made the chief actors and actresses ugly, his senior assistant the ‘second’ hero and heroine, the junior assistant the main comedian, and so forth. The players who played in the crowd were the responsibility of the office boy. (Even the make-up department of the Gemini Studio had an ‘office boy!) On the days when there was a crowd shooting you could see him mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players
Q.1. Was there any hierarchy in the studio?
Ans. Yes, there was a hierarchy in the studio.
Q.2. Who did the make-up of the hero?
Ans. The chief make-up man did the make-up for the heroes and heroines.
Q.3. Who did the make-up of the comedian?
Ans. The junior assistant makes up the comedians.
Q.4. What was the responsibility of the office boy?
Ans. The make-up of the crowd was done by an office boy.
Q.5. Who is the writer of these lines?
Ans. Asokamitran is the writer of Poets and Pancakes.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
5. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
In those days I worked in a cubicle, two whole sides of which were French windows. (I didn’t know at that time they were called French windows.) Seeing me sitting at my desk tearing up newspapers day in and day out, most people thought I was doing next to nothing. Likely, the Boss thought likewise too. So anyone who felt I should be given some occupation would barge into my cubicle and deliver an extended lecture.
Q.1. Who worked in the cubical?
Ans. Asokamitran worked in a cubical in one of the studios.
Q.2. What was the author’s duty?
Ans. He used to tear newspaper cutting.
Q.3. What did people think of the author?
Ans. People consider the author to be not doing anything.
Q.4. What did people say to him?
Ans. People thought that the author had no work.
Q.5. What did the boss think about the author?
Ans. The boss also thought that the author had no work.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
6. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
Kothamangalam Subbu. Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini Studios. He couldn’t have had a more encouraging opening in films than our grown-up make-up boy had. On the contrary, he must have had to face more uncertain and difficult times, for when he began his career, there were no firmly established film-producing companies or studios. Even in the matter of education, especially formal education, Subbu couldn’t have had an appreciable lead over our boy. But by being born a Brahmin — a virtue, indeed!
Q.1. Who was the No. 2 in Gemini Studios?
Ans. Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini.
Q.2. What did Subbu get from films in the beginning?
Ans. He didn’t get a good start in films in the beginning.
Q.3. Was there any established company when Subbu started his career?
Ans. There were no established film-producing companies.
Q.4. Who was more educated, Subbu or the office boy?
Ans. The office boy was more educated.
Q.5. What was the reason for the progress of Subbu, according to the office boy?
Ans. The office boy thought that the Brahmin caste helped Subbu to reach No. 2.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
7. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes(HBSE 2017)
He could look cheerful at all times even after having had a hand in a flop film. He always had worked for somebody — he could never do things on his own — but his sense of loyalty made him identify himself with his principal completely and turn his entire creativity to his principal’s advantage. He was tailor-made for films. Here was a man who could be inspired when commanded.
Q.1. What was Subbu’s ability discussed in these lines?
Ans. Subbu was a cheerful person.
Q.2. How were his films at the beginning of his career?
Ans. His films were total flops in the beginning.
Q.3. For whom had he worked before?
Ans. He had worked for others.
Q.4. What did he do to help him reach the top?
Ans. Subbu’s loyalty toward his boss helped him reach the top.
Q.5. Was he comfortable in films?
Ans. Yes, Subbu was tailor-made for films.
Q.6. Was Subbu able to inspire others?
Ans. Yes, he was capable of inspiring everybody.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
8. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
You saw Subbu always with The Boss but in the attendance rolls, he was grouped under a department called the Story Department comprising a lawyer and an assembly of writers and poets. The lawyer was also officially known as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the opposite. An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on the recording equipment. When the actress paused for breath, the lawyer said to her, “One minute, please,” and
played back the recording.
Q.1. Where was he always seen?
Ans. Subbu was always with the boss.
Q.2. Where was Subbu on the attendance rolls?
Ans. He was enrolled in the Story Department.
Q.3. Who worked in the Story Department?
Ans. The lawyer, the poet, and the writers were in the story department.
Q.4 Who served as Gemini Studios’ legal counsel?
Ans. The lawyer was the legal advisor for Gemini Studios.
Q.5. How did the actress behave on the stage?
Ans. She lost her temper and shouted on the stage.
Q.6. What did the lawyer do about her behavior?
Ans. The lawyer recorded her voice and played it back.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
9. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
When Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament army, some two hundred strong visited Madras sometime in 1952, they could not have found a warmer host in India than the Gemini Studios. Someone called the group an international Circus. They weren’t very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table, but they presented two plays most professionally. Their ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’ ran several shows in Madras …It was some years later that I learned that the MRA was a kind of countermovement to international Communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands
Q.1. Who was the owner of M.R.A?
Ans. Frank Buchman was the owner of M.R.A.
Q.2. How many people from M.R.A visited Madras?
Ans. There were two hundred people in the M.R.A. group.
Q.3. What is the full form of M.R.A.?
Ans. Moral Re-Armament Army.
Q.4. When did M.R.A. visit Madras?
Ans. They visited Madras in 1952.
Q.5. What were the plays they showed?
Ans. Their’ Jotham Valley ‘and’ The Forgotten Factor ‘ran several shows in Madras.
Q.6. What was the nature of M.R.A.?
Ans. MRA was a kind of counter-movement to international Communism.
Reading Comprehension Passages: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
10. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
A few months later, the telephone lines of the big bosses of Madras buzzed and once again we at Gemini Studios cleared a whole shooting stage to welcome another visitor. All they said was that he was a poet from England. The only poets from England the simple Gemini staff knew or heard of were Wordsworth and Tennyson; the more literate ones knew of Keats, Shelley, and Byron; and one or two might have faintly come to know of someone by the name Eliot. Who was the poet visiting the Gemini Studios now? “He is not a poet. He is an editor. That’s why The Boss is giving him a big reception.” Vasan was also the editor of the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan. Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited Gemini Studios! In a moment I felt a dark chamber of my mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery.
Q.1. Who visited the Gemini Studio?
Ans. English poet visited the studios.
Q.2. What did the people say about the visitor?
Ans. People didn’t know about the visitor.
Q.3. Who is the poet visiting the Gemini Studios now?
Ans. Stephen Spender visited the studios.
Q.4. Why did the boss welcome the guest?
Ans. People thought the visitor was an editor.
Q.5. How did the author come to know about the visitor?
Ans. The God that Failed Six eminent men of letters in six separate essays described their journeys into Communism, and Stephen Spender was one of them.
Q.6. Who was the editor of the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan?
Ans. Vasan was also the editor of the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan.
Paragraph 2. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- The make-up room looks like a hair salon.
- There are lights and mirrors in the studio.
- There was a miserable situation due to hot lights.
- It was headed by a Bengali.
- It was headed by different states.
- So, it was a symbol of national integration like A.I.R.
- The people of the make-up branch could change one’s personality by pancakes.
Paragraph 3. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
A strict hierarchy was maintained in the make-up department. The chief make-up man made the chief actors and actresses ugly, his senior assistant the ‘second’ hero and heroine, the junior assistant the main comedian, and so forth. The players who played the crowd were the responsibility of the office boy. (Even the make-up department of the Gemini Studio had an ‘office boy!)
On the days when there was a crowd shooting, you could see him mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the crowd players
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- There was a hierarchy in the studio.
- The chief makes up heroes and heroines.
- The junior assistant makes up the comedians.
- The office boy was for a large crowd.
- The Gemini Studios had an office boy.
Paragraph 4. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
In those days I worked in a cubicle, two whole sides of which were French windows. (I didn’t know at that time they were called French windows.) Seeing me sitting at my desk tearing up newspapers day in and day out, most people thought I was doing next to nothing. Likely, the Boss thought likewise too. So anyone who felt I should be given some occupation would barge into my cubicle and deliver an extended lecture.
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- Asokamitran worked in a cubical of the studios.
- He used to tear newspaper cutting.
- People considered the author is not doing anything.
- Everone gave an extended lecture on his work.
Paragraph 5. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
Kothamangalam Subbu. Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini Studios. He couldn’t have had a more encouraging opening in films than our grown-up make-up boy had. On the contrary, he must have had to face more uncertain and difficult times, for when he began his career, there were no firmly established film-producing companies or studios. Even in the matter of education, especially formal education, Subbu couldn’t have had an appreciable lead over our boy. But by being born a Brahmin — a virtue, indeed!
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- Kothamangalam Subbu was the No. 2 at Gemini Studios.
- The office boy couldn’t grow as much as Subbu.
- Subbu was less educated as compared to the office boy.
- Office boy thought that Subbu progressed as he was a Brahmin.
Paragraph 6. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
He could look cheerful at all times even after having had a hand in a flop film. He always had worked for somebody — he could never do things on his own — but his sense of loyalty made him identify himself with his principal completely and turn his entire creativity to his principal’s advantage. He was tailor-made for films. Here was a man who could be inspired when commanded.
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- Subbu was a cheerful person.
- He worked for others.
- Subbu was unable to work independently.
- He was most loyal to his boss.
- He was an expert in making films.
Paragraph 7. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
You saw Subbu always with The Boss but in the attendance rolls, he was grouped under a department called the Story Department comprising a lawyer and an assembly of writers and poets. The lawyer was also officially known as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the opposite. An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on the recording equipment. When the actress paused for breath, the lawyer said to her, “One minute, please,” and
played back the recording.
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- Subbu was enrolled in Story Department but he was always with his boss.
- The lawyer was called a legal advisor.
- The lawyer recorded the misbehavior of the actress.
Paragraph 8. Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes: Understanding Reading Comprehension
When Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament army, some two hundred strong visited Madras sometime in 1952, they could not have found a warmer host in India than the
Gemini Studios. Someone called the group an international Circus. They weren’t very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table,
but they presented two plays most professionally. Their ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’ ran several shows in Madras …It was some years later that I learned that the MRA was a kind of countermovement to international Communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands
Critical Analysis of paragraph to understand the main ideas of Poets and Pancakes
- Frank Buchman was the head of M.R.A.
- M.R.A. visited Madras in 1952.
- Gemini Studio hosted them.
- People called them a circus but MRA was a kind of countermovement to international Communism
- Their ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’ ran several shows in Madras
1. Reading Comprehension Passages Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs): Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
1. Read the following paragraph and Choose the answer of the questions from given options that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
When Frank Buchman’s Moral Re-Armament army, some two hundred strong visited Madras sometime in 1952, they could not have found a warmer host in India than the Gemini Studios. Someone called the group an international Circus. They weren’t very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table, but they presented two plays most professionally. Their ‘Jotham Valley’ and ‘The Forgotten Factor’ ran several shows in Madras …It was some years later that I learned that the MRA was a kind of countermovement to international Communism and the big bosses of Madras like Mr. Vasan simply played into their hands
Q.1. Who was the owner of M.R.A?
Q.2. How many people from M.R.A visited Madras?
Q.3. What is the full form of M.R.A.?
(A) Moral Revenue Assistant
(B) Moral Re-Armament Army.
(C) Maharashtra Resident Association
Ans. (B) Moral Re-Armament Army.
Q.4. When did M.R.A. visit Madras?
Q.5. What were the plays they showed?
(C) ‘ Jotham Valley ‘and’ The Forgotten Factor ‘
Ans. ‘ Jotham Valley ‘and’ The Forgotten Factor ‘
Q.6. What was the nature of M.R.A.?
(A) Resident Welfare Work
(C) Counter-movement to international Communism
Ans. (C) Counter-movement to international Communism
2. Reading Comprehension Passages Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs): Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
2. Read the following paragraph and Choose the answer of the questions from given options that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
A few months later, the telephone lines of the big bosses of Madras buzzed and once again we at Gemini Studios cleared a whole shooting stage to welcome another visitor. All they said was that he was a poet from England. The only poets from England the simple Gemini staff knew or heard of were Wordsworth and Tennyson; the more literate ones knew of Keats, Shelley, and Byron; and one or two might have faintly come to know of someone by the name Eliot. Who was the poet visiting the Gemini Studios now? “He is not a poet. He is an editor. That’s why The Boss is giving him a big reception.” Vasan was also the editor of the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan. Stephen Spender, the poet who had visited Gemini Studios! In a moment I felt a dark chamber of my mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery.
Q.1. Who visited the Gemini Studio?
Q.2. What did the people say about the visitor?
Q.3. Who is the poet visiting the Gemini Studios now?
Q.4. Why did the boss welcome the guest?
Q.5. How did the author come to know about the visitor?
(D) The God that Failed Six
Ans. (D) The God that Failed Six
Q.6. Who was the editor of the popular Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan?
3. Reading Comprehension Passages Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs): Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English
3. Read the following paragraph and Choose the answer of the questions from given options that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
You saw Subbu always with The Boss but in the attendance rolls, he was grouped under a department called the Story Department comprising a lawyer and an assembly of writers and poets. The lawyer was also officially known as the legal adviser, but everybody referred to him as the opposite. An extremely talented actress, who was also extremely temperamental, once blew over on the sets. While everyone stood stunned, the lawyer quietly switched on the recording equipment. When the actress paused for breath, the lawyer said to her, “One minute, please,” and
played back the recording.
Q.1. Where was Subbu always seen?
Q.2. Where was Subbu on the attendance rolls?
Ans. (B) Story Department
Q.3. Who worked in the Story Department?
Q.4 Who served as Gemini Studios’ legal counsel?
Q.5. How did the actress behave on the stage?
Q.6. What did the lawyer do about her behavior?
(C) Recorded her voice and played back
Ans. (C) Recorded her voice and played back
4. Check Your Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs) Skills: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English( BSEH 2022 Set D)
4. Read the following paragraph and Choose the answer of the questions from given options that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
Stephen Spender ! Suddenly the book assumed tremendous significance. Stephen Spender the poet who had visited Gemini Studios ! In a moment I felt a dark chamber of my mind lit up by a hazy illumination. The reaction to Stephen Spender at Gemini Studios was no longer a mystery. The Boss of the Gemini Studios may not have much to do with Spender’s poetry. But not with his god that failed.
Questions : 1 × 5 = 5
(i) Who was Stephen Spender ?
(a) English poet
(b) English essayist
(c) The editor of a daily magazine
(d) All of the above
(ii) Which book is referred to in the given passage ?
(a) “The Encounter”
(b) “The God that Failed”
(c) “The God of Small Things”
(d) “The Brave New World”
(iii) Which English poet had visited the Gemini Studios when the writer worked there ?
(a) Alfred Tennyson
(b) Stephen Spender
(c) Andre Gide
(d) Richard Wright
(iv) The Boss of Gemini Studios may not have any concern with …………. .
(a) God that failed
(b) Subbu’s poetry
(c) Other writers
(d) Spender’s poetry
(v) How did the dark chamber of writer’s mind lit up ?
(a) With the name of Gemini Studio in a book
(b) With the name of Stephen Spender in a book
(c) With the name of Subbu in a book
(d) With the name of his friend in a book
5. Check Your Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice Questions(MCQs) Skills: Poets and Pancakes Class 12 English( BSEH 2022 Set C)
5. Read the following paragraph and Choose the answer of the questions from given options that follow: Reading Comprehension Poets and Pancakes
On the days when there was a crowd shooting, you could see him mixing his paint in a giant vessel and slapping it on the surface of the face in the process of applying makeup. He wasn’t exactly a boy; he was in his early forties, having entered the studios years ago in the hope of becoming a star actor or a top screen writer, director or lyrics writer. He was a bit of a poet.
Questions : 1 × 5 = 5
(i) Who does ‘he’ refer to in the passage ?
(a) The office boy
(b) A star actor
(c) A top screen writer
(d) A lyrics writer
(ii) What work did he do in the Gemini Studios ?
(a) He did the makeup of heroes.
(b) He did the makeup of heroines.
(c) He did the makeup of child artists.
(d) He did the makeup of those who played the crowd.
(iii) Why did he join the studios ?
(a) He hoped to become a star actor ?
(b) He hoped to become a top screen writer.
(c) He hoped to become a director.
(d) All of the above
(iv) Why was he disappointed ?
(a) Because he could not become a character artist.
(b) Because he could not become a music director.
(c) Because he could not become a lyrics writer.
(d) Because he couldn’t become an office boy.
(v) Who has been called “a bit of a poet” ?
(a) The screen writer
(b) The director
(c) The lyrics writer
(d) The office boy
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