Short & Long Questions: Two Gentlemen of Verona | Short & Long Answer Questions for Class 10 PDF Download

Short Answer Type

Q1: Justify the title Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Ans: The title is absolutely justified as the story is about two young boys, who despite their youth, were already true gentlemen. They were dignified, conscientious, sincere and hardworking. They shouldered the responsibility of looking after their sister Lucia and paid her hospital bills by working hard without expecting any help from anyone. They lived with dignity and pride.

Q2: Where did the narrator meet the two boys for the first time? What were they doing?
Ans: The narrator met the boys for the first time as he was driving towards Verona on the foothills of the Alps. The boys were selling baskets of strawberries and they stopped his car to sell him some too.

Q3: Why did the narrator say that what struck one most was their willingness to work?
Ans: Though the boys were fairly young, they were extremely hard-working. Even when they were tired, they ‘ worked without complaint. They did many jobs and worked willingly and cheerfully.

Q4: Why was the square deserted?
Ans: The square was deserted because it was very late at night. People had returned home.

Q5: Were the boys quite happy to work? Which sentence tells -you this?
Ans: Yes, we know that the boys were happy to work as the narrator observes, “What struck one most was their willingness to work.”

Q6: What made the narrator think that they were earning much?
Ans: The narrator saw the boys doing multiple jobs. They shined shoes, sold fruit, hawked newspapers, conducted tourists round the town and ran errands. Therefore, the narrator thought they were earning a good amount of money.

Q7: The narrator feels that the boys worked very hard but spent very little. What impression has he formed of their character?
Ans: The narrator saw that the boys worked very hard at many jobs. He also noticed that despite their earnings, they spent nothing on clothes and ate very frugal meals. He assumes that the boys were hoarding money to emigrate to the United States.

Q8: Where did the boys go every Sunday? Why did they do so?
Ans: Every Sunday, the boys went to the hospital in Poleta to meet their sister Lucia who was admitted there. Lucia was suffering from tuberculosis of the spine.

Q9: Do you think the boys looked after Lucia willingly? Explain.
Ans: Undoubtedly the boys looked after Lucia willingly. They worked at various jobs and performed errands for people cheerfully, spending little on themselves. They neither looked to others for help nor for sympathy. They could have easily taken help from the narrator and other people, but they preferred to look after their sister themselves.

Q10: How does the story of the Two Gentlemen of Verona give promise of greater hope for human society?
Ans: The two boys—one 13 and the other 12—shouldered responsibility for their ailing sister without complaints. They worked hard and tirelessly, not looking for help or pity. They did not shirk from their duty towards their family or country. They were the embodiment of selflessness, nobility and gentleness. The two boys prove that hope, faith, positive thinking and hard work can help overcome all troubles in life.

Long Answer Type

Q11: Write a paragraph on the early life of the two boys during the war.
Ans: The father of the two boys was a well-known singer and a widower. He was killed in war and a bomb blast had destroyed their home. As a result, the boys and their sister were left on the streets. They suffered starvation and exposure to cold winter and barely managed to keep themselves alive. They built a shelter with their own hands amid the rubble. The boys had joined the resistance movement. During this time, their sister developed tuberculosis of the spine.

Q12: Give a brief character sketch of Nicola and Jacopo.
Ans: Nicola and Jacopo endured immense suffering. They were motherless and had lost their father in the war. A bomb blast had destroyed their house but their spirit was not broken. They were a resourceful duo and had made their own shelter. They were hard-working and willing to do any job to pay for their sister’s stay in the hospital.
They were devoted to their sister and did not spend money on themselves. They were dignified and conscientious and also patriotic as they had joined the Resistance movement against Germans, though they were mere children. They were proud and did not want sympathy from anyone.

Q13: Give a brief character sketch of Nicola.
Ans: He was a brave and spirited boy. Despite enduring immense suffering in the absence of his mother and father, his spirit was not broken. He was the stronger of the two brothers and was extremely resourceful. He even made his own shelter. He was hard-working and willing to do any job. He was devoted to his sister and was willing to do any kind of hard work to pay for her stay in the hospital. He did not spend money on himself. He was patriotic by nature and had joined the Resistance movement against Germans though was very young. He was proud and did not want sympathy from any one for his plight. He was also childish and innocent.

Q14: In what way is Jacopo different from his elder brother?
Ans: He was a brave and spirited boy and the terrible hardships that he had to endure had not broken his spirit. He was the younger of the two brothers. He was childish and innocent and was naughty as a squirrel.

Q15: “Yet in both these boyish faces there was a seriousness which was far beyond their years.” Does this sentence signal anything to you?
Ans: The boys had imbibed a sense of responsibility at a very young age. They were ready to do any job and were extremely hard-working. Their selfless action and devotion to their sister’s treatment is remarkable. Their hard-earned money was spent shouldering responsibility far beyond their years.

Q16: Justify the title Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Ans: A ‘gentleman’ is a person who is gentle and considerate and respects the feelings of others while treating them. He adheres to high standards of behaviour and responsibility and is mindful of his duty. The two boys are gentlemen as they are hardworking and conscientious as well as imbued with a sense of duty towards their country. They are also aware of their responsibility towards their sister Lucia.

Q17: The journey to Poleta changed the narrator’s previous impression about the boys. He was deeply moved by their story. He could not sleep that night. He wrote about them in his diary. Write the diary of the narrator.
Ans:
Dear Diary,
I have met two very hard working boys. I saw them doing a number of jobs. They had a frugal nature that reflected in their appearance as well food habits. I presumed that they were saving to emigrate. One day I accompanied them to Poleta and followed them to a villa. I learnt of their hard life. I came to know about the loss of their father and how their home was destroyed. I came to know about the extreme hard work that they were doing to pay for their sister’s hospital bills and I was mighty impressed by their sense of responsibility. I admired the pride that the two boys had, as they refused to be looked upon with pity by others.

Q18: The nurse in the hospital told Lucia that she had completely recovered from the illness and she could go home the next day. Lucia became very happy and that day she wrote a diary. What would that diary entry be?
Ans:
Dear Diary,
I have recovered from my illness after staying in the hospital for ,many months. My brothers have endured immense hardships to pay the hospital fees. I have tremendous admiration for their resourcefulness and their sense of duty. I will work as a singer and try to give them a good life.

Q19: Two Gentlemen of Verona deals with the importance of family relationships. Comment.
Ans: The values revealed by the two boys are selflessness, devotion to duty, willingness to work hard and cheerfulness in adverse circumstances. It gives us promise of a greater hope for society. The war had destroyed everything Nicola and Jacopo had. Moreover, their sister Lucia was suffering from tuberculosis of the spine and had to be hospitalized. However, it did not fill them with despair. They resolved to start a new life for themselves after the war. They got Lucia admitted to a hospital and worked very hard to pay for her treatment.

Q20: How does the story Two Gentlemen of Verona by A.J. Cronin promise hope for society?
Ans: The story stresses the importance of relationships and one’s duty towards society and country. The boys’ father was killed in the war and their home was destroyed. Nicola and Jacopo worked at numerous jobs and ran errands to earn money to pay for their sister’s treatment.
The destruction caused by the war could not break the spirit of the two boys. Rather it filled them with a new energy to rebuild from what was left after the war. In this world, where values are eroding, these boys and their work promise a new hope for society. Their selflessness, devotion to duty, willingness to work hard and cheerfulness in adverse circumstances give us promise of a greater hope for society.