Class 12 English Previous Year: Short Questions with Answers- Going Places

Short Answer Questions (2025)

Q1: “Christ, Sophie, you’re still at school.” What image do you form of Geoff as a brother from the above context?

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​Ans: Geoff appears as a practical and slightly exasperated brother who is skeptical of Sophie’s grandiose dreams. His blunt remark suggests a realistic outlook, contrasting with Sophie’s fantasies, and indicates a protective yet dismissive attitude toward her ambitions.

Q2: How does Sophie plan to get the kind of money she wanted for her boutique?

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​Ans: Sophie vaguely plans to get money for her boutique by becoming a manager, actress, or fashion designer, relying on unrealistic dreams of fame and success rather than a concrete financial strategy.

Q3: Why did Sophie dream of having a boutique after leaving school?

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​Ans: Sophie dreamed of having a boutique to escape her mundane working-class life and achieve glamour and independence, inspired by figures like Mary Quant, reflecting her desire for a sophisticated, successful identity.

Q4: How did Sophie’s family react when she announced that if she ever had money she would buy a boutique?

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​Ans: Sophie’s family reacted with skepticism and disapproval. Her father scoffed aggressively, warning of trouble, while Geoff dismissed her as immature, indicating their disbelief in her unrealistic dreams given their socio-economic reality.

Q5: "One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble," her father said aggressively. What do you learn about Sophie’s father from these lines?

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Ans: Sophie’s father is revealed as stern, pragmatic, and unsupportive of her fanciful dreams. His aggressive tone suggests frustration and a controlling nature, emphasizing practical expectations over Sophie’s unrealistic aspirations for a boutique.

Short Answer Questions (PYQs)

Q. 1. What did Sophie imagine about her brother, Geoff? [CBSE, Foreign Set I, 2017]
Ans. Value Points :
— Going to places unknown to her
— Meeting exotic interesting people.
Detailed Answer : Sophie imagined that her brother, Geoff worked in a fascinating world and met interesting people. She also imagined that she was riding behind Geoff into that world and was meeting exotic and interesting people there.

Q. 2. What did Sophie tell Geoff about her ‘meeting’ Danny Casey? [CBSE, Foreign Set II, 2017]
Ans. Value Points : Had met Danny Casey at the arcade
— Described him
— Said he had gentle green eyes, not very tall
— Asked for autograph, neither had paper or pen
— Talked a bit about clothes
— Seemed lonely
— Was going to meet him next week
Detailed Answer : Sophie told Geoff that she had met Danny Casey at the shopping arcade. He had gentle green ages and he was not very tall. She told Geoff that she had asked him for his autograph for Derek, but could not get it as neither of them had paper or pen.

Q. 3. Sophie was dreaming of so many things in her life. What were they?[CBSE, Delhi Set II, 2017]
Ans. Value Points : Dreamt of becoming
— Boutique owner
— Actress
— Manager
— Fashion designer
— Part of sophisticated world, wanted to visit exotic places she believed her brother went to.
Detailed Answer : Sophie dreamt of owning a boutique. But, that would require money. Therefore, Sophie thought of becoming a manager straight off. Then, she considered becoming an actress as it paid good money. She was going to be either that or a fashion designer. Eventually, once she acquired enough money, she would buy a boutique. She was fascinated by her brother Geoff’s exotic world and dreamt of being part of it.

Q. 4. What was Sophie’s ambition in life ? How did she hope to achieve that?[CBSE, Delhi Set I, 2017]
Ans. Value Points : What : Wanted to be a boutique owner/rich/someone sophisticated
How : By earning money as actress/manager/ fashion designer.
Detailed Answer : Sophie’s ambition in life was either to become an actress, a fashion designer or a boutique owner. She wanted to become rich and sophisticated. She hoped to earn money by becoming a manager or a fashion designer or working park time as an actress.

Q. 5. Why did Sophie want to be admitted into Geoff’s affections?
Ans. Sophie wanted to be admitted into Geoff’s affections because she used to envy Geoff’s world which was not accessible to her. He never discussed where he went. His life, therefore, held a lot of fascination for her and she wanted to be a part of it.

Q. 6. Why was Sophie jealous of her brother’s silence?
Ans. Geoff was silent and did not share his experiences with anyone. Sophie felt secluded. When he wasn’t speaking, it was as though he was away in a world which Sophie had never visited.

Q. 7. How did Sophie’s father react when Geoff told him about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans. Sophie’s father took this incident of her meeting with Danny Casey as another of her wild stories and warned her that these stories would someday get her into trouble.

Q. 8. Why is Sophie attracted to Danny Casey?
Ans. Value Points : A famous young Irish football player; played for the United/family was fond of watching football matches/hero/worship by the adolescent girl.
Detailed Answer : Sophie was attracted to Danny Casey because he was a famous young Irish football player and her family was fond of watching football matches. He was a hero who was worshipped by a young adolescent girl.

Q. 9. Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey?[Delhi, Set-I, II & III, 2013] [Outside Delhi Set-I, II & III, 2012]
OR
Why Sophie didn’t want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?[Delhi Set-I, II, 2011] (NCERT)
OR
Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?[Foreign Set-III, 2017]
Ans. Value Points : - Because she believed the whole neighbourhood would get to know of it from Jansie.
- There would be a row if her father got to know about it
- It was meant to be only between Geoff and Sophie.
Detailed Answer : Sophie wanted to keep her story with Danny a secret from Jansie because Jansie was an expert at spreading rumours. She also feared that her father would get angry if the story of proximity with Casey spread in the town.

Q. 10. How are Jansie and Sophie different from each other?
OR
Though Sophie and Jansie were good friends, how were they basically different from each other?
Ans. Jansie is a very practical, down to earth girl and she knows that after passing out of the school, they both were earmarked for the biscuit factory whereas, Sophie was a daydreamer. She dreamt too high and lived in the world of fantasy.

Q. 11. Whom did Sophie like more than anyone in the story? Why?
Ans. Sophie liked her brother more than anyone else in the family. He was a quiet person who stayed in his own world. She was intrigued by his silence. She wanted him to share things with her. She wanted to know where he went and what he did.

Q. 12. How do we know that Sophie’s family lived in poor circumstances?
OR
What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of the family background?
Ans. The house that Sophie lived in is not in a good condition. The family members are simple, unsophisticated people while Sophie dreams of a fanciful world. Her father has been described as grimy and sweaty, ‘scooping shepherd’s pie in his mouth as hard as he could’, while her mother is shown washing dishes. The house is steamy and the atmosphere chokes Sophie.

Q. 13. What do you think of Sophie’s dream about her career?
Ans. Sophie had unrealistic dreams about her career. They were unrealistic because she had neither the money nor the talent to start a boutique and she considered herself to be a natural manager.

Q. 14. What is unrealistic about Sophie’s dream of her future life?
Ans. Sophie dreams of achieving things she has no access to. She belongs to a lower middle class family but dreams of owing a boutique, or becoming an actress or a manager. Moreover, instead of working towards her goals, she just dreams about them.