Going Places

CBSE Previous Year Questions 2025

Short question Answers (2 Marks)

Q.1. "Christ, Sophie, you're still at school." What image do you form of Geoff as a brother from the above context? (2 Marks) [1/1/1, Q10(vi)]

Answer: Geoff is portrayed as a grounded and realistic older brother. Unlike Sophie, who lives in a world of fantasy, Geoff is an apprentice mechanic who understands the world better. His remark shows that he finds Sophie's stories about meeting Danny Casey or buying boutiques to be immature and highly unlikely, reminding her of her current status as a mere schoolgirl. Despite his skepticism, he is the only one Sophie trusts with her secrets, indicating a bond of quiet sibling affection.

Q.2. "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? (2 Marks) [1/2/1, Q10(i)]

Answer: These lines reveal that Sophie's father is aggressive, pragmatic, and dismissive of her habitual daydreaming. He is a hard-working man who has no patience for "wild stories" and fears that Sophie's inability to distinguish between fact and fiction will lead her to a social or personal crisis. His tone suggests a lack of emotional tenderness, replaced by a weary frustration with his daughter's escapism.

Q.3. How does Sophie plan to get the kind of money she wanted for her boutique? (2 Marks) [1/5/1, Q10(ii)]

Answer: Sophie has several unrealistic and shifting plans to fund her boutique. Initially, she claims she will find the money, then suggests she will work as a manager "to begin with" to save up. Later, she considers becoming an actress, believing there is "real money" in that profession, or a fashion designer, which she views as "sophisticated". Her plans lack any concrete roadmap, highlighting her role as a dreamer.

Long Answer Questions (5 Marks)

Q.4. Sophie is an escapist and a dreamer. Franz loves to miss school. Analyse the result of both these characters as a result of their attitude towards life. (120-150 words) (5 Marks) [1/2/2, Q12(B)]

Answer: Sophie and Franz both exhibit attitudes that distance them from their immediate realities, but the consequences of their behaviors lead to different forms of personal struggle. Sophie is a chronic escapist who uses her imagination to transcend her lower-middle-class life and a future "earmarked for the biscuit factory". She constructs elaborate fantasies about owning boutiques and meeting the football star Danny Casey. Ultimately, her escapism leads to a "hard burden" of sadness and despondency when her dreams inevitably clash with her unchanging reality.

Conversely, Franz is a procrastinator who prefers seeking birds' eggs or sliding on the Saar to learning the rules for participles. He delays his education, believing there is always "plenty of time". His attitude results in acute regret and a sense of irreversible loss when he realizes, during his "last lesson," that he can no longer learn his mother tongue. While Sophie's result is a lingering internal melancholy, Franz's is a sudden, painful awakening to the value of his lost identity.

Extract Based Questions (6 Marks)

Q.5. Read the following extract and answer the questions (6 Marks) [1/4/1, Q9(b)(i)]
"They wouldn't make you manager straight off, Soaf."
"I'll be like Mary Quant," Sophie said. "I'll be a natural. They'll see it from the start. I'll have the most amazing shop this city's ever seen/'
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn't say these things.
When they reached Sophie's street Jansie said, "It's only a few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They don't pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never allow it."

(i) What trait of the speaker is reflected in the first line of the extract?
(A) optimistic 
(B) pessimistic 
(C) realistic 
(D) fatalistic

Answer: (C) realistic
Solution: Jansie is the speaker of the first line. She understands the practical limitations of the real world, knowing that a fresh graduate cannot become a manager immediately without experience or capital.

(ii) Choose the correct option from those given in the brackets to fill in the blank.
​'They'll see it from the start." The above statement reflects Sophie's ________. (modesty/overconfidence)

Answer: overconfidence
Solution: Sophie believes her talent is so innate ("a natural") that she will bypass all entry-level struggles. This reflects her unrealistic self-assessment and lack of grounding in reality.

(iii) "They don't pay well for the shop work," Jansie's statement depicts Jansie as a:
(A) happy-go-lucky girl. 
(B) practical friend of Sophie. 
(C) casual friend of Sophie. 
(D) jealous friend.

Answer: (B) practical friend of Sophie
Solution: Jansie is aware of their socio-economic reality. She reminds Sophie of the low wages and their father's likely disapproval, showing she values hard facts over daydreams.

(iv) Complete the following suitably:
"Your dad would never allow it ....." The image of Sophie's father as we infer from the above statement is that he ________.

Answer: is a strict, authoritative, and realistic man who does not tolerate Sophie's "wild stories" or unrealistic ambitions.
Solution: The father is depicted as a no-nonsense figure who is well aware of their family's financial struggles and expects his children to stick to achievable, working-class goals.

(v) What does the following line from the extract showcase about Jansie's emotions? 
"Soaf, you really should be sensible."
(i) indifference 
(ii) concern 
(iii) regret 
(iv) envy

Answer: (ii) concern
Solution: Jansie's melancholy and her plea for Sophie to be sensible show that she is worried about the inevitable disappointment Sophie will face when her grand dreams clash with the reality of the biscuit factory.

(vi) "They were both 'earmarked' for the biscuit factory." What does the word 'earmarked' convey?

Answer: It conveys that their future was predetermined or set aside based on their social and economic circumstances.
Solution: Being "earmarked" suggests that, due to their background, they have no choice in their career path; it has already been decided by the environment they live in.