Try each question on your own first. Use the Show Answer button only after you have selected your option, then read the explanation and revise the related concept from your chapter notes.
Explanation: 'A Roadside Stand' is a poem written by the American poet Robert Frost, addressing themes of rural poverty and urban indifference.
2. What does the roadside stand in the poem represent for the poor rural family who built it?
A. A permanent government shelter
B. A small, desperate hope of earning some money from passing city travellers
C. A tourist attraction built by the government
D. An abandoned building
Answer: B. A small, desperate hope of earning some money from passing city travellers
Explanation: The roadside stand symbolizes the impoverished rural family's meager, hopeful attempt to earn a little extra money by selling their produce or wares to travellers speeding along the highway.
3. How does the poet describe the attitude of the wealthy city folk who pass by the stand?
A. They stop frequently to help and shop at the stand
B. They usually speed past without stopping, showing indifference to the family's hopes and needs
C. They donate generously every time
D. They wish to buy the land immediately
Answer: B. They usually speed past without stopping, showing indifference to the family's hopes and needs
Explanation: Frost portrays the passing city travellers as largely indifferent and self-absorbed, rarely stopping to actually help or purchase from the roadside stand despite the family's evident need.
4. What does the poet criticize through the phrase referring to 'greedy good-doers' and 'beneficent beasts of prey'?
A. Genuine charitable organizations
B. Government and social planners whose self-serving development schemes exploit and displace the rural poor under the guise of help
C. The rural family itself
D. Foreign tourists
Answer: B. Government and social planners whose self-serving development schemes exploit and displace the rural poor under the guise of help
Explanation: Frost sharply criticizes hypocritical reformers and planners who claim to help the rural poor (e.g., through relocation schemes) but are, in reality, more concerned with their own interests, at the cost of the poor's dignity and land.
5. What is the overall theme of 'A Roadside Stand'?
A. The beauty of highway travel
B. The contrast between rural poverty and urban insensitivity, and criticism of exploitative 'development' policies
C. The importance of building better roads
D. A celebration of city life
Answer: B. The contrast between rural poverty and urban insensitivity, and criticism of exploitative 'development' policies
Explanation: The poem highlights the stark disparity between struggling rural communities and indifferent urban society, while critiquing so-called development schemes that fail to genuinely serve the poor.
This page contains a chapter-wise objective practice set. Try the questions without checking the answer first, then use the explanation to understand the point you missed. The current page contains 5 questions, so you can practise in smaller sets when you are revising.
Quick revision tip
After the practice set, write down the question numbers you missed and revise only those concepts once more. This makes MCQ practice more useful than repeatedly attempting the same questions without reviewing mistakes.
