Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom MCQs | Class 10 English Quiz

We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

Pick the option that showcases the usage of ‘host’ as in the extract.

“It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first as a student I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honorable freedoms...”

Choose the option that best fits the usage of the word ‘illusion’ as used in the extract.

Which of these lines from 'A Long Walk to Freedom' hints at the end of apartheid in South Africa?

“It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first as a student I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honorable freedoms...”

Why do you think the speaker mentions some freedoms as ‘transitory’?

We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

The guests at the spectacular ceremony are called distinguished because they

We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

It is a victory for ‘human dignity’. Pick the option that lists the correct answer for what ‘human dignity’ would include.

Nelson Mandela compares _____ to diamonds.

What was the unintended effect of the long oppression? Choose the correct option.

We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

Why does the speaker say that it is a ‘rare privilege’?

He says this as they have

The speaker says, 'at first as a student I wanted freedom only for myself.’ Why do you think he only thought about himself?

But the decades of oppression and brutality had another unintended effect, and that was that it produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the Bram Fischers, the Robert Sobukwes of our times — men of such extraordinary courage, wisdom, and generosity that their like may never be known again. Perhaps it requires such depths of oppression to create such heights of character. My country is rich in the minerals and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds. It is from these comrades in the struggle that I learned the meaning of courage. Time and again, I have seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea.

Select the suitable word from the extract to complete the following:

depths : heights : : compassion : _____.

“It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first as a student I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honorable freedoms...”

A part of the extract has been paraphrased. Choose the option that includes the most appropriate solution to the blanks in the given paraphrase of the extract.

The speaker’s belief about freedom, since childhood proved false. It was not until the speaker grew up to be a young man when it (i) __________________ on him that he was (ii) ________________ of freedom. Then he began (iii) __________________ it.

“It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first as a student I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased and go where I chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic and honorable freedoms...”

The title that best suits this extract is

Mandela talks about how oppression turns the oppressor into a prisoner of hatred. What does this suggest?

We, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil. We thank all of our distinguished international guests for having come to take possession with the people of our country of what is, after all, a common victory for justice, for peace, for human dignity.

How do you think the speaker feels? Choose the option that best fits his state of mind.