Read the following extract from Alphonse Daudet's short story, 'The Last Lesson' and answer the questions that follow: "My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive." What a thunder-clap these words were to me! Oh the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall!
What does the word, ‘that’ in the extract refer to? What other ‘bad news’ had the villagers received from the bulletin board outside the town-hall?
Topic: The bulletin board
Answer
"That" refers to the order from Berlin — the notice posted at the town hall announcing that only German would henceforth be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. Franz had seen a crowd before the bulletin board on his way to school and had not stopped to read it; now M. Hamel’s words explain what it said.
For two years past, all their bad news had come from that same board — the lost battles, the conscriptions, and the orders of the commanding officer of the occupying Prussian forces.
The first part tests whether you can trace a pronoun back to its referent — a common ICSE technique. Anchor it in the plot: Franz passed the crowd at the board that morning and now understands what they were reading. The second part is a recall detail; give the three kinds of news and the two-year span for full marks.