Q1. [5]
On the day of the inauguration, I was overwhelmed with a sense of history. In the first decade of the 20th century a few years after the bitter Anglo-Boer war and before my own birth, the white skinned people of South Africa patched up their differences and created a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned people of their own land. The structure they created formed the basis of one of the harshest, most inhuman societies the world has ever known. Now, in the last decade of the twentienth century, and my own eighth decade as a man, that system has been overturned forever and replaced by one that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.
Read the following extract and answer the questions.
- (i) Explain the feelings of the narrator when he said; "I was overwhelmed with a sense of history." [1]
- (ii) The system of racial domination has been replaced by a system that: [1]
- (A) confirms the education of the Blacks.
- (B) recognises the rights and freedoms of all people.
- (C) recollects the bitter experiences.
- (D) focuses on the personality development.
- (iii) Comment on the kind of society apartheid had created? [2]
- (iv) Which phrase would correctly substitute 'patched up' in the given sentence from the extract: "...the white skinned people of South Africa patched up their differences..." [1]
Previously asked in CBSE board exam
2024 2/1/1 Q6(A)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 07:15 · grounding stimulus+chapter
Model Answer
(i) On the day of his inauguration as South Africa's first black President, Mandela felt deeply emotional. He was moved by the weight of all past events — decades of racial oppression — that had finally led to that historic moment of freedom and equality.
(ii) (B) recognises the rights and freedoms of all people.
(iii) Apartheid, created in the first decade of the 20th century after the Anglo-Boer war, established a system of racial domination against the dark-skinned people of South Africa. The structure it created formed the basis of one of the harshest and most inhuman societies the world had ever known, where people were oppressed solely on the basis of the colour of their skin.
(iv) The phrase that correctly substitutes 'patched up' is "resolved" (i.e., settled or made peace with their differences).
Source: Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Extract — Inauguration passage
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Explanation
- (i) The activity column in the textbook explicitly glosses "overwhelmed with a sense of history" as feeling deeply emotional, remembering and understanding all past events that led to the moment — use that meaning.
- (ii) The extract directly states the replacement system "recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples" — B is the verbatim answer.
- (iii) For 2 marks, give two clear points: (a) it was a system of racial domination, and (b) it created one of the harshest, most inhuman societies. Quote from the extract for accuracy.
- (iv) 'Patched up their differences' means they settled/resolved their disputes. Accept synonyms like "settled" or "resolved." Avoid "ended" alone as it misses the reconciliation nuance.
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