Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the sawmill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school. Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street: the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better. But that day everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. I had to open the door and go in before everybody. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly, 'Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without you.' Then M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to me, said, '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.' What a thunderclap these words were to me! Adapted from Alphonse Daudet, 'The Last Lesson'. Q5. The contrast between Franz's earlier indifference to school and his sudden interest is BEST described as