Question

Read the extract and answer the questions that follow.

“It was Louisa Mebbin who drew attention to the fact that the goat was in deaththroes from a mortal bullet-wound, while no trace of the rifle’s deadly work could be found on the tiger. Evidently the wrong animal had been hit, and the beast of prey had succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the sudden report of the rifle, accelerated by senile decay. Mrs Packletide was pardonably annoyed at the discovery; but, at any rate, she was the possessor of a dead tiger, and the villagers anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the beast. And Miss Mebbin was a paid companion.”

i) Which line from the extract supports the idea that people had no doubts about Mrs. Packletide missing her mark?

ii) Select the option that correctly reveals the character traits of Mrs. Packletide.

1. Miserly
2. Opportunistic
3. Blunt
4. Greedy
5. Pretentious
   1. 1, 3 and 4
   2. 2, 3, 4 and 5
   3. 1, 3, 4 and 5
   4. 2, 4 and 5

iii) Select the idiom that captures the central idea of the extract.

1. Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.
2. Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.
3. Humans are the most unreliable species.
4. The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance- it is the illusion of knowledge.

iv) Identify the writer’s tone in this extract.

v) Select the option that displays the reason for Mrs. Packletide’s brief annoyance.

1. The covering up of her blunder.
2. The death of the goat.
3. The sudden report of the rifle.
4. The participation of the villagers.

Answer 1

i) The line that supports the idea that people had no doubts (or rather, that they chose to ignore the truth to keep the situation straightforward) is: “...the villagers anxious for their thousand rupees, gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the beast.”

ii) 2, 4 and 5

iii) Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.

iv) The writer’s tone is satirical and ironic. Saki uses this tone to mock the vanity, shallow social competition, and the absurdity of the upper-class characters.

v) The covering up of her blunder.