Question

Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow.

Chief Brown would have liked to tell everyone about his only child. But who would believe him? Who would believe that the best detective alive was an eighth grader? So, he said nothing. Encyclopedia never spoke of the help he gave his father. He didn’t want to seem different from other boys. But there was nothing he could do about his nickname. He was stuck with it. Only his parents and teachers called him by his real name, Leroy. Everyone else called him Encyclopedia.

(i) Complete the following sentence with a suitable reason.

Chief Brown’s dilemma can be called unique because ______.

(ii) What can be inferred about why Encyclopedia never spoke of the help he gave his father?

1. He is shy and lacks confidence in his abilities to share his insights.
2. He wants to avoid the jealousy others might feel about his skills.
3. He desires to blend with the other boys to prevent seeming different.
4. He is embarrassed about being smarter than most adults around him.

(iii) The parents choose not to call their son ‘Encyclopedia’. Select the reason that is false.

1. For them he is more than his unique abilities; he is their child, with a personal identity.
2. Calling him by his real name reflects their affection and the desire to acknowledge him as an ordinary boy.
3. They want him to be remembered as different from the others around.

(iv) What does the writer mean by the fact that Leroy was ‘stuck with’ the name Encyclopedia?

Answer 1

(i) Chief Brown’s dilemma can be called unique because his own eighth-grade son was the best detective he knew, but people would find it hard to believe such a young boy could solve difficult cases.

(ii) He desires to blend with the other boys to prevent seeming different.

(iii) They want him to be remembered as different from the others around.

(iv) The phrase ‘stuck with’ means that Leroy could not get rid of the nickname ‘Encyclopedia’ because everyone had become used to calling him by that name.