Question

Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow.

Chief Brown studied the four words: Nom Utes Sweden Hurts. He shook his head and passed the notebook to Mrs. Brown again. “Can you figure it out?” “Nom is a shortening of nominative, a grammatical term,” stated Mrs. Brown, who had taught English and other subjects in high school. “Utes is an American Indian tribe. Sweden is a country in northern Europe. Hurts is hurts.” She lifted her gaze to Encyclopedia and shook her head. “I can’t figure it out,” she confessed. “Davenport disappeared right after the hold-up,” Encyclopedia reminded her.

(i) What does Chief Brown’s reaction of shaking his head suggest about his understanding of the four words?

1. He is confident that the words are a clue.
2. He is confused, unable to make sense of the words.
3. He believes the words are random and meaningless.
4. He thinks the words are unrelated to the case.

(ii) Identify whether the given statement is true or false.

Mrs. Brown explained the actual meanings of the individual words rather than decoding the hidden message behind them.

(iii) What does Mrs. Brown’s inability to decode the words suggest about the message?

(iv) Complete the following sentence suitably.

The purpose of Encyclopedia’s reminder in the last line of the extract was to ______. (refocus the discussion on the context of the crime/suggest that the coded message was meant for Davenport/imply that the message was likely a clue about the location of the stolen jewellery)

Answer 1

(i) He is confused, unable to make sense of the words.

(ii) This statement is true.

(iii) Mrs. Brown’s inability to decode the words suggests that the message was cleverly coded and its real meaning was not obvious from the individual words.

(iv) The purpose of Encyclopedia’s reminder in the last line of the extract was to refocus the discussion on the context of the crime.