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Question
How did the narrator adjust to the ways of life first in London and then in Cambridge, U.S.A.?
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Solution
The narrator has seen various shifts in his life. Firstly, during his bachelorhood, he adjusted a great deal surviving under very absurd and unfavourable conditions. He started working in a library to meet his expenses while he was attending lectures at the LSE. He adjusted his accommodation with other people like him, sharing food, toilet, etc. He led a reckless life eating with hands, soaking dirty dishes in the tub, lounging barefoot, doing things only expected from aimless and lethargic people. Next came a phase in his life when he got married and found a permanent job in America. He shifted because he was given a full-time job in the processing department of the library at MIT. This, however, did not mean that he had started living lavishly. His budget remained just the same it was when he was a student. The aspect that changed drastically was the pace of life in America. Every person was in a hurry to get to the top. Even in his new accommodation, he adjusted to various noises such as flashing sirens, a fleet of buses rumbling along all night, distracting and suffocating him. Life wasn't as peaceful and calm as he had expected with no “glittering ocean to thrill” him or no “breeze to cool” his face. His change in schedule can be reflected at various incidents such as buying milk, etc. His life at the YMCA building turned to be stifling and intolerable with the inconvenient living conditions and unbearable noise because of which he had disturbed sleep.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Fill in the blank with the suitable word.
To every one’s surprise, he turned _____________ at the party.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow :
(1) At the Literary Society’s meeting, Isola read out the letters written to her Granny Pheen, when she was but a little girl. They were from a very kind man – a complete stranger. Isola told us how these letters came to be written.
(2) When Granny Pheen was nine years old, her cat died. Heartbroken, sitting in the middle of the road, she was sobbing her heart out.
(3) A carriage, driving far too fast, came within a whisker of running her down. A very big man in a dark coat with a fur collar, jumped out, leaned over Pheen, and asked if he could help her. Granny Pheen said she was beyond help. Muffin, her cat, was dead.
(4) The man said, ‘Of course, Muffin’s not dead. You do know cats have nine lives, don’t you?’ When Pheen said yes, the man said, ‘Well, I happen to know your Muffin was only on her third life, so she has six lives left.’ Pheen asked how he knew. He said he always knew - cats would often appear in his mind and chat with him. Well, not in words, of course, but in pictures.
(5) He sat down on the road beside her and told her to keep still – very still. He would see if Muffin wanted to visit him. They sat in silence for several minutes, when suddenly the man grabbed Pheen’s hand.
(6) ‘Ah – yes! There she is! She’s being born this minute! In a mansion – in France. There’s a little boy petting her, he’s going to call her Solange. This Solange has great spirit, great verve – I can tell already! She is going to have a long, venturesome life.’
(7) Granny Pheen was so rapt by Muffin’s new fate that she stopped crying. The man said he would visit Solange every so often and find out how she was faring.
(8) He asked for Granny Pheen’s name and the name of the farm where she lived, got back into the carriage, and left.
(9) Absurd as all this sounds, Granny Pheen did receive eight long letters. Isola then read them out. They were all about Muffin’s life as the French cat − Solange. She was, apparently, something of a feline musketeer. She was no idle cat, lolling about on cushions, lapping up cream – she lived through one wild adventure after another – the only cat ever to be awarded the red rosette of the Legion of Honour.
(10) What a story this man had made up for Pheen – lively, witty, full of drama and suspense. We were enchanted, speechless at the reading. When it was over (and much applauded), I asked Isola if I could see the letters, and she handed them to me.
(11) The writer had signed his letters with a grand flourish :
VERY TRULY YOURS,
O.F. O’F. W.W.
It was highly possible that Isola had inherited eight letters written by Oscar Wilde, for who else could have had such a preposterous name as Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Willis Wilde.
Adapted from : The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage :[4]
(1) adventurous
(2) cat-like
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(ii) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage :[4]
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(4) sounds (line 26)
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(i) Where did Isola get the letters from to read at the Literary Society’s meeting?[2]
(ii) Who consoled Granny Pheen when she was heart-broken? What did he say about Muffin’s lives?[2]
(iii) What did the man say when Granny Pheen asked him how he knew about cats’ lives?[2]
(iv) According to the man, what was Muffin’s new fate?[3]
(c) In not more than 100 words, summarise why the eight letters were a treasure to Granny Pheen. (Paragraphs 2 to 10). Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. You will be required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words.[8]
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