Question

Read the given extract and answer the questions briefly.

The great night duly arrived, moonlit and cloudless. A platform had been constructed in a comfortable and conveniently placed tree, and thereon crouched Mrs. Packletide and her paid companion, Miss Mebbin. A goat, gifted with a particularly persistent bleat, such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night, was tethered at the correct distance. With an accurately sighted rifle and a thumbnail pack of patience cards the sportswoman awaited the coming of the quarry. (Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger)

1. On what kind of night did the event take place? [1]
2. What does the writer mean when he says “such as even a partially deaf tiger might be reasonably expected to hear on a still night”? [1]
3. Where was the platform constructed? [1]
4. Which word in the passage is closest in meaning to the following phrase?
   A person or animal being hunted or looked for. [1]

Answer 1

1. The event took place on a moonlit and cloudless night.
2. The writer means that the goat’s bleating was so loud and continuous that even a tiger with weak hearing could hear it easily in the silence of the night.
3. The platform was constructed on a comfortably placed tree.
4. Quarry