Question

Read the passage given below and answer the questions (i), (ii) and (iii) that follow.

(1)	“Can I see the Manager?” I said, and added solemnly, “Alone.” I don't know why I said “Alone.” “Certainly,” said the accountant and fetched him.
(2)	The Manager was a grave, calm man. I held my fifty-six dollars clutched in a crumpled ball in my pocket. “Are you the Manager?” I asked. God knows I did not doubt it. “Yes,” he said. “Can I see you …. alone?” I asked.	5
(3)	The Manager looked at me in some alarm. He felt that I had an awful secret to reveal. “Come in here,” he said, and led the way to a private room. He turned the key in the lock. “We are safe from interruption here,” he said; “Sit down.” We both sat down and looked at each other. I found no voice to speak. “You are one of Pinkerton’s men, I presume,” he said.	10
(4)	He had gathered from my mysterious manner that I was a detective. I knew what he was thinking, and it made me worse. “No, not from Pinkerton’s,” I said, seeming to imply that I came from a rival agency. “To tell the truth,” I went on, as if I had been prompted to lie about it, “I am not a detective at all. I have come to open an account. I intend to keep all my money in this bank.” The Manager looked relieved but still serious; he concluded now that I was a son of Baron Rothschild or a young Gould. “A large account, I suppose,” he said. “Fairly large,” I whispered. “I propose to deposit fifty-six dollars now and fifty dollars a month regularly.”	15       20   25
(5)	The Manager got up and opened the door. He called to the accountant. “Mr. Montgomery,” he said unkindly loud, “this gentleman is opening an account, he will deposit fifty-six dollars. Good morning.” I rose. A big iron door stood open at the side of the room. “Good morning,” I said, and stepped into the safe. “Come out,” said the Manager coldly and showed me the other way.	30
(6)	I went up to the accountant’s wicket and poked the ball of money at him with a quick convulsive movement as if I were doing a conjuring trick. My face was ghastly pale. “Here,” I said, “deposit it.” The tone of the words seemed to mean, “Let us do this painful thing while the fit is on us.” He took the money and gave it to another clerk.	35
(7)	He made me write the sum on a slip and sign my name in a book. I no longer knew what I was doing. The bank swam before my eyes. “Is it deposited?” I asked in a hollow, vibrating voice. “It is,” said the accountant. “Then I want to draw a cheque.” My idea was to draw out six dollars of it for present use. Someone gave me a chequebook through a wicket and someone else began telling me how to write it out. The people in the bank had the impression that I was an invalid millionaire. I wrote something on the cheque and thrust it in at the clerk. He looked at it.	40     45
(8)	“What! Are you drawing it all out again?” he asked in surprise. Then I realised that I had written fifty-six instead of six. I was too far gone to reason now. I had a feeling that it was impossible to explain the thing. I had burned my boats. All the clerks had stopped writing to look at me. Reckless with misery, I made a plunge. “Yes, the whole thing.” “You withdraw all your money from the bank?” “Every cent of it.” “Are you not going to deposit anymore?” said the clerk, astonished. “Never.”	50     55
(9)	An idiot hope struck me that they might think something had insulted me while I was writing the cheque and that I had changed my mind. I made a wretched attempt to look like a man with a fearfully quick temper.
(10)	The clerk prepared to pay the money. “How will you have it?” he said. This question came as a bolt from the blue. “What?” “How will you have it?” “Oh!”— I caught his meaning and answered without even trying to think— “in fifties.” He gave me a fifty-dollar bill. “And the six?” he asked dryly. “In sixes,” I said. He gave it to me and I rushed out. As the big door swung behind me. I caught the echo of a roar of laughter that went up to the ceiling of the bank. Since then, I bank no more. I keep my money in cash in my trousers pocket and my savings in silver dollars in a sock.	60     65     70
Adapted from: My Financial Career By Stephen Leacock

1. 1. Find a single word from the passage that will exactly replace the underlined word or words in the following sentences.    [3]
      
      1. The kind stranger went and got back the ball from where it had rolled into the bush.
      2. I took offence at the expression on his face that was clearly meant to insinuate I was a liar.
      3. The firm experienced a financial loss when the contract went to a contender who had just entered the business.
   2. For each of the words given below, choose the correct sentence that uses the same word unchanged in spelling, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage.   [3]
      
      1. alarm (line 8)
         1. The silence from the other end set off alarm bells in her head.
         2. The pallor of his skin alarmed those standing around.
         3. I set my alarm for six o’clock but slept through it.
         4. The sound of the approaching jets caused some alarm in the war room.
      2. wicket (line 44)
         1. The wicketkeeper was the true saviour of the day for that one match.
         2. The team wanted to bat while the wicket was still dry.
         3. The man at the window handed us our tickets through the wicket.
         4. The quick loss of wickets demoralised the team.
      3. reason (line 48)
         1. After the tragedy, his ability to reason is severely diminished.
         2. They reasoned they could get better seats if they arrived early.
         3. Recipients of funds were selected without rhyme or reason.
         4. We have every reason to celebrate.
2. Answer the following questions as briefly as possible in your own words.
   
   1. With reference to the passage, explain the meaning of the expression of the ‘I had burned my boats?’   [2]
   2. Cite any two instances of the behaviour of the bank employees that indicate the insignificance of a deposit of fifty-six dollars.    [2]
   3. Why do you think the people in the bank thought of the narrator as an “invalid millionaire?”    [2]
3. Summarise why the narrator decided ‘to bank no more’ (paragraphs 6 to 10). You are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised.    [8]

Answer 1

1. 
   
   1.  
      
      1. fetched
      2. imply
      3. rival
   2. 
      
      1. I set my alarm for six o’clock but slept through it.
      2. The team wanted to bat while the wicket was still dry.
      3. We have every reason to celebrate.
2. 
   
   1. “I had burned my boats” means deciding or taking an action that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation. Here, it signifies that the narrator could not go back on his decision.
   2. 
      
      • The manager asked the narrator to leave the safe and said a cold ‘Good morning’.
      • When the narrator was withdrawing the amount, the clerk sarcastically asked the denomination in which he wanted it.
      • The clerks stopped writing and looked at him.
      • The narrator’s exit was followed by a roar of laughter.
   3. The narrator was nervous. At the accountant’s window, he grew pale and his movements became convulsive. As he wrote and signed his name, he became even more nervous, and his voice became hollow. When the chequebook was handed to him, somebody tried explaining how to write it out since it was obvious. He was physically distressed and fumbling. Since he wanted to make a withdrawal, people in the bank must have assumed he had a substantial deposit.
3.  

The	narrator	wanted	to	open
an	account	with	fifty-six	dollars.
The	Manager	coldly	instructed	the
accountant	to	help	him.	The
narrator	unsteadily	passed	on	his
money	to	the	accountant	who
passed	it	to	the	clerk
The	narrator	had	to	write
the	sum	down	and	sign
He	asked	to	make	a
withdrawal	intending	to	withdraw	six
dollars	In	his	agitation	he
withdrew	the	entire	sum	He
could	not	reason	or	explain
his	action	so	recklessly	stated
that	he	was	withdrawing	the
entire	amount	he	had	deposited