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Question
What can you say about the author’s attitude when he high-handedly participated in the auction?
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Solution
The author behaved like a gambler. He risked high banking on serendipity alone. In reality, he should have a minimum balance of 500 pounds in his bank account to be eligible to be a bidder in the auction. But he had only sixty-three pounds. He didn’t have rich acquaintances or relatives who could bail him out of a financial crisis of such a serious nature at a short notice. So, the author’s participation in the auction in a high-handed manner demonstrates his audacity combined with absurdity.
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| a) The narrator had only 63 pounds with him and did not know how to manage the situation. | |
| b) The narrator thought of all his relations from whom he could borrow. | |
| c) Unfortunately he had made the highest bid. | |
| d) The narrator entered Christie’s as his friend persuaded him to visit the saleroom. | |
| e) Every time someone else made a higher bid and the narrator was not caught. | |
| f) The narrator on a sudden impulse added 50 more guineas, to the amount offered. | |
| g) His friend joined him then but left immediately unable to control his laughter. | |
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| i) The picture was declared sold to the narrator. | |
| j) After some time a picture was put up and a bid for 4000 guineas was raised. | |
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| l) The narrator kept bidding just for fun. | |
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