9th std The Man Who Knew Too Much

EXTRA QUESTIONS

1. What does a man who enlists in the army officially receive in the first

week of training? (uniform, rifle and equipment)

2. What does he unofficially receive? ( a nickname)

3. Describe Private Quelchs’ physical appearance. How did his

appearance lend credibility to the nickname given to him?

Private Quelch was a lanky man with a stooping frame and wore

horn-rimmed spectacles.

4. ‘Those who had any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes

of conversation with him.’ To what does the noun ‘subject’ refer?

(acquiring the nickname –professor)

5. How would a five minutes’ conversation with Private Quelch eliminate

a person’s doubts about the acquisition of the nickname?

(Listening to Private Quelch’s knowledge about every branch of

science would convince them that he was well-read and well-
informed having spent hours in reading)

6. Explain ‘a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins’? (raisins are dried

grapes. The Sergeant was a senior officer with a dark and wrinkled

complexion after the many years spent on the training or battle field.)

7. ‘”That’s right,’ the sergeant said without much enthusiasm’

Why do you think the sergeant said this without enthusiasm? (He was

not very pleased at being corrected by a student who offered an

unnecessary detail regarding the velocity at which a bullet leaves a

rifle)

8. How did the sergeant try to exact revenge?

(After the lesson the sergeant fired a barrage of questions at the

Professor. He hoped to put ‘Professor ‘ in a spot and take revenge for

trying to outsmart him)

9. How was the Professor’s glory enhanced?

(He was able answer every technical question on the rifle- definitions,

parts of the rifle, its use and care. The sergeant provided him an

opportunity to showcase the vastness and depth of his knowledge

and his skill of memorization.)

10. What does Private Quelch mean by ‘intelligent reading’? (Intelligent

reading refers to reading the training manual the day before,

understanding and committing to memory the fundamentals of all

that one will learn during training.)

11. Explain ‘he meant to get on’? (He meant to perform well and make

progress)

12. What was his ambition? (to become an army officer and get a stripe

before his peers did)

13. What does a stripe signify? (a stripe is worn on the sleeve just above

the elbow. It could denote rank or number of years of service)

14. How did he pursue his ambition?

He read up every training manual, questioned his instructors and

drilled enthusiastically. On route marches he displayed an

unimaginable amount of stamina. He would march to the canteen

like a guardsman when officers were in sight.

Why did the narrator respect him?

The narrator respected him for his knowledge, his intelligence and his

hard work

15. Describe his behaviour on route marches?

He marched with enthusiasm, he was not tired by the long marches

and he angered his exhausted teammates with his strength and

vigour)

16. Why is his heartiness described as horrible? (His strength and vigour

after the long marches was perceived as fake. It was a little too much

to take for his tired teammates.

 17. What is meant by a ‘turning point’?

a time at which a decisive change in a situation occurs

18. ‘The squad listened in cowed, horrified silence’

Why were they horrified? (The lecture had been interrupted by the

Professor so the squad was scared thinking of what would be the

Corporal’s reaction at the end of the lesson)

What does ‘cowed’ mean? quiet or subdued. Although the silence

has been described as cowed and horrified, it refers to the shocked

and subdued members of the squad. A trainee was taking over the

task of the trainer after humiliating him so much that the trainer had

suggested that he should take the class.)

19. What is meant by a ‘fall in’? (taking up one’s position in a military

formation. or in a line

20. Why did the Corporal look up and down the ranks before nominating

one of them for permanent cookhouse duties. (The Corporal was
letting the other trainees know that a similar fate awaited anyone

who dared to outsmart him.)

21. Explain ‘droning remorseless voice’ (a voice that was monotonous-no

change in tone. It is described as remorseless since Private Quelch did

not regret the pain he caused his listeners with his never-ending

lectures)

22. How did the others deal with Private Quelch’s incessant lectures? (At

first they listened in reverence but soon they feared running into him.

They tried to play practical jokes and make very tactless sarcastic

remarks-remarks that were not well-made. )

23. Explain:  ‘ringing, dutifully beaming” – a voice that was loud and

echoing accompanied by a cheerful tone born out of

obedience and a desire to please

 ‘gang of louts’- a group of stupid people

 ‘drowsy summer afternoon’- a hot summer afternoon that

brings on drowsiness and lethargy.

24. What are the three things that Private Quelch did to incur the wrath

of Corporal Turnbull? (He mentioned the precise number of segments

in a grenade – a detail that the Corporal hadn’t thought was

important enough to mention. He questioned the Corporal’s method

of teaching and suggested that he should have started off with the

characteristics of a grenade like the instructor at the camp. He gave

an unexceptional lecture on the grenade when the corporal

suggested he do so )

25. Why did Private Quelch have a look of ‘self-conscious innocence’- he

was almost sure that he would be chosen for the special

appointment. He was aware that the others were looking at him as if

to affirm the choice so he put on a deliberate air of innocence.)