NCERT Solutions for Class 9: Ch 20 If I Were You Beehive English pdf, Page No: 145 , Page No: 145

 

NCERT Solutions for Class 9th: Ch 20 If I Were You Beehive English pdf

Thinking about the Text

I. Answer these questions.  

1. “At last a sympathetic audience.” 

(i) Who says this? 

(ii) Why does he say it? 

(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious? 

Answer  

(i) The speaker of the given line is Gerrard.  

(ii) He says it as he is asked by the intruder to speak about himself. 

(iii) He speaks the given dialogue sarcastically.  

2. Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?

Answer

Gerrard looks much like the intruder. The intruder is a murderer. The police is after him He hopes he can easily impersonate Gerrard escape being caught.

3. “I said it with bullets.”

(i) Who says this? 

(ii) What does it mean?

(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?

Answer 

(i) Gerrard says this.  

(ii) It means that when things went wrong, he had used his gun to  shoot someone for hisescape.  

(iii) No, it is not the truth. The speaker says this to save himself from  getting shot by the

intruder.  

4. What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that  support your answer. Answer 

Gerrard is a playwright by profession. Several parts of the play that reflect this. Some of these are:• “This is all very melodramatic, not very original, perhaps, but…”  • “At last a sympathetic audience!”  

• “In most melodramas the villain is foolish enough to delay his killing  long enough to be

frustrated”.  

• “I said, you were luckier than most melodramatic villains.”

•“That’s a disguise outfit falsemoustaches and what not”.

•“Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal I’vehad a spot of bother – quite amusing. I think I’ll put it in my next play.”

5. “You’ll soon stop being smart.” 

(i) Who says this? 

(ii) Why does the speaker say it? 

(iii) What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?

Answer  

(i) The intruder says the line.  

(ii) The speaker says it to frighten Gerrard.  

(iii) According to the intruder, Gerrard would stop being smart once  he knew what was

going to happen to him. The intruder’s plan was  to kill Gerard and take over his identity.

He felt that when Gerrard  would know this, he would stop being smart and start getting 

scared.  

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6. “They can’t hang me twice.” 

(i) Who says this? 

(ii) Why does the speaker say it? 

Answer  

(i) The intruder says the line.  

(ii) The intruder had been telling Gerrard that he had murdered one  man, and that he

would not shy away from murdering him too. This  is because the police could not hang

him twice for two murders. 

7. “A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker  proposes to expla

Answer  
The mystery that Gerrard proposed to explain was the story he made  up to dodge theintruder and save his own life.The story was that Gerrard himself was a criminal like theintruder. He asked the intruder  why else would he not meet any trades people and be a bitof a mystery man here today and gone tomorrow. The game was up as  things had suddenlygone wrong for him. He had committed a murder and got away. Unfortunately, one of hismen had been arrested and  certain things were found which his men should have burnt.He said that he was expecting some trouble that night and therefore, his bag  was packedand he was ready to escape.

8. “This is your big surprise.” 

(i) Where has this been said in the play? 

(ii) What is the surprise? 

Answer  
(i) This has been said twice in the play. On the first occasion, it is  spoken by the intruderwhile revealing his plan to kill Gerrard. Secondly, it is spoken by Gerrard before her revealshis fictitious identity  to the intruder. 

(ii) The intruder's surprise is his plan to kill Gerrard and take on his  identity to lead a secure

and hassle-free life. Whereas, Gerrard's  surprise is his fictitious identity, his way of

refraining the intruder from  killing him.  

Thinking about the Language

1. The (site, cite) of the accident was (ghastly/ghostly).

2. Our college (principle/principal) is very strict.

3. I studied (continuously/continually) for eight hours.

4. The fog had an advers (affect/effect) on the traffic.

5. Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant (artist/artiste).

6. The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary  (collage/college of sciencefiction and mystery. 

7. Our school will (host/hoist) an exhibition on cruelty to animals and  wildlife conservation. 
8. Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and (shake/shape)  well before using the contents. 

I. Consult your dictionary and choose the correct word from the pairs  given in brackets.  

Answer  

1. The site of the accident was ghastly.  

2. Our college principal is very strict.  

3. I studied continuously for eight hours. 

4. The fog had an adverse effect on the traffic.  

5. Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant artist .

6. The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary collage of  science fiction and mystery.  

7. Our school will host an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.  

8. Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and shake well before  using the contents.  

II. Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say.When someone makes a mistake and you say, “Oh! That was clever!” that is irony.You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’. 

Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:  • Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!  • You have been a great help, I must say!  • You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?  • Oh, very funny!/How funny! We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words  ironically.

Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard  uses in an

ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean.  Two examples have

been given below. Write down three such  expressions along with what they really

mean. 

What the author says	What he means
Why, this is a surprise,  Mr – er –	He pretends that the   intruder is a social visitor  whom he is welcoming. In  this way he hides his fear.
At last a sympathetic  audience!	He pretends that the   intruder wants to listen to  him, whereas actually the  intruder wants to find out  information for his own  use.

Answer 

What the author says	What he means   Gerrard is just pretending to  have a ‘very good reason’ even  though there is no such reason.
You won’t kill me for a  very good reason.

Sorry I can’t let you have  the props in time for   rehearsal, I’ve had a spot  of bother – quite amusing.	The ‘spot of bother’ that   Gerrard calls ‘quite amusing’ is  actually a life-threatening  situation, where a criminal  actually threatens to kill him.
You have been so modest.	Here, Gerrard means that it is  immodest on the part of the  intruder to know so much  about him without disclosing  his own identity.