A Question of Trust-Questions-answers-English-Class X

 4. A Question of Trust by Victor Canning (Notes Prepared By Shish Pal Chauhan)

                            Short Answer-type Qs.

Q1. Horace Denby was a meticulous planner, but still, he faltered? Where did he go wrong and why?

Ans. Horace Denby always took all precautions before entering a house. But that day, he went wrong. He opened the safe without wearing gloves on his hands. He left his fingerprints there. Later the police arrested him.

Q2. Why did Horace Denby rob a safe every year?

Ans. Horace Denby robbed a safe every year. He was a typical thief. He had a passion for reading expensive books. He needed money for it. For that purpose, he robbed a safe every year.

Q3. Describe how Horace Denby planned a theft every year?

Ans. Horace Denby was a typical thief. Before doing the robbery, he studied the house carefully. He studied everything like the paths, electric wiring, rooms, the garden, etc. before entering the house.

Q4. What advice did the lady in the red give to Horace regarding the hay fever? Was she really concerned for his health?

Ans. The lady in the red was also a thief like Horace Denby. She was not concerned about his health. Rather she wanted to win his trust by advising him about his disease of ‘hay fever’.

Q5.Did the young lady expect Horace Denby to be caught after the theft? Why?

Ans. She expected that the police would surely arrest Horace. It was because he had left his finger marks on the safe while opening the lock for her. Horace had not worn gloves at the time of opening the lock of the safe.

Q6. Did Horace get the jewels from the Granze Safe? If not, why did the police caught him?

Ans. No, Horace did not take the jewels from the Granze Safe. He committed a big mistake. He opened the safe for the young lady without gloves. Thus he left his finger marks on the safe. Later the police arrested him.

Q7. Why did Horace take off his gloves?

Ans. Horace was afraid of going to prison. He wanted to please the lady in the red. She needed a cigarette lighter. So Horace removed his gloves and offered her a lighter.

Q8. Who is the real culprit in this story, the young lady or Horace? How did she manage to rob the safe without leaving her a single fingerprint on it?

Ans. The young lady was the real culprit. She falsely told him that she needed her jewels from the safe urgently. But she forgot the number of the lock. So he opened the lock without gloves and left his own fingerprints there.

Q9. What is meant by the phrase ‘honor among thieves’? How did the young lady break the honor?

Ans. The phrase ‘honour among thieves’ means that the thieves are honest to other thieves. But here in this story, the young lady broke the other thief’s trust. She cheated and blackmailed Horace Denby.

Q10.What did the young lady ask Horace to do? Or What lie did the young lady tell Horace Denby to befool him?

Ans. The young lady in the red asked Horace Denby to open the safe for her. She told him that she needed jewels urgently. But she forgot the number of the lock.

 Q11. Horace Denby gets angry when someone talks about the ‘honor among thieves’. Why?

Ans. Horace Denby gets angry at this because a thief had cheated on him. She was a young lady. She posed like the owner of the house. She had told a lie to him that she needed the jewels from the safe. (Notes Prepared By Shish Pal Chauhan)

Long Answer-type Questions (About 100 words)

Q2. Justify the title ‘A Question of Trust’.

Ans. In this story, the young lady in the red broke the trust of Horace Denby. It is said that the thieves respect ‘trust’ among themselves. But the young lady breached (broke) the trust of Horace Denby. She made up a story. She posed herself as the owner of the house. She said that she needed jewels from her safe urgently. But she forgot the numbers of the lock. She also threatened him to get him arrested. Horace Denby was very much afraid of the police. So he opened the safe. He also committed a serious mistake. He opened the lock without wearing gloves. Thus his fingerprints on the safe got him arrested. The title is quite appropriate.

Q3.Describe Horace Denby’s encounter with the lady in the red.

Ans. Once Horace Denby was inside a house at Shotover Grange. He had to sneeze because he had an allergy. Then he heard a voice from behind. She was a young lady in a red dress. She posed as if she were the owner of the house. She told him that she had come just on time. She had not expected a thief in her house. She said that she needed jewels from her safe urgently. But she forgot the numbers of the lock. She also threatened him to get him arrested. Horace Denby was very much afraid of the police. So he opened the safe. He also committed a serious mistake. He opened the lock without wearing gloves. Thus his fingerprints on the safe got him arrested.

The Midnight Visitor by Robert Arthur-Questions-Answers-English for Class X

 3. The Midnight Visitor by Robert Arthur (notes prepared by Shish Pal Chauhan)

Q1. How is Ausable different from other secret agents?

Ans. Ausable is very fat. He looks like an ordinary person. Normally secret agents have a very smart look. They carry a pistol. Ausable does not carry any pistol. Thus he looks different from other secrets agents.

Q2. Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day? 

Ans. Fowler is a writer. He wants some exciting material to write a story on the life of secret agents. He had his first thrill of the day. He found another person with a pistol in Ausable’s room.

Q3. How has Max got in Ausable’s room?

Ans.Max got in Ausable’s room through the door. He used a passkey to open the door.

Q4. Why did Fowler want to meet Ausable? Why was he disappointed?

Ans. Fowler wanted to meet Ausable. He had a plan to write a story on the life of a secret agent. He had expected Ausable to be a mysterious type of person, having a pistol with him. But he found him fat and ordinary person. So Fowler was disappointed.              

Q5. How was the episode of meeting Max a thrilling experience to Fowler?

Ans. It must have been a very thrilling experience for Fowler. As the door was opened, Max was waiting in front of them with a gun in his hands. He threatened to kill both of them.

Q6. Write a few sentences about Max.

Ans. Max was another secret agent. He was a long and thin person. The features on his face showed that he was as cunning as a fox. He had a gun with him. He had come to Ausable’s room to snatch the report on missiles.

Q7. What did Ausable say about the balcony to Max?

Ans. First, he showed some anger. Then he said that it was for the second time that a person entered his room through the balcony. He called the balcony a nuisance (that creates trouble). He would raise the issue with the management.

Q8. What did Ausable say to Max when there was a knocking at the door? Who was there in reality? Why did Ausable tell a lie to Max?

Ans. There was a knocking at the door. It alerted Max. He asked Ausable as to who could be there. Ausable told Max that it was the police. But it was Henry, the waiter. Ausable told a lie to befool Max.

Q9. How did Ausable get rid of Max?

Ans. Max thought that there was a balcony just below the window. Then there was a knock at the door. Ausable told him that it could be the police. So Max jumped out of the window to wait at the balcony. He fell down and died because there was no balcony.

Q10. What was the paper about which Ausable told Fowler while entering the room? 

Ans. Ausable told Fowler that it was a very important paper regarding missiles. Several men and women had risked their lives for getting it. He also said that it might affect the course of history.

Q11. Who was Henry? What important role he played in the story?

Ans. Henry was a waiter. Ausable had ordered some drinks. He had come to deliver them. But he played a very important role. He helped Ausable in getting rid of Max.

Long Answer-type Qs &Ans. (Notes prepared by Shish Pal Chauhan)

Q1. Describe how Ausable outwitted Max.

Ans. Ausable was to receive an important paper. So he was to wait for it in a room of a French hotel. But as he opened the door, he found another secret agent, Max, standing in front of him with a revolver. Ausable was stunned (very much surprised). He, at once, made up a story. First, he told Max that there was a balcony just below the window of his room. Then he told another lie to him. He said that the knocking was done by the police. In a panic, Max jumped out of the window to stand and wait there at the balcony. But there was no balcony. So he killed himself.

Q2. Attempt a character-sketch of Ausable.

Ans. Ausable was a typical secret agent. He did not look smart because he was fat. But he had the qualities of being a smart secret agent. He was a cool minded person. He did not lose his wits when Max stood before him with a pistol. He, at once, made up a story. First, he told Max that there was a balcony just below the window of his room. Then he told another lie to him. He said that the knocking was done by the police. In a panic, Max jumped out of the window to stand and wait there at the balcony. But there was no balcony. Thus he proved himself a better secret agent. He outwitted Max.

Very Very short Qs & Ans.

1.      The writer of ‘ The Midnight Visitor’ is Robert Arthur

2.      The Midnight visitor was Max.

3.      Ausable was a secret agent.

4.      Max was also a secret agent

5.      Max got into Ausable’s room through the door by opening it a pass-key.

6.      A writer, Fowler, came to meet Ausable.

7.      Fowler was a ROMANTIC writer. He wanted to write a story on the life of secret agents.

8.      Ausable was staying in a French hotel in Paris.

9.      The paper was about missiles.