NCERT Textbook - Going Places | English Class 12 PDF Download

 Page 1


Going Places
About the Author
A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes 
in English. In the story Going Places, Barton explores the theme 
of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.
Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.
??  incongruity ??  arcade 
??  prodigy ??  amber glow 
??  chuffed ??  wharf 
??  solitary elm ??  pangs of doubt
“When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going 
to have a boutique.”
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked doubtful.
“Takes money, Soaf, something like that.”
“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
“Take you a long time to save that much.”
“Well I’ll be a manager then — yes, of course — to begin with. Till 
I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
“I’ll be like Mary Quant,” Sophie said. “I’ll be a natural. They’ll 
see it from the start. I’ll have the most amazing shop this city’s 
ever seen.’”
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit 
factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these 
things.
When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a 
few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They 
8
Chap 8.indd   75 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 2


Going Places
About the Author
A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes 
in English. In the story Going Places, Barton explores the theme 
of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.
Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.
??  incongruity ??  arcade 
??  prodigy ??  amber glow 
??  chuffed ??  wharf 
??  solitary elm ??  pangs of doubt
“When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going 
to have a boutique.”
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked doubtful.
“Takes money, Soaf, something like that.”
“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
“Take you a long time to save that much.”
“Well I’ll be a manager then — yes, of course — to begin with. Till 
I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
“I’ll be like Mary Quant,” Sophie said. “I’ll be a natural. They’ll 
see it from the start. I’ll have the most amazing shop this city’s 
ever seen.’”
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit 
factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these 
things.
When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a 
few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They 
8
Chap 8.indd   75 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
76/Flamingo
don’t pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never 
allow it.”
“Or an actress. Now there’s real money in that. Yes, and I could 
maybe have the boutique on the side. Actresses don’t work full time, 
do they? Anyway, that or a fashion designer, you know — something 
a bit sophisticated”.
And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie 
standing in the rain.
“If ever I come into money I’ll buy a boutique.”
“Huh - if you ever come into money... if you ever come into 
money you’ll buy us a blessed decent house to live in, thank you 
very much.”
Sophie’s father was scooping shepherd’s pie into his mouth as 
hard as he could go, his plump face still grimy and sweat — marked 
from the day.
“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad?’ said little 
Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair.
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered 
at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron 
strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The 
evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room 
was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing 
man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the 
corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for 
her brother Geoff.
He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a 
part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. 
He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling 
to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown 
up now, and she suspected areas of his life about which she knew 
nothing, about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever, 
voluntarily. Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the 
ground. And she was jealous of his silence. When he wasn’t speaking 
it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world 
in those places she had never been. Whether they were only the 
Chap 8.indd   76 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 3


Going Places
About the Author
A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes 
in English. In the story Going Places, Barton explores the theme 
of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.
Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.
??  incongruity ??  arcade 
??  prodigy ??  amber glow 
??  chuffed ??  wharf 
??  solitary elm ??  pangs of doubt
“When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going 
to have a boutique.”
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked doubtful.
“Takes money, Soaf, something like that.”
“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
“Take you a long time to save that much.”
“Well I’ll be a manager then — yes, of course — to begin with. Till 
I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
“I’ll be like Mary Quant,” Sophie said. “I’ll be a natural. They’ll 
see it from the start. I’ll have the most amazing shop this city’s 
ever seen.’”
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit 
factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these 
things.
When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a 
few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They 
8
Chap 8.indd   75 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
76/Flamingo
don’t pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never 
allow it.”
“Or an actress. Now there’s real money in that. Yes, and I could 
maybe have the boutique on the side. Actresses don’t work full time, 
do they? Anyway, that or a fashion designer, you know — something 
a bit sophisticated”.
And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie 
standing in the rain.
“If ever I come into money I’ll buy a boutique.”
“Huh - if you ever come into money... if you ever come into 
money you’ll buy us a blessed decent house to live in, thank you 
very much.”
Sophie’s father was scooping shepherd’s pie into his mouth as 
hard as he could go, his plump face still grimy and sweat — marked 
from the day.
“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad?’ said little 
Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair.
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered 
at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron 
strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The 
evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room 
was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing 
man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the 
corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for 
her brother Geoff.
He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a 
part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. 
He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling 
to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown 
up now, and she suspected areas of his life about which she knew 
nothing, about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever, 
voluntarily. Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the 
ground. And she was jealous of his silence. When he wasn’t speaking 
it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world 
in those places she had never been. Whether they were only the 
Chap 8.indd   76 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Going Places/77
outlying districts of the city, or places beyond in the surrounding 
country — who knew?  — they attained a special fascination simply 
because they were unknown to her and remained out of her reach.
Perhaps there were also people, exotic, interesting people 
of whom he never spoke — it was possible, though he was quiet 
and didn’t make new friends easily. She longed to know them. 
She wished she could be admitted more deeply into her brother’s 
affections and that someday he might 
take her with him. Though their father 
forbade it and Geoff had never expressed 
an opinion, she knew he thought her 
too young. And she was impatient. She 
was conscious of a vast world out there 
waiting for her and she knew instinctively 
that she would feel as at home there as 
in the city which had always been her 
home. It expectantly awaited her arrival. 
She saw herself riding there behind Geoff. 
He wore new, shining black leathers and 
she a yellow dress with a kind of cape that flew out behind. There 
was the sound of applause as the world rose to greet them.
He sat frowning at the oily component he cradled in his hands, 
as though it were a small dumb animal and he was willing it to 
speak.
“I met Danny Casey,” Sophie said.
He looked around abruptly. “Where?”
“In the arcade — funnily enough.”
“It’s never true.”
“I did too.”
“You told Dad?”
She shook her head, chastened at his unawareness that he 
was always the first to share her secrets.
“I don’t believe it.”
“There I was looking at the clothes in Royce’s window when 
someone came and stood beside me, and I looked around and who 
should it be but Danny Casey.”
1. Where was it most likely that 
the two girls would find work 
after school?
2. What were the options that 
Sophie was dreaming of? Why 
does Jansie discourage her 
from having such dreams?
Chap 8.indd   77 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 4


Going Places
About the Author
A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes 
in English. In the story Going Places, Barton explores the theme 
of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.
Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.
??  incongruity ??  arcade 
??  prodigy ??  amber glow 
??  chuffed ??  wharf 
??  solitary elm ??  pangs of doubt
“When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going 
to have a boutique.”
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked doubtful.
“Takes money, Soaf, something like that.”
“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
“Take you a long time to save that much.”
“Well I’ll be a manager then — yes, of course — to begin with. Till 
I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
“I’ll be like Mary Quant,” Sophie said. “I’ll be a natural. They’ll 
see it from the start. I’ll have the most amazing shop this city’s 
ever seen.’”
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit 
factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these 
things.
When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a 
few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They 
8
Chap 8.indd   75 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
76/Flamingo
don’t pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never 
allow it.”
“Or an actress. Now there’s real money in that. Yes, and I could 
maybe have the boutique on the side. Actresses don’t work full time, 
do they? Anyway, that or a fashion designer, you know — something 
a bit sophisticated”.
And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie 
standing in the rain.
“If ever I come into money I’ll buy a boutique.”
“Huh - if you ever come into money... if you ever come into 
money you’ll buy us a blessed decent house to live in, thank you 
very much.”
Sophie’s father was scooping shepherd’s pie into his mouth as 
hard as he could go, his plump face still grimy and sweat — marked 
from the day.
“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad?’ said little 
Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair.
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered 
at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron 
strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The 
evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room 
was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing 
man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the 
corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for 
her brother Geoff.
He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a 
part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. 
He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling 
to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown 
up now, and she suspected areas of his life about which she knew 
nothing, about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever, 
voluntarily. Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the 
ground. And she was jealous of his silence. When he wasn’t speaking 
it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world 
in those places she had never been. Whether they were only the 
Chap 8.indd   76 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Going Places/77
outlying districts of the city, or places beyond in the surrounding 
country — who knew?  — they attained a special fascination simply 
because they were unknown to her and remained out of her reach.
Perhaps there were also people, exotic, interesting people 
of whom he never spoke — it was possible, though he was quiet 
and didn’t make new friends easily. She longed to know them. 
She wished she could be admitted more deeply into her brother’s 
affections and that someday he might 
take her with him. Though their father 
forbade it and Geoff had never expressed 
an opinion, she knew he thought her 
too young. And she was impatient. She 
was conscious of a vast world out there 
waiting for her and she knew instinctively 
that she would feel as at home there as 
in the city which had always been her 
home. It expectantly awaited her arrival. 
She saw herself riding there behind Geoff. 
He wore new, shining black leathers and 
she a yellow dress with a kind of cape that flew out behind. There 
was the sound of applause as the world rose to greet them.
He sat frowning at the oily component he cradled in his hands, 
as though it were a small dumb animal and he was willing it to 
speak.
“I met Danny Casey,” Sophie said.
He looked around abruptly. “Where?”
“In the arcade — funnily enough.”
“It’s never true.”
“I did too.”
“You told Dad?”
She shook her head, chastened at his unawareness that he 
was always the first to share her secrets.
“I don’t believe it.”
“There I was looking at the clothes in Royce’s window when 
someone came and stood beside me, and I looked around and who 
should it be but Danny Casey.”
1. Where was it most likely that 
the two girls would find work 
after school?
2. What were the options that 
Sophie was dreaming of? Why 
does Jansie discourage her 
from having such dreams?
Chap 8.indd   77 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
78/Flamingo
“All right, what does he look like?”
“Oh come on, you know what he looks like.”
“Close to, I mean.”
“Well — he has green eyes. Gentle eyes. And he’s not so tall 
as you’d think...” She wondered if she should say about his teeth, 
but decided against it.
Their father had washed when he came in and his face and 
arms were shiny and pink and he smelled of soap. He switched on 
the television, tossed one of little Derek’s shoes from his chair onto 
the sofa, and sat down with a grunt.
“Sophie met Danny Casey,” Geoff said.
Sophie wriggled where she was sitting at the table.
Her father turned his head on his thick neck to look at her. 
His expression was one of disdain.
“It’s true,” Geoff said.
“I once knew a man who had known Tom Finney,” his father 
said reverently to the television. “But that was a long time ago.”
“You told us,” Geoff said.
“Casey might be that good some day.”
“Better than that even. He’s the best.”
“If he keeps his head on his shoulders. If they look after 
him properly. A lot of distractions for a youngster in the game 
these days.”
“He’ll be all right. He’s with the best team in the country.” 
“He’s very young yet.”
“He’s older than I am.”
“Too young really for the first team.”
“You can’t argue with that sort of ability.”
“He’s going to buy a shop,” Sophie said from the table. 
Her father grimaced. “Where’d you hear that?”
“He told me so.”
He muttered something inaudible and dragged himself round 
in his chair. “This another of your wild stories?”
Chap 8.indd   78 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Page 5


Going Places
About the Author
A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes 
in English. In the story Going Places, Barton explores the theme 
of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.
Notice these expressions in the text.
Infer their meaning from the context.
??  incongruity ??  arcade 
??  prodigy ??  amber glow 
??  chuffed ??  wharf 
??  solitary elm ??  pangs of doubt
“When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going 
to have a boutique.”
Jansie, linking arms with her along the street; looked doubtful.
“Takes money, Soaf, something like that.”
“I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street.
“Take you a long time to save that much.”
“Well I’ll be a manager then — yes, of course — to begin with. Till 
I’ve got enough. But anyway, I know just how it’s all going to look.”
“They wouldn’t make you manager straight off, Soaf.”
“I’ll be like Mary Quant,” Sophie said. “I’ll be a natural. They’ll 
see it from the start. I’ll have the most amazing shop this city’s 
ever seen.’”
Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit 
factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these 
things.
When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a 
few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible. They 
8
Chap 8.indd   75 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
76/Flamingo
don’t pay well for shop work, you know that, your dad would never 
allow it.”
“Or an actress. Now there’s real money in that. Yes, and I could 
maybe have the boutique on the side. Actresses don’t work full time, 
do they? Anyway, that or a fashion designer, you know — something 
a bit sophisticated”.
And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie 
standing in the rain.
“If ever I come into money I’ll buy a boutique.”
“Huh - if you ever come into money... if you ever come into 
money you’ll buy us a blessed decent house to live in, thank you 
very much.”
Sophie’s father was scooping shepherd’s pie into his mouth as 
hard as he could go, his plump face still grimy and sweat — marked 
from the day.
“She thinks money grows on trees, don’t she, Dad?’ said little 
Derek, hanging on the back of his father’s chair.
Their mother sighed.
Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondered 
at the incongruity of the delicate bow which fastened her apron 
strings. The delicate-seeming bow and the crooked back. The 
evening had already blacked in the windows and the small room 
was steamy from the stove and cluttered with the heavy-breathing 
man in his vest at the table and the dirty washing piled up in the 
corner. Sophie felt a tightening in her throat. She went to look for 
her brother Geoff.
He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a 
part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. 
He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling 
to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown 
up now, and she suspected areas of his life about which she knew 
nothing, about which he never spoke. He said little at all, ever, 
voluntarily. Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of the 
ground. And she was jealous of his silence. When he wasn’t speaking 
it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world 
in those places she had never been. Whether they were only the 
Chap 8.indd   76 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Going Places/77
outlying districts of the city, or places beyond in the surrounding 
country — who knew?  — they attained a special fascination simply 
because they were unknown to her and remained out of her reach.
Perhaps there were also people, exotic, interesting people 
of whom he never spoke — it was possible, though he was quiet 
and didn’t make new friends easily. She longed to know them. 
She wished she could be admitted more deeply into her brother’s 
affections and that someday he might 
take her with him. Though their father 
forbade it and Geoff had never expressed 
an opinion, she knew he thought her 
too young. And she was impatient. She 
was conscious of a vast world out there 
waiting for her and she knew instinctively 
that she would feel as at home there as 
in the city which had always been her 
home. It expectantly awaited her arrival. 
She saw herself riding there behind Geoff. 
He wore new, shining black leathers and 
she a yellow dress with a kind of cape that flew out behind. There 
was the sound of applause as the world rose to greet them.
He sat frowning at the oily component he cradled in his hands, 
as though it were a small dumb animal and he was willing it to 
speak.
“I met Danny Casey,” Sophie said.
He looked around abruptly. “Where?”
“In the arcade — funnily enough.”
“It’s never true.”
“I did too.”
“You told Dad?”
She shook her head, chastened at his unawareness that he 
was always the first to share her secrets.
“I don’t believe it.”
“There I was looking at the clothes in Royce’s window when 
someone came and stood beside me, and I looked around and who 
should it be but Danny Casey.”
1. Where was it most likely that 
the two girls would find work 
after school?
2. What were the options that 
Sophie was dreaming of? Why 
does Jansie discourage her 
from having such dreams?
Chap 8.indd   77 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
78/Flamingo
“All right, what does he look like?”
“Oh come on, you know what he looks like.”
“Close to, I mean.”
“Well — he has green eyes. Gentle eyes. And he’s not so tall 
as you’d think...” She wondered if she should say about his teeth, 
but decided against it.
Their father had washed when he came in and his face and 
arms were shiny and pink and he smelled of soap. He switched on 
the television, tossed one of little Derek’s shoes from his chair onto 
the sofa, and sat down with a grunt.
“Sophie met Danny Casey,” Geoff said.
Sophie wriggled where she was sitting at the table.
Her father turned his head on his thick neck to look at her. 
His expression was one of disdain.
“It’s true,” Geoff said.
“I once knew a man who had known Tom Finney,” his father 
said reverently to the television. “But that was a long time ago.”
“You told us,” Geoff said.
“Casey might be that good some day.”
“Better than that even. He’s the best.”
“If he keeps his head on his shoulders. If they look after 
him properly. A lot of distractions for a youngster in the game 
these days.”
“He’ll be all right. He’s with the best team in the country.” 
“He’s very young yet.”
“He’s older than I am.”
“Too young really for the first team.”
“You can’t argue with that sort of ability.”
“He’s going to buy a shop,” Sophie said from the table. 
Her father grimaced. “Where’d you hear that?”
“He told me so.”
He muttered something inaudible and dragged himself round 
in his chair. “This another of your wild stories?”
Chap 8.indd   78 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26
Going Places/79
“She met him in the arcade,” Geoff said, and told him how it 
had been.
“One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of 
trouble,” her father said aggressively.
“Geoff knows it’s true, don’t you Geoff?”
“He don’t believe you-though he’d like to.”
*                 *                  *
The table lamp cast an amber glow across her brother’s 
bedroom wall, and across the large poster of United’s first team 
squad and the row of coloured photographs beneath, three of them 
of the young Irish prodigy, Casey.
“Promise you’ll tell no-one?” Sophie said.
“Nothing to tell is there?”
“Promise, Geoff — Dad’d murder me.”
“Only if he thought it was true.”
“Please, Geoff.” 
“Christ, Sophie, you’re still at school. Casey must have strings 
of girls.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“How could you know that?” he jeered.
“He told me, that’s how.”
“As if anyone would tell a girl 
something like that.” 
“Yes he did. He isn’t like that. He’s... 
quiet.”
“Not as quiet as all that — apparently.”
“It was nothing like that, Geoff — it 
was me spoke first. When I saw who it 
was, I said, “Excuse me, but aren’t you 
Danny Casey?” And he looked sort of 
surprised. And he said, “Yes, that’s right.” 
And I knew it must be him because he 
had the accent, you know, like when they 
interviewed him on the television. So I 
1. Why did Sophie wriggle when 
Geoff told her father that she 
had met Danny Casey?
2. Does Geoff believe what 
Sophie says about her 
meeting with Danny Casey?
3. Does her father believe her 
story?
4. How does Sophie include her 
brother Geoff in her fantasy 
of her future?
5. Which country did Danny 
Casey play for?
Chap 8.indd   79 12/11/2024   11:21:31 AM
Reprint 2025-26