Class 12 English Previous Year: Short Questions with Answers - Evans Tries an O'Level

Q. 1. Which article in McLeery’s suitcase played perhaps the most significant role in Evans’ escape and how? [Delhi / Outside Delhi 2018]
Ans. Value Points:
– semi-inflated rubber ring/tube with pigs blood; which he used to escape (pretend to be wounded McLeery)
– the question paper, provided the escape plan that misguided the jail authorities to go in another direction
Detailed Answer: Evan was a habitual jailbreaker, who outwitted everyone and in spite of all the precautions, escaped from the prison. From the very beginning, when the German teacher entered the prison to the last encounter with the Governor in the hotel, the latter outsmarted everybody. The question paper for the examination served to send a message to Evans.
McLerry drew the Governor’s attention to the photocopied sheet super imposed over the last sheet of the question paper. It contained a message for Evans. He had been asked to follow the escape plan. The most important point in time, according to the message was three minutes before the end of the examination. The Governor was unable to decipher the next line of the German text.
Then, he was asked to hit McLerry and not to overdo the Scott’s accent. The correction slips also played a crucial role. At first, they hadn’t been able to fix a hotel. The slips gave Evans the name of the hotel where he was to stay.

Q. 2. According to the Governor, what kind of person was Evans?
OR
What kind of a person was Evans? Why did he want to sit for O level German examination?
Ans. Value Points:
— Evans was considered a pleasant sort of chap by the prison authorities
— was good at imitations
— congenital kleptomaniac
— wanted to sit for examination to use the opportunity to escape from the prison
— was known as ‘Evans the Break’ because he had escaped from the prison thrice
Detailed Answer: Evans was also known as ‘Evans the Break’ as he had run away thrice from the jail. He was considered a pleasant sort of a chap by the prison authorities. He was good at imitations but was a congenital kleptomaniac. He wanted to sit for examination so as to use the opportunity to escape from the prison.

Q. 3. What reasons did Evans give to keep his hat on his head? What was the actual reason?
Ans. Evans said that he wanted to keep his hat on because it was lucky for him. It always brought luck to him. But the real reason was that he had cut his hair to impersonate Mcleery and he did not want the jail authorities to know that.

Q. 4. What were the contents of the small brown suitcase that McLeery carried?
Ans. McLeery’s small brown suitcase contained a sealed question-paper envelope, a yellow invigilation form, a special ‘authentication’ card from the examination board, a paper knife and a semi-inflated rubber tube.

Q. 5. Why did people doubt Evans’ sincerity towards taking the O’ level exam?
Ans. Evans was very keen to get some sort of academic qualification. Evans was notorious for jailbreaking, so extra precautions were taken by the Governor because he didn’t want to take any chances with him and it was decided that the exam would be conducted in Evans’ cell.

Q. 6. Which important call did the Governor receive when the examination was going on?
Ans. The important call that the Governor received was from the Exam Department. The person said that there were some corrections in the Question Paper and told the Governor about the said corrections. Besides, the caller also asked for the time when the exam started.

Q. 7. What was his German teacher’s opinion of Evan’s proficiency in German?
Ans. Value Points:
– German teacher doubtful of Evan’s language ability
– Evans could not even understand basic pleasantries in German
Detailed Answer: The German teacher did not have a good opinion about Evan’s proficiency in German.
He was doubtful about whether he would pass the exam as Evans could not understand even the basic pleasantries in German. So the was doubtful of Evans’ language ability.

Q. 8. How does Evans escape from jail?
Ans. Evans decided to appear for the O level German Examination. When the examination was conducted, one of his accomplices came as the invigilator, Mcleery. After the exam, Evans walked out, a free man disguised as the examiner McLeery.

Q. 9. What did the detective Superintendent inform the Governor about Evans?
Ans. Carter told the Governor that he was at the Radcliffe Hospital. He was really groggy when they got to the Examination office and they rang for the ambulance from there.

Q. 10. What could the Governor have done to securely bring Evans back to the prison from the ‘Golden Lion’.
Ans. The Governor, instead of sending Evans with other officers in some other car, could have got Evans back with himself in his own car or should have sat in the van in which Evans was supposed to go. This way, he could have known that the people in the van were not his men but Evan’s accomplices.

Q. 11. How did the Governor find out where Evans was?
Ans. The Governor came to know where Evans was when he read the note in German on the question paper, about index & centre number.