Class 9 English Chapter 4 Question Answers - Keeping It From Harold

Read the extract and answers the questions that follow.

Q1. “A slight frown marred the smoothness of Harold Bramble’s brow.”

(a) What made Harold ‘frown’?
Ans. His mother’s habit of treating him like a little baby made Harold frown.

(b) What kind of student was Harold?

Ans. Harold was an excellent student. His mother was very proud to have given birth to a genius.

(c) What type of prizes had he won in the last term ?

Ans. In the last term, he had won many prizes in spelling and dictation competitions.

Q2. “The fight’s over ..... And Bill’s won, with me seconding him”.
(i) What is the context of the above statement?
(ii) Who makes the above statement?
(iii)Why does he make such a statement?

Ans. (i) The above statement is about the boxing fight which Bill was going to have with Murphy on the coming Monday.
(ii) This statement is made by Major Percy to his sister, Mrs. Bramble about Bill’s boxing contest.
(iii) He refers to Bill’s step of withdrawing from the contest as his (Bill's) victory.

Q3. “You were such a pleasure to train as a rule? It all comes of getting with bad companions”.

(i) Who is the speaker and who is the listener?
(ii) Who is being accused of being in a bad company? Why?
 (iii)Why is he being accused?

Ans. (i) The speaker here is Mr. Jerry Fisher, Bill’s trainer and the listener is Mr. Bramble.
(ii) Mr. Bramble is being accused of being in a bad company of Major Percy.
(iii) Fisher is charging Percy with having played an evil role in provoking Mr. Bramble and forcing him to withdraw from the boxing fight.

Q4. ‘There’s a fellow at our school who goes about swanking in the most rotten way because he once got Phil Scott’s autograph.’

(i) Who is the speaker and what is the reason for the above statement?
(ii) Explain ‘swanking’.
(iii) Do you feel the speaker is hurt at being deprived of something?

Ans. (i) The speaker is Harold. He tells everyone that he is proud of being the son of ‘Young Porky’.
(ii) “Swanking” means “Showing off”.
(iii) The speaker, Harold, is hurt at having been deprived of the truth of his father’s real profession.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Give two reasons to prove that Bill was a ‘domestic creature’.
 Ans. At one place, when Major Percy was persuading Mr. Bramble to hide his career from his son, he agreed to it without any objection. In private life, he was the mildest and most obliging of men and always yielded to everybody. At another place, he tells Jerry that he was sorry for withdrawing from the boxing fight as it was important for Harold. So, both instances show how his decisions were focussed on the well-being of his family.

Q2. Why was Mrs. Bramble amazed by bringing forth such a prodigy like Harold?
 Ans. Mrs. Bramble was amazed at having brought forth such a prodigy like Harold because he was so much different from ordinary children, was devoted to his books, was a model of good behaviour, and was highly admirable. He was, in fact, almost a symbol of perfectionism.

Q3. Give two character traits of Major Percy Stokes.
Ans. (i) Major Percy Stokes is persuasive by nature. He is successful in persuading Mr. Bramble to give up his boxing fight with Murphy, stating the reason that this profession was below his dignity as it involved a lot of anger; thus Bill should not only give it up but also hide his profession from his son Harold.

(ii) He is very scornful and loves to trouble others. He enjoys the argument between Mr. and Mrs. Bramble over the issue of going for a boxing fight on Monday. He likes to be in a dominant position, for which he doesn’t even mind harming his own sister’s (Mrs. Bramble’s) family needs and interests.

Q4. How did the birth of Harold change the Bramble household?
 Ans. Before the birth of Harold, Mr. Bramble had been proud of being a professional boxer. He was delighted to be the possessor of a left hook which had won the approval of the newspapers. Now since Harold had come into his life, he was afraid of his name in the newspaper and kept his profession secret from his son. Actually, Harold was a prodigy child and both Mr. and Mrs. Bramble thought that the profession of boxing was too disgraceful for their son, and so they hid Bramble’s profession from him.