Practice Questions: A Shady Plot | Practice Questions with Solutions for Class 10 PDF Download

Q1: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Well, you needn’t be, because I just came to tell you to stop bothering us for assistance; you ain’t going to get it. We ’re going on strike! ”

• Who is the speaker?
•  How is ‘you’ bothering ‘us’?
• What does the word, ‘assistance’ mean?

Ans:

•  The ghost of Helen is the speaker.
•  ‘You’ refers to the aspiring writers who needed help from the ghosts to write their entires.
•  The word ‘assistance’ means ‘help’.

Q2: What made the writer believe that he was good at writing ghost stories?
Ans: The narrator thought that he was good at writing ghost stories because his publisher Jenkins always wanted him to write ghost stories. He told the narrator that his ghost stories were very well-received by the audience.

Q3: Why did the spirit in the Ouija Board call Hallock a traitor?
Ans: The spirit of Helen had come to Hallock with a request. She wanted him to convince all his friends and relatives to stop using Ouija Board and there he himself was using Ouija Board in the party. So, she called him a traitor.

Q4: John Hallock could never displease Jenkins. Why?
Ans: Jenkins was the only publisher who published John’s books. He wanted John to write books which had supernatural elements in them. All his ghost stories were liked by the public. So, John could never annoy Jenkins.

Q5: What is ‘The Writer’s Inspirational Bureau’ and what was its protest?
Ans: It was a bureau which was started by all the ghost writers to help the aspiring authors. The main task of this organisation was to scout around until a writer without ideas was found. They would then plant an idea into their inspirational mind.

Q6: How does Helen’s appearance in the party make Lavinia get rid of her superstitious belief in Ouija Boards?
Ans: Helen was quite superstitious and she bought an Ouija Board from the sale and organised an Ouija board party. The author was also forced to participate in the party. All the boards in the party screamed the author’s name and called him a traitor. Everyone in the party believed that the narrator was having an affair with a woman called Helen. Lavinia was very angry and she made up her mind to leave the author. But when Lavinia entered the author’s room and saw Helen, the ghost, she forgave her husband. She then told the ghost, she forgave her husband and told her maid to burn the Ouija Boards in the kitchen fire.

Q7: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: ”
I only waved denial and gurgled in my throat. She went on “It’s bad enough to have you flirt over the Ouija board with that hussy—. ”

• What was John denying?
• What does the word ‘hussy’ mean?
• Why did Lavinia think that John was flirting?

Ans:

• John was denying his love affair with Helen.
• The word ‘hussy’ means an impudent or immoral girl or woman.
• Every Ouija board was telling that John was a traitor who had deceived a lady named Helen.

Q8: How did ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’ function?
Ans: Those writers who faced difficulties in gathering ideas for writing ghost stories organised ‘The Writer’s Inspiration Bureau’. They moved around until they found a writer without ideas and with a mind soft enough to accept impression. Then, the case was brought to the attention of the main office, and one of them was assigned to it. When that case was finished they would bring in a report.

Q9: Why had John forgotten about Lavinia’s message?
Ans: At that moment John wanted to conceal Helen from Lavinia because he knew that Lavinia was too sensitive to bear the presence of a ghost in her house. So he gave priority to the act of concealing Helen.

Q10: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
I sat staring at it and presently noticed something just taking shape. It was exactly like watching one of these moving picture cartoons being put together.

• Who does ‘it’ refer to?
• How was ‘it’ taking shape?
• What is meant by the word, ‘presently’?

Ans:

• ‘It’ refers to the ghost of Helen.
• ‘It’ was appearing in bits and pieces.
• Presently means ‘at that time only’.

Q11: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
So I went home and set down before my desk and … waited, but nothing happened. Pretty soon my mind began to wander off on to other things.

• Who is T?
• What did T wait for?
• What does the phrase, ‘wander oFF mean?

Ans:

• ‘I’ is the protagonist, John Hallock, of the story ‘A Shady Plot’.
• ‘I’ waited for an idea of a ghost story to strike his mind.
• ‘Wander off’ means ‘roam around aimlessly’.

Q12: Why did the ghost of Helen come to see John Hallock?
Ans: The Ghost came to see Hallock because the people on earth were making the lives of ghosts a hell by calling them every now and then using Ouija Boards and forcing them to answer their questions. The people had robbed them off all their joy and amusement and they couldn’t go haunting people.

Q13: Why is John’s wife angry and what does she decide to do?
Ans: John’s wife was angry when all the Ouij a boards in the party called him a traitor and another name which was called was Helen. Lavinia thought that her husband was cheating on her and was going around with a woman named Helen. She decided to leave him and said that her lawyer would talk to him.

Q14: Why didn’t John want to partner Laura Hinkle at the Ouija Board party?
Ans: John didn’t want to be partner with Laura Hinkle during the Ouija Board Party because he had been asked by the ghost to not only stop playing but also dissuade others. The ghost made it very clear that only then it would help him write his ghost story.

Q15: Why were Helen and other ghosts unhappy with the use of Ouija Boards?
Ans: Helen and other ghosts were unhappy with the use of Ouija Boards because they had to be always on their toes for the Ouija Board fanatics called them too often to answer their questions. This did not leave them with any time to amuse themselves by haunting others.