NCERT Textbook - The Man Who Knew Too Much | English Class 9 PDF Download

 Page 1


22
1. With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person  who likes to
show off.
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
Check whether your classmates agree with you.
2. Now, read about the “Professor” who knew too much  and find  out if he knew
enough!
1. I first met Private Quelch at the training depot. A man is liable to acquire in his
first week of Army life - together with his uniform, rifle and equipment- a nickname.
Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed
spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had
any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes’ conversation with him.
2. I remember the first lesson we had in musketry. We stood in an attentive circle
while a Sergeant, a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins, wearing North-West
Frontier ribbons, described the mechanism of a service rifle.
3. “The muzzle velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle”, he told us, “is
well over two thousand feet per second.”
4. A voice interrupted. “Two thousand, four hundred and forty feet per second.” It
was the Professor.
Private:   soldier without rank
musketry: art of using the infantry soldier’s handgun.
N.W. Frontier  ribbons: decorations showing service in the N.W. province in British India, today a part of
modern Pakistan.
Fiction
Unit
F.3   The Man Who Knew Too Much 
                                       by  Alexander Baron
Page 2


22
1. With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person  who likes to
show off.
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
Check whether your classmates agree with you.
2. Now, read about the “Professor” who knew too much  and find  out if he knew
enough!
1. I first met Private Quelch at the training depot. A man is liable to acquire in his
first week of Army life - together with his uniform, rifle and equipment- a nickname.
Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed
spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had
any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes’ conversation with him.
2. I remember the first lesson we had in musketry. We stood in an attentive circle
while a Sergeant, a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins, wearing North-West
Frontier ribbons, described the mechanism of a service rifle.
3. “The muzzle velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle”, he told us, “is
well over two thousand feet per second.”
4. A voice interrupted. “Two thousand, four hundred and forty feet per second.” It
was the Professor.
Private:   soldier without rank
musketry: art of using the infantry soldier’s handgun.
N.W. Frontier  ribbons: decorations showing service in the N.W. province in British India, today a part of
modern Pakistan.
Fiction
Unit
F.3   The Man Who Knew Too Much 
                                       by  Alexander Baron
23
5. “That’s right,” the Sergeant said without enthusiasm, and went on lecturing.
When he had finished, he asked us questions and, perhaps in the hope of
revenge, he turned with his questions again and again to the Professor. The
only result was to enhance the Professor’s glory. Technical definitions, the parts
of a rifle, its use and care, he had them all by heart.
6. The Sergeant asked, “Have you had any training before?”
7. The Professor answered with a phrase that was to become familiar to all of us.
“No, Sergeant. It’s all a matter of intelligent reading.”
8. That was our introduction to him. We soon learned more about him. He saw to
that. He meant to get on, he told us. He had the brains. He was sure to get a
commission, before long. As a first step, he meant to get a stripe.
9. In pursuit of his ambition he worked hard. We had to give him credit for that. He
borrowed training manuals and stayed up late at nights reading them. He
badgered the instructors with questions. He drilled with enthusiasm, and on
route marches he was not only miraculously tireless but infuriated us all with
his horrible heartiness. “What about a song, chaps?” is not greeted politely at
the end of thirty miles. His salute at the pay table was a model to behold. When
officers were in sight he would swing his skinny arms and march to the canteen
like a Guardsman.
10. And day in and day out, he lectured to us in his droning, remorseless voice on
every aspect of human knowledge. At first we had a certain respect for him, but
soon we lived in terror of his approach. We tried to hit back at him with clumsy
sarcasms and practical jokes. The Professor scarcely noticed; he was too busy
working for his stripe.
11. Each time one of us made a mistake the Professor would publicly correct him.
Whenever one of us shone, the Professor outshone him. When, after a hard
morning’s work of cleaning out our hut, we listened in silence to the orderly
officer’s praise, the Professor would break out with a ringing, dutifully beaming,
“Thank you, sir!” And how superior, how condescending he was. It was always,
“Let me show you, fellow,” or, “No, you’ll ruin your rifle that way, old man.”
12.  We used to pride ourselves on aircraft recognition. Once, out for a walk, we
heard the drone of a plane flying high overhead. None of us could even see it in
the glare of the sun. Without even a glance upward the Professor announced,
“That, of course, is a North American Harvard Trainer. It can be unmistakably
identified by the harsh engine note, due to the high tip speed of the airscrew.”
What could a gang of louts like us do with a man like that?
commission: become an army officer
stripe:  V-shaped band to indicate the rank of a soldier.
route marches:  training marches of battalions.
Orderly Officer:  officer of the day
condescending : to look down on
Fiction
                                       
Fi ct io n
Page 3


22
1. With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person  who likes to
show off.
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
Check whether your classmates agree with you.
2. Now, read about the “Professor” who knew too much  and find  out if he knew
enough!
1. I first met Private Quelch at the training depot. A man is liable to acquire in his
first week of Army life - together with his uniform, rifle and equipment- a nickname.
Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed
spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had
any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes’ conversation with him.
2. I remember the first lesson we had in musketry. We stood in an attentive circle
while a Sergeant, a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins, wearing North-West
Frontier ribbons, described the mechanism of a service rifle.
3. “The muzzle velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle”, he told us, “is
well over two thousand feet per second.”
4. A voice interrupted. “Two thousand, four hundred and forty feet per second.” It
was the Professor.
Private:   soldier without rank
musketry: art of using the infantry soldier’s handgun.
N.W. Frontier  ribbons: decorations showing service in the N.W. province in British India, today a part of
modern Pakistan.
Fiction
Unit
F.3   The Man Who Knew Too Much 
                                       by  Alexander Baron
23
5. “That’s right,” the Sergeant said without enthusiasm, and went on lecturing.
When he had finished, he asked us questions and, perhaps in the hope of
revenge, he turned with his questions again and again to the Professor. The
only result was to enhance the Professor’s glory. Technical definitions, the parts
of a rifle, its use and care, he had them all by heart.
6. The Sergeant asked, “Have you had any training before?”
7. The Professor answered with a phrase that was to become familiar to all of us.
“No, Sergeant. It’s all a matter of intelligent reading.”
8. That was our introduction to him. We soon learned more about him. He saw to
that. He meant to get on, he told us. He had the brains. He was sure to get a
commission, before long. As a first step, he meant to get a stripe.
9. In pursuit of his ambition he worked hard. We had to give him credit for that. He
borrowed training manuals and stayed up late at nights reading them. He
badgered the instructors with questions. He drilled with enthusiasm, and on
route marches he was not only miraculously tireless but infuriated us all with
his horrible heartiness. “What about a song, chaps?” is not greeted politely at
the end of thirty miles. His salute at the pay table was a model to behold. When
officers were in sight he would swing his skinny arms and march to the canteen
like a Guardsman.
10. And day in and day out, he lectured to us in his droning, remorseless voice on
every aspect of human knowledge. At first we had a certain respect for him, but
soon we lived in terror of his approach. We tried to hit back at him with clumsy
sarcasms and practical jokes. The Professor scarcely noticed; he was too busy
working for his stripe.
11. Each time one of us made a mistake the Professor would publicly correct him.
Whenever one of us shone, the Professor outshone him. When, after a hard
morning’s work of cleaning out our hut, we listened in silence to the orderly
officer’s praise, the Professor would break out with a ringing, dutifully beaming,
“Thank you, sir!” And how superior, how condescending he was. It was always,
“Let me show you, fellow,” or, “No, you’ll ruin your rifle that way, old man.”
12.  We used to pride ourselves on aircraft recognition. Once, out for a walk, we
heard the drone of a plane flying high overhead. None of us could even see it in
the glare of the sun. Without even a glance upward the Professor announced,
“That, of course, is a North American Harvard Trainer. It can be unmistakably
identified by the harsh engine note, due to the high tip speed of the airscrew.”
What could a gang of louts like us do with a man like that?
commission: become an army officer
stripe:  V-shaped band to indicate the rank of a soldier.
route marches:  training marches of battalions.
Orderly Officer:  officer of the day
condescending : to look down on
Fiction
                                       
Fi ct io n
24
13. None of us will ever forget the
drowsy summer afternoon which
was such a turning-point in the
Professor’s life.
14. We were sprawling contentedly on
the warm grass while Corporal
Turnbull was taking a lesson on
the hand grenade.
15. Corporal Turnbull was a young
man, but he was not a man to be trifled with. He had come back from Dunkirk
with all his equipment correct and accounted for and his kitten in his pocket. He
was our hero, and we used to tell each other that he was so tough that you
could hammer nails into him without his noticing it.
16. _”The outside of a grenade, as you can see,” Corporal Turnbull was saying, “is
divided up into a large number of fragments to assist segmentation”
17. “Forty-four”
18. “What’s that?” The Corporal looked over his shoulder
19. “Forty-four segments.” The Professor beamed at him.
20. The Corporal said nothing, but his brow tightened. He opened his mouth to
resume.
21. “And by the way, Corporal.” We were all thunder-struck.
22. The Professor was speaking again. “Shouldn’t you have started off with the five
characteristics of the grenade? Our instructor at the other camp always used to
do that, you know.”
23. In the silence that followed a dark flush stained the tan of the Corporal’s face.
“Here,” he said at last, “you give this lecture”. As if afraid to say any more, he
tossed the grenade to the Professor. Quite unabashed, Private Quelch climbed
to his feet and with the attitude of a man coming into his birth-right gave us an
unexceptionable lecture on the grenade.
24. The squad listened in a cowed, horrified kind of silence. Corporal Turnbull
stood and watched, impassive, except for a searching intentness of gaze. When
the lecture was finished he said, “Thank you, Private Quelch. Fall in with the
others now.” He did not speak again until we had fallen in and were waiting to
be dismissed. Then he addressed us.
sprawling: lying with arms and legs outstretched.
trifled  with : to play with or fool around with, talk or act frivolously with.
unabashed: unashamed.
cowed: subdued
Fi ct io n
Page 4


22
1. With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person  who likes to
show off.
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
Check whether your classmates agree with you.
2. Now, read about the “Professor” who knew too much  and find  out if he knew
enough!
1. I first met Private Quelch at the training depot. A man is liable to acquire in his
first week of Army life - together with his uniform, rifle and equipment- a nickname.
Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed
spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had
any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes’ conversation with him.
2. I remember the first lesson we had in musketry. We stood in an attentive circle
while a Sergeant, a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins, wearing North-West
Frontier ribbons, described the mechanism of a service rifle.
3. “The muzzle velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle”, he told us, “is
well over two thousand feet per second.”
4. A voice interrupted. “Two thousand, four hundred and forty feet per second.” It
was the Professor.
Private:   soldier without rank
musketry: art of using the infantry soldier’s handgun.
N.W. Frontier  ribbons: decorations showing service in the N.W. province in British India, today a part of
modern Pakistan.
Fiction
Unit
F.3   The Man Who Knew Too Much 
                                       by  Alexander Baron
23
5. “That’s right,” the Sergeant said without enthusiasm, and went on lecturing.
When he had finished, he asked us questions and, perhaps in the hope of
revenge, he turned with his questions again and again to the Professor. The
only result was to enhance the Professor’s glory. Technical definitions, the parts
of a rifle, its use and care, he had them all by heart.
6. The Sergeant asked, “Have you had any training before?”
7. The Professor answered with a phrase that was to become familiar to all of us.
“No, Sergeant. It’s all a matter of intelligent reading.”
8. That was our introduction to him. We soon learned more about him. He saw to
that. He meant to get on, he told us. He had the brains. He was sure to get a
commission, before long. As a first step, he meant to get a stripe.
9. In pursuit of his ambition he worked hard. We had to give him credit for that. He
borrowed training manuals and stayed up late at nights reading them. He
badgered the instructors with questions. He drilled with enthusiasm, and on
route marches he was not only miraculously tireless but infuriated us all with
his horrible heartiness. “What about a song, chaps?” is not greeted politely at
the end of thirty miles. His salute at the pay table was a model to behold. When
officers were in sight he would swing his skinny arms and march to the canteen
like a Guardsman.
10. And day in and day out, he lectured to us in his droning, remorseless voice on
every aspect of human knowledge. At first we had a certain respect for him, but
soon we lived in terror of his approach. We tried to hit back at him with clumsy
sarcasms and practical jokes. The Professor scarcely noticed; he was too busy
working for his stripe.
11. Each time one of us made a mistake the Professor would publicly correct him.
Whenever one of us shone, the Professor outshone him. When, after a hard
morning’s work of cleaning out our hut, we listened in silence to the orderly
officer’s praise, the Professor would break out with a ringing, dutifully beaming,
“Thank you, sir!” And how superior, how condescending he was. It was always,
“Let me show you, fellow,” or, “No, you’ll ruin your rifle that way, old man.”
12.  We used to pride ourselves on aircraft recognition. Once, out for a walk, we
heard the drone of a plane flying high overhead. None of us could even see it in
the glare of the sun. Without even a glance upward the Professor announced,
“That, of course, is a North American Harvard Trainer. It can be unmistakably
identified by the harsh engine note, due to the high tip speed of the airscrew.”
What could a gang of louts like us do with a man like that?
commission: become an army officer
stripe:  V-shaped band to indicate the rank of a soldier.
route marches:  training marches of battalions.
Orderly Officer:  officer of the day
condescending : to look down on
Fiction
                                       
Fi ct io n
24
13. None of us will ever forget the
drowsy summer afternoon which
was such a turning-point in the
Professor’s life.
14. We were sprawling contentedly on
the warm grass while Corporal
Turnbull was taking a lesson on
the hand grenade.
15. Corporal Turnbull was a young
man, but he was not a man to be trifled with. He had come back from Dunkirk
with all his equipment correct and accounted for and his kitten in his pocket. He
was our hero, and we used to tell each other that he was so tough that you
could hammer nails into him without his noticing it.
16. _”The outside of a grenade, as you can see,” Corporal Turnbull was saying, “is
divided up into a large number of fragments to assist segmentation”
17. “Forty-four”
18. “What’s that?” The Corporal looked over his shoulder
19. “Forty-four segments.” The Professor beamed at him.
20. The Corporal said nothing, but his brow tightened. He opened his mouth to
resume.
21. “And by the way, Corporal.” We were all thunder-struck.
22. The Professor was speaking again. “Shouldn’t you have started off with the five
characteristics of the grenade? Our instructor at the other camp always used to
do that, you know.”
23. In the silence that followed a dark flush stained the tan of the Corporal’s face.
“Here,” he said at last, “you give this lecture”. As if afraid to say any more, he
tossed the grenade to the Professor. Quite unabashed, Private Quelch climbed
to his feet and with the attitude of a man coming into his birth-right gave us an
unexceptionable lecture on the grenade.
24. The squad listened in a cowed, horrified kind of silence. Corporal Turnbull
stood and watched, impassive, except for a searching intentness of gaze. When
the lecture was finished he said, “Thank you, Private Quelch. Fall in with the
others now.” He did not speak again until we had fallen in and were waiting to
be dismissed. Then he addressed us.
sprawling: lying with arms and legs outstretched.
trifled  with : to play with or fool around with, talk or act frivolously with.
unabashed: unashamed.
cowed: subdued
Fi ct io n
25
25.  “As some of you may have heard,” he began deliberately, “the platoon officer has
asked me to nominate one of you for….” He paused and looked lingeringly up
and down the ranks as if seeking final confirmation of decision.
26.  So this was the great moment! Most of us could not help glancing at Private
Quelch, who stood rigidly to attention and stared straight in front of him with an
expression of self-conscious innocence.
27.              “…..for permanent cookhouse duties, I’ve decided that Private Quelch is
just the man for the job.”
28.  Of course, it was a joke for days afterwards; a joke and joy to all of us.
29.  I remember, though.............
30.  My friend Trower and I were talking about it a few days later. We were returning
from the canteen to our own hut.
31.  Through the open door, we could see the three cooks standing against the wall
as if at bay; and from within came the monotonous beat of a familiar voice.
32.  “Really. I must protest against this abominably unscientific and unhygienic method
of peeling potatoes. I need to only draw your attention to the sheer waste of
vitamin values..............”
33.  We fled.
About the Author
Alexander Baron (1917-1999) has written many novels, including ‘There’s no
Home’,‘The Human Kind’, ‘Queen of the East’, ‘Seeing Life’ and The How  Life’,
along with film scripts and television plays. He started life as an Asstt. Editor of The
Tribune and later edited the ‘New Theater.’ He served in the army during the Second
World War.
3. The ‘Professor’ knew too much. How did he prove himself? Fill up the space
with suitable examples from the story, using the given clues:
(a) about muzzle velocity:  _______________________________________________
  _________________________________________________________________
(b) after a thirty mile walk: _______________________________________________
  _________________________________________________________________
(c) his salute on payday:  ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(d) the loud sound of a high flying invisible aeroplane: _______________________
__________________________________________________________________
Fi ct io n
Page 5


22
1. With your partner, discuss and narrate an incident about a person  who likes to
show off.
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
• _____________________________________________________________
Check whether your classmates agree with you.
2. Now, read about the “Professor” who knew too much  and find  out if he knew
enough!
1. I first met Private Quelch at the training depot. A man is liable to acquire in his
first week of Army life - together with his uniform, rifle and equipment- a nickname.
Anyone who saw Private Quelch, lanky, stooping, frowning through horn-rimmed
spectacles, understood why he was known as the Professor. Those who had
any doubts on the subject lost them after five minutes’ conversation with him.
2. I remember the first lesson we had in musketry. We stood in an attentive circle
while a Sergeant, a man as dark and sun-dried as raisins, wearing North-West
Frontier ribbons, described the mechanism of a service rifle.
3. “The muzzle velocity or speed at which the bullet leaves the rifle”, he told us, “is
well over two thousand feet per second.”
4. A voice interrupted. “Two thousand, four hundred and forty feet per second.” It
was the Professor.
Private:   soldier without rank
musketry: art of using the infantry soldier’s handgun.
N.W. Frontier  ribbons: decorations showing service in the N.W. province in British India, today a part of
modern Pakistan.
Fiction
Unit
F.3   The Man Who Knew Too Much 
                                       by  Alexander Baron
23
5. “That’s right,” the Sergeant said without enthusiasm, and went on lecturing.
When he had finished, he asked us questions and, perhaps in the hope of
revenge, he turned with his questions again and again to the Professor. The
only result was to enhance the Professor’s glory. Technical definitions, the parts
of a rifle, its use and care, he had them all by heart.
6. The Sergeant asked, “Have you had any training before?”
7. The Professor answered with a phrase that was to become familiar to all of us.
“No, Sergeant. It’s all a matter of intelligent reading.”
8. That was our introduction to him. We soon learned more about him. He saw to
that. He meant to get on, he told us. He had the brains. He was sure to get a
commission, before long. As a first step, he meant to get a stripe.
9. In pursuit of his ambition he worked hard. We had to give him credit for that. He
borrowed training manuals and stayed up late at nights reading them. He
badgered the instructors with questions. He drilled with enthusiasm, and on
route marches he was not only miraculously tireless but infuriated us all with
his horrible heartiness. “What about a song, chaps?” is not greeted politely at
the end of thirty miles. His salute at the pay table was a model to behold. When
officers were in sight he would swing his skinny arms and march to the canteen
like a Guardsman.
10. And day in and day out, he lectured to us in his droning, remorseless voice on
every aspect of human knowledge. At first we had a certain respect for him, but
soon we lived in terror of his approach. We tried to hit back at him with clumsy
sarcasms and practical jokes. The Professor scarcely noticed; he was too busy
working for his stripe.
11. Each time one of us made a mistake the Professor would publicly correct him.
Whenever one of us shone, the Professor outshone him. When, after a hard
morning’s work of cleaning out our hut, we listened in silence to the orderly
officer’s praise, the Professor would break out with a ringing, dutifully beaming,
“Thank you, sir!” And how superior, how condescending he was. It was always,
“Let me show you, fellow,” or, “No, you’ll ruin your rifle that way, old man.”
12.  We used to pride ourselves on aircraft recognition. Once, out for a walk, we
heard the drone of a plane flying high overhead. None of us could even see it in
the glare of the sun. Without even a glance upward the Professor announced,
“That, of course, is a North American Harvard Trainer. It can be unmistakably
identified by the harsh engine note, due to the high tip speed of the airscrew.”
What could a gang of louts like us do with a man like that?
commission: become an army officer
stripe:  V-shaped band to indicate the rank of a soldier.
route marches:  training marches of battalions.
Orderly Officer:  officer of the day
condescending : to look down on
Fiction
                                       
Fi ct io n
24
13. None of us will ever forget the
drowsy summer afternoon which
was such a turning-point in the
Professor’s life.
14. We were sprawling contentedly on
the warm grass while Corporal
Turnbull was taking a lesson on
the hand grenade.
15. Corporal Turnbull was a young
man, but he was not a man to be trifled with. He had come back from Dunkirk
with all his equipment correct and accounted for and his kitten in his pocket. He
was our hero, and we used to tell each other that he was so tough that you
could hammer nails into him without his noticing it.
16. _”The outside of a grenade, as you can see,” Corporal Turnbull was saying, “is
divided up into a large number of fragments to assist segmentation”
17. “Forty-four”
18. “What’s that?” The Corporal looked over his shoulder
19. “Forty-four segments.” The Professor beamed at him.
20. The Corporal said nothing, but his brow tightened. He opened his mouth to
resume.
21. “And by the way, Corporal.” We were all thunder-struck.
22. The Professor was speaking again. “Shouldn’t you have started off with the five
characteristics of the grenade? Our instructor at the other camp always used to
do that, you know.”
23. In the silence that followed a dark flush stained the tan of the Corporal’s face.
“Here,” he said at last, “you give this lecture”. As if afraid to say any more, he
tossed the grenade to the Professor. Quite unabashed, Private Quelch climbed
to his feet and with the attitude of a man coming into his birth-right gave us an
unexceptionable lecture on the grenade.
24. The squad listened in a cowed, horrified kind of silence. Corporal Turnbull
stood and watched, impassive, except for a searching intentness of gaze. When
the lecture was finished he said, “Thank you, Private Quelch. Fall in with the
others now.” He did not speak again until we had fallen in and were waiting to
be dismissed. Then he addressed us.
sprawling: lying with arms and legs outstretched.
trifled  with : to play with or fool around with, talk or act frivolously with.
unabashed: unashamed.
cowed: subdued
Fi ct io n
25
25.  “As some of you may have heard,” he began deliberately, “the platoon officer has
asked me to nominate one of you for….” He paused and looked lingeringly up
and down the ranks as if seeking final confirmation of decision.
26.  So this was the great moment! Most of us could not help glancing at Private
Quelch, who stood rigidly to attention and stared straight in front of him with an
expression of self-conscious innocence.
27.              “…..for permanent cookhouse duties, I’ve decided that Private Quelch is
just the man for the job.”
28.  Of course, it was a joke for days afterwards; a joke and joy to all of us.
29.  I remember, though.............
30.  My friend Trower and I were talking about it a few days later. We were returning
from the canteen to our own hut.
31.  Through the open door, we could see the three cooks standing against the wall
as if at bay; and from within came the monotonous beat of a familiar voice.
32.  “Really. I must protest against this abominably unscientific and unhygienic method
of peeling potatoes. I need to only draw your attention to the sheer waste of
vitamin values..............”
33.  We fled.
About the Author
Alexander Baron (1917-1999) has written many novels, including ‘There’s no
Home’,‘The Human Kind’, ‘Queen of the East’, ‘Seeing Life’ and The How  Life’,
along with film scripts and television plays. He started life as an Asstt. Editor of The
Tribune and later edited the ‘New Theater.’ He served in the army during the Second
World War.
3. The ‘Professor’ knew too much. How did he prove himself? Fill up the space
with suitable examples from the story, using the given clues:
(a) about muzzle velocity:  _______________________________________________
  _________________________________________________________________
(b) after a thirty mile walk: _______________________________________________
  _________________________________________________________________
(c) his salute on payday:  ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(d) the loud sound of a high flying invisible aeroplane: _______________________
__________________________________________________________________
Fi ct io n
26
(e) about hand grenades: _______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
(f) during cook house duties: _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4.A. Based on your reading of the story, answer the following questions by
choosing the correct options.
(a) Private Quelch was nick-named ‘Professor’ because of ________
(i) his appearance.
(ii) his knowledge.
(iii) his habit of reading.
(iv) his habit of sermonising.
(b) One could hammer nails into Corporal Turnbull without his noticing it because _______
(i) he was a strong and sturdy man.
(ii) he was oblivious to his suroundings.
(iii) he was a brave corporal.
(iv) he was used to it.
(c) The author and his friend Trower fled from the scene as
(i) they had to catch a train
(ii) they could not stand Private Quelch exhibiting his knowledge
(iii) they felt they would have to lend a helping hand.
(iv) they did not want to meet the cooks.
d) The main reason that the Professor remain unflinched despite the retaliation of his
batch-mates was due to the fact that
(i) his desire to impress people overruled the humiliation he experienced each
time.
(ii) his miraculously tireless personality couldn't stop him from working extra hard.
(iii) he was so involved in excelling that he barely noticed sarcastic comments.
(iv) he knew that the only way to earn respect is through hard work.
e) Choose the expression that uses the same literary device as used in the line "he was
so tough that you could hammer nails into him without his noticing it."
(i) My mom made enough food to feed an army last night.
(ii) My alarm clock yells at me to get out of bed every morning.
Fi ct io n