NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English - Best Seller

Q1. Based on your reading of the story, answer the following questions by choosing the correct option.

(a) “Bully,” said Pescud brightening at once. He means to say that he was
A. being intimidated by his boss.
B. harassing his subordinates.
C. doing very well at his job.
D. meeting all the sales targets.
Ans. C. doing very well at his job.

Explanation: Pescud uses the term "Bully" to express his satisfaction and pride in his professional success. It reflects his confidence and enthusiasm for his accomplishments as a salesman.

(b) The narrator says that life has no geographical boundaries implying that
A. human beings are essentially the same everywhere.
B. one can travel freely to other countries.
C. boundaries exist only on maps.
D. one should work towards the good of mankind.
Ans. C. boundaries exist only on maps.

Explanation: The narrator emphasizes that despite geographical differences, the essence of human life and emotions remains universal.

(c)  Classify (1) to (4) as fact (F) or opinion (O), based on your reading of the story.
(1) Pescud had hurled the bestseller to the floor.
(2) People in real life marry somebody in their own station.
(3) Pescud got an opportunity to meet Jessie all alone two evenings after he met her father.
(4) Pescud believed that plate-glass was the most important commodity.
A. F-1, 3, 4; O-2
B. F-1, 3; O-2, 4
C. F-1, 2, 4; O-3
D. F-2; O-1, 3, 4
Ans. B. F-1, 3; O-2, 4

Explanation:

• Pescud had hurled the bestseller to the floor. (Fact) - This is a specific event mentioned in the story.
• People in real life marry somebody in their own station. (Opinion) - This is Pescud’s belief about real-life marriages.
• Pescud got an opportunity to meet Jessie all alone two evenings after he met her father. (Fact) - This happened in the story as described by Pescud.
• Pescud believed that plate-glass was the most important commodity. (Opinion) - This reflects Pescud’s personal belief as a plate-glass salesman.

(d) Select the suitable option for the given statements, based on your understanding of the story.
(1) The author’s description of Coketown brings out the ugly face of industries that operated there.
(2) Pescud got off at Coketown as it had good business prospects for a plate-glass salesman.
A. (1) is false but (2) is true.
B. (1) is true but (2) is false.
C. (1) is the cause for (2)
D. (2) is a fact but unrelated to (1)
Ans. B. (1) is true but (2) is false.

Explanation: 

• The author’s description of Coketown brings out the ugly face of industries that operated there. (True) - Coketown is described with an unappealing industrial environment in the story.
• Pescud got off at Coketown as it had good business prospects for a plate-glass salesman. (False) - Pescud got off at Coketown because he was following Jessie, not for business reasons.

Q2. Read the extracts and answer the questions by selecting the correct options.

1. I contrived to keep out of her sight as much as I could, but I never lost track of her. The last station she got off at was away down in Virginia, about six in the evening. There were about fifty houses. 
The rest was mud, mules, and speckled hounds.
A tall old man, with a smooth face and white hair, looking as proud as Julius Caesar was there to meet her. His clothes were frazzled but I didn’t notice that till later. He took her little satchel, and they started over the plank walks and went up a road along the hill. I kept along a piece behind ‘em, trying to look like I was hunting a garnet ring in the sand that my sister had lost at a picnic the previous Saturday.

(i) The extract tells us that Virginia was a _________ populated town.
A. densely
B. highly
C. sparsely
D. hardly
Ans. D. hardly

(ii) Choose the option that uses the word ‘frazzled’ in the same way as the extract.
A. I feel pretty frazzled most weeks these days.
B. The cuffs of his brown shirt looked frazzled.
C. Father finally arrived home, tired and frazzled.
D. Mother was frazzled looking after all the guests had left.
Ans. A. I feel pretty frazzled most weeks these days.

iii) Read the statements (1) & (2) given below, and choose the option that correctly evaluates the statements.
(1): The speaker pretended that he was searching for a lost ring.
(2): The speaker wanted to hide the fact that he had been following her.
A. [1] is true but [2] is false.
B. [2] is contradictory to [1].
C. [1] is the reason for [2].
D. [2] is the result of [1].
Ans. C. [1] is the reason for [2].

iv) Select the option that displays the characteristics of the speaker.
1. discreet
2. vain
3. ambitious
4. observant
5. finicky
6. cautious
A. 1, 4 and 6
B. 2, 3 and 5
C. 1, 3 and 6
D. 2, 4 and 5
Ans. A. 1, 4 and 6

2. For about nine seconds he had me rattled, and I came mighty near getting cold feet and trying to sell him some plate-glass. But I got my nerve back pretty quick. He asked me to sit down, and I told him everything. I told him how I followed his daughter from Cincinnati, and what I did it for, and all about my salary and prospects, and explained to him my little code of living -to be always decent and right in your home town. At first, I thought he was going to throw me out of the window, but I kept on talking.
Well, that got him to laughing and I’ll bet that was the first laugh those ancestors and horsehair sofa had heard in many a day.

i) Select the option that matches the expression with the meaning correctly.

A. I-c, II-b, III-a
B. I-d, II-a, III-b
C. I-a, II-c, III-d
D. I-b, II-d, III-c
Ans. B. I-d, II-a, III-b

ii) Select the option that lists the statements which can be a part of one’s ‘code of living’.
1. Keep your word.
2. Never quit on yourself or your family.
3. Think about the future and ignore the present.
4. Focus on materialistic possessions.
5. Stay true to yourself.
6. Look back and wonder about your decisions.
A. 1, 3 and 6
B. 2, 4 and 5
C. 2, 5 and 6
D. 1, 2 and 5
Ans. D. 1, 2 and 5

iii) “I’ll bet that was the first laugh those ancestors and horsehair sofa had heard in many a day.” The tone of the speaker is
A. satirical.
B. ironical.
C. humorous.
D. sarcastic.
Ans. D. sarcastic.

iv) Which option best describes the sequence of the speaker’s emotions in the given extract.
A. nostalgia-friendliness-jitters-disappointment
B. curiosity-nostalgia-fear-mild sadness
C. jitters-confidence-apprehension-delight
D. shyness—friendliness-excitement-nostalgia
Ans. C. jitters-confidence-apprehension-delight

3. Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) One day last summer the author was travelling to Pittsburg by chair car. What does he say about his co-passengers?
Ans: One day last summer, the author was travelling to Pittsburgh by chair car on business. Most of the passengers were ladies. They were in brown-silk dresses cut with square yokes, laces and dotted veils. There were men who looked as if “they might be in almost any business.” However, his attention was drawn by the black, bald- spotted head just visible above the back of seat No. 9.

(b) Who was the passenger of chair No. 9? What did he suddenly do?
Ans: John A. Pescud was the passenger of chair No. 9. Suddenly he hurled a book on to the floor between his chair and the window. The book was named “The Rose Lady and Trevelyan”. It was one of the best-selling novels of the present day.

(c) What was John A. Pescud’s opinion about best sellers? Why?
Ans: John A. Pescud didn’t hold a very high opinion about best sellers. The fiction writers are not consistent with their scenes and characters. They are far removed from reality. Their account is highly unreal, exaggerated and romantic. Sometimes the American hero falls in love with a royal princess from Europe. He follows her to her father’s kingdom. But in real life people choose life- partners belonging to their own status.

(d) What does John say about himself since his last meeting with the author?
Ans: The author asked John how he was getting along with the company. John replied that he was getting on pretty well. He had his salary raised twice since they met last time. He got a commission too. He had bought a “neat slice of real estate”. The firm was going to sell him some shares of stock. He was “in on the line of General Prosperity”. He also broke the news that he got married eighteen months ago.

(e) How did John’s first meeting with Jessie’s father go? What did the author tell him?
Ans: John met Jessie’s fatter at his ancestral house. At eleven sharp, he rang the bell. An old man about eighty showed up and asked what he wanted. John showed him his business card. He told the old man how he followed his daughter from Cincinnati, his business, salary and prospects. Then the old man related anecdotes and humorous occurrences. The Colonel expressed that he had never been so fortunate as he felt after meeting him.

(f) Why did John get off at Coketown?
Ans: John got ready to get off at Coketown. The author was surprised as the place didn’t hold much prospect for selling plate-glass. However, John told that while coming back from Philadelphia, his wife Jessie saw some petunias in a pot in one of the windows there. She used to raise such flowers in her old Virginia home. So he thought of getting off there to dig up some of the cuttings or blossoms for her.

(g) John is a hypocrite. Do you agree with this statement? Substantiate your answer.
Ans: John is a hypocrite. What he says, he does the opposite. He expresses his uncharitable views regarding the best-sellers as they are far removed from reality. They are too romantic. But in real life people marry somebody in their own status. But John is another Trevelyan. He is just a commercial traveller but runs after Jessie whose father is a lineal descendant of belted earls. He is searching petunias for his ‘princess’.

(h) Describe John A. Pescud with reference to the following points:

• His Physical appearance
• His philosophy on behaviour
• His profession
• His first impression of his wife
• His success

Ans: 

• Physical appearance- A small man with a wide smile and an eye fixed on the end of the nose. A bald-spotted head.
• His philosophy on behaviour- When a man is in his home town, he ought to be decent and law-abiding.
• His profession- Travelling salesman for a plate-glass company.
• His first impression of his wife- ‘___the finest looking girl. Nothing spectacular but just the sort you want for keeps’.
• His success- Salary raised twice in a couple of years. Got a commission. Bought real estate. The firm going to sell some shares of stock. On the line of‘General Prosperity’.

4. Irony refers to the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of their literal meaning. Working in pairs bring out the irony in the following:
(a) The title of the story, “The Best Seller”.
(b) Pescud’s claim, “When people in real life marry, they generally hunt up somebody in their own station. A fellow usually picks out a girl who went to the same high school and belonged to the same singing-society that he did.”
(c) The name Trevelyan.
Ans: (a) Ram: The title of the story, “The Best Seller” is ironical.
Sita: That it is. Irony refers to the use of words to convey a meaning that is opposite to their literal meaning.
Ram: John A. Pescud doesn’t like ‘best-sellers’ like “The Rose Lady and Trevelyan.”
Sita: He thinks that they present a highly unreal, exaggerated and romantic version of life.
Ram: But he himself is the “Best Seller”.
Sita: After all, he is a travelling salesman. He knows all the tricks and arts of selling.
Ram: And he sells such an incredible story.
Sita: He criticises Trevelyan but imitates his real life.
Ram: He is another Trevelyan hunting for petunias for his princess Jessie Allyn.

(b) Ram: Don’t you feel John A. Pescud is a hypocrite.
Sita: Without any doubt, he is.
Ram: Pescud claims “When people in real life marry, they generally hunt up somebody in their own station.”
Sita: He thinks that “A fellow usually picks out a girl who went to the same high school and belonged to the same singing society that he did.”
Ram: What John A. Pescud claims, he does just the opposite.
Sita: This is what irony is. He criticises best¬sellers.’ They present a highly unreal, exaggerated and romantic version of life.
Ram: But John doesn’t marry a sales girl. He falls in love with the “finest looking girl, a descendant of belted earls. She was the owner of a grand mansion as big as the Capitol at Washington

(c) Ram: In the end, the narrator wishes good luck to John, calling him Trevelyan.
Sita: The address is ironical.
Ram: Trevelyan falls in love with a royal Princess from Europe. He follows her to her father’s kingdom or principality.
Sita: And John A. Pescud does exactly the same.
Ram: John criticises the hero of “The Rose and Trevelyan” but imitates him.
Sita: He doesn’t run after a sales girl but after the finest girl, a descendant of belted earls.
Ram: And this modem Trevelyan hunts petunias for her princess Jessie Allyn in Coketown.

5. Answer in detail

(a) Pescud had the qualities of a good salesman. Justify this statement by citing examples from the text.

Ans: Pescud had the qualities of a good salesman as he was observant, confident, and persuasive. He seized business opportunities, such as in Coketown, and gained Jessie’s father’s trust with his determination and effective communication, showcasing his adaptability and persistence.

(b) Imagine you are Andrew Smith, the author of the bestseller, The Rose Lady and Trevelyan. You happen to meet Pescud during one of your train journeys and realise he is one of your biggest critics. Write down the possible conversation.

You may begin like this:

Pescud: Hello sir! It's a pleasure to have this chance meeting with you. I have read your book, The Rose Lady and Trevelyan, but I must say that I beg to differ with your idea of romance. I feel it is far from reality.

Andrew: Hello Mr. Pescud! I am glad that you are candid in your opinion about my book. So, tell me what’s your notion of an ideal romance?

Ans: 

Pescud: Hello sir! It's a pleasure to have this chance meeting with you. I have read your book, The Rose Lady and Trevelyan, but I must say that I beg to differ with your idea of romance. I feel it is far from reality.

Andrew: Hello Mr. Pescud! I am glad that you are candid in your opinion about my book. So, tell me what’s your notion of an ideal romance?

Pescud: In real life, people choose partners who share similar values and come from the same social background. Romance should be practical, not extravagant like in bestsellers. For example, I pursued my wife based on shared understanding, not dramatic gestures.

Andrew: That’s an interesting perspective. It seems your life story is quite unique yet rooted in reality. Perhaps it could be a bestseller in itself!

Pescud: (Laughs) Maybe! But I believe stories should reflect the true nature of relationships and focus on simplicity rather than exaggerated fantasies.

Andrew: Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’ll surely consider your perspective in my future writings

6. Working in groups of four, write an article on the following:

The elderly seek attention and company from younger members of their family. They are eager to listen and long to share their life experiences. John A. Pescud is not only respectful but also very patient with Colonel Allyn, Jessie’s father.

As a reporter, write an article for a newspaper, on the importance of the elderly in our lives.

Ans:  Article: The Importance of the Elderly in Our Lives

The elderly are an integral part of our families and communities. They are the custodians of wisdom, culture, and life experiences that shape the younger generations. Their presence enriches our lives with values and lessons that cannot be found in books or modern gadgets.

In the story "The Best Seller" by O. Henry, John A. Pescud exemplifies how the elderly should be treated. His respectful and patient behavior toward Colonel Allyn, Jessie’s father, highlights the importance of valuing the older generation. Despite initial hostility, Pescud won over Colonel Allyn with his sincerity, showcasing how mutual respect can bridge generational gaps.

The elderly often seek attention and companionship, longing to share their stories and experiences. Their advice, drawn from years of wisdom, can guide the younger generation in making better life choices. Spending time with them fosters stronger family bonds and provides a sense of belonging.

However, in today’s fast-paced world, the elderly are often neglected or left feeling isolated. It is crucial for families to spend quality time with them, listen to their stories, and make them feel valued. Their presence is not just a responsibility but a privilege that brings stability and emotional depth to our lives.

Let us cherish the elderly and honor their contributions to our families and society. After all, a society that respects its elders is a society rooted in humanity and compassion.