ALL ANSWERS ARE COMPULSORY
Q 1. Pride before a fall befits Max, who said: “I will get it back tonight.” Was he successful? What lesson can be learnt from this?
Max was a spy who was overconfident and proud about himself. His pride blinded him, and he thought that wielding a gun would give an edge over the seemingly slow Ausable. However, despite this apparent pride and confidence, Max was utterly unsuccessful. Ausable outwitted him without lifting a finger. Max, in fact, jumped to his own death by taking Ausable’s words at face value. Thus, one learns that one should not be proud and must pay attention to the fine details before attempting to do anything.
Q 2. Write a character sketch of the secret Agent Ausable.
Ausable was a secret agent. He was a fat and sloppy fellow. In his appearance, he did not seem to be a mysterious figure. He came to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. He could speak French and German passably. He had not lost the American accent. Ausable was a very intelligent person with a great presence of mind. He did not lose his mind in a difficult situation when he faced a man with a pistol in his hand. He made up a story about the balcony. He made Max nervous by telling him about the police. He got Max killed without any fighting and shooting. Fowler who was disappointed to meet him at the beginning of the story was impressed with him at the end of the story.
Q 3. Ausable was a clever secret agent. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your answer.
Ausable did not look at all like the conventional image of a secret agent. He was short and very fat. Besides, he spoke French and German which lacked fluency as well as the right accent; the American accent was quite palpable in his speech. However, Ausable had a very sharp and active mind because he invented two stories, one about a non-existent balcony outside his hotel window and another about the police arriving to give extra security to some important documents he was about to receive. He was an intelligent man and a clever secret agent to be able to invent such stories on the spur of the moment in the face of danger in the form of Max, a rival secret agent.
Q 4. A calm mind can help you tackle direst stress. Explain.
Certainly, a calm mind can help us to tackle direst stress. If Ausable had panicked and reacted aggressively, then Max probably would have killed him. But Ausable kept his cool. Apart from this story, there can be some real life examples also. We are always told to focus when we are appearing for exams or not to panic in a difficult situation because such things hamper our thinking ability. We are not able to take proper decisions at this time. If we keep our mind cool and focus, then only can, we find ways to get out of crunch situations.
Questions from the text book. Think about it
1‘Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)
Secret agents in fiction are projected like ideal men, ‘Tall, dark and handsome’. They are usually well-built. They would smoke a pipe (like Sherlock Holmes) or a cigar and execute death-defying stunts (like James Bond). Movies based on James Bond show hi-tech gadgets which assist the detective in countering villains. However, there are some exceptions to this appearance of a secret agent also. A character named Feluda was created by Satyajit Ray, the famous Bengali filmmaker. Feluda was a tall athletic figure who relied on his superb analytical ability and observation skill.
2. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room? Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?
Ausable creates a detailed description of how his office was part a bigger apartment and how the next room had a direct connection with a balcony. His statement that somebody else also broke into his office through that balcony earlier made it a convincing story. Ausable’s ability to think quickly and calmly in a situation of panic makes it sound even more convincing.
3. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?
No, I don’t think that he had worked out his plan in detail earlier. He took advantage of events as they occurred. Ausable made up a story about the balcony because he knew the waiter was to arrive with the drinks later. So when the waiter arrived with the drinks, he told Max that he called the police for extra protection. All these things made Max desperate. He became restless and without looking below, he jumped out of the window.
Q 1. Pride before a fall befits Max, who said: “I will get it back tonight.” Was he successful? What lesson can be learnt from this?
Max was a spy who was overconfident and proud about himself. His pride blinded him, and he thought that wielding a gun would give an edge over the seemingly slow Ausable. However, despite this apparent pride and confidence, Max was utterly unsuccessful. Ausable outwitted him without lifting a finger. Max, in fact, jumped to his own death by taking Ausable’s words at face value. Thus, one learns that one should not be proud and must pay attention to the fine details before attempting to do anything.
Q 2. Write a character sketch of the secret Agent Ausable.
Ausable was a secret agent. He was a fat and sloppy fellow. In his appearance, he did not seem to be a mysterious figure. He came to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. He could speak French and German passably. He had not lost the American accent. Ausable was a very intelligent person with a great presence of mind. He did not lose his mind in a difficult situation when he faced a man with a pistol in his hand. He made up a story about the balcony. He made Max nervous by telling him about the police. He got Max killed without any fighting and shooting. Fowler who was disappointed to meet him at the beginning of the story was impressed with him at the end of the story.
Q 3. Ausable was a clever secret agent. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your answer.
Ausable did not look at all like the conventional image of a secret agent. He was short and very fat. Besides, he spoke French and German which lacked fluency as well as the right accent; the American accent was quite palpable in his speech. However, Ausable had a very sharp and active mind because he invented two stories, one about a non-existent balcony outside his hotel window and another about the police arriving to give extra security to some important documents he was about to receive. He was an intelligent man and a clever secret agent to be able to invent such stories on the spur of the moment in the face of danger in the form of Max, a rival secret agent.
Q 4. A calm mind can help you tackle direst stress. Explain.
Certainly, a calm mind can help us to tackle direst stress. If Ausable had panicked and reacted aggressively, then Max probably would have killed him. But Ausable kept his cool. Apart from this story, there can be some real life examples also. We are always told to focus when we are appearing for exams or not to panic in a difficult situation because such things hamper our thinking ability. We are not able to take proper decisions at this time. If we keep our mind cool and focus, then only can, we find ways to get out of crunch situations.
Questions from the text book. Think about it
1‘Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)
Secret agents in fiction are projected like ideal men, ‘Tall, dark and handsome’. They are usually well-built. They would smoke a pipe (like Sherlock Holmes) or a cigar and execute death-defying stunts (like James Bond). Movies based on James Bond show hi-tech gadgets which assist the detective in countering villains. However, there are some exceptions to this appearance of a secret agent also. A character named Feluda was created by Satyajit Ray, the famous Bengali filmmaker. Feluda was a tall athletic figure who relied on his superb analytical ability and observation skill.
2. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there is a balcony attached to his room? Look back at his detailed description of it. What makes it a convincing story?
Ausable creates a detailed description of how his office was part a bigger apartment and how the next room had a direct connection with a balcony. His statement that somebody else also broke into his office through that balcony earlier made it a convincing story. Ausable’s ability to think quickly and calmly in a situation of panic makes it sound even more convincing.
3. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?
No, I don’t think that he had worked out his plan in detail earlier. He took advantage of events as they occurred. Ausable made up a story about the balcony because he knew the waiter was to arrive with the drinks later. So when the waiter arrived with the drinks, he told Max that he called the police for extra protection. All these things made Max desperate. He became restless and without looking below, he jumped out of the window.
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