Prose : Chapter 7 Packing English (Language & Literature) - Prose : Chapter 7 Packing

And then it was George’s turn, and he trod on the butter. I didn’t say anything, but I came over and sat on the edge of the table and watched them. It irritated them more than anything I could have said. I felt that. It made them nervous and excited, and they stepped on things, and put things behind them, and then couldn’t find them when they wanted them; and they packed the pies at the bottom, and put heavy things on top, and smashed the pies in.

(i) What did George accidentally step on?
(a) The butter
(b) The jam
(c) The bread
(d) The eggs

(ii) What are the persons mentioned in the passage, doing? What made them nervous?

(iii) Read the following descriptions (a) - (c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract:
(a) George accidentally stepped on the butter while packing, which annoyed the narrator who chose to silently watch the scene unfold. This made George and others nervous, causing them to make more mistakes, such as stepping on things and misplacing items, ultimately leading to the pies being smashed at the bottom of the packing.
(b) George accidentally dropped the butter while packing, prompting the narrator to shout at him. This led to a chaotic scene where everyone was shouting and arguing, and the pies were packed carelessly, ending up smashed at the bottom.
(c) George was meticulously packing when he accidentally stepped on the butter. The narrator laughed and helped him clean up, making the situation light-hearted. Despite this, the pies were still packed at the bottom and got smashed under the weight of other items.

(iv) Which word in the passage stands for walk on?

He came and sat down on things, just when they wanted to be packed; and he laboured under the fixed belief that, whenever Harris or George reached out their hand for anything, it was his cold damp nose that they wanted. He put his leg into the jam, and he worried the teaspoons, and he pretended that the lemons were rats, and got into the hamper and killed three of them before Harris could land him with the frying-pan.
 
(i) What did the dog do with the lemons?
(a) He ate them
(b) He pretended they were rats
(c) He buried them
(d) He ignored them

(ii) What does he laboured imply?

(iii) Read the following descriptions (a) - (c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract:
(a) A dog caused trouble during the packing by sitting on things, believing that his nose was always needed, stepping into the jam, playing with the teaspoons, mistaking lemons for rats, and causing chaos in the hamper until Harris hit him with a frying-pan.
(b) A cat caused trouble during the packing by sitting on things, believing that his tail was always needed, stepping into the butter, playing with the forks, mistaking oranges for rats, and causing chaos in the kitchen until George hit him with a broom.
(c) A small child caused trouble during the packing by sitting on things, believing that his toys were always needed, stepping into the jelly, playing with the cups, mistaking apples for balls, and causing chaos in the room until Harris distracted him with a story.

(iv) Who is he in the passage?

Of course, I had to turn every mortal thing out now, and, of course, I could not find it. I rummaged the things up into much the same state that they must have been before the world was created, and when chaos reigned. Of course, I found George’s and Harris’s eighteen times over, but I couldn’t find my own. I put the things back one by one, and held everything up and shook it. Then I found it inside a boot. I repacked once more.

(i) Where did the narrator eventually find their missing item?
(a) Inside a hat
(b) Inside a boot
(c) Inside a bag
(d) Underneath the bed

(ii) What happened when the author searched for his toothbrush?

(iii) Read the following descriptions (a) - (c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract:
(a) The narrator struggled to find an item while packing, causing a chaotic mess. He found George’s and Harris’s items multiple times but not his own. Eventually, he found it inside a boot and had to repack everything.
(b) The narrator managed to find his item immediately while packing, causing no mess. He found George’s and Harris’s items only once but had no trouble finding his own. Everything was neatly packed without any further issues.
(c) The narrator decided not to look for his item while packing, as he already knew where it was. He found George’s and Harris’s items but ignored them, and everything was packed in perfect order.

(iv) What was the author looking for?

However, I did not say anything, but started the packing. It seemed a longer job than I had thought it was going to be; but I got the bag finished at last, and I sat on it and strapped it. “Ain’t you going to put the boots in?” said Harris. And I looked round, and found I had forgotten them. That’s just like Harris. He couldn’t have said a word until I’d got the bag shut and strapped, of course. And George laughed – one of those irritating, senseless laughs of his.

(i) What did Harris remind the narrator about when they were packing?
(a) To finish the packing quickly
(b) To put the boots in the bag
(c) To double-check the contents of the bag
(d) To sit on the bag and strap it

(ii) Why did the author get irritated?

(iii) Read the following descriptions (a) - (c) and identify which one correctly corresponds to the extract:
(a) The narrator packed everything perfectly on the first attempt, including the boots, without any interruptions or mistakes. Harris and George watched silently without making any comments.
(b) The narrator packed everything except the boots, which he forgot. Harris pointed this out only after the bag was shut and strapped, leading to George's irritating laugh.
(c) The narrator deliberately left out the boots while packing, intending to add them later. Harris reminded him of the boots before the bag was shut, and George helped pack them in.

(iv) What is the opposite of ‘sensible’ as used in the extract above?

What did George and Harris offer to pack and why?

Where did Jerome finally find the toothbrush?

What ‘horrible idea’ occurred to Jerome a little later?

What did Harris say after the bag was shut and strapped? Why do you think he waited till then to ask?

What was Jerome’s real intention when he offered to pack?

Lazy friends sometimes become a burden. Do you agree? How should we respond to someone’s help?

Why did the writer get irritated? Do you think that volunteering sometimes becomes a headache? Was it the expectation of Jerome that became a cause of his headache?

What did the author want to do when he offered his help? How was he misunderstood? Do you think Jerome was a show-off while offering his help? What would you have done if you were Jerome?

Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it? (Pick out at least three, think about what happens, as well as how it is described.)

How did Montmorency ‘contribute’ to the packing?