NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English
If I Were You NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 11
If I Were You NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers
If I Were You Thinking About the Text
I. Answer these questions.
Question 1.
“At last a sympathetic audience.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer:
The speaker of the given line is Gerrard.
(ii) Why does he say it?
Answer:
He says it as he is asked by the intruder to speak about himself.
(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious?
Answer:
He speaks the given dialogue sarcastically.
Question 2.
Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?
Answer:
The intruder is similar to Gerrard in build. He looked like him. After killing Gerrard, he wanted to impersonate him and get rid of the police. So, he chose Gerrard as his target.
Question 3.
“I said it with bullets.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer:
Gerrard says this.
(ii) What does it mean?
Answer:
It means that when things went wrong, he had used his gun to shoot someone for his escape.
(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?
Answer:
No, it is not the truth. The speaker says this to save himself from getting shot by the intruder.
Question 4.
What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.
Answer:
Gerrard was a playwright. He says in the end of the play, “Sorry, I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal. I think I’ll put it in my next play.”
Question 5.
“You’ll soon stop being smart.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer:
The Intruder says this to Gerrard.
(ii) Find a word that means ‘time spent in practising’.
Answer:
Rehearsal
(iii) What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?
Answer:
According to the Intruder, Gerrard would stop being smart when he knew that his intention was to kill him.
Question 6.
“They can’t hang me twice.”
(i) Who says this?
Answer:
The Intruder says this to Gerrard.
(ii) Why does the speaker say it?
Answer:
The Intruder told that he had already killed someone. If he was caught after murdering Gerrard, he would be hanged only once and not twice.
Question 7.
“A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?
Answer:
Gerrard tells the Intruder that he himself was in hiding and the police was after him. He was expecting the police to raid his house any time, so he was about to leave that place soon.
Question 8.
“This is your big surprise.”
(i) Where has this been said in the play?
Answer:
Gerrard says this to the Intruder at the end of the play.
(ii) What is the surprise?
Answer:
Gerrard was also a criminal who had murdered someone and the police were after him, was a surprise for the Intruder.
If I Were You Thinking about Language
I. Consult your dictionary and choose the correct word from the pairs given in brackets.
Question 1.
The (site, cite) of the accident was (ghastly/ghostly).
Answer:
The site of the accident was ghastly.
Question 2.
Our college (principle/principal) is very strict.
Answer:
Our college principal is very strict.
Question 3.
I studied (continuously/continually) for eight hours.
Answer:
I studied continuously for eight hours.
Question 4.
The fog had an adverse (affect/effect) on the traffic.
Answer:
The fog had an adverse effect on the traffic.
Question 5.
Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant (artist/artiste).
Answer:
Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant artist.
Question 6.
The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary (collage/college) of science fiction and mystery.
Answer:
The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary collage of science fiction and mystery.
Question 7.
Our school will (host/hoist) an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
Answer:
Our school will host an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
Question 8.
Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and (shake/shape) well before using the contents.
Answer:
Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and shake well before using the contents.
II.
Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, “Oh! that was clever!”, that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever4 to mean ‘not clever9. Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
- Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
- You have been a great help, I must say!
- You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
- Oh, very funny!/ How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically. Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below. Write down three more such expressions along with what they really mean. .
What the author says | What he means |
Why, this is a surprise, Mr—er— | He pretends that the intruder is a social visitor whom he is welcoming. In this way he hides his fear. |
At last a sympathetic audience! | He pretends that the intruder wants to listen to him, whereas actually the intruder wants to find out information for his own use. |
Answer:
What the author says
What he means
You won’t kill me for a very good reason.
Gerrard is just pretending to have a ‘very good reason’ even though there is no such reason.
Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother – quite amusing.
The ‘spot of bother’ that Gerrard calls ‘quite amusing’ is actually a life-threatening situation, where a criminal actually threatens to kill him.
You have been so modest.
Here, Gerrard means that it is immodest on the part of the intruder to know so much about’ him without disclosing his own identity.