"Now, ladies and gentlemen," said the conjuror, "having shown you that the cloth is absolutely empty, I will proceed to take from it a bowl of goldfish. Presto !" All around the hall people were saying, "Oh, how wonderful ! How does he do it?" But the Quick Man on the front seat said in a big whisper to the people near him, "He-had-it-up-his-sleeve." Then the people nodded brightly at the Quick Man and said, "Oh, of course"; and everybody whispered round the hall, "He-had-it-up-his-sleeve." "My next trick," said the conjuror, "is the famous Hindostanee rings. You will notice that the rings are apparently separate; at a blow they all join (clang, clang, clang)—Presto !" There was a general buzz of stupefaction till the Quick Man was heard to whisper, "He-must-have-had-another-lot-up-his-sleeve." Again everybody nodded and whispered, "The-rings-were-up-his-sleeve." The brow of the conjuror was clouded with a gathering frown. "I will now," he continued, "show you a most amusing trick by which I am enabled to take any number of eggs from a hat. Will some gentleman kindly lend me his hat? Ah, thank you—Presto !" He extracted seventeen eggs, and for thirty-five seconds the audience began to think that he was wonderful. Then the Quick Man whispered along the front bench, "He-has-a-hen-up-his-sleeve," and all the people whispered it on. "He-has-a-lot-of-hens-up-his-sleeve." The egg trick was ruined. It went on like that all through. It transpired from the whispers of the Quick Man that the conjuror must have concealed up his sleeve, in addition to the rings, hens, and fish, several packs of cards, a loaf of bread, a doll's cradle, a live guinea pig, a fifty-cent piece, and a rocking chair. The author believes that the Quick Man was really
- (a)foolish
- (b)clever
- (c)wrong
- (d)right
Correct — A, 'foolish'. The writer never says so outright; he says it through the joke he builds at the man's expense. By the last paragraph the single explanation has been stretched to cover a loaf of bread, a doll's cradle, a live guinea pig and a rocking chair, all up one sleeve — an inventory no reader can take seriously. The nickname 'Quick Man' is used in the same spirit, and the crowd that 'nodded brightly' after him is being laughed at alongside him.
- (b)clever — That is the Quick Man's own estimate of himself, and the hall's, which the sketch sets up so that it can be knocked down.
- (c)wrong — He is wrong, but the passage does more than correct him — the absurd closing list is written to make him ridiculous, which is the sharper reading the item asks for.
- (d)right — The rocking chair alone settles that; the list is offered as proof of how far the explanation has been pushed.
Satire states no verdict; the writer's opinion has to be read off the exaggeration he chooses to end on.
Two of the four choices are true of the man in some measure — he is wrong, and he is quick in the sense of being ready with an answer. The item asks what the author believes he 'really' was, and the closing catalogue answers it: a man who explains away a rocking chair by a coat sleeve is being shown up as a fool. Where a question asks for the author's view rather than a character's, look for the tone and not for a statement.
- The writer never calls the Quick Man foolish; the judgement is carried by the exaggerated list.
- The audience repeats every whisper, so the mockery takes them in as well.
- The nickname 'Quick Man' is used throughout with no other name attached.
- Choosing 'clever', which is how the character sees himself.
- Stopping at 'wrong' when the passage is doing something sharper than correcting him.
Asked as a comprehension item on the author's attitude towards a character.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which of these appears in the list at the end of the passage?
- (a)a rocking chair
- (b)a bicycle
- (c)a piano
- (d)a ladder
Answer(a) a rocking chair — the list closes with it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
An author who exaggerates a character's explanation until it becomes absurd is using
- (a)satire
- (b)narration
- (c)description
- (d)argument
Answer(a) satire — ridicule used to expose a folly.