NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 4 A Question of Trust

A Question of Trust Extra Questions and Answers Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet

Extract Based Questions [3 Marks each]

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question 1.
So he robbed a safe every year. Each year he planned carefully just what he would do, stole enough to last for twelve months, and secretly bought the books he loved through an agent.
(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why did ‘he’ rob only one safe every year?
(c) Find the word from the extract that means the opposite of ‘openly’.
(d) What is the present tense of ‘stole’?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ in the above extract is Horace Danby.
(b) He robbed only one safe every year because he robbed just enough to satisfy his hobby of buying and collecting rare and expensive books. Otherwise, he was just an honest lock-maker.
(c) The word is ‘secretly’.
(d) Its present tense is ‘steal’.

Question 2.
A small dog was lying in the kitchen. It stirred, made a noise, and moved its tail in a friendly way. [CBSE 2014]
(a) What is the name of the dog mentioned in the above extract?
(b) In which house is the kitchen referred to located?
(c) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘cordial’.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘friendly’?
Answer:
(a) The name of the dog mentioned in the above extract is Sherry.
(b) The kitchen referred to is located in Shotover Grange.
(c) The word is ‘friendly’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘hostile’.

Question 3.
The voice went on, “You can cure it with a special treatment, you know, if you find out just what plant gives you the disease. I think you’d better see a doctor, if you’re serious about your work.”
(a) Whose voice is referred to in the above extract?
(b) What disease was the voice referring to?
(c) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘ailment’.
(d) What part Of speech is the word ‘it’ in the extract?
Answer:
(a) The voice referred to in the above extract is of the young lady who pretended to be a member of the household.
(b) The disease the voice was referring to was hay fever, with which Horace Danby was afflicted.
(c) The word is ‘disease’.
(d) ‘It’ is a pronoun.

Question 4.
She laughed, and he begged, thinking that he had persuaded her, “Look, I have no right to ask you for anything, but I’m desperate.”
(a) Who are ‘she1 and ‘he’ in the above extract?
(b) Why did ‘he’ say that he was desperate?
(c) Find a word in the passage that means the same as ‘convinced1.
(d) What is the opposite of ‘persuaded’?
Answer:
(a) ‘She’ is young lady who Horace met in the house and ‘he’ is Horace Danby.
(b) Horace was desperate because he had been caught stealing and did not want to go to prison.
(c) The word is ‘persuaded’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘dissuaded’

Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks each]

Question 1.
Whom did Horace Danby see in the kitchen? How did they greet each other? What tact did Horace apply there? [CBSE 2013]
Answer:
Horace Danby saw the family dog, Sherry, in the kitchen. The dog greeted Horace by stirring, making a noise and wagging its tail in a friendly way. Horace greeted the dog by tactfully calming it down, calling it by its name and showing love to it.

Question 2.
How did Danby prepare for the robbery at Shotover Grange? [CBSE 2011]
or
How did Horace Danby plan his robberies? [CBSE2012]
Answer:
Danby always planned his robberies meticulously. He prepared for the robbery at Shotover Grange by studying the house, the electric wiring, paths and garden. He knew that the family normally lived in the city and knew about the movement of the servants, who had gone out that afternoon. He had kept his tools ready, packed in a bag.

Question 3.
What was the passion of Horace Danby and how did he satisfy it? [CBSE 2011]
Answer:
The passion of Horace Danby was collecting rare and expensive books. To satisfy this passion, he needed money and arranged it by robbing one safe every year and then secretly buying the books through an agent.

Question 4.
Describe the safe at Shotover Grange.
or
Where was the safe at Shotover Grange? What was there inside it? What did Horace expect to get if he sold them one by one? [CBSE 2012]
Answer:
The safe at Shotover Grange was kept in the drawing room behind a poor painting and had jewels worth about 15000 pounds kept in it. It had a poorly built burglar alarm, but could be opened only through a specific code. Horace expected to get 5000 pounds if he sold the jewels one by one.

Question 5.
How can you say that Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest?
Answer:
Horace Danby was good and respectable because he was an expert in his profession of making locks. However, as he loved collecting rare and expensive books, he robbed a safe every year to finance the purchase of these books through an agent. Thus he was not completely honest

Question 6.
How did flowers hinder Horace in his work? [CBSE 2013]
Answer:
Flowers hindered Horace in his work because he had hay fever, a disorder affecting the nose and throat, caused by allergy to pollen or dust. Due to this problem, whenever he came close to flowers, he began to sneeze’ and could be caught. He had to cover his face.

Question 7.
Why was Horace Danby sure that his robbery at Shotover Grange woukhbe a successful one? [CBSE 2014]
Answer:
Horace Danby was sure that his robbery at Shotover Grange would be a successful one because he had studied the house, the drawing room where the safe was kept, the wiring and its garden. He had also studied the movement of the servants, so he had planned well, thus ensuring that nothing could go wrong.

Question 8.
Why does Horace Danby get angry when anyone talks about ‘honour among thieves’?
Answer:
When anyone talks about ‘honour among thieves’, Horace Danby gets angry because the young lady who cheated him was also a thief, yet did not follow this saying.

Question 9.
What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the mistress of the house?
Answer:
The subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the mistress of the house are her grace, charm, comfort level, knowledge, persistence, way of talking confidently and familiarity with the household. She even threatens to get him arrested, which convinces Horace Danby that she is genuine.

Question 10.
What did Horace Danby wonder about for a moment? What did he think and decide? [CBSE 2010]
Answer:
On seeing the poor painting in front of the safe, Horace Danby wondered for a moment whether to collect pictures instead of books. But then, he thought that books were better in a small house like his, as paintings took up too much room.

Question 11.
What did Horace do every year and why?
Answer:
As Horace was fond of rare, expensive books, he stole a safe every year, to have just enough money to last twelve months for buying such books to his heart’s content.

Question 12.
Whom did Horace meet at Shotover Grange? How did the meeting affect his plans?
Answer:
Horace met a young, pretty woman dressed in red at Shotover Grange. She pretended to be the owner’s wife and deceived him into breaking open the safe to remove the jewels for her. She threatened even to call the police. This meeting adversely affected his plans, as he was not able to get away with the jewels.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions [8 Marks each]

Question 1.
What precautions did Danby take to avoid arrest? What blunder did he commit in his last venture?
Answer:
To avoid arrest, Danby always studied all aspects of the safe he had targeted that year thoroughly, including the habits of the owners and servants, the layout of the house, any burglar alarms etc. He carried a set of select tools to break open safes and always wore gloves, so that he left behind no fingerprints.
In his last venture at Shotover Grange, he committed the blunder of not wearing gloves while cracking open the safe, probably because he was distracted by the young lady threatening to call the police, thus leading to his arrest soon afterwards.

Question 2.
Why was Horace Danby arrested although he failed to profit from the robbery at Shotover Grange?
Answer:
Horace Danby was arrested although he failed to profit from the robbery at Shotover Grange, because he broke open the safe to give the lady in red the jewels, thinking her to be the wife of the owner who had forgotten the number combination to open the safe. Actually he wanted to escape scot-free, as he had been caught red-handed by the lady and wanted to keep her happy. However, his fingerprints were all over the room, as he had forgotten to wear his gloves while opening the safe. Thus he was arrested soon afterwards.

Question 3.
Horace was clever but the lady in red was cleverer. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer.
Answer:
Yes, I agree with this statement. Horace was clever, as he planned the robbery carefully, studied the target, took the proper tools and also took his gloves, to ensure leaving no fingerprints. But the young lady in red had all the necessary information, and, posing as the mistress of the house, exploited Horace’s fear on being discovered, tricked him into cracking open the safe and handing her the jewels. She even ensured that Horace left his fingerprints at the site, as she distracted him by picking up a cigarette which Horace offered to light after removing his gloves. Thus the lady outwitted him.

Question 4.
Would you do something wrong (i.e. commit a crime) if you thought that the ends justify the means? Do you think that there are certain situations you can be excused for acting dishonestly? [CBSE 2011]
Answer:
Yes, intentions do justify actions. If something wrong is done unintentionally, it may be pardoned. However, it cannot be excused if it is carried out even when knowing it is wrong. As Horace had the intention to rob the safe by breaking it open, his crime is intentional. Although he had good intentions in helping the lady (who he thought was the mistress of the house), his crime cannot be excused. Breaking open the safe cannot be justified at all. There may be certain situations when you can be excused for acting dishonestly, but this is not so in Horace’s case.

Question 5.
Horace was a successful thief because he carefully planned his robberies. Should we call him a successful thief and still appreciate his work? Why or why not? [CBSE 2013]
Answer:
Yes, as a thief, Horace is successful because he carefully planned his robberies and completes them well. He was living his life as a good and honest citizen. However, the wealth he gathered due from his successful robberies did not belong to him. By stealing other people’s valuables, he may have become successful but he is actually a criminal. He may be efficient in – conducting his’-crimes so that he is successful, but we still cannot appreciate his work.