A BICYCLE IN GOOD REPAIR TEXT BOOK ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS CBSE – VII

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

·
Jerome K. Jerome (Jerome Klapka Jerome)

·
Born – 2 May 1859. Stafford
shire, England

·
Died – 14 June 1927 Northampton,
England.

·
He was an English writer and
humorist.

·
Famous works –

i)
Three men in a Boat (1889)

ii)
Idle thoughts of an Idle
fellow (1886)

iii) On the stage – and off (1885)

TEXT BOOK SOLUTIONS

Comprehension check:-

Q. 1. “I, got up early, for me”-

It implies that –

i) He was an early riser.

ii) He was a late riser.

iii) He got up late that morning.

Ans. It implies that – ii) He was a late riser.

Q. 2. The bicycle “goes easily enough in the
morning and a little stiffly after lunch”

–
That remarks is

i) Humorous

ii) Inaccurate

iii) Sarcastic

iv) Enjoyable

v) Meaningless

Ans. The remark is – humorous, sarcastic and enjoyable.

Q. 3. The friend shook the bicycle violently. Find
two or three sentences in the text which express the author’s disapproval of
it.

i) “I did not see why he should shake it; it had not done
anything to him”

ii) “Besides
if it wanted snaking, I was the proper person to shake it. I felt much as I
should had he started whacking my dog.”

iii)
“Don’t do that; I you’ll
hurt it”

4) “……………..If not, it would
make a serious difference to the machine.” What does ‘it’ refer to?

Ans. Here the friend of the author referred to balls of the bearings.
Balls are very important for smooth functioning of a machine i.e. bicycle. As
they lost the balls, he said about the importance of the balls.

Working with the
text.

Q.1. Did the front wheel
really wobble? What is your opinion? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans. According to the author it cannot be worth calling a wobble. In reality
the front wheel was not wobbling and the author’s comment proves the statement
– “It didn’t wobble, as matter of fact nothing worth calling a wobble.”

Q.2. In what condition did
the author find the bicycle when he returned from the tool shed?

Ans. Perplexed was the author, when he returned from the tool shed. He
discovered the man sitting on the ground and holding the front wheel between
his legs. He was playing with the wheel. He was twiddling the wheel between his
fingers and beside of him on the gravel path there was the remnant of his
machine lying.

Q. 3. “Nothing is easier than
talking off the gear case”

Comment on or continue this
sentence in the light of what actually happens.

Ans. The friend of the author wanted to check the chain of the
author’s cycle. For that he opened the gear case. While opening the author
wanted to restrain him from doing so by telling him that if the gear case of a
cycle is damaged, then it is cheaper to buy a new bicycle than repairing the
damage gear case. But his friend opined somewhat different. To him nothing is
easier than taking off a gear case. And in a moment the author scorns with a
satire that his friend was right. Within five minutes the gear case was in two
pieces lying on the graves path.

Q. 4. What special treatment
did the chain receive?

Ans. The friend of the author does not have mastery over bicycle
repairing. While treating the chain at first he made it so tight that it did
not move. Later he loosened it so much that it was twice as loose as before.

Q.5. The friend has two
qualities – he knows what he is doing and is absolutely sure it is good. Find
the two phrases in the text which mean the same.

Ans. “Cherry confidence” – This phrase explains the fact that the
friend of the author is fully aware about what he is doing.

“Inexplicable hopefulness” shows that the friend of the
author was sure about the fact that what he is doing is good.

Q.6. Describe the fight
between the man and the machine. Find relevant sentences in the text and write
them.

Ans. The fight between the friend of the author and the cycle was
humorous indeed. It was a rough – and – tumble fight. Losing his temper he
tried bullying the thing. The following lines from the text enumerate the fight
properly –

“One moment the bicycle would be on the gravel path, and
he on top of it; the next, the position would b e reversed – he on the gravel
path, the bicycle on him. Now he would b e standing flushed with victory, the
bicycle firmly fixed between his legs. But his triumph would short- lived. By a
sudden, quick movement, it would free itself and, turning upon him, hit him
sharply over the head with one of its handles.”