(1) Monday dawned warm and rainless. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very early riser, opened his office at six. He took some false teeth, still mounted in their plaster mold, out of the glass case and put on the table a fistful of instruments which he arranged in size order, as if they were on display. He wore a collarless striped shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders. He was erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf people have of looking.
(2) When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair and sat down to polish the false teeth. He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing, but worked steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn’t need it.
After eight he stopped for a while to look at the sky through the window. After a while, he went on working with the idea that before lunch it would rain again. The shrill voice of his eleven-year-old son interrupted his concentration.
“Papa.”
“What?”
“The Mayor wants to know if you’ll pull his tooth.”
“Tell him I’m not here.”
(4) He was polishing a gold tooth. He held it at arm’s length, and examined it with his eyes half closed. His son shouted again from the little waiting room.
“He says you are, too, because he can hear you.”
The dentist kept examining the tooth. Only when he had put it on the table with the finished work did he say:
“So much the better.”
(5) He operated the drill again. He took several pieces of a bridge out of a cardboard box where he kept the things he still had to do and began to polish the gold.
“Papa.”
“What?”
(6) He still hadn’t changed his expression.
“He says if you don’t take out his tooth, he’ll shoot you.”
Without hurrying, with an extremely tranquil movement, he stopped pedaling the drill, pushed it away from the chair, and pulled the lower drawer of the table all the way out. There was a revolver. “O.K.,” he said.
“Tell him to come and shoot me.”
(7) He rolled the chair over opposite the door, his hand resting on the edge of the drawer. The Mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his face, but the other side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day-old beard.
The dentist saw many nights of desperation in his dull eyes. He closed the drawer with his fingertips and said softly:
“Sit down.”
“Good morning,” said the Mayor.
“Morning,” said the dentist.
14. Which of the following statements about the dentist is TRUE?
i. He was a very qualified doctor.
ii. He used to get up very early in the morning
iii. He was very restless and disturbed while working
iv. He had a 13 year old son
15.15. When the mayor visited the office, the doctor was ___
i. Yelling at his son, telling him to be quiet
ii. Opening and setting his office
iii. Polishing the gold tooth
iv. Taking a break and looking outside the window
16.16. ‘pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn’t need it’ this action shows that__
i. He was very angry and irritated
ii. He was very calm and composed
iii. He wanted to finish it soon as the mayor was waiting
iv. He was very absorbed in the task at hand
17.17. Could the mayor hear the dentist’s refusal?
i. Yes, he certainly did
ii. No, he could not because of his tooth
iii. Can’t say for sure
iv. It is not mentioned in the passage
18.18. “Tell him to come and shoot me.” The words of the dentist convey that ___
i. The dentist was scared of the mayor
ii. He had given up and wanted to die
iii. He was too busy to leave what he was doing
iv. He saw the pain and desperation in the mayor’s eyes
19.19. The mayor’s threat, to shoot the dentist, shows that ___
i. He was angry with the dentist’s son who was yelling
ii. He was desperate and in pain
iii. He was a powerful man and had political connections
iv. He wanted his gold tooth back from the dentist
20.20. A word which is synonymous with the word ‘tranquil’ (para 6) is __
i. Peaceful
ii. Careful
iii. Quick
iv. Clever
21.21. The phrase, ‘held it at arm’s length’ (para 4) means
i. He held the tooth away from his body
ii. He held the tooth close to his eyes
iii. He held the tooth carefully so that he won’t drop it
iv. He held the tooth in his arms
22.22. ‘He still hadn’t changed his expression’. (para 6) Who is ‘He’ in these lines
i. The Mayor
ii. The Dentist
iii. The Dentist’s son
iv. The Narrator
23.23. What disturbed the dentist’s focus?Immersive Reader
i. The threat of the mayor
ii. The son’s sharp voice
iii. His own exhaustion
iv. His hunger as it was lunchtime
Answers
Answer:
Monday dawned warm and rainless. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very early riser, opened his office at six. He took some false teeth, still mounted in their plaster mold, out of the glass case and put on the table a fistful of instruments which he arranged in size order, as if they were on display. He wore a collarless striped shirt, closed at the neck with a golden stud, and pants held up by suspenders. He was erect and skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation, the way deaf people have of looking.
(2) When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair and sat down to polish the false teeth. He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing, but worked steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn’t need it.
After eight he stopped for a while to look at the sky through the window. After a while, he went on working with the idea that before lunch it would rain again. The shrill voice of his eleven-year-old son interrupted his concentration.
“Papa.”
“What?”
“The Mayor wants to know if you’ll pull his tooth.”
“Tell him I’m not here.”
(4) He was polishing a gold tooth. He held it at arm’s length, and examined it with his eyes half closed. His son shouted again from the little waiting room.
“He says you are, too, because he can hear you.”
The dentist kept examining the tooth. Only when he had put it on the table with the finished work did he say:
“So much the better.”
(5) He operated the drill again. He took several pieces of a bridge out of a cardboard box where he kept the things he still had to do and began to polish the gold.
“Papa.”
“What?”
(6) He still hadn’t changed his expression.
“He says if you don’t take out his tooth, he’ll shoot you.”
Without hurrying, with an extremely tranquil movement, he stopped pedaling the drill, pushed it away from the chair, and pulled the lower drawer of the table all the way out. There was a revolver. “O.K.,” he said.
“Tell him to come and shoot me.”
(7) He rolled the chair over opposite the door, his hand resting on the edge of the drawer. The Mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his face, but the other side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day-old beard.
The dentist saw many nights of desperation in his dull eyes. He closed the drawer with his fingertips and said softly:
“Sit down.”
“Good morning,” said the Mayor.
“Morning,” said the dentist.
14. Which of the following statements about the dentist is TRUE?
i. He was a very qualified doctor.
ii. He used to get up very early in the morning
iii. He was very restless and disturbed while working
iv. He had a 13 year old son
15.15. When the mayor visited the office, the doctor was ___
i. Yelling at his son, telling him to be quiet
ii. Opening and setting his office
iii. Polishing the gold tooth
iv. Taking a break and looking outside the window
16.16. ‘pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didn’t need it’ this action shows that__
i. He was very angry and irritated
ii. He was very calm and composed
iii. He wanted to finish it soon as the mayor was waiting
iv. He was very absorbed in the task at hand
17.17. Could the mayor hear the dentist’s refusal?
i. Yes, he certainly did
ii. No, he could not because of his tooth
iii. Can’t say for sure
iv. It is not mentioned in the passage
18.18. “Tell him to come and shoot me.” The words of the dentist convey that ___
i. The dentist was scared of the mayor
ii. He had given up and wanted to die
iii. He was too busy to leave what he was doing
iv. He saw the pain and desperation in the mayor’s eyes
19.19. The mayor’s threat, to shoot the dentist, shows that ___
i. He was angry with the dentist’s son who was yelling
ii. He was desperate and in pain
iii. He was a powerful man and had political connections
iv. He wanted his gold tooth back from the dentist
20.20. A word which is synonymous with the word ‘tranquil’ (para 6) is __
i. Peaceful
ii. Careful
iii. Quick
iv. Clever
21.21. The phrase, ‘held it at arm’s length’ (para 4) means
i. He held the tooth away from his body
ii. He held the tooth close to his eyes
iii. He held the tooth carefully so that he won’t drop it
iv. He held the tooth in his arms
22.22. ‘He still hadn’t changed his expression’. (para 6) Who is ‘He’ in these lines
i. The Mayor
ii. The Dentist
iii. The Dentist’s son
iv. The Narrator
23.23. What disturbed the dentist’s focus?Immersive Reader
i. The threat of the mayor
ii. The son’s sharp voice
iii. His own exhaustion
iv. His hunger as it was lunchtime
Answer:
What was the dentist doing when the mayor came to his house