Answers to All Quesions in the sniper chapter Cambridge Connection 8
Answers
Question 1: Summarize the setting that is provided in the first paragraph of the story.
Answer: The setting is outlined as being June in Dublin, Ireland. It is night and the scene is set in complete darkness except for the 'dim light of the moon' shining through the clouds.
Question 2: List the two sides in the conflict. On what side is the sniper?
Answer: One side of the conflict is made up of the Republicans while the other side is compared of the Free States. The conflict involves a civil war in Ireland. The sniper is on the Republican side of the war.
Question 3: Describe briefly the scene in Dublin as you understand from the first two
paragraph of the story?
Answer: A civil war between the Republicans and the free estates was taking place at that time in Dublin. Fighting was going on between the two parties around the four courts. It was night and the moon gave dim light. Heavy guns roared. A Republican Sniper had taken position on the top of a roof near cannel bridge. A rifle lay near him and a pair of field glasses was also there. There was a bright shine in his eyes indicating that he was eager to kill enemy.
Question 4: Why did the Sniper consider it risky to smoke?
Answer: The Sniper thought it risky to smoke because the flash might be seen in the darkness and the enemy could watch it and thus, he could be spotted.
Question 5: Write out the sentence containing a simile that is found in the first paragraph of the story.
Answer: "Here and there through the city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lone farms."
Question 6: There were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk. Do you think the
sniper was careless? Give evidence from the lesson to support your answer.
Answer: No, the sniper was quite watchful and not careless. He could not resist the urge to smoke. He should not
have taken the risk. The flash was seen by the enemy. As he lit his cigarette, a bullet hit against the parapet of the
roof. He was lucky enough that the bullet did not hit him.
Question 7: The sniper is described as being a student who is 'thin and ascetic' but his eyes
have 'the cold gleam of the future'. Find the meanings of the words 'ascetic' and 'fanatic'.
Write out the definitions.
Answer: An ascetic is a person who is sensitive to art or beauty. A fanatic is a person who has extreme or irrational
beliefs. The two terms contrast each other sharply.
Question 8: Why did the sniper kill the man in the armored car and the old woman?
Answer: The sniper killed the man coming in the armored car as he was his enemy otherwise, he would have shot
the sniper dead. He killed the old woman because she was an informer of the enemy and was telling about the
presence of the sniper.
Question 9: What happens when the sniper lights a cigarette?
Answer: As soon as he uses a match to light the cigarette, an enemy shoot at the light. The bullet hits the parapet of
the roof.
Question 10: What happens when the sniper peers over the parapet and what does he see as
a result?
Answer: When the sniper looks over the parapet, he is shot at immediately. The bullet passes over his head, just
missing him. The sniper sees from where the shot has come from, the opposite side of the street, as a result of the
flash.
Question 11: How was the sniper injured? How did he realize that he had been hit?
Answer: When the sniper fired at the man in the armored car and the old woman who was an informer, the enemy
from the opposite roof shot at him and injured him. The bullet hit him in his right forearm and his rifle drifted. When
he bent and tried to pick up, he could not lift that rifle. That is how he realized that he was hit.
describe the Republican sniper as he lay in hiding on the rooftop