CBSE Class 10 English The Midnight Visitor Worksheet

 

 

This story is about a detective who defies the stereotypes as we know from novels and movies. Ausable is a fat man with a short height and thick accent. A young writer goes to meet him to get some inspiration for his next story or novel. But the young writer was highly disappointed to see an unassuming person as a detective. However, when he encounters the detective’s quick wit and presence of mind he is highly impressed and changes his opinion about him.

 

 

Ausable was a secret agent who was expecting to get an important paper. During his stay in a French hotel a young writer named Fowler came to meet him. He was disappointed to see Ausable as he was unlike any fictional spy. His room was on the sixth floor of that musty and gloomy hotel. When they both entered the room, they found a man standing in the centre of the room. He had a pistol in his hand. This was the first thrill of the day for Fowler. The name of the man with a gun was Max. He said that he had come there to snatch the secret report from Ausable. Ausable remained silent and cool. He pretended to be angry with the management of the hotel. Sensing the danger, he fabricated a story of a balcony just below the window of his room and how last month too an unknown person had entered the room through that balcony. Max told Ausable that he had used a master key to enter the door. He wished that he should have entered through the balcony way which would have been much easier.

There was a sudden knocking at the door. Ausable smiled. He said it must be the police because he himself had called them for the protection of such an important report. Max was nervous and jumped through the window to the balcony. But there was no balcony as Ausable had told. He jumped only to crash to the ground.

Then the door opened and the waiter entered the room with a bottle of wine and two glasses that Ausable had ordered for them. Fowler did not know anything about the balcony. He feared that Max would soon return. But Ausable told him the fact that he would never return as the balcony was nonexistent. Thus, Fowler was much impressed by his cleverness and presence of mind.

 

 

This story brings forward the message that one can emerge successful from the most difficult situation with a calm approach and presence of mind. One needs to think quickly and act calmly and wisely in a situation of danger.

 

Extract Based Questions:

1. Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read. Following him down the musty corridor of the gloomy French hotel where Ausable had a room, Fowler felt let down. It was a small room, on the sixth and top floor, and scarcely a setting for a romantic adventure. Ausable was, for one thing, fat. Very fat. And then there was his accent. Though he spoke French and German passably, he had never altogether lost the American accent he had brought to Paris from Boston twenty years ago. “You are disappointed,” Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder.

Question. “Following him down the musty corridor of the gloomy French hotel where Ausable had a room…” Choose the correct option to replace the underlined words.
a) expansive, abnormal
b) lighted; formal
c) damp; dingy
d) uncanny; smart
Answer. C

Question. Amy is an American woman who teaches French and German in a primary school. This means that Amy is
a) an empathetic teacher.
b) a rational human being.
c) an experienced guide.
d) a multilingual instructor.
Answer. D

Question. Who was disappointed and with whom?
Answer. Fowler was disappointed to see Ausable.

Question. The reason Fowler was disappointed by Ausable when he met him was that Ausable……………….
Answer. didn’t have the personality of a spy.

Question. Choose the option that lists the INCORRECT statements about the given passage.
1. Fowler had no expectations at all from Ausable.
2. Fowler was elated when he met Ausable.
3. Ausable was living in France as a spy.
4. Ausable had acquired the French accent over twenty years ago.
a) 1, 2
b) 3, 4
c) 1, 3
d) 2, 4 
Answer. D

 

2. Max was slender, a little less than tall, with features that suggested slightly the crafty, pointed countenance of a fox. There was about him — aside from the gun — nothing especially menacing. “The report,” he murmured. “The report that is being brought to you tonight concerning some new missiles. I thought I would take it from you. It will be safer in my hands than in yours.” Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. “I’m going to raise the devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it,” he said grimly. “This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!”

Question. Owning a gun gave a menacing impression to Max’s character because
a) a gun is only used by police officials.
b) he was carrying it without any official license.
c) a gun has a threatening implication.
d) the gun was particularly huge.
Answer. C

Question. Choose the word that displays the correct analogy. crafty : fox :: menacing : …….
Answer. crafty : fox :: menacing : gun

Question. Which part of the house through which Ausable thought Maxwell had entered his room?
Answer. Through the main door of the house Ausable thought Maxwell had entered his room.

Question. Delnaaz is a new tenant in her locality and Mrs Mehta is the landlady. Choose the option that lists an action that would require Mrs Mehta to ‘raise the devil’ with Delnaaz.
1. She uses the elevator five times a day.
2. She feeds the stray dogs in the street.
3. She works late at night and stays home in the afternoon only.
4. She plays music louder than is necessary late into the night.
a) Option 1
b) Option 2
c) Option 3
d) Option 4
Answer. D

Question. Which word replaces ‘sat down heavily’ in the sentence—’Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily’?
a) dumped.
b) flumped.
c) pumped.
d) jumped.
Answer. B

 

3. 1. “You are disillusioned”, Ausable told him. “But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history. If that thought is drama, is there not ''?

Question. ‘My young friend’ in the above extract is
a) Max
b) Fowler
c) Ausable
d) Henry
Answer. B

Question. The ‘important paper’ referred to in the extract is……………….
Answer. A report regarding new missiles

Question. Which word in the extract means the same as ‘disappointed’?
Answer. Disillusioned

Question. The word ‘quite’ in the extract is a?
a) Adjective
b) Noun
c) Preposition.
d) Adverb.
Answer. D

Question. What is the meaning of the phrase ‘take cheer’.
a) Be happy
b) Be worried
c) Be calm
d) Be aware
Answer. A
 

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question. Why had Fowler wanted to meet Ausable?
Answer. Fowler was a writer and he had wanted to meet Ausable, a renowned secret agent. Fowler wanted to know how Ausable tackled dangerous situations. He was disappointed when he saw Ausable, as he didn’t look like what Fowler thought a secret agent should look like.

Question. Describe Fowler’s reaction after entering Ausable’s hotel room.
Answer. Initially Ausable was shocked to see Max in his room. But he remained calm. Max also had a pistol with him, so Ausable didn’t try anything fishy. He just kept his cool and fooled Max by using his brain to invent stories.

Question. ``Ausable shows great presence of mind in a situation of danger and surprise.” Do you agree with this statement? If yes, why?
Answer. Yes, I agree with this statement, as Ausable showed great presence of mind when Max pointed a gun at him when he entered the hotel room with Fowler, which surprised and endangered both of them. He remained calm and cool, inventing stories as required to fool Max into jumping to his death.

Question. Why did Max’s face turn black with anger? What did he want Ausable to do?
Answer. Max’s face turned black with anger because he felt that his plan of extracting the important document from Ausable was in danger of failing due to the knocking on the door, which Ausable identified as the police. He wanted Ausable to send the police away.

Question. Why did Ausable frame the story of the balcony?
Answer. Ausable framed the story of the balcony to counter the use of the pistol by the rival secret agent Max to threaten him. The rival would have been able to get the important report about the new missiles if Ausable had not concocted this story.

Question. Why do you think “Ausable” is not the kind of spies you generally imagine?
Answer. Ausable was a detective in Paris who was fat and sloppy and hardly looked like a secret agent. Ausable is not a fit, tall guy who has blue eyed beauties slipping secrets into his pockets, but is rather short and fat and above all, witty. He loves to joke.

Question. Who actually had knocked at the door of Ausable’s room? Why did he come there?
Answer. The waiter in the hotel,who entered the room with a bottle and two glasses where Ausable stayed, knocked at the door of Ausable’s room. He had brought the drinks which Ausable had ordered when he arrived in the hotel with Fowler.

Question. What was Ausable’s smartest move in the chapter according to you?
Answer. Ausable’s smartest move was when he used his presence of mind when he heard a knock at the door, and lied to Max that it was the police. Also, it was when he convinced Max that there was a balcony on the other side of the window.

Question. How did Ausable kill Max without using a weapon?
Answer. Ausable was an intelligent spy. When he found Max waiting for him in his room, he made up a story of a balcony under his window. He convinced Max about the balcony. And thus, when someone knocked at the door, Max, fearing it to be the police, jumped out of the window and died.

Question. How did Ausable use the knocking on the door as an opportunity to save him from Max?
Answer. Ausable had asked for a bottle of water on his way to the room. So when the door knocked, Ausable replied very calmly that it was the police who had come to check on him and make sure everything was going smoothly.

 

Long Answer Type Questions: 

Question. What information did Ausable give about the imaginary balcony? Why did he do so?
Answer. Ausable created a detailed description of how his room was part of a bigger apartment and how the next room had a direct connection with a balcony. His statement that somebody else had also broken into his office through that balcony made it a convincing story. Ausable did this to fool Max into thinking that a balcony existed just outside the window, as he knew that soon the waiter bringing the drinks he had ordered would be knocking at the door, which may prompt Max to jump into the imaginary balcony to hide.

Question. Ausable was a clever secret agent. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your answer.
Answer. Ausable did not look at all like the conventional image of a secret agent. He was short and very fat. Besides, he spoke French and German which lacked fluency as well as the right accent; the American accent was quite palpable in his speech. However, Ausable had a very sharp and active mind because he invented two stories, one about a non-existent balcony outside his hotel window and another about the police arriving to give extra security to some important documents he was about to receive. He was an intelligent man and a clever secret agent able to invent such stories on the spur of the moment in the face of imminent danger in the form of Max, a rival secret agent.

Question. With reference to `The Midnight Visitor’, do you think the presence of mind should be developed and to what advantage? Elaborate highlighting the values possessed by Ausable. Or Presence of mind and intelligence are more powerful than a gun. How far is it true in the case of Ausable, the secret agent?
Answer. Max lay in wait for Ausable to steal the important paper from him. As Fowler observed, apart from the pointed gun he didn’t look very menacing. Even this proved useless for him as Ausable outwitted him with his presence of mind and intelligence. Ausable cleverly found out how Max had entered the room and created an extremely believable story about a non-existent balcony. He kept calm, and, hearing the waiter knock, declared it to be the police. Max, in an attempt to hide, fell to his death. Thus, Ausable got rid of Max without moving a muscle.

 

 

1. “You are disappointed”, Ausable said wheezily over his shoulder. “You were told that I was a secret agent, a spy, dealing in espionage and danger. You wished to meet me because you are a writer, young and romantic. You envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, drugs in the wine.”

 

(a) Who was disappointed and with whom?

(b) Why did he want to meet Ausable?

(c)Why was the writer disappointed?

 

2. Ausable moved to an armchair and sat down heavily. “I’m going to raise the devil with the management this time, and you can bet on it,” he said grimly. “This is the second time in a month that somebody has got into my room through that nuisance of a balcony!” Fowler’s eyes went to the single window of the room. It was an ordinary window, against which now the night was pressing blackly.

 

(a)Why was Ausable disturbed?

(b)What did he complain of?

(c)What story did Ausable cook up to confuse Max?

 

3. “You are disillusioned”, Ausable told him. “But take cheer, my young friend. Presently you will see a paper, a quite important paper for which several men and women have risked their lives, come to me. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history.

 

(a) Who is ‘my yo ung friend’ in t he abo ve extract ?

(b) What is t he ‘important paper’ referred to here?

(c) Find a word from the passage that means the same as ‘disappo int ed’.

 

 

1. Why was Fowler disappointed on meeting Ausable?

2. ‘And as the light came on, Fowler had his first authentic thrill of the day.’ What was the ‘thrill’?

3. How does Ausable manage to make Max believe that there was a balcony attached to his room?

4. Ausable was a clever secret agent. Do you agree with the statement? Justify your answer.

5.At the beginning of the story, Fowler felt disappointed with Ausable. Do you think Fowler had the same feeling towards the end of the story? Give reasons for your answer.

 

 

1. Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought of his plan of getting rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?