An Uncomfortable Bed' Q&A from ICSE Class 7 Gulmohar Book

An Uncomfortable Bed

Word Meanings


1.   Practical jokes – pranks

2.   Suspicious - confusing, mysteries

3.   Merth – amusements, a lot of fun and laughter

4.   Victim – Target, Suffer

5.   Watchful – alert, see keenly

6.   Restless – unsteady

7.   Suspect – a person to be doubted of

8.   Distrustfully – untrustworthy

9.   Accompany – to go along, to join

10.     Corridor – hallway, passage between rooms

11.     Justify – to prove

12.  Cautiously – very carefully

13.  Advancing – growing, about to come

14.  Laughing their heads off – laughing heartily

15.  Receive a cold shower – to go under sudden attack

16.  Precaution – preventive measure, safety aid

17.  Anxiety – fear, tension

18.  Starting – about to begin, reckoning

19.  Trembling – shaking

20.  Howl – long cry made by dogs or wolf

21.  Dreadful – terrible

 

Answer these:

1.  My friends are fond of practical jokes. I do not care to know people who are not.


a.   From the second sentence, what do you think the speaker valued in his friends?


From the second sentence we can understand that the friend of the narrator had a great deal of humor since it is because he had experienced a lot of pranks as a result of which he was fooled many times.


b.   Can you find any evidence in the text that supports the first sentence?


The evidence in the text that supports the first sentence is that the writer was given a grand reception and at the same time too much attention or importance which made him suspicious.


2.  … Which at once made me rather suspicious.


a.   Which other words in the text tell you how the speaker was feeling and acting?


The narrator says that during the dinner there was a lot of amusement and everyone laughed in an unusual manner this made him suspect that his friends had planned a prank on him & he did not want to become its victim.


b.   Add one more word of your own to describe his state of mind.


The other words which describe the state of mind of the narrator are to be watchful and restless.


3.  ‘Look out, old ferret! They have something in store for you.’


a.   Another meaning of Ferret is to find something by searching carefully why do you think the speaker called himself a ferret?


According to me, the writer is calling himself a ferret because he is carefully examining his friends and so he is continuously looking around their faces to clear his doubts.


b.   What did he think his friends had in store for him?


The narrator thinks that his friends had practical jokes or a prank in store for him.


4.  Once inside his room how did the speaker move and act? Why?


As the speaker entered his room, he stood silently without moving a single step and soon he lighted all the candles and looking carefully all over the things precisely in the room. he did so because he was suspicious and wanted to find out whether he is being pranked.


5.  Why did the speaker close the shutters and draw the curtains? what happened as a result of this? what else did he do in para 14 that helped to bring about the outcome?


The speaker closed the shutters & retrieved the curtains in order to avoid any harm that would happen from outside.


As a result of this the room became so dark that he was not aware when the day dawn.


He made himself A bit on the floor near to the door and then he soon covered himself under the bedclothes.


6.  The armchair was solid. Why was this discovery important to the speaker?


He meant that his friends had not laid a trap for him in the chair.


7.  I did not dare to get into the bed. Why did the speaker dare to get into the bed? Why did he finally go to bed?


The speaker did not dare to go to bed as he doubted either he is going to receive a cold shower from overhead or he might fall down with the mattress onto the floor.


He finally went to the bed as he was feeling sleepy at the same time, he could not find anything suspicious and so he thought himself that he was being foolish.


8.  The speaker was awakened by a body falling over him. what else did he feel and hear at the same time? when and how did he realize what had really happened?


The speaker felt a heavy object over him which made him suffocated and he felt a hot liquid on his face, neck & chest.


At the same time, he heard a huge noise made by falling off the tray laden with plates and dishes.


He realized when he went out of the room that it was a room boy who had brought him the breakfast and because of the darkness in the room he had fallen on him. 

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