Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Bet.......chapter 1
A) Answer the following questions:
1 - Where and when was the party ?
It was in the old Banker's house. November 14, 1870
2 - Who were in the party fifteen years ago ?/ What kind of guests did the banker have at the party?
There were many journalists, intellectual men and a young lawyer .
3 - What were they talking about?
They talked about capital punishment. "death penalty"
4 - What was the opinion of the majority about death penalty?
They disapproved it
5 - Why did the majority disapprove death penalty?
They said it was out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian States.
6 - What was the alternative of death penalty according to the intellectual men ?
They said that death penalty should be replaced by imprisonment for life .
7- Why does one of the guests think that both are equally immoral?
They both aim to take away life. The state is not God, so it does not have a right to take life.
8 – The banker was in favour of the death penalty. Explain
– Why did the banker prefer death penalty to imprisonment for life ?
He said death penalty is more humane and moral than imprisonment for life . Also capital punishment kills a
man at once, but lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly .
9 - Why did the young lawyer prefer imprisonment for life to death penalty ?
- Unlike the banker, the lawyer disapproved of the death penalty. Illustrate
- He said to live anyhow is better than not at all
10 - What did the banker stake (bet) the young lawyer ?
He staked two millions if he could stay in a solitary confinement for five years.
11 - What did the young lawyer stake ?
He staked to stay in a solitary confinement for fifteen years not five.
12- Why did the old man accept the bet?
Because it was the caprice of a pampered man
13 - Where did the young man spend his captivity?
He stayed in one of the lodges in the banker's garden.
14 - What were the things that the prisoner wasn’t allowed to do ?
- He shouldn’t be free to cross the threshold of the lodge
- He shouldn’t see human beings
- He shouldn’t hear the human voice
- He shouldn’t receive letters and newspapers
1 Prepared by: Ms Najat Nasr in co-operation with Tawjihy Committee-Directorate Of Education-Rafah
15 - What were the things that the prisoner was allowed to do ?
- He was allowed to have a musical instrument and books
- He was allowed to write letters
- He was allowed to drink wine and to smoke
16 - How could he contact with the outer world? How could he receive things ?
- He could contact with the outer world through a little window .
18 - In the party four different opinions were discussed. What are they? Which of them did the lawyer
and the banker support?
1- The first opinion: The majority disapprove of the death penalty
They said it was out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian States.
In the opinion of some of them the death penalty ought to be replaced everywhere by life imprisonment
2-The banker said that death penalty is better and more humane than prison for life
3-The lawyer: prison for life is better than death penalty
4- The fourth opinion, one of the guests: Both are equally immoral.
19- Describe the banker when he was young: Describe him 15 years later
He was very rich, pampered and spoilt..15 years later, he lost most of his money and he realized his mistakes.
20- Describe the lawyer when he was young: Describe him 15 years later
He was 25 .nervous. 15 years later, he looks like an old man, he became wiser.
21- How did the banker explain accepting the bet by both of himself and the lawyer?
From his part it was the caprice of a pampered man and from the lawyers part it was greed of money.
22- Why did the banker regret the bet?
Because it was nonsensical and meaningless.
2 Prepared by: Ms Najat Nasr in co-operation with Tawjihy Committee-Directorate Of Education-Rafah
B) Complete:
1.The majority of the guests disapproved the death penalty
2.According to the banker, death penalty is more humane and moral than imprisonment for life because it
takes life at once, but prison kills slowly
3.The death penalty and imprisonment for life have the same object, that is to take away life
4.The death penalty and imprisonment for life are both immoral as they both have the same object, that is to
take away life
5.The young lawyer would choose imprisonment for life because to live anyhow is better than not at all.
6.The banker would choose death penalty because it is more humane
7.The banker will bet two millions the young lawyer wouldn't stay imprison for 5 years
8.The prisoner will spend the years of his captivity in one of the lodges in the bankers garden
9.Voluntary confinement is harder to bear than. Compulsory as you know you can step out of the door at any
time and no one would stop you
10. If the prisoner broke the conditions of the confinement, he will lose the bet.
11. According to the agreement, the lawyer was allowed to have a musical instrument and books, to write
letters, to drink wine and to smoke.
12. According to the agreement, the lawyer wasn't allowed to get out of the lodge for 15 years, see human
beings, hear the human voice or receive letters or newspapers.
13. The state is not God. It hasn't the right to take away what it can not restore.
14. A voluntary confinement is a great deal harder to bear than compulsory.
15. By the terms of the agreement the only relations he could have with the outer world were by a small
window in his room, where he can send for and receive books.
The bet.......chapter 2
A) Answer the following questions:
1- What musical instrument did the prisoner choose?
He chose the piano
2- Why did he refuse wine and tobacco?
Because tobacco spoilt the air, and wine excites desires that he can't satisfy besides he doesn’t like drinking
alone.
3-What did the prisoner suffer from in his first year1?
He suffered from loneliness
4- How did he spend the nights and days in year 1?
Playing the piano, and reading
5- What kinds of books did he read in the first year of confinement?
He read books of light character, novels with love plot, sensational and fantastic stories.
6- What happened in the second year of his confinement?
He stopped playing the piano and asked only to read the classics.
7- How did the prisoner spend his fifth year in jail?
He resumed playing the piano, and spent all the time drinking, eating and lying on bed. He talked angrily to
himself. He didn't read books, but sat down to write. He was sometimes crying.
8- What did the prisoner do in the sixth year?/ what kinds of books did the prisoner study during the
sixth year?
9- How did his mood change in the sixth year?
He learned 6 languages without mistakes. He began studying languages, philosophy and history. He sent a
letter in 6 languages to the banker
10- What were the happiest years in the lawyer's imprisonment ? why did he feel unearthly happiness?
From year 6 to 10. Because he could read and understand six languages….
11- How did the prisoner address the banker?
He sent a letter in 6 languages to the banker
4 Prepared by: Ms Najat Nasr in co-operation with Tawjihy Committee-Directorate Of Education-Rafah
12- Do you think the prisoner mastered the six languages? Why? In which year?
Yes, he did. He sent a letter in 6 languages to the banker
In the second half of year 6.
13- Why did the lawyer ask the banker to fire a shot in the garden? Why did the banker order two
shoots to be fired?
He wants to know that his letters in six languages have no mistakes.
Perhaps the extra shot is to congratulate the prisoner.
14- What did the lawyer study after the tenth year? - What did the prisoner do in the tenth year?
He read a single book about theology and religion (The Gospels)
15- What did the prisoner during the last two years?
He read many books of different subjects such as science, poetry, novels, chemistry and medicine.
16- What does the prisoner's reading suggest about his mood at different times?
They suggest changes in his mood: first a need for entertainment and interest, then frustration and despair, then
enthusiastically using his time to study, and finally a powerful hunger for deep meaning, knowledge and
understanding.
B) Complete:
1.Although The lawyer often spent the night writing, and the morning he tear up what he wrote.
2.In the first years of his confinement, the prisoner suffered severely from loneliness
3.The prisoners reading suggested changes in his mood through the years/ he was like a drowning man.
4.In year 5, the prisoner often wrote all night, then he tore up all that he had written.
5.The busiest year of the 15 years of confinement was year 6 ( from 6----10) because he read 600 books and
learned 6 languages.
6.It was difficult to get all the books the prisoner requested as he requested a large number and some of
them were hard to get.
7.He believed he mastered 6 languages because he wrote a letter in 6 languages and the banker fired 2 shots
8.The happiest years in the lawyer's imprisonment were------- from 6 to 10--------------------
D) Choose:
The prisoner got the books he wanted by one of the following ways
a- They were given to him through a small window
b- The watchman delivered the books to him by hand
c- The banker gave the books to him personally
E) Read the following quotations and answer the questions:
1. '' I implore you to fire a shot in the garden''
a. Who said this? To whom? When did he say this?
b. Why did he ask for a shot? Did the person he speaks to fire one shot?
2. '' Oh, if only you knew what unearthly happiness my soul feels now"
a. Who said this? To whom? When did he say this?
The prisoners reading suggested changes in his mood through the years/ he was like a drowning man swimming in
the sea among the wreckage of his ships trying to save his life by greedily clutching first at one spare and then at
read mood
The sound of the piano He read books of light He suffered severely
Year 1
could be heard from his character, novels with from loneliness and
lodge all the time. love plot, sensational and depression and needed
He refused wine and fantastic stories entertainment and
tobacco. interest
The piano was silent He only asked for Frustration and despair
Year 2
classics
Music was heard again, He didn't read any books Frustration and despair
Year 5
another.
had written. He was
heard crying
year66
of second
During the course of four He asked for 600 Enthusiastically using his
years, he asked for many volumes time to study,
books.
After year 10=
year 11
D) Choose:
=The banker decided to kill the prisoner because:
a. it is quiet and no one around b. he doesn't want to lose the bet
c. the man is asleep d. the guard is absent
= The banker is no longer a rich man because:
a. he is now quite old b. he doesn't want the man to thank him for his happiness
c. the prisoner has won the bet d. he has lost his money on the Stock Exchange.
E) Read the following quotations and answer the questions:
1. " If I had the pluck to carry out my intention, suspicion would fall on the watchman"
a- Who is the speaker?
b- What was his intension? Why would suspicion fall on the watchman?
2. " Tomorrow at twelve o'clock he will regain his freedom"
a- Who said this? To whom?
b- Who would regain his freedom? Why?
3. '' Cursed bet! Why didn't the man die? He is only forty now."
a- Who said this? Who does he mean by this?
b- Why is he angry?
4. " I am indebted to you for the happiness of my life"
a- Who said this? Who does he mean by this?
5. '' while I shall look at him with envy like a beggar, and hear from him everyday the same
sentence"
a- Who is the speaker?
c- How will he deprive himself from the right of winning the bet.
2. '' I have climbed the peaks of Elburz and Mont Blanc, and from there I have seen the sun rise"
a-Who said this? To whom?
Stand up-fold your hands- play- dream- speak out bravely- faint- fight on- lift loads-
accept our fate- work hard
..…………………………………………… ..……………………………………………
C) Decide whether the following True or False:
1- Life is a struggle which we shouldn’t face. ( F )
2- We should blame other people for the bad days. ( F )
3- Our duty in life is to dream. ( F )
4- We should not stand back and simply accept our fate. ( T )
5- There is no reward in the future. ( F )
6- Life is a struggle that we should face. ( T )
7- Our duty in life is to dream. ( F )
8- The reward is always is result of good deeds. ( T )
D) Choose:
1- 'Tomorrow comes the song ' The 'song' means :
a- Negative effects c- Sad future
b- Rewards d- Bad results
2- If the battle goes hard we should
a- Stop and collapse. e- Fight on
b- Fold our hands c- Faint
3- ' to dream, to drift…'Drift means
a- Be decisive. c- Be sure
b- Be uncertain d- Be strong
4- ' it matters not how deep entrenched the wrong' Entrenched means
a- easy to change c- Not deep ( shallow)
b- difficult to change d- new
5- acquiesce means:
a- to accept or allow something c- to disagree with something
b- to be uncertain d- to be educated
6- shun means :
a- to accept c- to faint
b- to avoid or refuse d- to dream