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Question Bank-Literature.
Monday, February 8, 2021 2:08 PM

Question Bank
The Blue Carbuncle
Class VII, English

Question 1: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions:
‘See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!’ He held out his hand …

(a) What is the ‘it’ mentioned in the above lines?

Answer: ‘It’ refers to the Christmas goose found by Peterson as he was trying to
help a stranger who was caught in a fight with some goons on the road.

(b) Who are the people engaged in the above conversation?

Answer: Peterson, the commissionaire, and Sherlock Holmes, the private
detective, are engaged in the above conversation.

(c) What had the speaker’s wife found in its crop?

Answer: The speaker- Peterson’s wife had found a precious stone, the blue
carbuncle in the crop of the goose. The same had been stolen from hotel
Cosmopolitan from a lady’s jewel case.

(d) What happened to ‘it’?

Answer: The Christmas goose was cooked and consumed by Peterson and his
family.
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Question 2: How did the commissionaire come into the possession of a hat and
a goose?
Answer: As the commissionaire was returning home early on Christmas morning,
he witnessed a row between a stranger and a group of rowdies. Peterson rushed
forward to protect the stranger from the rowdies. However, on seeing the police
officer the stranger dropped the goose and ran away. The rowdies also fled. So,
Peterson was left in possession of the stranger’s fallen hat and goose.

Question 3: Why did Holmes place an advertisement in the evening papers?

Answer: Holmes placed an advertisement in the evening papers to find Mr. Henry
Baker, the owner of the Christmas goose. He wished to solve the mystery of the
theft of the jewel and wanted to question Mr. Henry Barker to know where the
goose had been bought from.

Question 4: Which characters in the story do the following sentences refer to?
What do they tell us about the characters?

(a) “That the man was highly intellectual and also that he was fairly well-to-do
although he has now fallen upon evil days.”
Answer: The lines are spoken by Sherlock Holmes and refer to Henry Baker.
The above lines focus on the keen analytical sense of Mr. Holmes as a detective.
By the examination of a mere hat, he was able to deduce more or less, everything
about Henry Baker, which turns out to be true.

(b) “The game is up Ryder”

Answer: The above line is spoken by Holmes. He spotted Ryder at Covent Garden
where he had irritated the shopkeeper Breckenridge by repeatedly asking him
about the goose. Holmes and Watson offer to help him with some information
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about the goose and bring 221-B, Baker Street. He shows Ryder the blue
carbuncle which was found in the crop of the goose. Thus, it is revealed why
Ryder was looking for the goose.

Question 5: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions:
‘Both these facts indicate some evil influence at work on him probably drink. This
might also account for the fact that his wife no longer loves him.’
(a) Find a word from the extract which is the antonym of ‘good’.
Answer: evil

(b) Who is the speaker of these lines?

Answer: Sherlock Holmes is the speaker of these lines.

(c) Whom is the speaker referring to?

Answer: Sherlock Holmes is referring to Henry Baker.

(d) How did the speaker deduce that his wife no longer loves him?
Answer: Sherlock Holmes looked at the hat which was covered with a week’s
worth of dust and deduced that if his wife allows him to step out of the house
with a hat like that, it means she longer loves him or cares for him. 

Question 6: Which chance meeting gave Holmes a leading clue to solving the
case?
Answer: Holmes and Watson were tracking the path of the sale of the goose. As
they left the shop of the salesman, Mr. Breckenridge – a small man came to the
shop. From the way, Mr. Breckenridge was shouting at the man. Holmes learnt
that the man had been repeatedly asking Mr. Breckenridge about the geese that
his sister had sold to Mr. Breckenridge. This gave Holmes a clue that the small
man knew something about the gem and the goose.

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Question 7: Where had Ryder hidden the jewel and why couldn’t he retrieve it?
Answer: Ryder had hidden the jewel inside the crop of a goose bred by his sister,
Mrs. Oakshott, on her farm. By the time he came to pick the goose Mrs. Oakshott
had sold it to Breckenridge.

Question 8: According to Holmes why did Ryder accuse the plumber Horner of
stealing the carbuncle?
Answer: According to Holmes, Ryder knew that Horner was involved in such a
theft before and hence the suspicion would easily fall on him.

Question 9: What facts do we know about the goose in the story?

Answer: The goose was of excellent quality and belonged to Mrs. Oakshott –
James Ryder’s sister. ‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed on a small card which
was tied to the bird’s left leg when Peterson had found it.

Question 10: Was Ryder intelligent? How can you say?

Answer: Yes Ryder was intelligent indeed. We can say so as he hatched an
excellent plan to steal the blue carbuncle and hide it in the most unlikely of
places, the crop of a goose. He even framed the plumber John Horner so that
suspicion doesn’t fall on him.
Question 11: What lesson do you learn from the story “The Blue Carbuncle?
Answer: The story tells us that “crime never pays”. Even though Ryder had tried
his best to steal and hide the precious stone very smartly, eventually his plan was
busted and he was caught for the crime he had committed. Therefore, one must
always follow the right path and stay away from trying any shortcuts to success.

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