IF I WERE YOU

 Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

A.Intruder: Listen, this gun’s no toy. I can hurt you without killing you, and
still get my answers.
Gerard: Of course, if you put it like that, I’ll be glad to assist you. I do possess
a car, and it’s in the garage round the corner.
Intruder: That’s better. Do people often come out here?
Gerard: Very rarely. Surprisingly few people take the trouble to visit me.
There’s the baker and yourself.
Intruder: I happen to know that you never see trades people.

Q1. Where is Gerrard’s car?

Ans. Gerrard’s car is in the garage.
Q2. Who comes to visit Gerrard generally?
Ans. The milkman, the green grocer and the barber come to visit Gerrard
generally.
Q3. How does the intruder threaten Gerrard?
Ans. The intruder threatens Gerrard as he shows him his gun.
Q4. How can you say that the intruder is a criminal?
Ans. The intruder is a criminal as he is talking with Gerrard on gun point

B.Gerrard: You seem to have taken a considerable amount of trouble. Since

you know so much
about me, won’t you say something about yourself? You have been so
modest.
Intruder: I could tell you plenty. You think you’re smart, but I’m the top of
the class round here.
Gerrard: And where precisely have you got? It didn’t require a great brain to
break into my little
cottage.
Intruder: When you know why I’ve broken into your little cottage. you’ll be
surprised, and it won’t
be a pleasant surprise.
Q1. Why has the intruder taken the trouble?
Ans. The intruder took the trouble to know about Gerrard’s lifestyle.
Q2. How, according to the intruder, has he got there?
Ans. According to the intruder, he got there by using his brains.
Q3. What pleasant surprise is being talked about here?
Ans. The intruder is going to kill Gerrard.
Q4. What is the plan of the intruder?
Ans. The plan of the intruder is to kill Gerrard to take on his identity.
Short answer type questions:

Short answer type questions

Q1. Why does the intruder say, “They can’t hang me twice”?
Ans. Gerrard is warned by the intruder that he will be killed. Gerrard advises
him against doing this because doing so will result in his arrest and hanging.
The invader says that he has already committed a murder and would face the
death penalty for it. The fact that he cannot be hanged twice makes him
unafraid to murder Gerrard.
Q2. What did Gerrard tell the Intruder about his life?
Ans. The Intruder was informed by Gerrard that he was not a Sunday school
teacher. He was wanted by the police because he had committed a murder. It
was a surprise for the Intruder who wanted to impersonate Gerrard and live a
peaceful life.
3. What is Gerrard’s profession? How do you know it?
Ans. Gerrard is a playwright. He is employed with a theatre company. He says
at the end of the play, “Sorry, I can’t let you have the props in time for
rehearsal. I believe I’ll include it in my upcoming play.
Q4. “A mystery I propose to explain”. What is the mystery the speaker
proposes to explain?
Ans. The Intruder hears Gerrard utter these remarks. He wishes to inform him
that he was a murderer and a felon himself. While he was hiding, the police
were looking for him. He was about to depart that location quickly because he
anticipated a police raid on his home at any moment.
Q7. How did Gerrard convince the Intruder that his plan would fail?
Ans. Gerrard possessed intelligence. He realised his strategy right away. He
informed him that his strategy had failed. He couldn’t defend himself against
the law. Even if he pretended to be Gerrard, he would still be detained
because Gerrard was a criminal who the police were hunting.

Long answer type questions:

Q1. How did Gerrard get rid of the Intruder in the play ‘If I Were You’? What
would you have done if you were in his place? What is the central idea of the
play?
Ans. Gerrard had a solitary cottage. He had written plays. One day, a burglar
broke into his cabin with the purpose to kill him. The invader had Gerrard’s
appearance. He sought to elude the law by posing as Gerrard. However,
Gerrard was wiser. He was aware of his motivation. The intruder was informed
by Gerrard that he was a criminal himself and that trouble was expected that
very evening. The invader was persuaded to leave by him.
He volunteered to protect the burglar from the police by helping. He was
instructed to follow him to the garage. Gerrard forced the burglar inside a
cabinet and locked him inside while heading to the garage. As a result, Gerrard
got rid of the intruder.
I would have behaved in the same manner under the same circumstances.
Such a strategy would have occurred to me as well. The act makes clear to us
the importance of remaining collected and calm under pressure.

Q2. Do you think the intruder was smarter than Gerrard? Why/Why not?
Which quality of Gerrard made him smarter than the intruder?
Ans. The intruder was not more intelligent than Gerrard. He made an effort to
hear Gerrard out but was unsuccessful in getting more information from him.
Gerrard warned the intruder that he would undoubtedly be hanged because
he was Vincent Charles Gerrard even if he wasn’t executed for the murder. He
outwitted the invader by using his awareness of the situation.
He was duped by Gerrard, who eventually trapped him. Gerrard was calm and
showed the invader that he was smarter than him thanks to his tolerance,
patience, and sense of humour. These, in my opinion, are the traits that
everyone should strive to possess. The intruder, on the other hand, lacked
patience and was short-sighted. In his haste to avoid the punishment, he lost
his sense of logic and got trapped.