Three Men in a Boat CBSE Class 9 Important Question and Answers
SA 2
Q1. Justify the title ‘Three Men in a Boat’.
Ans. The title is apt for the novel ‘Three Men in a Boat’ . The entire theme of the novel, “Three Men in a Boat” is based on the river journey. This jour ney is undertaken by the narrator and his two friends, George and Harris. They make the ir journey on a boat in River Thames. Their journey is for two weeks and almost all the important places located on the banks of the river Thames is visited. During the ir journey, they cook and sleep in their boat. We can say that for at least a fortnight, the boat became their home. They have absolutely no complaint with regard to the homely c omforts which they may not get in the boat. Their journey starts from Kingston and ends at Oxford. During their journey, the narrator and his friends enjoy every momen t in the river. During their stay at night, they visit the local places and enjoy life. Therefore, it can be said that narrator has selected appropriate title for the present novel, “Three Men in a Boat”.
Q2.What does the narrator recall of his experience with ‘ the Pride of the Thames’? How was his experience of the hired-boat unpleasant?
Ans.The narrator does not think high of the hired-boats. A h ired-boat cannot be such that can be displayed. It is invariably in a bad condition. Th e man in the hired up-river boat is modest and retiring. The narrator recalls a bad experience. Once he was on e of a party who hired an up-river boat for a few days’ trip. They had written for a doubl e sculling skiff. When they went to the yard, the man asked one Jim to fetch round ‘The P ride of the Thames’. The boat which was brought was hardly a boat. It was a chunk o f wood. It looked as if it had been dug out of somewhere and dug out carelessly. It was a Roman relic of some sort. When the party refused to take it, the boat- builder hims elf came, and assured them that it was really a skiff to take them on their trip down the ri ver. He found no fault in it. When no one in the party was convinced, he got angry and said it was the best boat in all his stock, and was in use for the last forty years. The narrator and his associates had to take the boat. T hey said their prayers and stepped on board. They were charged thirty-five shillings.
Q3. Give a character sketch of George
Ans. George was employed at a bank, where the only work his friends thought he did was sleep. He hated work of any kind. He had some knowledge of the ways of the world and was the one to give sensible advice and suggestions su ch as the articles that should be taken along on the trip-the clothes, food, etc. He was m ore calm and less aggressive than Harris. He too did not appear to have much sense of styl e, as evident from the loud blazer he had bought for the trip. George did not like spending much thought on trivial a s he remarked that “if anything was broken, it was broken.” He did not exert himself too much, and was the last one to offer to do anything that required physical labour. He was not very quick-witted and depended on others to lead him. He loved laughing at oth ers, but did not enjoy it much when the joke turned on him. He was keen to play the banjo, but he played quite badly and even turned a cheerful song into a mournful tune. He had some knowledge of cooking, how ever, as can be seen by the fact that he made a healthy Irish Stew.
Q4.What impression do you form of George?
Ans.George is an important member of the rowing party. He i s, on the whole, a shirker and short tempered, though at times we feel he is not as i rritable as he seems to be. He loves to get up late to enjoy his sleeps. Whenever he gets u p early he feels very irritable. Once he had a very bad experience of getting up early at Mrs. Gippings. He went out at 3 a.m. thinking that it was about to be 9 a. m. He became a suspect in the eyes of the policemen. He is not as jolly as the narrator. When the narrator w ets his shirt accidentally, he gets angry and does not view it as a funny incident. He is fond of playing banjo. The narrator and Harris do not have good opinion about his ability to pl ay banjo well. However, they become sentimental when George plays ‘Two Lovely Black Eyes’. In a country inn he deliberately goads a man to make a story about the trout in the glass-case. It reveals his mischievous nature. He is also practical. He knows tha t rowing in a continuous rain may prove to be harmful. So he suggests abandoning the boat and reaching their destination by train.
Q5.Give a character sketch of Harris
Ans. Harris appeared to be a practical young man, who could not see much romanticism in the world around him. He was fond of drinking and was not too fond of working hard. He did not seem to have much imagination and was more aggress ive than the other two. He was also very fond of eating. He had a strange fascination for cemeteries and tombs and would like to visit graveyards, unlike the narrator. He did not have much aesthetic sense and dressed in loud colours like orange and yellow, which did not suit him. He was a terrible sin ger and could never remember the words to a song. He did think he was a great comic sing er, though, and often sang comic songs, which ended up being not very funny. He simila rly thought he could cook well, but as the incident with the eggs showed, he was not a good cook either. In addition, he was a frank and outspoken young man, which was evident whe n he ensured that George did not play his Banjo within his hearing.
Q6.What do you learn about the characters of Jerome and Harris from the incident of preparing Irish stew?
Ans.The incident of preparing Irish stew is quite humorous . It also sheds light on certain aspects of the characters of Harris and the narrator ( Jerome). Both Harris and Jerome were bad at cooking. They were also not consistent. They got bored soon with a task in hand. For instance, they started peeling potatoes. At first, the task looked very easy and entertaining to them. But soon they got tired. The more they peeled the potatoes the more they were dissatisfied with their performance. T hey reduced the potatoes to the size of peas. George saw them make a mess of the whole thing. He was horrified and asked them to stop peeling the potatoes. He asked to s crape the potatoes instead. Harris and the narrator started scrapping the potatoes, which was quite a tedious job for them. They continued their job for about twenty-five minutes. They could scrape only four potatoes. They were totally exhausted. George washed half a dozen potatoes and without peeling them put them into the frying pan. Harris wanted to make the stew in a novel way. H e put everything they had in the pan. He even put a rat into the frying pan. It was M ontmorency’s contribution. Thus, the incident shows that Harris and the narrator were bad cooks. They were inconsistent and impatient. Harris was also an innovator who was least b othered about what he invented.
Q7. Describe the contribution made by Montmorency to the degree of humour contained in the novel, “Three Men in a Boat
Ans. Montmorency was a fictional character in the novel “Th ree Men in a Boat.” Jerome K Jerome had given Montmorency a particular role in the present novel. He was a dog and the narrator had proved that even the animal has a s ense of humour. Obviously, he had enhanced the degree of humour in the present novel. Th ere were several instances which show that Montmorency had contributed greatly in this direction. When Harris and George were busy packing, Montmorency used to damp things with his wet nose. Besides, he jumped into the hamper and damaged three lemons. These acts of Montmorency were really funny. The readers are bound t o laugh at him. Moreover, when George was cooking an Irish dish, he had rather cooked a n unbeatable dish. Montmorency went somewhere and brought a dead water ra t in his mouth. Certainly, Montmorency wanted to show his great sense of humour. Th erefore, we should count him as the fourth character on the present novel, “Thr ee Men in a Boat”.
Q8.The three friends decide to go for a swim in the river. Why does the plan change in the morning? How does the author become a hero?
Ans.The three friends - Harris, George and the narrator (author) - decided to go for a swim in the river in the morning. When morning came it was ve ry cold. No one could dare to go for a swim. The narrator was also unwilling but somehow he went to the river. He tried to have a dip into the water by holding on to a branch of a tree that dipped down into the water. He wanted to show that he was not timid. But th e branch gave way and the narrator fell into the water which was very cold. He came out and put up a brave face. He told his frie nds that he enjoyed the swim and wanted them to have a dip into the water. But no one wa s ready to take a chance. They let him become a hero if he so wished. Later, he put h is shirt in a hurry and somehow put it into the water. George laughed at it. The narrator lost his cool but then he realized that it was not his but George’s shirt. When he pointed it to George, George got furious. The narrator could not help laughing.
Q9. What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get ups et over. How do you feel?
Ans. The three friends needed some water. The lock-keeper advised them to have as much water as they liked from the river. He told them that he had been drinking this very water and they should have no hitch. The lock-keeper h ad been drinking that water for years together but had not contracted any disease and had not found his stomach upset. It was because he gave no particular attention to the source and quality of water. He took everything naturally. Suppose a person has taken s ome contaminated water but he has not seen the impurity, nothing will happen. His s tomach remains as healthy as it was. Similarly, the three friends were enjoying the sips of tea. George was going to have a sip, he stopped and gazed a big dog which eased up in the water. George emptied his cup into the water. Harris followed suit. The writer who had d runk half of the tea asked George if he would contract typhoid. Seeing is believing. Seeing creates a psychological impact. So, it is right to say - what the eye does not see, the st omach does not get upset over.
Q10.Do you think Montmorency enjoyed the company of the three friends in the story? Why do you think so?
Ans.Montmorency was a clever, adventurous and intelligent dog. He seemed to enjoy the company of the three friends in the novel. In fact, he wanted not to be away from them for long. He would listen to the talks of the friends at tentively and would respond with approval or disapproval. For example, when the decision was taken to go on a boat trip, he did not like it and barked to register his disappr oval, but his objection was ruled over. When the friends took the decision that they would slee p out for nights in a hotel or pub, he hailed the decision. Montmorency was in the habit of interfering in everything the friends did. When the packing was being done, he did not sit idle. He put his leg into the jam. He pretended that the lemons were rats and got i nto the hamper and ‘killed’ three of them before Hams stopped him from his misdeed. On the boat trip he was the fourth member of the party. He never missed any chance to en joy the experience. Even the three friends seemed to like his company. That is why , they took him along. Had he been a nuisance to them, they could have easily left him home.
Q11.Which incident prove that fishermen were expert at lying
Ans.
George and the narrator in the company of the dog Montmorency called in at a little riverside inn at Walling ford. There they saw a very big trout kept in a dusty old glass case. George asked an old man how much he thought the fish in the glass-case weighed. He said that it weighed eighteen pounds and six ounces. He had caught it sixteen years ago. After him a series of people walked in claiming that they had caught the fish. The landlord made fun of the previous men who claimed to have caught the fish and said that it was he who had caught the fish when he was a boy, having bunked his school that day. George climbed up on a chair in order to have a better view of the fish. The chair slipped and both George and the trout case came down with a crash the trout lay shattered into pieces as it was made of Plaster of Paris. So in the end, even the landlord had been lying and this just goes to show that fisherman are expert at lying.
SA 2
Q1. Justify the title ‘Three Men in a Boat’.
Ans. The title is apt for the novel ‘Three Men in a Boat’ . The entire theme of the novel, “Three Men in a Boat” is based on the river journey. This jour ney is undertaken by the narrator and his two friends, George and Harris. They make the ir journey on a boat in River Thames. Their journey is for two weeks and almost all the important places located on the banks of the river Thames is visited. During the ir journey, they cook and sleep in their boat. We can say that for at least a fortnight, the boat became their home. They have absolutely no complaint with regard to the homely c omforts which they may not get in the boat. Their journey starts from Kingston and ends at Oxford. During their journey, the narrator and his friends enjoy every momen t in the river. During their stay at night, they visit the local places and enjoy life. Therefore, it can be said that narrator has selected appropriate title for the present novel, “Three Men in a Boat”.
Q2.What does the narrator recall of his experience with ‘ the Pride of the Thames’? How was his experience of the hired-boat unpleasant?
Ans.The narrator does not think high of the hired-boats. A h ired-boat cannot be such that can be displayed. It is invariably in a bad condition. Th e man in the hired up-river boat is modest and retiring. The narrator recalls a bad experience. Once he was on e of a party who hired an up-river boat for a few days’ trip. They had written for a doubl e sculling skiff. When they went to the yard, the man asked one Jim to fetch round ‘The P ride of the Thames’. The boat which was brought was hardly a boat. It was a chunk o f wood. It looked as if it had been dug out of somewhere and dug out carelessly. It was a Roman relic of some sort. When the party refused to take it, the boat- builder hims elf came, and assured them that it was really a skiff to take them on their trip down the ri ver. He found no fault in it. When no one in the party was convinced, he got angry and said it was the best boat in all his stock, and was in use for the last forty years. The narrator and his associates had to take the boat. T hey said their prayers and stepped on board. They were charged thirty-five shillings.
Q3. Give a character sketch of George
Ans. George was employed at a bank, where the only work his friends thought he did was sleep. He hated work of any kind. He had some knowledge of the ways of the world and was the one to give sensible advice and suggestions su ch as the articles that should be taken along on the trip-the clothes, food, etc. He was m ore calm and less aggressive than Harris. He too did not appear to have much sense of styl e, as evident from the loud blazer he had bought for the trip. George did not like spending much thought on trivial a s he remarked that “if anything was broken, it was broken.” He did not exert himself too much, and was the last one to offer to do anything that required physical labour. He was not very quick-witted and depended on others to lead him. He loved laughing at oth ers, but did not enjoy it much when the joke turned on him. He was keen to play the banjo, but he played quite badly and even turned a cheerful song into a mournful tune. He had some knowledge of cooking, how ever, as can be seen by the fact that he made a healthy Irish Stew.
Q4.What impression do you form of George?
Ans.George is an important member of the rowing party. He i s, on the whole, a shirker and short tempered, though at times we feel he is not as i rritable as he seems to be. He loves to get up late to enjoy his sleeps. Whenever he gets u p early he feels very irritable. Once he had a very bad experience of getting up early at Mrs. Gippings. He went out at 3 a.m. thinking that it was about to be 9 a. m. He became a suspect in the eyes of the policemen. He is not as jolly as the narrator. When the narrator w ets his shirt accidentally, he gets angry and does not view it as a funny incident. He is fond of playing banjo. The narrator and Harris do not have good opinion about his ability to pl ay banjo well. However, they become sentimental when George plays ‘Two Lovely Black Eyes’. In a country inn he deliberately goads a man to make a story about the trout in the glass-case. It reveals his mischievous nature. He is also practical. He knows tha t rowing in a continuous rain may prove to be harmful. So he suggests abandoning the boat and reaching their destination by train.
Q5.Give a character sketch of Harris
Ans. Harris appeared to be a practical young man, who could not see much romanticism in the world around him. He was fond of drinking and was not too fond of working hard. He did not seem to have much imagination and was more aggress ive than the other two. He was also very fond of eating. He had a strange fascination for cemeteries and tombs and would like to visit graveyards, unlike the narrator. He did not have much aesthetic sense and dressed in loud colours like orange and yellow, which did not suit him. He was a terrible sin ger and could never remember the words to a song. He did think he was a great comic sing er, though, and often sang comic songs, which ended up being not very funny. He simila rly thought he could cook well, but as the incident with the eggs showed, he was not a good cook either. In addition, he was a frank and outspoken young man, which was evident whe n he ensured that George did not play his Banjo within his hearing.
Q6.What do you learn about the characters of Jerome and Harris from the incident of preparing Irish stew?
Ans.The incident of preparing Irish stew is quite humorous . It also sheds light on certain aspects of the characters of Harris and the narrator ( Jerome). Both Harris and Jerome were bad at cooking. They were also not consistent. They got bored soon with a task in hand. For instance, they started peeling potatoes. At first, the task looked very easy and entertaining to them. But soon they got tired. The more they peeled the potatoes the more they were dissatisfied with their performance. T hey reduced the potatoes to the size of peas. George saw them make a mess of the whole thing. He was horrified and asked them to stop peeling the potatoes. He asked to s crape the potatoes instead. Harris and the narrator started scrapping the potatoes, which was quite a tedious job for them. They continued their job for about twenty-five minutes. They could scrape only four potatoes. They were totally exhausted. George washed half a dozen potatoes and without peeling them put them into the frying pan. Harris wanted to make the stew in a novel way. H e put everything they had in the pan. He even put a rat into the frying pan. It was M ontmorency’s contribution. Thus, the incident shows that Harris and the narrator were bad cooks. They were inconsistent and impatient. Harris was also an innovator who was least b othered about what he invented.
Q7. Describe the contribution made by Montmorency to the degree of humour contained in the novel, “Three Men in a Boat
Ans. Montmorency was a fictional character in the novel “Th ree Men in a Boat.” Jerome K Jerome had given Montmorency a particular role in the present novel. He was a dog and the narrator had proved that even the animal has a s ense of humour. Obviously, he had enhanced the degree of humour in the present novel. Th ere were several instances which show that Montmorency had contributed greatly in this direction. When Harris and George were busy packing, Montmorency used to damp things with his wet nose. Besides, he jumped into the hamper and damaged three lemons. These acts of Montmorency were really funny. The readers are bound t o laugh at him. Moreover, when George was cooking an Irish dish, he had rather cooked a n unbeatable dish. Montmorency went somewhere and brought a dead water ra t in his mouth. Certainly, Montmorency wanted to show his great sense of humour. Th erefore, we should count him as the fourth character on the present novel, “Thr ee Men in a Boat”.
Q8.The three friends decide to go for a swim in the river. Why does the plan change in the morning? How does the author become a hero?
Ans.The three friends - Harris, George and the narrator (author) - decided to go for a swim in the river in the morning. When morning came it was ve ry cold. No one could dare to go for a swim. The narrator was also unwilling but somehow he went to the river. He tried to have a dip into the water by holding on to a branch of a tree that dipped down into the water. He wanted to show that he was not timid. But th e branch gave way and the narrator fell into the water which was very cold. He came out and put up a brave face. He told his frie nds that he enjoyed the swim and wanted them to have a dip into the water. But no one wa s ready to take a chance. They let him become a hero if he so wished. Later, he put h is shirt in a hurry and somehow put it into the water. George laughed at it. The narrator lost his cool but then he realized that it was not his but George’s shirt. When he pointed it to George, George got furious. The narrator could not help laughing.
Q9. What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get ups et over. How do you feel?
Ans. The three friends needed some water. The lock-keeper advised them to have as much water as they liked from the river. He told them that he had been drinking this very water and they should have no hitch. The lock-keeper h ad been drinking that water for years together but had not contracted any disease and had not found his stomach upset. It was because he gave no particular attention to the source and quality of water. He took everything naturally. Suppose a person has taken s ome contaminated water but he has not seen the impurity, nothing will happen. His s tomach remains as healthy as it was. Similarly, the three friends were enjoying the sips of tea. George was going to have a sip, he stopped and gazed a big dog which eased up in the water. George emptied his cup into the water. Harris followed suit. The writer who had d runk half of the tea asked George if he would contract typhoid. Seeing is believing. Seeing creates a psychological impact. So, it is right to say - what the eye does not see, the st omach does not get upset over.
Q10.Do you think Montmorency enjoyed the company of the three friends in the story? Why do you think so?
Ans.Montmorency was a clever, adventurous and intelligent dog. He seemed to enjoy the company of the three friends in the novel. In fact, he wanted not to be away from them for long. He would listen to the talks of the friends at tentively and would respond with approval or disapproval. For example, when the decision was taken to go on a boat trip, he did not like it and barked to register his disappr oval, but his objection was ruled over. When the friends took the decision that they would slee p out for nights in a hotel or pub, he hailed the decision. Montmorency was in the habit of interfering in everything the friends did. When the packing was being done, he did not sit idle. He put his leg into the jam. He pretended that the lemons were rats and got i nto the hamper and ‘killed’ three of them before Hams stopped him from his misdeed. On the boat trip he was the fourth member of the party. He never missed any chance to en joy the experience. Even the three friends seemed to like his company. That is why , they took him along. Had he been a nuisance to them, they could have easily left him home.
Q11.Which incident prove that fishermen were expert at lying
Ans.
George and the narrator in the company of the dog Montmorency called in at a little riverside inn at Walling ford. There they saw a very big trout kept in a dusty old glass case. George asked an old man how much he thought the fish in the glass-case weighed. He said that it weighed eighteen pounds and six ounces. He had caught it sixteen years ago. After him a series of people walked in claiming that they had caught the fish. The landlord made fun of the previous men who claimed to have caught the fish and said that it was he who had caught the fish when he was a boy, having bunked his school that day. George climbed up on a chair in order to have a better view of the fish. The chair slipped and both George and the trout case came down with a crash the trout lay shattered into pieces as it was made of Plaster of Paris. So in the end, even the landlord had been lying and this just goes to show that fisherman are expert at lying.
Hmm it's good but there should be more questions regarding that...., after all it was good and it help me a lot😄😆
ReplyDeleteRight aishwarya
DeleteRight aishwarya
DeleteI want some more question
ReplyDeleteI want some more question
ReplyDeletenice
ReplyDeletehelpful for last minute preparation.
it will become more easy to study if question and answers are written in objective form
ReplyDelete