The Hack Driver
-Sinclair Lewis
1. Choose the correct answer:
(i) The speaker in 'The Hack Driver' was sent to a town___miles away in the country. hslc-2023
(a) twenty
(b) thirty
(d) fifty
Ans:- (c) forty
(ii) Who was the hack driver in reality?
(a) Gustaff
(b) Oliver Lutkins
(c) Fritz
(d) Gray
Ans:- (b) Oliver Lutkins
(iii) Where was the narrator sent to summon Lutkins?
(a) Iping
(b) New Orleans
(c) New Mullion
(d) New Jersey
Ans:- (c) New Mullion
(iv) Why was Oliver needed by the lawfirm?
(a) as a detective
(b) as a constable
(c) as a lawyer
(d) as a witness
Ans:-(d) as a witness
(v) How much did the hack driver charge for an hour?
(a) ten dollars
(b) two dollars
(c) five dollars
(d) eight dollars
Ans:-(b) two dollars
(vi) Bill was also known as:
(a) Gustaff
(b) Gray
(c) Magnuson
(d) Fritz
Ans:- (c) Magnuson
(vii) Who was Gustaff?
(a) a hack driver
(b) a butcher
(c) a barber
(d) a lawyer
Ans:-(c) a barber
(viii) Where did the narrator and Bill enjoy their lunch?
(a) at Oliver's mother's farm
(b) on Wade's hill
(c) in a restaurant
(d) at Gustaff's
Ans:- (b) on Wade's hill
(ix) Bill seemed to admire Lutkins for his talent of:
(a) treachery
(b) making excuses
(c) dishonesty
(d) storytelling
Ans:- (c) dishonesty
2. Why was the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place? HSLC-2017
Ans:- The lawyer is an assistant in a reputed law firm. He is sent to New Mullion to serve summons to Oliver Lutkins. He first thinks the place to be sweet and a simple country village.
2. Who befriends him? Where does he take him?
Ans:- The delivery man, Bill befriends him. He takes him to Fritz's shop, Gustaff's barber shop, Wade's Hills and to the farmhouse of Lutkins mother.
3. What does lie say about Lufkins?
Ans:- Bill says that Lutkins borrows money from others but never pays anybody a cent. He is not really bad but it is hard to make him part with his money.
4. What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Ans:- Bill says that Lutkins has a mother. They have a farm house. Lutkins' mother is a real terror. She is about nine feet tall and four feet thick. She is as quick as a cat.
5. When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did Bill know that he was looking for Lutkins?
Ans:- When the lawyer reached New Mullion, Bill at once knew that he was looking for Lutkins. He came to know about the fact from the first sentence spoken by the young lawyer to Bill.
6. Why was the narrator sent to New Mullion? Where did the man take the narrator in his first visit to New Mullion? What happened there?
or
Which places did the narrator and the hack driver visit to find Lutkins?
Ans:- The young lawyer, the narrator, was sent to New Mullion to serve a summons to Oliver Lutkins. He met Bill, the hack driver, at the station of New Mullion. Bill came to know that the lawyer had come to that place to find Lutkins. Actually, Bill himself was Lutkins. Bill misled the lawyer to help him in searching Lutkins. He took him to Fritz's shop and there Fritz told them that Lutkins had probably gone to the shop for a shave. Then they went to Gustaff's barber shop, and then to Gray's barber shop. There they came to know that Lutkins might have gone for the poolroom. At last one of the friends of Lutkins said that Oliver had gone to his mother's farm house and then they reached the farm house. At last, seeing the cruelties and ill manner of Lutkins mother the hack driver advised the young lawyer to leave that place for the sake of life. The lawyer came back to the station with Bill.
7. Describe the lawyer's visit to the farm of Lutkins mother.
Or
What happened when the lawyer went to Lutkins mother?
Ans:- The young lawyer and the hack driver had been searching for Lutkins. They came to know from one of the friends of Lutkins that he had gone to his mother's farm. So, they went to Lutkins mother at her farm house. There they enquired about Lutkins but his mother said that she did not know anything about Oliver Lutkins. The hack driver told Oliver's mother that they had legal right to search that place for Lutkins. She then bought an iron rod from the stove of her kitchen and marched on them shouting. They were frightened. Bill told the lawyer to leave that place otherwise she would kill them. At last they came back to the station.
8. Why was the young lawyer sent to New Mullion again and what happened thereafter?
Ans:- The young lawyer, the narrator of the story, failed to serve the summon to Lutkins. So, he came back to his office next day. The people of his office could not take his failure easily and so they were upset. So, he was ordered to go to New Mullion again. But this time a man was sent with him so as to recognize Lutkins easily. The man had worked with Lutkins a few years ago. They went to New Mullion and reached the station. There, the narrator saw Bill and expressed his previous experience with Bill before his companion. The narrator told his companion that Bill, the hack driver helped him very much to find out Oliver Lutkins during his first visit to that place. The narrator was surprised when the man said that Bill himself was Oliver Lutkins. The young lawyer felt hurt when Lutkins and his mother laughed at him. At last, Oliver Lutkins offered a cup of coffee to the narrator and his companion.
9. Who was Lutkins or who was Bill? HSLC-2015, 2018, 2020
Ans:- Lutkins was himself Bill. He borrowed money but never returned. He had a cheerful and friendly manner. He was a hack driver in New Mullion.
10. Why could the narrator not serve the summon on Oliver Lutkins on the first day whom his firm wanted as a witness in a law case? HSLC-2016
Or
How did Bill befool the lawyer? HSLC-2018, 2020
Or
How did Bill help the narrator to find Oliver Lutkins?
Ans:- The lawyer, the narrator was sent to New Mullion to serve a summons to Oliver Lutkins. Lutkins was wanted as a witness in a law case. The Lawyer met Bill, a hack driver, at the station of New Mullion. Bill came to know that the lawyer had come to that place to find Lutkins. It was the first sentence spoken by the lawyer to Bill from which he expressed that he was to find a man named Oliver Lutkins. Actually, Bill himself was Lutkins. Bill misled the lawyer to help him in searching Lutkins. He took him to Fritz's shop and there Fritz told them that Lutkins had probably gone to the shop for a shave. Then they went to Gustaff's barber shop, and then to Gray's barber shop. There they came to know that Lutkins might have gone for the poolroom. At last one of the friends of Lutkins told that Oliver had gone to his mother's farm house and then they reached the farm house. Al last, seeing the cruelties and ill manner of Lutkins mother the hack driver advised the young lawyer to leave that place for the sake of life. The lawyer came back to the station with Bill. In this way Bill deceived the narrator, the young lawyer.
11. Describe the first meeting between Bill and the young lawyer. HSLC-2019
Ans:- When the lawyer reached the station in New Mullion he met a delivery man about forty, red-faced, cheerful and thick about the middle. Though his clothes were dirty, they were well worn and he had a friendly mammer so the lawyer immediately made friendship with him. Lutkins manipulated the tour cleverly. He charged two dollars per hour and made the tour as long as possible so that he could charge for all those hours. He suggested the lawyer to take lunch from his house because he could get the money which the lawyer would otherwise spent in a restaurant. He also took the lawyer to Wade's Hill which was not required as they went there only to spent an hour for refreshing themselves. He took the lawyer to his mother's farmland to delay the return of the lawyer. The delivery man, Lutkins took the lawyer in his cart to various places in New Mullion such as the Firtz's shop. Gustaffi's barber shop. Gray's barber shop, Poolroom etc.
Syllabus of Class X English
1. A Letter to God
2. Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
3. A Tiger in the zoo by Leslie Norris
4. Amanda by Robin Klein
5. Animals by Walt Whitman
6. Coorg by Lokesh Abrol
7. Tea from Assam by Arup Kumar Datta
8. Madam Rides the Bus by Vallikkannan
9. The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash
Momemts Supplimentary Reader in Class X English
10. The Midnight visitor
11. A Question of Trust
12. Footprint without feet
13. The Hack Driver
Mr. Rupjyoti Goswami
Post Graduate Teacher (English)
Bhogeswar Hazarika Girls' Higher Secondary School, Bebejia, Nagaon, Assam.
Email: rupjyotigoswami983@gmail.com
Mobile: 9864425896.
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