Evans Tries O-Level by Collin Dexter-Class XII English-CBSE English for Class 12- Questions-Answers

 

Evans Tries O-Level by Collin Dexter 

(A)                      Short Answer-type Questions & Answers

Part One: Most Important Qs

Q1. What kind of a person was Evans?

Ans. Evans was a ‘Kleptomaniac’ by birth. He had to go to jail three times for the crime of theft. He was called ‘Evans the break’ for the skill of escaping. He was a pleasant boy, having no record of violence against anyone.

Q2. Do you think Evan's statement, ‘I may surprise everybody,” has some special significance?

Ans. His statement has a special significance. It had a double meaning. The surface meaning is that he could surprise all by his performance in the exam. But he wanted to surprise all by escaping from jail.

Q3.Why did Evans drape (wrap) a blanket around his shoulder? What did Stephens think about it?

Ans. Evans was taking advantage of that to wear the dress of a person (priest). Therefore he had covered himself with a blanket to hide his activity. Stephens thought that he was having a blanket due to the cold inside the cell.

Q4. In spite of strict vigilance, how did Evans’ friend manage to give the material for disguise in the cell?

Ans. Evans’ friend had worn two dresses of a parson. He also brought extra spectacles with him. During the intervals provided by Stephens while peeping in, MacLeery and Ivans did what they wanted. It was all done according to Evans’ master plan.

Q5. Who were the two visitors Evans received on the morning of the day of his exam?

Ans. The visitors were not outsiders, but the officers of the prison’s D-wing. The names of the officers were Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens. The latter was recently recruited.

 Q6. Why did the Governor instruct Jackson to search McLeery?

Ans. The Governor of the prison did not want to take any risk. Evans had already escaped from jail three times. So he instructed Jackson also to check even McLeery lest he should be a party with Evans.

Q7. Why was  Evans called ‘Evans the break’?

Ans. Evans was called ‘Evans the break’ because he was a mastermind in breaking the tight security of the jails. He had escaped from prison three times before. So the governor and other officers of the jail were under fear.

Part Two: Less Important Qs

LONG ANSWER QUESTION

Q1.What were the precautions taken for the smooth conduct of the examination?

Ans. The governor did not want that Evans could bring disgrace to Oxford Prison by escaping for the fourth time. So he was personally monitoring all security arrangements. He had deployed police personnel near the Recreational Block. The cell was also scrutinized for every possibility of providing an advantage to Evans. His nail scissors, nail file, and razor were taken away from him. Even McLeery along with his suitcase was checked. Even Stephens was made to sit outside the gate of the cell. He was peeping through the peep-hole every now and then. The Governor also kept listening through his phone to the conversation that took place inside the cell. In this way, all precautions were taken in view to conducting Evans’ exam smoothly.

Q2. Describe the character-sketch of Evans.

Ans. Evans is the main character in this one-act play.  His track record as a criminal is clean. He has never been convicted for using violence. He was a ‘Kleptomaniac’ by birth. He had to go to jail three times for the crime of theft. He was called ‘Evans the break’ for the skill of escaping. He was a pleasant boy. He kept cracking jokes with jail employees. He is friendly to all. He is a mastermind in making his plans and also in executing the He made a plan to pass an exam. He did it all cleverly. He took the help of his friends. He befooled the prison authorities and escaped for the fourth time also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What impression do you form of Evans?

2. Comment on the ending of the play ‘Evan Tries An O‐Level.

3. How far do you agree with the observation: “He was just another good‐for‐a‐giggle, gullible governor that was all”?

4. Do you think the title ‘Evans Tries an O‐Level’ is appropriate? Give reasons in support of your answer.

EVANS TRIES AN O-LEVEL

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. What was the unusual request that the governor made to the Secretary of the Examination Board?
2. How was it decided to examine Evans and what arrangements were made in this regard?
3. What precautions and arrangements were made for the smooth conducting of the examination and providing Evans with no mean of escape?
4. Why did Jackson ask Stephens to take Evan’s razor and nail scissors out of the cell after he finished shaving?
5. “Beneath all the bluster and the bullshit” a tiny core of compassion was buried somewhere in Jackson. Justify the statement.
6. What were the necessary instructions that McLeery gave to Evans before the examination started?
7. What was the correction slip? Why did Evans say later that the correction slip killed two little birds with a single stone?
8. Why was Stephens a little surprised to see a grey regulation blanket draped round Evan’s shoulder? 
9. At 11.22a.m the Governor wanted to speak to Stephens. What was the message that was conveyed to Stephens? Was the call fake?
10. Why is Stephens compared to a woman who would get up twenty times to check that she had locked the front door? Why did he rush to the cell?
11. What two strange things could be noticed when McLerry was standing at the prison gate with Stephens?
12. Why did Stephens cry when he opened the peep-hole of Evan’s cell?
13. What did McLerry do when he raised himself from the chair?
14. What clues could the Governor get from the photocopied sheet?
15. Where was McLerry-in the hospital or elsewhere?
16. Did McLerry actually go to Evan’s cell to invigilate? Give a reasoned answer?
17. Who was the most unexpected man in the world that waited for Evans in his bedroom at the Golden Lion?
18. How was Evans arrested?
19. How did the Governor and the staff reach the Golden Lion to arrest Evans?
20. What was the final act of foolishness that led to the escape of Evans and proved that the Governor was “just another good-for-a-giggle’?
21. Who was Evans and why was he to be examined?
22. What was Evans called “Evans the Break”? Did he prove himself a real breaker?
23. What was decided by the Board and the Governor about Evan’s examination?
24. Why was Stephens worried about McLeery?
25. Who was McLeery and why did he come to the prison?
26. What instructions were given to Evans by McLeery? Did he follow them?
27. Why did Evans demand a blanket? Was Stephens happy when Evans was provided with a blanket? 
28. Why did Stephens run back to Evans’s cell?
29. What did Stephens see through the peep hole? What was his reaction?
30. What did McLeery say about Evans?
31. The correction slip killed two small birds with one stone. Explain.
32. Did he expect the Governor to be at Golden Lion hotel? Explain.
33. How was Evans arrested?
34. How did Evans have the last laugh?
35. Who was Evans? Why did he want to take an O-level examination in German?
36. How was the examination to be conducted?
37. What steps did the Governor take for foolproof security? Why?
38. Evans had no communication with anybody outside the prison. How had he been planning his escape?
39. Why did Evans not take off his hat when Jackson had ordered him to take it off?
40. Evans knew that a parson was coming as an invigilator. How do you think he knew it? What explanation did he offer to Jackson?
41. Stephens was supposed to stay inside Evans’ cell till the examination lasted. Why did the Governor shift him outside the cell?
42. Why did the Governor ask Jackson to search the invigilator?
43. McLeery had a semi inflated rubber ring. What did he say he had brought it for?
What did it actually contain? 
44. Why do you think made a call to announce a correction in the question paper? What was its purpose?
45. How did Evans’ friends get a prison van which they later used to drive away Evans from Hotel Golden Lion?
46. Why did Evans drape a blanked round his shoulder? What did Stephens think?
47. At 11.22 a.m. there was a call for Stephens from the Governor. Was the call genuine? What was its purpose?
48. What had happened when Stephens returned to check Evans’ cell?
49. What did the injured McLeery offer to do? What did he tell the Governor?
50. What did the Governor see when he looked at the question paper “McLeery” had given him?
51. Who was Carter? What did the Governor ask him to do?
52. Why did the Governor think Jackson was stupid?
53. The Governor thought Evans had left the Question paper behind by mistake and so he would soon be caught. Was he right?
54. How did Evans disappear?
55. How did McLeery disappear? Who was he actually?
56. Who do think was the invigilator? How was he able to personate McLeery?
57. How had the invigilator helped Evans to escape?
58. How did Evans feel when he found the Governor in his hotel room?
59. How did the Governor manage to reach Evans?
60. Who arrested Evans? Where did they take him?



LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. The Governor and his staff did their best not to provide Evans a means of escape but the wily Evans proved to be more than a match for them. It was he who had the last laugh. Justify it with a reasoned answer.
2. The search for Evans was based on blind conclusion and wrong assumption right from the very beginning. And the last act of folly provided the much needed opportunity of escaping to Evans. Give your answer by citing examples from the text.
3. How did the Governor surprise Evans in the bedroom of the Golden Lion?
4. Describe the clues on the basis of which the Governor could arrest Evans. 
5. How could Evans be able to have the last laugh proving that the Governor was “just another good-for-a-giggle?”
6. Describe the various measures that the prison officers Jackson and McLeery took to conduct a fool-proof examination of Evans in his cell.
7. Describe Evans’ escape highlighting his success in outwitting everyone from the Governor to the prison officers Jackson and Stephens.
8. How was Evans arrested and how did he gain his freedom?
9. Reflecting on the story, what did you feel about Evans’ having the last laugh?
10. When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption without even checking the identity of the injured “McLeery”. Does this show how hasty conjectures can prevent one from seeing the obvious? How is the criminal able to predict such negligence? 
11. What could the Governor have done to securely bring back Evans to prison when he caught him at the Golden Lion? Does that final act of foolishness really prove that ‘he was just another good-for-a -giggle, gullible governor, that was all?
12. While we condemn the crime, we are sympathetic to the criminal. Is this the reason why prison staff often develops a soft corner for those in custody?
13. Do you agree that between crime and punishment it is mainly a battle of wits?
14. In spite of the precautions taken by the Governor, Evans was able to escape. How do you think he was able to do it?
15. Highlight some of the mistake made by the jail authorities that helped Evans and his friends have their way.
16. What purpose did the question-paper and the correction slip serve? How did they help both the criminals and the Governor?
17. What idea of the Governor’s personality do you form? What were the weak and strong points of his character?