Chapter 7 Packing | Class 9th Beehive Most Important Questions english

Packing Class 9 Important Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

1. Why did Jerome offer to pack?

Answer: Jerome, the narrator, took pride in himself on his packing. When, he along with his friends, George and Harris decided to go on a holiday, he offered to do the packing as he felt it would be an easy task.

2. The author had to find his toothbrush. What did he do to get it?

Answer: The toothbrush was the thing that always haunted the author while travelling. He had to unpack all his things to search for the toothbrush. He put the things back one by one and held everything up and shook it. At last, he found it inside a boot.

3. How did Montmorency, the dog, create troubles while packing?

Answer: Montmorency’s purpose was to disturb the work and got scolded for it. He poked his nose during packing as well. He sat on the things that had to be packed, put his leg into the jam, disturbed the teaspoons and destroyed the lemons thinking them to be rats.

4. Do you think the author packed better than George and Harris? Give reasons in support for your answer.

Answer: No, the author was careless in packing. He forgot to pack the boots, packed the brush before brushing, and also packed his tobacco pouch by mistake. This way, he kept forgetting the things and kept on packing and unpacking the luggage.

5. Were George and Harris good at packing? Support your answer with examples.

Answer: No, George and Harris were not at all good at packing. They broke a cup, and squashed a tomato during packing. George even walked over the butter while he was packing.

6. What did Harris and George do, when Jerome asked them to leave the matter of packing entirely to him?

Answer: Since Jerome asked Harris and George to leave the matter of packing entirely on him, George put on a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair and Harris cocked his legs on the table and lit a cigar.

7. Write three incidents which made the ‘packing’ a humorous story. Describe the incidents in the order in which they took place.

Answer: Packing by three friends has made the story very humorous. They did many foolish things and unpacked the bag several times. The author forgot to pack the boots, he reopened it. Harris and George offered to pack the hamper. They broke the cup, walked on the butter and stepped on the things, upsetting everything. Tomatoes were squashed and Harris sat on the butter. Montmorency, the dog, added to the confusion by destroying the lemons thinking them to be rats.

8. While doing the packing, the author and his friends did many foolish things. Give the details of any four things.

Answer: The three friends were absent-minded, careless and confused people who carried out the job of packing in an unplanned way. None of them was a good packer. They packed things, forgot about them and again unpacked them to search for the things. They forgot to pack the boots, again unpacked to keep it and to make sure that the tooth-brush was kept or not, they unpacked while making a chaos of the things. They stepped on the things. They made a mess of soft items like butter and jam.

9. Who was Montmorency? How did he contribute to the packing?

Answer: Montmorency was the author’s dog. His purpose in life was to meddle in other people’s work and create trouble for them. He was very active and troublesome; had the habit of moving everywhere and troubling people around him. At the time of packing, he sat on the things when they were needed; got into the hampers, put his legs into the jam, ran all over the room, took lemons to be rats thereby spoiling them completely, disturbed the teaspoons and overall delayed the packing.

10. Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements present in it? Explain any three such incidents.

Answer: This story is quite humorous and funny. The funniest episode in the story is that of packing and especially Montmorency’s contribution towards it. Jerome got confused about whether he had packed his toothbrush or not. He unpacked everything only to find it in a shoe. Then, he packed his tobacco pouch and had to undo it again. They squashed tomatoes, sat on the butter. Montmorency’s contribution by considering the lemons to be rats and destroying them, leaves the reader in splits.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Who offered to pick the bag for the trip? Was he happy at his own offer.

Answer: The author and his friends decided to go on holiday. The author thought he was an expert in packing. He told his friends, George and Harris that he would do the packing. They at once agreed to his suggestion. George put on a pipe and sat in an easy chair. Han-is put his legs on a table and lit a cigar. The author had not intended this He was unhappy with himself for having offered to pack. He had thought that Harris and George would pack and he would boss over them. When he worked and the people around him relaxed, he was greatly irritated. At the same time, he could not sit still and see others working. He enjoyed getting up and supervising their work.

2. Describe how the author packed the bag for going on a trip?

Answer: the narrator started packing. It seemed a longer job than he had thought it was going to be. At last, he finished packing. But Harris told him that he had not packed the boots. He opened the bag and packed the boots in. Then, when he was going to close it, an idea came to him. He was not sure whether he had packed his toothbrush. So he unpacked the bag and took everything out but could not find the toothbrush. Then he shook everything one by one. At last, he found his toothbrush in a boot. He repacked once more. Now George asked him if he had packed the soap. He decided not to do the packing again. But he found Ile had packed his tobacco-pouch in it. So he reopened the bag and repacked it. He was able to co e packing at 10.05 p.m.

3. Of the three, Jerome, George and Harris, who do you think is the best or the worst packer? Support your answer with details from the text

Answer: Jerome, George and Harris are equally clumsy and disorganised packers. Jerome takes a lot of time to pack the bag and George and Harris damage a lot of things while packing the hamper. Jerome works all by himself and his friends work together but the end results in both the cases remain the same – a terrible mess. Jerome first forgets to pack his boots and then forgets having packed his toothbrush. After unpacking twice, he again packs in his spectacles absentmindedly. George and Harris take upon themselves the task of packing the hamper with quite an elan but break a cup at the very outset. They falter many times while packing the huge pile of assorted things like cups, bottles, kettle, pies, tomatoes etc. They ‘misplace’ the butter and spread salt over everything. However, all three of them finally complete packing and leave the readers splitting with laughter at their clumsiness.

4. How did the butter episode in the story cause nuisance?

Answer: The butter episode in the story caused a lot of nuisance as it was being handled by the clumsiest of people. First of all, George stepped over the butter and then he and Harris struggled to put it in the kettle but got stuck. The butter would neither go in nor could it be taken out. Then Harris somehow managed to scrape it and put it on the chair. A little while later, an absent-minded Harris sat on the chair and the butter got stuck to his back. Then the two boys started looking for the butter all over the place without knowing that it was stuck behind Harris’s back. After having toppled everything in their search for the butter, George finally noticed it behind Harris’s back from where it was removed. Hence, the butter episode created a lot of nuisance and became the funniest episode in the story.

5. Do you find this story funny? What are the humorous elements in it?

Answer: The story is very funny with loud and boisterous humour. The chaos and confusion created by all the characters amuse the reader. The gap between their self-assessment and their actual capabilities makes us burst out laughing. The dog’s contribution to humour is no less significant.

Jerome’s sense of pride in his packing skills and the manner in which he is left alone to pack the bag is very funny. While Jerome expected to use the opportunity for bossing over his friends, they make him toil instead. The frequent forgetfulness of Jerome and the subsequent unpacking of the bag many times over dilute his hard work and amuse the reader. Harris and George’s faltering and fumbling while packing the hamper is very amusing and rib-tickling. The manner in which they pile up an assortment of things and then fail to pack them properly amuse the reader. The butter episode, in particular, generates side-splitting laughter.

Montmorency, the dog, too adds to the humour with his habit of getting in the way of things. His indiscipline and animal-curiosity earn him curses and hits from his masters but he still manages to put his leg in the jam and chase lemons like rats. Hence, all these instances lend humour to the story.

6. When did the “horrible idea” occur to Jerome? Why was it a “horrible idea”?
Or
What fuss does Jerome’s toothbrush often create for him?

Answer: The “horrible idea” that occurred to Jerome as soon as he had finished packing in his boots was whether he had packed in his toothbrush or not. He was always in the habit of forgetting to pack his toothbrush.

The idea was horrible in the sense that it made him panic and grow restless. It would haunt him so much that at night he would dream that he had not packed the toothbrush. He would wake up in cold perspiration, get out of bed and hunt for it.

Again he would pack it without using it in the morning, which meant that he would have to unpack it again. And whenever he was fishing for it, it would be the last thing to come out of the bag.

After using it he would again forget to pack it and at the last moment would have to rush upstairs to fetch it. As a result, he would carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in his pocket-handkerchief. Thus, the toothbrush was a constant source of bother and horror for Jerome.