SEBA Class 9 English Supplementary Reader Chapter 9: The Accidental Tourist--- Bill Bryson All Questions & Answers
The Accidental Tourist
TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Think about it
1. Bill Bryson says, “I am, in short, easily confused.” What examples has he given to justify this ?
Ans: Firstly, he says that whenever he goes out to look for the lavatory in a cinema, he inevitably finds himself locked in an alley which has a self-locking door. Secondly, he says that whenever staying at a hotel he has to ask for his room number at the reception at least two to three times a day, as he is confused as to what it is.
2. What happens when the zip on his carry bag gives away ?
Ans: When the zip on his carry bag gives away, everything within it is ejected over the concourse. Newspaper cuttings, documents, magazines, a tin of tobacco, passport, coins, paper money, film now all lay all around. The papers fluttered down in a cascade, coins bounced noisily and the tin of tobacco lost its lid and its contents spilled on the floor.
3. Why is his finger bleeding ? What is his wife’s reaction ?
Ans: Bill’s finger was bleeding because during his struggle to open the jammed zip on his carry bag he had managed to gash his finger. His wife was shocked at his apparent lack of coordination and kept looking at him with a wondering and a surprised expression on her face. Since all he seemed to be doing was getting himself into a situation everytime and everywhere, she said that she couldn’t believe that this is what he did for a living.
4. How does Bill Bryson end up in a “crash position” in the aircraft ?
Ans: Bill Bryson, while sitting on his aircraft seat, had leaned over to tie his shoelace and at that exact moment, the passenger in the seat ahead of him had thrown his seat back into full recline. Thus Bill was pinned beneath the seat in a position usually resorted to in the emergent situation when an aircraft is expected to crash land.
5. Why are his teeth and gum navy blue ?
Ans: While on an aircraft Bill was noting down some points, thoughtfully sucking the end of his pen as he did so. He then began to talk with a young lady co-passenger for about twenty minutes, not realising that the pen end had leaked and his teeth, gums, mouth, chin and tongue were all a deep navy blue due to his sucking on it.
6. Bill Bryson “ached to be suave”. Is he successful in his mission ? List his ‘unsuave’ ways.
Ans: No, Bill is not successful in his mission to be suave. He only manages to restrict accidents by curtailing all action on his part when travelling alone, to the point of not eating anything.
Some of Bills suave ways are not being able to eat without upsetting things on the table or dropping things on himself, getting into a car and closing the door with part of his coat hanging out and soiling his clothes by sitting on chewing gum, ice, cough syrup or motor oil. His other unsuave travelling ways mentioned include not organising his belongings (he never knew where his frequent flyer card was), knocking drinks over co-passengers laps repeatedly, sucking on a leaking pen with no awareness of it, losing his way in cinemas, and forgetting his room number when staying at a hotel.
7. Why do you think Bill Bryson’s wife says to the children, “Take the lids off the food for Daddy” ?
Ans: When they are travelling by plane Bill Bryson’s wife asks the children to take off the lids of his food for him because she was apprehensive that if left to his devices, Bill would somehow cause a disaster by the very act of simply removing the lids off the food served.
8. What is the significance of the title ?
Ans: The title is significant because it aptly describes the protagonist of the story Bill Bryson who is extremely prone to causing accidents and specially so during his travels.
Talk about it
To get confused and behave in ‘unusual’ ways like Bill Bryson is normal and human. Tell your class about and similar situation that you found yourself in.
Suggested reading
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome Three Men on a Burnell by Jerome K. Jerome Riding the Ranges by Bill Aitken
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
Answer the following questions :
1. What were the contents of Bill Bryson’s carry-on bag.
Ans: Bill Bryson carried an assortment of items in his carry bag which included newspaper cuttings, loose papers, a 14-ounce tin of pipe tobacco, magazines, passport, English money and film. 2. Why is Bill horrified to lose his tobacco? Ans. With a new budget being introduced in England, Bill worried that he might have to pay a much higher amount to buy the same amount of tobacco he had just lost. This thought horrified him over losing his tobacco.
3. “My hair went into panic mode.” What do you think the author means by this ?
Ans: The author was already in a state of utter confusion with the contents of his side-bag all around him. Over this he suddenly realised that there was a gash on his finger and it was bleeding profusely. Not being very calm around flowing blood and especially his own, he became hysterical and his hair probably stood up on end, causing him to remark that his hair had gone into panic mode.
4. What made Bill decide to open his carry-on bag ?
Ans: Bill was on a family trip to England and at the time of checking in be remembered that he had recently joined the airlines’ frequent flyer programme. He had the card enabling him to get air miles in his carry bag and so he decided to open the carry bag that was hanging around his neck until then.
5. “I always have catastrophes when I travel.”
(i) Who says this ?
Ans: Bill Bryson is the speaker.
(ii) Describe two of his ‘catastrophes’.
Ans: Bill Bryson had many catastrophes while travelling but the most notable of them was the situation in which he had managed to get pinned in the crash position. Bill had bent down to tie his shoe lace, when the passenger in the seat ahead of him fully reclined his chair, thus trapping Bill in an awkward position. Bill managed to free himself by holding the legs of the passenger in the seat beside him, and raising himself up.On another occasion Bill managed to irk a lady co-passenger as he inadvertently spilled two glasses of soft drink on her. It so happened that when he accidently dropped his drink on her lap, the flight attendant served him another and just as she was done cleaning the lady passenger, Bill managed to knock his replacement drink onto her lap too.
(iii) The word ‘catastrophe’ means
(a) an unexpected event that causes great damage.
(b) lighting.
(c) a kind of tropical disease.
(d) a sudden event resulting in happiness.
Ans: (a) an unexpected event that causes great damage.
6. What does Bill never get any frequent flyer miles ?
Ans: Bill never got any frequent flyer miles because either he forgot to ask for them or he remembered to ask for his air miles but the airlines failed to record them. On one occasion he was informed that he was not entitled to any air miles because his card was in the name of W. Bryson whereas his ticket bore the name B. Bryson. He failed to convince the clerk that William and Bill were interchangeable.
7. “I watched dumbstruck as a hundred carefully sorted documents came raining down in a fluttery cascade.”
(i) Who is the speaker ?
Ans: Bill Bryson, the protagonist of the story “The accidental tourist’ is the speaker of the above quoted sentence.
(ii) What caused the documents to come raining down in a fluttery cascade ?
Ans: Bill had been struggling to open the jammed zip of his carry bag for quite some time. As he continued pulling at it with increasing force, the zip gave way suddenly and the side of the bag unexpectedly flew open, resulting in all his documents being ejected out. Thus, Bill ended with all his important documents falling down in a fluttery cascade all around him.
(iii) Give the adjective form of ‘cascade’.
Ans: Cascading.
