Class 10 English - Footprints Without Feet - Chapter The Midnight Visitor NCERT Solutions | How does Ausable manage to make Max beli

“Ausable did not fit any description of a secret agent Fowler had ever read.” What do secret agents in books and films look like, in your opinion? Discuss in groups or in class some stories or movies featuring spies, detectives and secret agents, and compare their appearance with that of Ausable in this story. (You may mention characters from fiction in languages other than English. In English fiction you may have come across Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or Miss Marple. Have you watched any movies featuring James Bond?)

Looking back at the story, when do you think Ausable thought up his plan for getting rid of Max? Do you think he had worked out his plan in detail right from the beginning? Or did he make up a plan taking advantage of events as they happened?

How does Ausable say he got in?

Who is Fowler and what is his first authentic thrill of the day?

How is Ausable different from other secret agents?

How has Max got in?

Why is Mrs Pumphrey worried about Tricki?

What does Horace Danby like to collect?

How did the invisible man first become visible?

How did a book become a turning point in Richard Ebright’s life?

What kind of a person is Mme Loisel — why is she always unhappy?

Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?

Why is Bholi’s father worried about her?

Why was the twentieth century called the ‘Era of the Book’?

Who does ‘I’ refer to in this story?

What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?

Bholi’s real name is Sulekha. We are told this right at the beginning. But only in the last but one paragraph of the story is Bholi called Sulekha again. Why do you think she is called Sulekha at that point in the story?

Why does he steal every year?

Bholi’s story must have moved you. Do you think girl children are not treated at par with boys? You are aware that the government has introduced a scheme to save the girl child as the sex ratio is declining. The scheme is called Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Save the Girl Child. Read about the scheme and design a poster in groups of four and display on the school notice board.

What does she do to help him? Is she wise in this?

How is the problem solved?

Noodle avoids offending Think-Tank but at the same time he corrects his mistakes. How does he manage to do that?

What are the qualities that go into the making of a scientist?

You must have read about cells and DNA in your science books. Discuss Richard Ebright’s work in the light of what you have studied. If you get an opportunity to work like Richard Ebright on projects and experiments, which field would you like to work on and why?

What lesson does Ebright learn when he does not win anything at a science fair?

Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?