Page 43 - English Grammar - IX-X

telephone? Because I think it is a pest and a time-waster. It may create unnecessary
suspense and anxiety, as when you wait for an expected call that doesn’t come; or
irritating delay, as when you keep ringing a number that is always engaged. As for
speaking in a public telephone box, that seems to me really horrible.
(2) You would not use it unless you were in a hurry, and because you are in half asphyxiated
by stale, unventilated air, flavoured with cheap face powder and chain-smoking; and
by the time you have begun your conversation your back is chilled by the cold looks
of somebody who is fidgeting to take your place. If you have a telephone in your
house, you will admit that it tends to ring when you least want it—when you are
asleep or in the middle of a meal or a conversation or when you are just going out
or when you are in your bath.

(3) Are you strong minded enough to ignore it, to say to yourself, “Ah well, it will be the
same in a hundred years’ time”? You are not. You think there may be some important
news or message for you. Have you never rushed dripping from the bath, or chewing
from the table, or dazed from bed, only to be told that you are a wrong number? You
were told the truth. In my opinion all telephone numbers are wrong numbers. If, of
course, your telephone rings and you decide not to answer it, then you will have to
listen to an idiotic bell ringing and ringing and in what is supposed to be the privacy
of your own home. You might as well buy a bicycle bell and ring it yourself...

(4) If, like me, one is without a telephone, somebody is sure to say, “Oh, but don’t you
find you have to write an awful lot of letters?” The answer to that is “Yes, but I should
have to write an awful lot of letters anyway”. This may bring the remark, “Ah well, if
you don’t have a telephone, at least you must have a typewriter”. And, the answer
to this is “No”.

On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions.

1. What are the reasons for the author to not possess a telephone?
(a) He didn’t like the ringtone.

(b) Because he could work and play, eat, breathe, and sleep without it.
(c) Because he was bothered by spam calls.

(d) Because he believed in the traditional way of communication–letters.
2. Which of the following word means the same as ‘atypical’ in the passage?
(a) unusual (b) expected (c) pose (d) unnecessary
3. What word has the author used as a reason for not liking telephones?

(a) cheap (b) pest and time-waster
(c) expensive (d) noisy
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