NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 7 - Evans Tries an O-Level

NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 7 - Evans Tries an O-Level

here you can get the NCERT solutions for class 12  English  Vistas chapter 7 Evans Tries an O-Level!  We have Covered the all solutions of  NCERT  textbook English   Vistas Chapter 7.
Solutions Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 7



Evans Tries an O-Level

Page No: 70

Read and Find Out

1. What kind of a person was Evans?

Answer


Evans was a young, clever prisoner. He had escaped thrice from the

prison for which he was known ‘Evans the Break’. He was not a violent

sort of a person. He was quite a pleasant person and was a star at the

Christmas concert.

2. What were the precautions taken for the smooth conduct of the

examination?

Answer


For smooth conduct of the examination, various precautionary

measures were taken. All sharp instruments like razor nail scissors were

removed. The Governor, senior prison officer Jackson and officer

Stephen were put on duty. A special invigilator was arranged. A

microphone was fitted in the prison cell where the examination was to

be conducted.

Page No: 77

1. Will the exam now go as scheduled?

Answer


Everything had been in order for the exam to start on its scheduled

time, but the Governor, still apprehensive, ordered a last minute change

in plan. As another precautionary measure, he ordered frisking the 

invigilator as well, before allowing him to carry out his assigned job. This

wasted some time and the exam started at 9:25am, ten minutes later

than the scheduled time.

Page No: 81

1. Did the Governor and his staff finally heave a sigh of relief?

Answer


Evans was a shrewd man who allowed only a momentary sigh of relief to

the Governor and his staff. The exam was supposed to have ended

peacefully, but when Stephens rechecked Evans’s cell, he was stunned

to see a profusely bleeding McLeery still in the cell. He concluded that

the man he had escorted to the gate was actually Evans.

Measures were taken to recapture Evans with the help of the bleeding

McLeery, who was later sent off to a hospital for treatment. However,

soon it was exposed that this ‘bleeding McLeery’ was the real Evans.

Finally, when the Governor traced Evans and ordered him to be taken

back to the prison with a prison officer in the official van, another

conspiracy unfolded. Evans fled again, as the prison officer and the van

were part of his back-up plan. His flawless plans left everyone perplexed

and troubled.

Page No: 84

1. Will the injured McLeery be able to help the prison officers track

Evans?

Answer


Injured McLeery, showcasing his knowledge of German, reveals the

supposed plan of Evans through the superimposed question paper. He

proposes to guide the officials to the whereabouts of Evans. However,

this is later revealed to be a part of the Evans plan to flee to safety, as it

was Evans himself who was disguised as the injured McLeery. It can be,

thus, noticed that the disguised McLeery’s help to the officials was fake

as it was just a part of Evans’s escape plan.

Page No: 85

1. Will the clues left behind on the question paper, put Evans back in

prison again?

Answer


Evans escaped from the prison with the help of a clever, infallible plan.

Certain clues were left behind by the shrewd fugitive which was a

“careless” act according to the Governor. There was a superimposed

question paper with directions to the supposed plan. However, it was

soon seen that all of it was fake and part of the plan to misguide the

officials.

But the little German the Governor knew and the 'correction slip' did

help them to track him down.

Page No: 86

1. Where did Evans go?

Answer


After deceiving the police intelligently, Evans went to the hotel Golden

Lion located in Chipping Norton.

Page No: 92

Reading with Insight

1. Reflecting on the story, what did you feel about Evans’ having the last

laugh?

Answer


Evans smartly devised and executed the plan of his escape. He managed

to fool everyone till the end of the story. He left fake clues to misguide

the officials chasing him. Even as the Governor heaved a sigh of relief

after nabbing him in the Golden Lion hotel, Evans was secretly cooking

and executing another path of escape. The prison officer and the van

used by the Governor for transferring Evans back to the prison were

forged. The Governor was happy that ultimately he was able to track

him down using his intelligence and knowledge of German. However,

Evans had planned a step ahead. With his successful escape, Evans

definitely had a well earned last laugh.

2. 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?

Answer


Evans was a smart and perceptive criminal. He hadassessed the

weaknesses of the jail officers successfully. Stephen was new recruit to

the prison set up. When he saw the injured Mcleery in the cell he was so

overwhelmed that he did not even check who he really was and neither

did anyone else. It did not occur to anyone to question how there could

there be two persons – one in the cell and the other who had been

escorted out by Stephens. It was for this very reason that friends of

Evans, who, posing as the Governor on the phone, have directed

Stephens that he himself should escort the parson out, when the exam

is finished. The Governor and his officers, in effect actually lead Evans

out of the prison. The question paper is left behind to mislead the

Governor. This shows that Evans the criminal had enough time to study

the behavior patterns of the jail officers and plan their strategy well.

3. What could the Governor have done to securely bring back Evans to

the 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”?

Answer

The Governor took all the precautions to make sure that Evans should

not have any chance to escape from the prison. He even tracked and

arrested him at the Golden Lion after his sensational escape from the

prison. But his overconfidence once again proved that he was no match

for the clever and crafty Evans.

The Governor after finding the clues from the question paper tracked

Evans at the Golden Lion. When Evans entered the room he was

shocked to see the Governor. Evans offered no resistance and was

arrested. The gullible Governor gloated over his success and said

goodbye to him. Evans was handcuffed and made to sit in the police van.

The Governor did not take care to check the identity of the driver, the

van and the officer. A little more vigilance could have averted the escape

of the criminal. If theGovernor had accompanied Evans to the prison cell

with full police arrangements the criminal would not have escaped.This

act of negligence proved that he was “just another good-for-a-giggle

gullible governor that was all”.

4. 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?

Answer

‘Crime’ and ‘criminals’ are usually considered synonymous. However,

our perception changes when we see a criminal suffering or serving his

punishment. This is what happens with the prison staff. Noticing a

criminal suffer in the prison, they unwittingly develop a soft corner for 

him in their hearts. They look at him as a human being and not as a

mere criminal. They start noticing and appreciating their mental

capabilities rather than just remembering their crime.

In the story, Jackson lets Evans keep his hat after knowing that he

considered it to be his lucky charm. Evans knew of the emotional side of

Jackson and so hit it directly through his talk about “lucky charm”, and

managed to fool the stern and practical officer. Even the Governor could

not help noticing his intelligence when he caught him in the hotel. Thus,

he was not cruel or stern with Evans, and regrettably, took him leniently.

5. Do you agree that between crime and punishment it is mainly a battle

of wits?

Answer


In every battle the stronger side wins; and this strength could be

physical or mental. However, after reading the story we can conclude

that between crime and punishment, it is mainly a battle of wits. The

side which outsmarts the other wins. It is not always that a criminal gets

punished. In the given story, although well trained, the police officials

were easily fooled by the clever Evans, who managed to escape from

right under their nose.


NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Vistas