Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Lumber Room Questions & Answers.
The story is written by Hector Hugh Munro – a British writer who is better known by the pen name ‘Saki’ and his stories depict the hypocrisies in the society of his time. After his mother’s death, he was sent back to England and was brought up by his cruel aunts who became the models on which Saki based many of the characters in his stories. Below are mentioned the questions and answers of this story and I have also shared The Vagabond Questions & Answers and The Vagabond Stanza-Wise Summary so, you can check these posts as well.
The Lumber Room Questions & Answers
Before going further with the questions and answers, let me tell you what the lumber room is.
What Is The Lumber Room?
The large houses of the wealthy people of Britain usually had a lot of old, well-built furniture which was neither sold nor discarded. So, one out-of-the way room was selected to store such pieces of furniture and that room was called the lumber room.
The Lumber Room Questions & Answers
Question 1: Where were the children to be driven for a treat?
Answer: The children were to be driven to the sands at Jagborough for a treat.
Question 2: Why was Nicholas not allowed to go with the other children for a treat?
Answer: Nicholas was not allowed to go with the other children for a treat because he had himself put a frog in his breakfast and refused to eat it.
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Question 3: Why was Nicholas not allowed to go into the gooseberry garden?
Answer: Nicholas was not allowed to go into the gooseberry garden because he was in disgrace.
Question 4: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
The dramatic part of the incident was that there really was a frog in
Nicholas’ basin of bread and milk.
(a) When did this incident take place?
Answer: This incident took place when the elders and the children were having breakfast at the dining table.
(b) How did the frog come into the basin of bread and milk?
Answer: Nicholas had himself put in the frog into the basin of milk.
(c) What was the result of the incident?
Answer: The result of this incident was that Nicholas was punished and could not go with his cousins to the expedition which his aunt had suddenly planned.
Question 5: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
The children were to be driven, as a special treat, to the sands at Jagborough. Nicholas was not allowed as he was in disgrace. Only that morning he had refused to eat his wholesome bread and milk on the grounds that there was a frog in it.
(a) Find a word from the extract that means the same as ‘healthy and nutritious’.
Answer: Wholesome
(b) Why was Nicholas in disgrace?
Answer: Nicholas was in disgrace because he had refused to eat his wholesome bread and milk on the grounds that there was a frog in it.
(c) What was the punishment given by his aunt?
Answer: The punishment given by his aunt was that he was not allowed to go to the sands at Jagborough where the other children were going as a special treat.
The Lumber Room Questions & Answers
Question 6: Why was Nicholas not allowed to go into the gooseberry garden?
Answer: Nicholas was not allowed to go into the gooseberry garden because he was in disgrace.
Question 7: Why did Nicholas go to the gooseberry garden?
Answer: Nicholas went to the gooseberry garden to make his aunt believe that he intended to go to the gooseberry garden, thus to keep her busy by keeping a watch over the garden.
Question 8: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
“You often don’t listen, when we tell you important things.”
(a) Who was complaining and to whom?
Answer: Nicholas was complaining to his aunt.
(b) What did the speaker tell the listener just before that?
Answer: Nicholas told his aunt that his cousin, Bobby’s boots were hurting him as they were too tight so he would not be having fun at Jagborough.
Question 9: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
In the afternoon, the aunt spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations whence she could watch the doors that led to the forbidden area. Nicholas wriggled his way with obvious stealth of purpose towards one of the doors.
(a) How did the aunt spend her time in the afternoon?
Answer: In the afternoon, the aunt spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations whence she could watch the doors that led to the forbidden paradise.
(b) What was the forbidden area?
Answer: The gooseberry garden was the forbidden area.
(c) Find a word from the extract that means the same as ‘careful movement’.
Answer: Stealth
(d) Why did Nicholas want his aunt to think that he had got into the gooseberry garden?
Answer: Nicholas wanted his aunt to think he had got into the gooseberry garden because he wanted to go to the lumber room.
Question 10: Why did the aunt call out to Nicholas for help?
Answer: The aunt called out to Nicholas for help because she had slipped into the rain-water tank and wasn’t able to get out. She wanted Nicholas to bring the little ladder from under the cherry tree.
The Lumber Room Questions & Answers
Question 11: What reasons did Nicholas give to not rescue the aunt?
Answer: Nicholas gave the following reasons to avoid rescuing the aunt:
(i) He was not allowed to go the gooseberry garden.
(ii) The voice of the lady seeking for help did not sound like that of his aunt’s.
(iii) When he asked if there would be strawberry jam for tea, the lady confirmed. However, the previous day his aunt had said there wasn’t any.
Question 12: Who eventually rescued Nicholas’ aunt?
Answer: The kitchen maid eventually rescued Nicholas’ aunt.
Question 13: Why did the aunt guard the entrance of the gooseberry garden that afternoon?
Answer: The aunt knew that Nicholas would go to the gooseberry garden because she had told him he is not to. Hence, she spent time guarding the entrance of the gooseberry garden because she did not want him to enjoy his detention time in the gooseberry garden.
Question 14: What was the result of organizing the Jagborough expedition hastily?
Answer: When the children arrived at Jagborough Cove, the tide had been at its highest so there was no sand for children to play on. This was the result of organizing the Jagborough expedition hastily.
Question 15: Why was the evening tea partaken of in a fearsome silence?
Answer: The evening tea was partaken of in a fearsome silence because the aunt had suffered undignified and unmerited detention in a rain-water tank for thirty-five minutes. Nicholas too, was silent, in the absorption of one who has much to think about.
Question 16: Why were the rest of children given a special treat?
Answer: Whenever a child was under punishment, the aunt used to organize picnics or something of a festive nature in which the offender was not allowed to participate. The aunt decided to send the other three children to Jagborough as she wanted to punish Nicholas for his disgraceful behaviour at the breakfast table when he had brought a frog and put it in his bread and milk. Thus, the offender was made to feel sorry for his mistake. In this case, to punish Nicholas, she was sending the rest of the children to Jagborough.
The Lumber Room Questions & Answers
Question 17: What did Nicholas see in the lumber room?
Answer: Inside the lumber room, Nicholas found an interesting tapestry picture, candlesticks in the shape of snakes, a teapot fashioned like a china duck, a carved sandalwood box packed with aromatic cotton-wool and brass figures of hump necked bulls, peacocks and goblins and a large square book full of coloured pictures of birds.
Question 18: How did Nicholas mislead his aunt in order to carry out his plan to enter the lumber room?
Answer: Nicholas made frequent trips into the front garden to mislead his aunt and make her believe that he wanted to enter the gooseberry garden, whereas his actual plan was to discover the secret of the lumber room.
Question 19: How did Nicholas spend his time in the lumber room?
Answer: To punish Nicholas, a trip had been arranged to Jagborough without him. He had great fun during this time. First Nicholas misled his aunt to make her believe that he wanted to enter the gooseberry garden, whereas his actual plan was to discover the secret of the lumber room. Nicholas was fascinated with the exhibits of the lumber room as it was a forbidden delight for him. Then his aunt fell into the rain-water tank. Though he knew it was his aunt he acted as if he was talking to someone who was trying to mislead him into entering the forbidden gooseberry garden. Thus, it was a fun-filled day for him.
Question 20: With reference to the story, do children change their behavior for better or worse? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: As children, we are curious to find out about the things we don’t know. This same behaviour is shown by Nicholas. With punishment, an adult shows aggressiveness which is the exact opposite of the behaviour we expect from the child. Providing abundant positive reinforcement is the best way to reduce misbehavior. Punishment might reduce misbehaviour, but it often has undesirable side effects. A child whose behaviour is punished may react emotionally, strike back or avoid the person giving the punishment like in the case of Nicholas. Hence, it is important to speak to the child about the wrong behaviour and ask him to take responsibility to correct it himself.
So, these were The Lumber Room Questions & Answers.