Hi Everyone!! This article will share A Drive in The Motor Car Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Tide Rises The Tide Falls, Cat and Meet Tom Sawyer so, you can check these posts as well.
A Drive in The Motor Car Questions & Answers
Question 1: Why does the author say ‘Her tone was so confident it should have scared us to death, but it didn’t?’ Which previous comment about her driving does this relate to?
Answer: The author means to say that she should not have been so confident as she was really quite inexperienced, and this foolish confidence of hers ought to have scared them. This relates to the fact that she had received only two full halfhour lessons in driving.
Question 2: Why does the author give us details about the second windscreen?
Answer: The author gives us details of the second windscreen because it was a special feature of the cars of that time that we do not get to see today. Also, that it was meant to keep the breeze off the faces of the back seat passengers when the hood was down.
Question 3: Why does the author refer to the driver as ‘the ancient sister’? Is the sister really ancient?
Answer: From the author’s perspective, his sister’s twenty-one years compared to his nine years was a large gap in age. The sister is really not ancient. He only felt so.
Question 4: The driver turns round to say: ‘You didn’t think I could do it, did you’? Why does she ask this question? What is the effect of this on the following?
(a) the mother
(b) the other passengers
(c) the driver herself?
Answer: The driver asks this question as she had moved past a passerby and vehicles and had become comfortable and confident as the area, she was driving through then had no signs of people or vehicles.
The mother was nervous and said, ‘Keep your eyes on the road’.
The other passengers were excited and told her to go faster.
Spurred by the shout and taunts, the driver began to increase the speed till the car’s engine roared and its body vibrated.
A Drive in The Motor Car Questions & Answers
Question 5: Which comments in the story tell us that the driver was not an expert at driving?
Answer: The driver had received only one hour of driving instruction; the driver did not know how to turn when confronted by a sharp bend in the road; she had trouble finding the reverse gear. These comments prove the driver’s inexperience.
Question 6: How did the mother react during the crisis? What actions did she take to sort things out?
Answer: The mother remained calm and collected and directed the car out of the hedge and to the doctor’s.
Question 7: The author says: ‘Strong hands held me down.’ Why was this necessary? How does his treatment then compare to treatment these days?
Answer: The doctor had to make the author unconscious so as to stitch his nose up. To administer the chloroform, they had to hold him down and stuff a mask with cotton wool over his face. If he had not been held down, he may have pulled away the bottle with the white liquid (chloroform) and prevented the doctor from completing the minor surgery. Nowadays, anesthesia is administered by injection. This takes only a few minutes to make a patient unconscious.
Question 8: How were driving practices different back then? Highlight the parts of the story that illustrate this difference.
Answer: Speed limits were lower than today as sixty is a very high speed in the story; there were fewer vehicles on the road; accidents were fewer; there were no seatbelts as many of the passengers are thrown out of the car after the accident.
Question 9: What can this story teach us about road safety?
Answer: It can teach us to drive only after proper training and practice. We should drive at a reasonable speed and without being distracted by passengers. Also, passengers should be quiet and should avoid creating a fuss.
Question 10: Read the lines and answer the questions:
1. Fortunately, there were very few vehicles on the roads in those days.
(a) What event is taking place and where is it taking place?
Answer: One morning during the Christmas holiday, the weather was mild. The whole family was ready for the first drive in the first motor car they had ever owned. The event was the driving licence the twenty-one-year-old sister had got after two full half-hour driving lessons which was considered sufficient in those days.
(b) Why is the word ‘fortunately’ used?
Answer: Since she had not had enough practice and it was her first attempt at driving out into the village of land off, everyone was quivering with fear and joy. The word ‘fortunately’ is used to indicate the good luck of the inexperienced driver.
(c) What other vehicles might have been there on the roads at this time?
Answer: Maybe just a small truck or a van or occasionally a private car.
2. ‘Back it out of the hedge,’ my mother said. ‘And hurry.’
(a) What is in the hedge and why?
Answer: One of the small sisters has landed in the middle of the hedge due to the accident.
(b) Why is it necessary to hurry?
Answer: It is necessary to hurry because the son’s nose has been cut quite badly and needs the attention of a doctor.
(c) Why is it more complicated than it seems?
Answer: It is more complicated than it seems because the boys nose is hanging only by a single thread of skin.
So, these were A Drive in The Motor Car Questions & Answers.