NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 11 If I Were You

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 11 If I Were You are given below. This chapter contains many questions that are essential for exams. Our expert teachers answered all the questions with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. We have also provided NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 11 If I Were You in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

If I Were You NCERT Questions and Answers

Thinking about the Text

I. Answer these questions.  

Question 1. “At last a sympathetic audience.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) Why does he say it?
(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious?

Answers: (i) The speaker of the given line is Gerrard. 

(ii) He says it as he is asked by the intruder to speak about himself. 

(iii) He speaks the given dialogue sarcastically. 

Question 2. Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?  

Answer: Gerrard looks much like the intruder. The intruder is a murderer. The police is after him. He hopes he can easily impersonate Gerrard escape being caught. 

Question 3. “I said it with bullets.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) What does it mean?
(iii) Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?

Answer: (i) Gerrard says the given statement.

(ii) It means that when he was in trouble, he had shot someone to escape.

(iii) No, it is not the truth. Gerrard says this to manipulate the intruder so that he does not kill him.

4. What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer. 

Answers: Gerrard is a playwright by profession. Several parts of the play that reflect this. Some of these are: 

•   “This is all very melodramatic, not very original, perhaps, but…”
• “At last a sympathetic audience!”
• “In most melodramas the villain is foolish enough to delay his killing long enough to be frustrated”.
• “I said, you were luckier than most melodramatic villains.”
• “That’s a disguise outfit; false moustaches and what not”.
• “Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother – quite amusing. I think I’ll put it in my next play.”

Question 5. “You’ll soon stop being smart.”
(i) Who says this?
(ii) Why does the speaker say it?
(iii) What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?

Answer: (i) The intruder says the given statement.

(ii) The intruder says this to scare Gerrard and know more about him.

(iii) According to the intruder, Gerrard would stop being smart once he knew what was going to happen to him. The intruder’s plan was to kill Gerard and take over his identity. He felt that when Gerrard would know this, he would stop being smart and start getting scared. 

Question  6. “They can’t hang me twice.”
(i) Who says this? 
(ii) Why does the speaker say it? 

Answers: (i) The intruder says the given statement.

(ii) The speaker says this because he had already murdered someone. So, it is not a big deal for him to kill another man. He can’t be hanged twice.

Question 7. “A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?

Answer: The mystery that the speaker, Gerrard, proposes to explain is why he himself is a mystery man. He explains to the intruder that he himself is a criminal who is on the run. That is the reason why he does not meet tradespeople. He says that he murdered someone and gotten away with it. But now he was in a trouble and that’s why his bag was all packed to escape again.

Question 8. “This is your big surprise.”
(i) Where has this been said in the play?
(ii) What is the surprise?

Answers: (i) This has been said twice in the play. At first time, the intruder says this to Girrard while revealing his plan to kill him. Secondly, Gerrard says these words when he is about to reveal his fictitious identity to the intruder.

(ii) When intruder says this line, the surprise is his plan to kill Gerrard and take on his identity. On the second occasion, when Gerrard says this, the surprise is his fictitious identity that he is going to reveal to make the intruder believe that he himself is a crook like the intruder.