MY UNKNOWN FRIEND
Understanding the Text
A.
1. The line in para 6 “‘Who, indeed,’ I thought to myself.” indicates that something may not be quite right. It suggests that the speaker may not be quite so pleased to see the other man or that he may not have recognised the other man.
2. The speaker was talking about the situation where he could not recognise or remember the other person, although the latter claimed to be an old friend.
He was going to deal with it by staying calm and acting confidently, as if he did know the other man. He was going to talk to the man and find out who he really was.
3. In paras 27 to 36, the speaker tried to ask questions to the other man instead of simply and briefly responding to his questions and comments. This was a bold plan as he could have asked something that would show that he could not recognise the man, but he felt confident that he could ask safe questions. With the help of this plan, he hoped to understand who the other man was. His plan did not work because although the other man answered his questions, the speaker still could not recognise him.
4. The speaker is referring to his mistake in saying that the person who was supposed to have died used to smoke. It could be a stupid thing for him to say because he did not really know who the other man was referring to. He could have been referring to someone who would not smoke, like
the speaker’s grandmother. By making such a mistake, the speaker almost revealed that he still could not recognise the other man.
5. The stranger’s face was agitated because he said that he had missed his stop. The train had arrived at the junction and he was supposed to have got down at the previous station. He needed to get down and send a telegram to someone saying that he had missed his stop. Yet he could not seem to open his suitcase to bring out the money. The train stopped at the junction for a very short time so he was in a hurry. The speaker did not feel very sympathetic towards the other man. He wanted the other man to go away, so he offered him some money to get down and send the telegram. He called him an idiot for forgetting to take his suitcase.
6. Yes, the speaker blames himself for his loss. He felt that since he had tried to be too clever and pretended to know the stranger instead of admitting that he could not recognise him, the stranger got the opportunity to take his money. The loss was of the money that the stranger took
from him, pretending to be in a hurry to send a telegram.
B.
1. NT
2. T
3. T
4. NT
5. NT
6. T
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