Question 1:
Bill Bryson says, ‘I am, in short, easily confused.’ What examples has he given to justify this ?
Answer:
Many a time, Bryson goes looking for the lavatory in a cinema. But in the end, he finds himself in an alley. And he is there on the wrong side of a self-locking door. Sometimes he stays at a hotel. He has to go two or three times a day to the hotel desk because he forgets his room number.
Question 2:
What happens when the zip on his carry-on bag gives way ?
Or
Why did Bill’s ‘hair go into panic mode’ ?
Answer:
Everything in the bag flies out. It includes newspaper cuttings, loose papers, a tin of pipe
tobacco,
magazines, passport, English money and a film roll. The lid of the tobacco tin comes off.
The tobacco
spreads all over the place. Then the author finds that he has cut his finger while pulling
at the zip.
Blood flows freely from his wound. He became so confused that his hair goes into panic mode.
Question 3:
Why is the author’s finger bleeding ? What is his wife’s reaction ?
Answer:
The author cuts his finger while pulling at the zip. Blood begins to flow from the wound. His wife looks at him in wonder. She says, “I can’t believe you do this for a living.”
Question 4:
How does Bill Bryson end up in a ‘crash position’ in the aircraft ?
Answer:
Bryson leans over to tie a shoelace. Just then, someone in the seat ahead of him throws his seat back in full recline. Bryson is pinned helplessly in the crash position.
Question 5:
Why do Bryson’s teeth and gums look ‘navy blue’ ?
Answer:
While writing down his thoughts in a notebook, Bryson keeps sucking at the end of his pen. The pen leaks and gives him navy blue teeth and gums.
Question 6:
Bill Bryson ‘ached to be suave’. Is he successful in his mission ? List his ‘unsophisticated’ ways.
Answer:
Bryson failed badly in his mission to be suave. He could never rise from a dinner table without creating a seismic event there. He would get into a car and close the door. Then he would find that a part of his coat was outside. He would spoil his light-coloured trousers by sitting on such things as chewing gum, ice cream, cough syrup and motor oil.
Question 7:
Why do you think Bill Bryson’s wife says to the children, ‘Take the lids off the food for Daddy.’ ?
Answer:
The wife knows that her husband remains confused. He makes a mess in whatever he does. While taking the lids off the food, he could spill something and spoil someone’s clothes. That is why she asks the children to take the lids off for Daddy.
Question 8:
What is the significance of the title of the story, ‘The Accidental Tourist’ ?
Answer:
The tourist in this story is a frequent traveller. Something unexpected keeps happening to
him always.
He gets easily confused. He makes a mess in whatever he does. He forgets the number of his
hotel
room and has to ask for it two or three times a day. He locks himself in an alley while
looking for
a lavatory in a cinema. He spoils the clothes of other passengers while handling a soft
drink. He cuts
his finger while pulling at a jammed zip. That is why he has been called ‘The Accidental
Tourist’.
Question 9:
It is mandatory for the flight crew to go out of their way to ensure the comfort of the passengers. Do you agree ? Give reasons taking reference from the story ‘An Accidental Tourist’.
Answer:
Once the writer was on an aeroplane. He spilled a soft drink into the lap of a sweet lady sitting beside him. The flight attendant came and cleaned her up. She brought the writer another drink. This shows how the crew go out of their way to ensure the comfort of the passengers.