The Best Investment I Ever Made എന്ന പാഠത്തിലെ കൂടുതല്‍ ചോദ്യങ്ങളും ഉത്തരങ്ങളും (Class 10)

1.  Mr. John in the story  ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ was addicted to gambling and lost all his wealth. The doctor helped him to return to his life (when he tried to commit suicide). Imagine that he noted his feelings in his diary. Prepare the diary entry of  Mr. John.
8, August 2018
It was a terrible experience....! At that moment of despair, I tried to embrace death. Hope came in the form of a sergeant and the doctor. They saved my life. The landlady also helped me. I will never follow my dark and evil life. Just like the doctor, the sergeant and the landlady I will also try to change the lives of others.
2. Mr. John in ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ feels grateful to the doctor for saving his life. He had given him a second chance in life. He writes a letter to the doctor thanking him for all that the doctor had done for him. Write the likely letter. 
Answer: 
John S
House No. 27
St. Thomas Bay
Geneva
Dear doctor, 
I am very much thankful to you for saving my life. Even after so many years I cannot forget what you had done. That was a terrible experience. At that moment of despair, I tried to embrace death. Hope came in the form of a sergeant and you. The landlady also helped me. I have already given up  my dark and evil life. When I look back, I realise that I was on the verge of death. You were the real God who appeared before me in human form at that time. You were the one who wished the most to see me successful in life. Thank God for sending such a good man like you to save me. Just like you, the sergeant and the landlady, I am also trying to change the lives of others.
With love,
John.
3. Mr. John in the story ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ is victim of loose society of the streets. Prepare a brief character sketch of Mr. John.
Mr. John
Mr. John was in his 40s. He was short in build. He had fair complexion. His eyes were clear blue. He had no hair just behind his forehead. His dark suit, sober tie and rimless glasses showed that he was serious-minded and of a reserved disposition. Twenty-five years before, the narrator, being a doctor, saved Mr. John’s  life from a suicide attempt. Mr. John was then a young person living an indisciplined life. He was on the brim of ruin. Mr. John had stolen a small sum of money from the office he had been working. The narrator gave him the money and asked him to put it back in the office. This incident touched the heart of Mr. John. He transformed into a new individual. He got education and became a lawyer. Moreover he was now in the service of saving boys and girls who were victims of bad living conditions. 
4. Read the passage from ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ and answer the questions that follow:
On the second day, out from New York, while making the round of the promenade deck, I suddenly became aware that one of the passengers was watching me closely, following me with his gaze every time I passed. I wanted to rest, to avoid the tedium of casual and importunate ship-board contacts. I gave no sign of having noticed the man. Yet there was nothing importunate about him. On the contrary, he seemed affected by a troubled, rather touching diffidence. He was in his early 40s, rather short in build, with a fair complexion and clear blue eyes. His thin hair had begun to recede from his forehead. His dark suit, sober tie and rimless spectacles gave evidence of a serious and reserved disposition. At this point the bugle sounded for dinner, and I went below.
a. Who is the ‘I’ referred to in this passage?
b. Where does the incident take place?
c. Pick out a word from the passage that means ‘boredom’.
d. Why did the narrator wish to take rest?
Answer: 
a. A. J. Cronin/author/narrator
b. On the deck of a ship
c. tedium
d. To avoid the tedium of casual and importunate ship-board contacts.
5. The story ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made’ tells us, how bad habits and bad companions destroy the life of an individual. Prepare a speech on the topic ‘Good friends build good character.’
Answer: Dear friends,
‘A friend in need is a friend indeed.’ If our friends are good, our life will change and they can lead us to build a good character. But if our friend is a bad one, he/she can lead us to a dark and evil life. It will be an indisciplined life.
In this fast moving life, attachments and care towards others are decreasing day by day. But it is very clear that friends can make a person’s life worthy or worthless. They can support us in our problems or can guide us properly if we are in trouble. But like everything in this world, friendship also has a negative side - a chance to mislead a person leading him to troubles. Because it is a fact that, in every man’s life, there is a period when they are deeply influenced by friends, either positively or negatively. But that influence has the power to make one’s life a success or a failure. It is clearly described in the story ‘The Best Investment I Ever Made.’ It is his bad friendship that leads him near to death. At the same time, the care and concern that others gave him, helped him to recover.
So, friends, Let’s be very careful and serious while we select our friends. Let’s hope all of us will have a bright future.
Thank you.