Question - 1 : -
The infrequent visits by author were due to
(a) Gessler’s shoes lasted long
(b) the author did not get time
(c) the father kept busy
(d) Gessler’s shoes were of bad quality

Answer - 1 : -

(a) Gessler’s shoes lasted long

Question - 2 : -
The shoes making (for Mr. Gessler) was
(a) a difficult task
(b) an easy task
(c) an art
(d) quite expensive

Answer - 2 : -

Question - 3 : -
‘essence’ here means
(a) distinctive feature
(b) substance
(c) concentrate
(d) important

Answer - 3 : -

(b) substance

Question - 4 : - He took my order without showing me any leather and I could feel his eyes penetrating the inferior covering of my foot.
Who is ‘he’ in the above sentence ?
What were his eyes doing ?
Why had the author gone to him ?

Answer - 4 : -

In this sentence, ‘he’ refers to Mr. Gessler, one of the two brothers who owned the shoe-shop.
His eyes were looking intently at the author’s shoes.
The author had gone to him to place his order for new shoes.

Question - 5 : -
The lined face showed
(a) his satisfaction for
(b) the struggle for survival advertisements
(c) his problems
(d) the lines on his face

Answer - 5 : -

(b) the struggle for survival

Question - 6 : - What was the author’s opinion about Mr. Gessler as a bootmaker ?

Answer - 6 : -

The author had a very high opinion of Mr. Gessler as a bootmaker. The boots made by them lasted very long. He got his first boots made by them when he was fourteen. He called their boots mysterious and wonderful. He agreed with Mr. Gessler who said that making such boots was an art.

Question - 7 : -
Why did the author visit the shop so infrequently?

Answer - 7 : -

The author visited his shop very infrequently. It was because the boots he made lasted very long. They never seemed temporary. It seemed as if it were essence of boots stitched into them.

Question - 8 : -
What was the effect on Mr. Gessler of the author’s remark about a certain pair of boots ?

Answer - 8 : -

Once the author told Mr. Gessler that a certain pair of his boots creaked. At first Mr. Gessler found it difficult to believe. However, the author repeated his complaint. At this he asked him to send that pair back. He promised to either mend it or to take it off from the bill. The author felt that he should not have mentioned that pair. Mr. Gessler had felt very shocked by the complaint.

Question - 9 : -
What was Mr. Gessler’s complaint against “big firms” ?

Answer - 9 : -

Mr. Gessler’s complaint about the big firms was that they took away all his business. They did so not by virtue of their work but by advertisement. He was full of resentment against them. He said that these firms had no self-respect. Their boots often hurt the customers.

Question - 10 : -
Why did the author order so many pairs of boots ? Did he really need them ?

Answer - 10 : -

The author ordered many pairs of boots because he felt pity for the bootmaker. He knew that his boots were the best in quality. Yet the man was dying of starvation. So the author ordered several boots although he did not need them.

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Chapter 5 – Quality Solutions

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