Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
I vividly remember that Thursday morning, some twenty-two years ago. when I was operated upon to have an abnormality corrected. For months. the doctors had combated the ailment with drugs of various kinds many of which sent me on long excursions into slumberland, Yet the ailment had seemed to defy all medical entreaties. Then a few days later, two senior surgeons called on me to discuss their decision They made it clear that only a surgical operation held any hope, otherwise the downward trend was sure to continue until the inevitable quiet end. So. they sought my consent which I promptly gave, stating that at my age I was old enough to accept any eventuality.
For days, I was gradually prepared for the great event. I took various drugs to build me up physically, and I was encouraged to eat well. Besides, a clergyman came regularly to talk to and pray for me He assured me that I would sail through the operation safely as God, the greatest of surgeons, would join the medical team Gradually I steeled myself to face the exercise.
Then the day came. My wife came very early into the ward, looking as if she bore the burdens of all the world. I told her to be a good girl and cheer up. But all my jokes fell flat. So. when a senior nursing sister came and told my wife to go and buy one of the drugs needed, I was somehow relieved. Moments later, my eldest son came, and I told him to brace up for any eventuality. I said I was proud of his achievements as a young engineer, and of his immediate younger brother as a pharmacist. So, if the end should come, they should both rise to the occasion and steer their other brother and sister to good careers. I had not quite concluded when the stretcher was wheeled in and I was helped on to it.
As the journey to the theatre commenced, with my son by my side, I held his hand firmly and smiled. This was the only way I could reassure him that all was going to be well. The stretcher moved on. Then, suddenly, I saw my wife hurrying er catch up with us. As she came along, I told the ward attendants to show down so that she could catch up with us. I took her hand and put it in my son’s. Apparently, this gesture disturbed rather than strengthened her. She burst into tears. Before I could say anything else, to mother and son, the theatre doors were flung open; and the stretcher was wheeled in.
(a) What did the surgeons seek from the patient?
(b) In what two ways was the man prepared for the operation.
(c) What do the man’s words to his eldest son suggest about his state of mind?
(d) (i) What message did the man intend to convey to his wife by putting her hand in his son’s.
(ii) What was his wife’s reaction?
(e) “Before I could say anything else…. ‘
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function in the sentence).
(f) ….the inevitable quiet end”.
(i) What figure of speech is used in the expression above?
(ii) What does it mean?
(g) How do you know that the patient survived the operation?
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage. (I) combated; (ii) entreaties; (iii) eventually; (iv) steeled; (v) steer; (vi) gesture.
Explanation
(a) The surgeons seek from the patient his consent or permission to perform a surgical operation on him.
(b) The two major ways the man prepared for the operation are:
(I) He was prepared physically, (ii) He was prepared mentally, psychologically and spiritually.
(c) The man's words suggest that he was prepared for the worst or any eventuality.
(d) (I) The message he intended to convey to his wife is that she has a son to depend upon.
(ii) She burst into tears. (e) (i) Adverbial clause of (time)
(ii) It modifies the verb "were flung open".
(f)(i) Euphemism (ii) Death.
(g) I know that the patient survived the operation because he lives to write about it.
(h)(i) combated - treated, fought, battled, tackled
(ii) entreaties treatment(s), attempts, efforts, applications.
(iii) eventually, consequently, finally.
(iv) steeled strengthened, braced, fortified, toughened.
(v) steer-guide, direct, pilot.
(iv) gesture - action, behavior, step, measure.