CBSE Class 12 English The Third Level (Jack Finney) VBQs Set 02

1. The Third Level

–Jack Finney

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

The presidents of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads will swear on a stack of timetables that there are only two. But I say there are three, because I’ve been on the third level of the Grand Central Station. Yes, I’ve taken the obvious step: I talked to a psychiatrist friend of mine, among others.

Question. How many levels are there in reality?
(a) one level
(b) two levels
(c) three levels
(d) four levels
Answer: (b) two levels

Question. Whose names have been taken to confirm the levels at the station?
(a) the presidents of the New York Central and New York
(b) the presidents of the New Haven
(c) the president of Hartford
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. Why is the speaker confident about the third level?
(a) because he had seen it on television
(b) because he had heard it from everyone
(c) because he had been there himself
(d) because he had his house there
Answer: (c) because he had been there himself

Question. The statement ‘But I say there are three, because I’ve been on the third level of the Grand Central Station’ made by Charley shows that he was……………. .
(a) fully confident
(b) living under illusion
(c) day-dreaming
(d) reluctant to face the truth
Answer: (b) living under illusion

But that’s the reason, he said, and my friends all agreed. Everything points to it, they claimed. My stamp collecting, for example; that’s a ‘temporary refuge from reality’. Well, maybe, but my grandfather didn’t need any refuge from reality; things were pretty nice and peaceful in his day, from all I hear, and he started my collection. It’s a nice collection too, blocks of four of practically every U.S. issue, first-day covers, and so on.

Question. What did Charley’s friends agree to?
(a) that he was a brilliant person
(b) that he wanted to escape the harsh realities of life
(c) that he needed to go in the past
(d) that he didn’t like the present scenario
Answer: (b) that he wanted to escape the harsh realities of life

Question. Why do human beings need a ‘temporary refuge from reality’ as showcased in the chapter?
(a) to get away momentarily from all the troubles
(b) to evade the work
(c) to elude from the truth
(d) to experience the world of fantasy
Answer: (a) to get away momentarily from all the troubles

Question. How was the time in his grandfather’s days?
(a) insecure
(b) peaceful
(c) chaotic
(d) dangerous
Answer: (b) peaceful

Question. What type of stamps did Charley’s grandfather collect?
(a) amazing
(b) blocks of four of practically every U. S. issue
(c) first day covers
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

I’m just an ordinary guy named Charley, thirty-one years old, and I was wearing a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band; I passed a dozen men who looked just like me. And I wasn’t trying to escape from anything; I just wanted to get home to Louisa, my wife. I turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue, and went down the steps to the first level, where you take trains like the Twentieth Century. Then I walked down another flight to the second level, where the suburban trains leave from, ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway—and got lost. That’s easy to do. I’ve been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of times, but I’m always bumping into new doorways and stairs and corridors.

Question. What did Charley want to tell about himself?
(a) that he was a simple man
(b) that he was wearing a Gabardine suit
(c) that he was escaping from the real world
(d) that he didn’t want to go home
Answer: (a) that he was a simple man

Question. What is the literary device used in ‘Now, I don’t know why this should have happened to me’?
(a) symbolism
(b) metaphor
(c) hyperbole
(d) alliteration
Answer: (d) alliteration

Question. Where was Charley actually going?
(a) out of the town
(b) to his office
(c) to his home
(d) to his friend’s home
Answer: (c) to his home

Question. What did Charley mean by ‘I wasn’t trying to escape from anything’?
(a) he was not in his normal state of mind
(b) he did not want to escape from anywhere
(c) he wanted to leave his wife Louisa at that hour
(d) he was more comfortable in his imagination than living the reality
Answer: (b) he did not want to escape from anywhere

Sometimes I think Grand Central is growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots. There’s probably a long tunnel that nobody knows about feeling its way under the city right now, on its way to Times Square, and maybe another to Central Park. And maybe.......... because for so many people through the years Grand Central has been an exit, a way of escape ............ maybe that’s how the tunnel I got into... But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that idea.

Question. Why did he think that Grand Central was growing like a tree?
(a) because it had a lot of trees in it
(b) because it had a lot of corridors and staircases
(c) because it had a lot of trees around it
(d) because it had a continuously been under construction
Answer: (b) because it had a lot of corridors and staircases

Question. Identify the figure of speech used in the sentence ‘pushing out new corridors and staircases like roots’.
(a) metaphor
(b) imagery
(c) simile
(d) personification
Answer: (c) simile

Question. Why did anybody not know about the long tunnel?
(a) it is a secret tunnel under the city
(b) it is kept hidden from public
(c) it is a kind of magical tunnel
(d) because nobody went to that part
Answer: (a) it is a secret tunnel under the city

Question. What were the speaker’s feelings when he described the Grand Central?
(a) he was shocked
(b) he got upset
(c) he got anxious
(d) he was fascinated
Answer: (d) he was fascinated

Question. Who is the author of the story, ‘The Third Level’?
(a) George Orwell
(b) Agatha Christie
(c) James Joyce
(d) Jack Finney
Answer: (d) Jack Finney

Question. What is the theme of the lesson?
(a) human tendency of escapism because of the harsh realities of the present
(b) time travelling
(c) theory of escapism
(d) a dialogue between a patient and a psychiatrist
Answer: (a) human tendency of escapism because of the harsh realities of the present

Question. How does the story begin?
(a) in a jovial manner
(b) in an aggressive manner
(c) on a happy note
(d) in a serious manner
Answer: (d) in a serious manner

Question. What does the Third level signify?
(a) a human tendency to escape from the harsh realities of the present to past happy times
(b) a third way on Grand Central station
(c) a third gate on Grand Central Station
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) a human tendency to escape from the harsh realities of the present to past happy times

Question. What was the ‘Third Level’?
(a) a third tier on the station
(b) a third storey on the station
(c) an imaginary discovery of the narrator’s mind
(d) None of the options
Answer: (c) an imaginary discovery of the narrator’s mind

Question. Why was the narrator seeing this ‘Third Level’?
(a) as a wish to visit Galesberg
(b) wanted to meet his friends
(c) wanted to take a break from office
(d) as a result of stress and anxiety in his mind
Answer: (d) as a result of stress and anxiety in his mind

Question. How did Charley reach the ‘Third Level’?
(a) In his fantasy he takes a subway or a corridor faster than a bus
(b) In a superfast train
(c) In jetways
(d) In an escalator
Answer: (a) In his fantasy he takes a subway or a corridor faster than a bus

Question. What did Charley see at the Third Level?
(a) flickering gas lights and people with funny moustaches
(b) brass spittoons
(c) glint of light
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. Where was Charley ducked on Central Station?
(a) into a room
(b) into an office
(c) into an arched door
(d) into a store
Answer: (c) into an arched door

Question. Who was Sam in The Third Level?
(a) a doctor and a friend of Charley
(b) a teacher and a friend of Charley
(c) a psychiatrist and a friend of Charley
(d) None of the options
Answer: (c) a psychiatrist and a friend of Charley

Question. What specific difference did Charley notice at the Third Level of Central Station?
(a) Everything was weird
(b) Everything was old styled and bigger in size
(c) Everything was too big
(d) Everything was shining
Answer: (b) Everything was old styled and bigger in size

Question. What is the significance of 1894 in the lesson?
(a) It was past
(b) Authors’ parents were alive
(c) Author’s childhood time
(d) Representing a peaceful, romantic living time
Answer: (d) Representing a peaceful, romantic living time

Question. What is the meaning of ‘Waking dream wish fulfillment”?
(a) a pleasant wish that makes one forget the present
(b) a pleasant wish that takes one to the future
(c) a pleasant wish which inspires to work
(d) a pleasant wish that makes one forget the past
Answer: (d) a pleasant wish that makes one forget the past

Question. What is ‘Waking dream wish fulfilment” according to the psychiatrist in the lesson?
(a) Charley’s finding of a Third level at Grand Central Station and realisation of his wish to visit Galesberg Illinois
(b) Charley’s dream was fulfilled
(c) Charley’s escapism from realities
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) Charley’s finding of a Third level at Grand Central Station and realisation of his wish to visit Galesberg Illinois

Question. From where did Charley turn to Grand Central?
(a) Galesberg
(b) Illinois
(c) Vanderbilt Avenue
(d) Times Square
Answer: (c) Vanderbilt Avenue

Question. Which lobby did Charley come out in, when he got into a mile long tunnel?
(a) Roosevelt Hotel
(b) Times Square
(c) Vanderbilt Avenue
(d) Galesburg
Answer: (a) Roosevelt Hotel

Question. What happened when Charley entered the Grand Central Station?
(a) he found a huge tree like Station
(b) new staircases, corridors and tunnels
(c) trees kept spreading its roots throwing rooms and windows
(d) All of these
Answer: (d) All of these

Question. How does the story interweave fantasy and reality?
(a) For Charley’s tendency to treat harsh realities with his imaginary Third Level
(b) It presents imagination
(c) Imagination happens on Central Station
(d) None of the options
Answer: (a) For Charley’s tendency to treat harsh realities with his imaginary Third Level

Question. What convinced Charley that he had reached the Third Level Grand Central Station and not the second level?
(a) a different world of gas lights and brass spittoons
(b) beards and moustaches of 1894
(c) newspaper with a date June 11, 1894
(d) All of the options
Answer: (d) All of the options

Question. What did the man in the booth on the ‘Third Level’ wore?
(a) green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors
(b) tan gabardine suit
(c) a black four-button suit
(d) derby hat
Answer: (a) green eyeshade and long black sleeve protectors

Question. Why did Charley visit Sam?
(a) To consult the incident of the ‘Third Level’ at Grand Central Station
(b) To invite him
(c) To invite him to accompany at Galesberg
(d) To guide him in Galesberg
Answer: (a) To consult the incident of the ‘Third Level’ at Grand Central Station

Question. What kind of appearances people had at Third level and why did the clerk refuse to accept money?
(a) funny and clerk refused to accept money because it was currency of modern times
(b) funny and clerk refused to accept money because notes were big
(c) weird and clerk refused to accept money because notes were torn
(d) weird and clerk refused to accept money because notes were wet
Answer: (a) funny and clerk refused to accept money because it was currency of modern times

Question. How would you describe Charley’s vision of his grandfather’s life and times? 
(a) wistful escapism
(b) idealised sentimentality
(c) nostalgic simplicity
(d) dreamy perfection
Answer: (c) nostalgic simplicity