NEB Class 11 English Notes: Chapter 12 Fantasy - Summary and Exercise Solutions
Fantasy: The Romance of a Busy Broker | Class 11 English
The story "The Romance of a Busy Broker" by O. Henry is a classic example of situational irony and the frantic pace of modern life. It centers on Harvey Maxwell, a New York stockbroker so consumed by the "whir and snap" of the financial market that he loses touch with his personal reality.
The story follows a chaotic morning in Maxwell's office where he behaves like a high-tension machine. In a rare moment of "lull" in the market, he experiences a rush of romance and proposes marriage to his stenographer, Miss Leslie.
The climax reveals a hilarious yet poignant truth: the couple had actually married the evening before, but Maxwell was so busy that he completely forgot! It explores themes of workaholism, the dehumanizing nature of the city, and the absurdity of the "machine-like" human mind.
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Working with Words
A. Match the following words with their definitions:
a. Snappy: Irritable and inclined to speak sharply.
b. Discretion: The ability to behave without causing embarrassment or attracting too much attention.
c. Radiant: Showing great happiness, love, or health.
d. Irresolute: Not able to decide what to do.
e. Brusque: Using very few words and sounding rude.
f. Fitful: Happening only for short periods.
g. Harlequin: A humorous character in some traditional plays.
h. Lull: A quiet period between times of activity.
i. Janitress: A lady whose job is to take care of a building such as a school or flats.
j. Speck: A very small spot.
B. Stock Market Terminologies:
a. Liquidity: The ease with which an asset or security can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price.
b. IPO (Initial Public Offering): The process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance for the first time.
c. NEPSE (Nepal Stock Exchange): The only stock exchange in Nepal, located in Kathmandu, where securities are traded.
d. Index: A statistical measure (like the NEPSE Index) that tracks the performance of a specific group of stocks to represent the overall market trend.
e. Portfolio: A grouping of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents held by an individual or institution.
f. Dividend: A portion of a company's earnings distributed to its shareholders, often in the form of cash or additional stocks.
g. Turnover: The total value or volume of shares traded in a particular period, indicating the level of market activity.
h. Margin: Borrowed money from a broker to purchase securities; it represents the difference between the total value of securities and the loan amount.
Comprehension
A. True or False / Not Given:
a. Harvey Maxwell was a stockbroker. (T)
b. He was not happy with his clerk, Pitcher. (NG)
c. Miss Leslie had been married to Maxwell for a year. (F)
d. Maxwell had hired a machine to work in his office. (NG)
e. He had instructed Pitcher to get a new stenographer. (T)
f. Miss Leslie was amazed by Maxwell’s proposal. (T)
g. She thought that he had probably gone mad. (F)
h. She realized that he had been absent-minded due to his business. (T)
B. Answer the following questions:
a. How d
Maxwell entered his office briskly and hurriedly, accompanied by his young lady stenog
b. Describe the physical appearance of the young lady (Miss Leslie).
She was beautiful in a way that was "decidedly unstenographic." She wore a plain, well-fitting grey dress and a neat black turban hat adorned with the gold-green wing of a macaw. Unlike many office workers of the time, she wore no flashy jewelry like chains or lockets. On this particular morning, she appeared shyly radiant with dreamily bright eyes and a happy expression.
c. What changes did Pitcher notice in the young lady?
Pitcher noticed that instead of going straight to her desk in the adjoining room as usual, she lingered in the outer office, appearing slightly irresolute. She even moved near Maxwell's desk as if waiting for him to notice her presence, which was unusual for her professional routine.
d. What was Pitcher’s reply to the young lady concerning a new stenographer?
Pitcher told her that Maxwell had specifically instructed him the day before to find a replacement. He mentioned that he had already notified the agency to send some candidates, but none had arrived yet except for her.
e. What proposal did Maxwell make with Miss Leslie?
During a brief moment of quiet in the market, Maxwell suddenly rushed into Miss Leslie's office and made a passionate marriage proposal, asking her to be his wife and telling her that he loved her.
f. How did she react to his proposal?
At first, she seemed overcome with absolute amazement and her eyes filled with tears. However, she soon smiled "sunnily" through her tears, put her arm around the broker's neck, and gently reminded him that they had been married the previous evening at 8 o'clock in the Little Church Around the Corner.
Grammar: Relative Clauses
A. Underline the relative clauses (Bolded below):
a. I snatched a minute when things had slackened a minute.
b. Instead of going straight into the adjoining room, where her desk was, she lingered slightly irresolute in the outer office.
c. She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly unstenographic.
B. Fill in the blanks with suitable relative pronouns:
a. There is a lady whose wallet has been stolen.
b. Do you know the man who sold these glasses?
c. The knife which/that you cut the bread with is very sharp.
d. Why do you blame him for everything that goes wrong?
e. A cemetery is a place where dead bodies are buried.
f. This school is for those children whose mother tongu
e is not Nepali. g. I don’t know the name of the person to whom I spoke over the telephone.
h. I
came to Kathmandu o n the day when the devastating earthquake took place. i. In the application form she wrote why she needed a good payment.
j. The pilot explained how/why he made a forced landing on the road.
C. Join the pairs of sentences using relative clauses:
a. The building which was destroyed in the fire has now been rebuilt.
b. A new cricket stadium, which is being made in Chitwan, can accommodate one hundred thousand people.
c. Shanghai, where I stayed for five years, is the most populated city in the world.
d. This is the man to whom I gave some money this morning.
e. Do you know the man whose son was awarded in the school yesterday?
f. His step-mother, with whom he had been staying, was not very kind to him.
g. He can never forget Nakkhu Jail, where he had spent 14 years.
h. He showed me his new tab, fo
r which he had paid a hundred thousand rupees. i. Nelson Mandela joined the ANC in the 1930s, when he
was a student. j. Sh
e forgot to buy the things that/which her mother had told her to buy.
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