NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Evans tries an o level questions and answers

Evans tries an o level questions and answers

Q1. What kind of a person was Evans?

Ans. James Roderick Evans was a jail bird. The prison Guards nicknamed him as ‘Evans the Break’ because he had escaped from prison triple time. At present he was in a solitary cell an jail in Oxford Prison. He was quite a pleasant sort of chap—an amusing person who was good at imitations. He was not at all violent. He was just a congenital kleptomaniac by birth. It meant he suffered from the disease of involuntarily stealing things. This was disease with which he was bom.

Q2. What were the precautions taken for the smooth conduct of the examination?

Ans. Evans’ solitary cell was transformed into an examination room with the addition of two small tables and two chairs. Invigilator was to be Reverend Stuart McLeery, a clergyman from St. Mary Mags. The cell was to be kept locked from the outside, and a prison official would check on Evans every minute or two through a peephole. All potential weapons had been removed, including a knife, scissors, nail file, and razor. Even the invigilator’s suitcase was thoroughly checked, and the paper knife was taken away by a prison official. During the examination, the Governor was to listen in on the talk in the cell. The cell was in the D-Wing, which had two hefty gates—one on the outside and one on the inside. Both were tightly locked. Mr Jackson, the prison officer, was in constant contact with the Governor on the phone.

Q3. Will the exam now go as scheduled?

Ans. The two-hour O-Level German examination was set to begin at 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday, June 8. It did, however, begin a little late. Evans complained at 9.20 a.m. that the presence of Stephens, a prison officer, in the examination room was interfering with his concentration. Stephens was released from his cell on the Governor’s orders. A rectification slip was dictated to the candidate at 9.40 a.m. Evans complained of a bitter chill at 10.50 a.m. and asked for a blanket to wrap around his shoulders. McLeery informed Evans that only five minutes remained at 11:20 a.m. Jackson dialled Stephens’ number at 11:22 a.m. On the other end of the line was the Governor. Stephens was assigned the task of accompanying McLeery to the main prison gates.At 11:25 a.m., the examination was completed. After McLeery had left the cell, the cell door was locked on Evans. As a result, the examination proceeded according to plan.

Q4. Did the Governor and his staff finally heave a sigh of relief?

Ans. The Governor heard the jail door close for the final time. The test had come to an end. McLeery was taken to the main gates by Stephens. His Scots accent had broadened, and he appeared to have slimmed down beneath his big black jacket. Stephens was pleased with how smoothly the morning had gone. Finally, the Governor and his team could breathe a sigh of relief.

Their joy, however, was fleeting. When Stephens returned to Evans’ cell, he discovered a figure sprawled back in a chair. Blood trickled from his closely cut front half of head onto his little black beard, then down into the black clerical front over the white clerical collar. Stephens yelled for Jackson wildly. It was suspected that Evans had hit McLeery and walked out impersonating him. A search began for Evans dressed as a parson.

Q5. Will the injured McLeery be able to help the prison officers track Evans?

Ans. Injured McLeery explained that he knew where Evans was by speaking slowly and in fragments. He told the guards to get the cops and not to bother about the ambulance. On the table, he discovered a German exam paper. He instructed Jackson to go find the Governor. He called the Governor’s attention to the German language on the last page, which was photocopied. It was slowly translated by the Governor. His attention was drawn to the words ‘From Elsfied Way drive to the Headington roundabout.’ Elsfield Way housed the Examination Board. In the meantime, the cops arrived. McLeery directed the constable to go Elsfield Way before the Governor could say anything. The Governor instructed Detective Superintendent Carter to transport McLeery, who was injured, with him. McLeery was assisted inside the vehicle. He helped the police to follow the direction indicated in the German text.

Q6. Will the clues left behind on the question paper, put Evans back in prison again?

Ans. The text on the last page of German question paper contained the plan of escape. It had important clues of the route. From Elsfield Way the person had to drive to the Headington roundabout and from there to Newbury.

After sometime, Superintendent Carter informed the Governor on phone that McLeery had spotted Evans driving off along Elsfield Way. They had got the number of the car all right and given chase at opce. But they had lost him at the Headington roundabout. Since McLeery felt quite weak when they got to the Examination offices, they rang Radcliffe for the ambulances from there. They left McLeery on Elsfield Way. Thus, the injured McLeery, who had posed to help the authorities, disappeared and Evans remained untraced.

The other clues: Index number 313; Centre number 271 and ‘Golden Lion’ also had a deep meaning. The Governor took help of an Ordnance Survey Map for Oxfordshire. The six figure reference 313/271 brought him in the middle of Chipping Norton. He found Evans in the Golden Lion in Chipping Norton.

Q7.Where did Evans go?

Ans. Evans left the prison disguised as parson McLeery who had been injured by the examinee Evans. He pretended to guide the authorities to help them track Evans. When the police car reached the Examination offices on Elsfield Way, McLeery (Evans in disguise) grogged. An ambulance was called in from the Radcliffe and he was left there.

Evans got into a car as arranged beforehand. It had soap, water, clothes and a map. He removed blood stains from hair, peeled the false beard, changed clothes, put on a smart new hat. Then he drove to the Golden Lion in the middle of Clipping Norton.

He was traced in this hotel by the Governor of Oxford Prison following the clues in the German text on the German question paper.

Q1. Reflecting on the story, what did you feel about Evans’ having the last laugh?

Ans. Evans smartly devised and executed the plan of his escape. He managed to fool everyone till the end of the story. He left fake clues to misguide the officials chasing him. Even as the Governor heaved a sigh of relief after nabbing him in the Golden Lion hotel, Evans was secretly cooking and executing another path of escape. The prison officer and the van used by the Governor for transferring Evans back to the prison were forged. The Governor was happy that ultimately he was able to track him down using his intelligence and knowledge of German. However, Evans had planned a step ahead. With his successful escape, Evans definitely had a well earned last laugh.

Q2. When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption without even checking the identity of the injured ‘McLeery’. Does this show how hasty conjectures can prevent one from seeing the obvious? How is the criminal able to predict such negligence?

Ans. When Stephens returned to Evans’ cell, he noticed a man sprawled in Evans’ chair. For a split second, Stephens believed it was Evans. However, Stephens jumped to the conclusion that Evans, portraying McLeery, had gone out because of his tiny black beard, white clerical collar, black clerical front, and crimson blood flowing from the front of his head.

Almost instantly, the entire apparatus went into motion. No one tried to find out who the injured “McLeery” was. Stephens’ hypothesis was proven correct. The wider Scots accent and slimmer figure of the parson he had seen off, as well as the blood gushing out of the wound and dress of the “parson” in the cell, confirmed it.

The rash speculation hinders one from perceiving what is clear. It’s possible that the jailbreak was a ruse. The Governor is also duped. He takes his staff’s advice seriously. The man who questioned everything and double-checked everything doesn’t even look at the victim. Criminals grow familiar with the temperaments of jail authorities as well as the routine they follow after spending a lengthy time in prison. Every time a criminal is brought up, he or she is met with scepticism. An officer’s word, on the other hand, is always trusted. Criminals believe that the jail authorities’ carelessness is their only ticket to release. They dismiss even the most remote possibility and dismiss legitimate phone conversations as forgeries, but they accept an assumption as fact and overlook the obvious. Hence, the criminal is able to predict such negligence on the part of prison authorities.

Q3.What could the Governor have done to securely bring back Evans to prison when he caught him at the Golden Lion? Does that final act of foolishness really prove that “he was just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor, that was all”?

Ans. Evans should have been led to Oxford Prison by the Governor. He was accompanied by only two people, and it was later discovered that these two people were Evans’ friends. One of them, who pretended to be a silent prison official, told the driver to speed up. The Reverend S. McLeery was played by the driver, who spoke with a strong Scots accent. At the very least, the Governor should have verified the identification of the personnel with whom he was entrusting the prisoner.

Second, he should have contacted Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens, the two jail officers who were searching Evans, as well as Detective Superintendent Carter and Detective Chief Inspector Bell.

Perhaps it was his childlike enthusiasm for his armchair reasoning in identifying Evans’ hideout and catching him at the Golden Lion that he threw all prudence to the wind and acted recklessly by placing his trust in the wrong people. Evans and his associates had previously duped him. Evans knew both the German teacher and the invigilator. The Examination Branch correction slip was a brilliant mechanism for conveying the escape route and hide-out location. The Governor’s final act of folly demonstrated that he was only worth laughing at because he was too trusting and credulous.

Q4. While we condemn the crime, we are sympathetic to the criminal. Is this the reason why prison staff often develop a soft corner for those in custody?

Ans. People are outraged by the incident, which they see as a heinous violation of the law and society. In the past, the only way to deal with criminals was to punish them. The more serious the offence, the harsher and more severe the punishment, which might include life sentence or death.

In the modem age, efforts are on to reform the criminals, even the hard core, and bring them back to the mainstream. Hence police, prison officers, judges and other law-enforcing agencies develop a soft comer for the people in custody. While the sufferer should get justice, the innocent must not be punished. This idea too helps the prison staff often develop a soft comer for jthe prisoners.

The behaviour of prison officer Jackson amply illustrates the above point. He is very strict in enforcing the rules and regulations of prison as well as the Governor’s orders. Yet somewhere in him we find a tiny core of compassion. Even Evans knew it. Mr Jackson has asked Evans to remove that filthy bobble hat. Evans requested him to allow it to wear it during exam as it brought luck to him. It was kind o’ lucky charm for him. Jackson agreed.

Q5.Do you agree that between crime and punishment it is mainly a battle of wits?

Ans. Crime and punishment are like two sides of the coin. Punishment follows crime. It is only after a crime has been committed that the law-enforcing agencies become active and try to nab the offenders and bring them to book. If efforts of the police are successful, suitable punishment is awarded to the criminals.

Since the location, time and victim of a crime cannot be predicted in advance, preventive action to check the crime is not possible. Even tight security fails when hardened criminals or suicide-minded human bombs come into play.

Criminals are always one step ahead of the police. It is always a battle of wits between the two. The police tries to trace the clues left by the criminals and apprehend them on the basis of these. On the other hand, the criminals devise a foolproof plan and try to leave no clues which might help in identification later on. Since the legal system is based on evidence—both human and material—police as well as criminals and their lawyers, use their wits to turn the case in their favour and win it.

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