Welcome to “The Elevator Workbook Solution: ICSE Treasure Chest,” where we delve into the captivating narrative of ICSE English Literature Treasure Chest Part 2. Within these pages, we meticulously unravel the essence of “The Elevator” through comprehensive workbook solutions. This post offers comprehensive answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions, deepening your understanding of this timeless tale. Meet the characters and delve into the nuances of character development and thematic exploration. Each question serves as a gateway to dissecting the text, urging readers to analyze subtle nuances and extract deeper meanings. Contextual inquiries broaden our canvas for exploration, encouraging critical engagement with socio-cultural backdrops and universal themes. Through this examination, readers sharpen analytical skills and develop a profound appreciation for literary craftsmanship. Whether a student navigating ICSE English Literature or an avid reader unraveling beloved stories, “The Elevator Workbook Solutions” promises valuable companionship. Join us on this literary journey as we illuminate the path to understanding, one workbook solution at a time.
Table of Contents
Story Summary :
Martin, a weak thin twelve-year-old boy, dreaded using elevators as he feared that they would fall. He had shifted with his father to an apartment on the seventeenth floor of an old building having an old elevator which was particularly scary. This was because of its poor lighting, dirty walls and a defective door that never stayed open for long and slammed shut with a loud noise. It was also too small and could carry only three people. Martin could not use the stairs because they were equally bad and scary with neither any windows nor any working lights.
Once after school, when he tried taking the stairs he reached home gasping for breath, His father scolded him for not using the elevator. Martin felt as if he was chiding him : saying he was not only weak and skinny, bad at sports but also a coward. Martin felt that if he forced himself to use the elevator he would get used to it as was the case of bullying at school. But he never got used to the elevator.
One morning, when the elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor, a fat lady got in. She had large fleshy cheeks and no chin. She was so fat that Martin had to squeeze himself into a corner. She did nothing but stared at Martin, who was forced to wait for her to get off the elevator. He then ran practically all the way to school.
Martin was quite nervous when he returned to the building after school. He felt ashamed of himself at the thought of getting scared of an old lady. He entered the elevator, hoping that it would not stop, but it stopped on the third floor. Martin watched the door slide open and to his horror saw the same lady staring at him as if she knew he would be there. Martin weakly said ‘Going up!’ in the hope that she would be going down and would not enter the elevator. But she nodded and stepped in. The door slammed. This time she did not press fourteen, but eighteen, the top floor. Martin was perplexed that in the morning she got on the elevator at the fourteenth floor, so why did she get on at the third floor then and go up to eighteenth floor. Martin wanted to press seven so that he could get out and walk up the stairs, but he could not reach the buttons without touching her, and he did not want to do that.
When the elevator stopped, she hardly moved out of his way. He squeezed past her, rubbing against her scratchy coat. He was scared that the door would close before he could get out. She turned and watched him as the door slammed shut. On reaching home he asked his father if he had ever noticed a strange lady in the elevator. He replied that he had not. Martin knew he was probably making a mistake, but he had to tell somebody about the woman. He told his father that she was in the elevator with him twice and she just kept staring at him. His father scolded him for being afraid of some poor old lady.
In anger, Martin’s father exclaimed that he feared Martin would remain timid all his life. This hurt Martin terribly and he cried in the privacy of his room. His father probably was aware of the effect of his harsh words on his son. He slept very little. In the morning, when he saw the lady in the elevator he started running down the stairs. The stairs being dark, he fell down and broke his leg. His father was silent on the way to the hospital, disappointed and angry with him for being a coward and a fool. Martin had broken his leg and needed to walk on crutches. He knew that could not use the stairs.
After coming back from the hospital his father accompanied him in the elevator. Martin felt relieved that there was no room for the fat lady to get in, and if she did, his father would see her and may be then he would understand him. His father got off at the ninth floor to visit Mrs. Ullman, leaving Martin alone in the elevator. Martin pleaded with his father to take him along but he did not.
Martin tried to press nine to accompany his father, but the elevator did not stop. It stopped at the tenth floor, where the fat lady was waiting. Quickly she moved in. Martin, in crutches, was too slow to get past her in time to get out. The door shut and the elevator began to move. The fat lady greeted him by his name. She laughed, and pushed the Stop button.
Workbook MCQs :
1. Which of the following statements about the elevator in Martin’s building is NOT correct?
(a) There was poor lighting
(b) Its walls were dirty
(c) Its door could stay open for long
(d) It could carry only three people
Answer :- (c) Its door could stay open for long
2. Why was the narrator gasping for breath when he reached his home?
(a) He was scared that old lady was following him
(b) He used the stairs to reach his home on seventeenth floor
(c) He ran as fast as he could to escape from the fat lady
(d) He was thin and weak.
Answer :- (b) He used the stairs to reach his home on seventeenth floor
3. What was Martin’s fear about the elevator in his building?
(a) It would stop suddenly
(b) He would be trapped inside it for hours.
(c) He would be bullied by others in the elevator.
(d) Both (a) and (b).
Answer :- (d) Both (a) and (b)
4. Which of the following is incorrect about the lady who entered the elevator
(a) She had no chin but a huge mass of neck
(b) She had sharp brown eyes
(c) She was wearing an old green coat
(d) She had tiny but sharp eyes
Answer :- (b) She had sharp brown eyes
5. Why did Martin feel ashamed of himself when he returned home after school;
(a) For being afraid of an old lady
(b) For being scared of the staircase
(c) For not using the elevator
(d) None of the above
Answer :- (a) For being afraid of an old lady
6. Martin said, It wasn’t possible.’ What was it that Martin felt like a nightmare?
(a) Being trapped in the elevator
(b) Using the stairs to reach seventeenth floor
(c) Seeing the lady for the second time in the elevator
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- (c) Seeing the lady for the second time in the elevator
7. What did Martin’s father say when he told him about the lady?
(a) Martin would remain timid all his life
(b) Martin should ignore the old lady
(c) Martin should talk to her
(d) None of the above
Answer :- (a) Martin would remain timid all his life
8. How did Martin’s father feel when he (Martin) fell down and broke his leg?
(a) Sympathy for Martin
(b) Angry and disappointed
(c) Silent and apathetic
(d) None of the above
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
9. Why did Martin feel secure in the elevator after he returned from the hospital?
(a) The old lady was not in the elevator
(b) His father was with him in the elevator
(c) He could hit the lady with his crutches
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
10. What did Martin plead with his father when he left him alone in the elevator?
(a) To let Martin accompany him.
(b) To reach him to their house
(c) To meet the fat lady
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
11. Choose the option that lists the sequence of events in the correct order.
1. Martin watched the door slide open, revealing a green coat, a piggish fac and the blue eyes which were already staring at him as if she knew he would be there.
2. Martin stood there, unable to move, then backed away. As she saw him, her expression changed. She smiled as the door slammed.
3. One morning the elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor, and a fat lady got on.
4. The door closed and the elevator began to move. “Hello, Martin,” she said and laughed and pushed the stop button.
(a) 4.2.31
(b) 3,1,2,4
(c) 3,2,1,4
(d) 4,3,2,1
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
12. Select the option that shows the correct relationship between statements (1)
and (2) from The Elevator.”
1. “What am I going to do with you, Martin? Honestly, now you’re afraid of some
poor old lady.”
2. Martin started running down the stairs. The stairs were dark and he fell.
(a) 1 is the cause for 2
(b) 1is an example of 2
(c) 1is independent of 2
(d) 1 is a contradiction of 2
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Workbook Questions :
Extract 1
Martin, a thin twelve-year-old, felt nervous in it from the first day he and his father moved into the apartment. Of course, he was always uncomfortable in elevators, afraid that they would fall, but this one was especially unpleasant. Perhaps it was because of the poor, lightning and dirty walls. Perhaps it was because of the door, which never stayed open long enough, and slammed shut with a loud clanging noise.
(I) Where does Martin feel nervous? Why?
Answer : Martin feels nervous in the elevator of the apartment building. He is afraid of elevators in general, worried they might fall. This specific elevator worsens his anxiety with poor lighting, dirty walls, and a door that doesn’t stay open long, slamming shut loudly.
(II) Why was the elevator in his building unpleasant to use?
Answer : The elevator in his building was unpleasant to use Because it had poor lighting, dirty walls and a defective door that could not remain open for long and used to slam shut with a loud noise. Besides, it was too small and could carry only three people at a time.
(iII) What was the other option besides the elevator? Was it better than the elevator? Give reason to support your answer.
Answer : The other option for Martin was to use the stairs for going up and down his apartment on the 17th floor.
No, it was not better than the elevator because:-
- the stairs neither had any windows nor any working lights.
- they were not better than the elevator and were Martin’s equally bad and scary.
- Martin’s footsteps echoed behind him on the cement, as though there was another person following him.
- Martin had to use the stairs to reach the 17th floor and therefore, felt exhausted and gasping for breath.
(iV) How did the size of the elevator affect the narrator later in the story?
Answer : The size of the elevator in Martin’s building was too small to carry more than three persons. By the end of the story, Martin was trapped in the lift with a fat lady and could not escape from there because of a lack of space.
(v) Explain how does this extract act as a ‘foreshadow’ in the story.
Answer : This extract acts as a ‘foreshadow’ in the story by
- giving an inkling of something bad likely to happen with Martin later in the story.
- telling that Martin was always scared of the elevators. For he was afraid that it would fall and could be fatal for him.
- informing the readers about the defective door of the lift that never stayed open for long and closed with a loud noise.
Extract 2
He wanted to know why Martin was out of breath. ‘Why didn’t you take the elevator?” he asked, frowning at Martin. You’re not only skinny and weak and bad at sports, his face seemed to say, but you are also a coward. After that, Martin always took the elevator. He would have to get used to it, he told himself, just he got used to it, he told himself, just like he got used to being bullied at school.
But he didn’t get used to it. He was always afraid that it would stop suddenly and he would be trapped inside it for hours by himself.
(I) Who is ‘He’ referred to in the extract? What did he ask Martin? Why?
Answer : ‘He’ refers to Martin’s father. Martin’s father asked him why he had not taken the elevator and used the stairs instead. He asked so when he saw Martin gasping for breath after taking the stairs to reach his home on the 17th floor.
(iI) State the three adjectives which he apparently used for Martin. Why?
Answer : Three adjectives used by Martin’s father for him are:
1. skinny and weak
2. bad at sports
3. coward
Martin’s father used these adjectives as he was annoyed with Martin for not using the elevator and getting used to it and instead wasting his energy and time by using stairs to reach his house on the 17th floor.
(iII) What does Martin promise himself? Does he succeed? Name the other thing which he got used to?
Answer : Martin promised himself that he would always take the elevator and get used to it and thereby, overcame the fear he had of riding the elevator. No, Martin did not succeed in overcoming his fear of the elevators. He got used to being bullied at school.
(iV) What was his fear about the elevator? Did that happen at the end of the story? Give reason for your answer.
Answer : Martin’s fear about the elevator was that it would stop suddenly and he would be trapped inside it for hours by himself. Yes, it happened at the end of the story, though the elevator did not stop suddenly by itself. A fat lady, as imagined by Martin, or otherwise entered the lift and there was no space left by Martin to escape from the lift. So, he got trapped inside the lift with that fat lady. Since Martin felt that he was being laughed at by the fat lady, perhaps Martin would have taken that as an insult and overcome his fear and with that would have vanished the scary fat old lady.
(v) Explain briefly the characteristic traits of Martin based on this extract.
Answer : The characteristic traits of Martin based on this extract are:
Timid: Martin always feared using elevators. So when he used stairs instead of the elevator and entered home gasping for breath, he was rebuked by his father. Seeing the expression on his father’s face Martin felt that he was chiding him and saying he was weak and skinny, bad at sports and a coward. To avoid his father’s annoyance he promised himself that he would get used to elevator. However, Martin was unable to overcome his fear of the elevator.
Besides, he could not stand up against his bullies at school. Thus, it shows Martin was indeed timid.
Absence of Familial Bond: It seems that Martin and his father did not have a strong bond. That is why Martin could not understand his father’s frowning at him and interpreted it in his own way. Besides, he wanted to get over his fear of the elevator just to avoid his father’s annoyance.
for more characteristic trait refer to page 105 of the workbook
Extract 3
He thought about her all day. Did she live in the building? he had never seen her before, and the building was not very big. maybe she was visiting somebody? But 7.30 in the morning was too early for visiting.
martin felt nervous when he got back to the building after the school. But why should he afraid of an old lady? he felt ashamed of himself. He pressed the button and stepped into the elevator, hoping that it would not stop, but it stopped on the third floor.
(I) What did Martin think about here all day and why?
Answer : Martin kept on thinking about the old lady, whom he met in the elevator, because it was his fear of riding the elevator that made him create on imaginary fat lady, which grew into a bigger fear than the elevator. He could not get that image out of his mind and kept on thinking about it all day.
(iI) Why was Martin nervous when he got back to his building after school?
Answer : Martin was nervous when he got back to his building after school because the imagined old lady, whom he seemed to have met in the elevator could not get off his mind. It further enhanced his fear of riding an elevator.
(iII) Why did Martin feel ashamed of himself? What does it reveal about him?
Answer : Martin felt ashamed of himself for being afraid on an old lady. It reveals that Martin wanted to overcome his fears but did not have the courage and conviction to do so.
(iV) Why did Martin hope that the elevator would not stop? What happened when it did stop in the third floor?
Answer : Martin hoped that the elevator would not stop in the hope that he would not meet the old lady at any floor who would enter the elevator from any floor. When the elevator stopped at the third floor, the same old lady whom he had seen in the morning, entered the elevator.
(v) What according to you, Martin found scarier- the elevator or the old lady? Give reason to support your answer.
Answer : Martin definitely found the old scarier than the elevator because after seeing the old lady for the first time, his only fear was being trapped inside the elevator with her. The old lady was so fat that she would occupy the entire space in the elevator making it difficult for Martin to escape from the lift.
Extract 4
Martin knew he was probably making a mistake, but he had to tell somebody about the woman. She was in the elevator with me twice today. She just kept staring at me. She never stopped looking at me for a minute.
What are you so worried about now? his father said, turning impatiently away from the television. ‘What am I going to do with you, Martin. Honestly, now you are afraid of some poor old lady.”
(I) What was the mistake Martin think he was probably making? Why did he think so?
Answer : Martin felt that he was probably making a mistake by telling his father about the old lady, whom he had seen in the elevator.
He thought so because he knew that he would not get any positive support from his father; his father would rather chide him as being too thin and skinny, timid and perhaps a coward.
(iI) Why did Martin feel that he had to tell somebody about the woman? Whom did he decide to tell? Why?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iII) What was the one thing that Martin found strange about the lady? Why?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iV) Martin’s father asks him what was he worried about ‘now’? What was he afraid about earlier? What did his father say about him then?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(v) Give a character sketch of Martin’s father based on the extract.
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Extract 5
Martin started running down the stairs. The stairs were dark and he fell. His father was silent on the way to the hospital, disappointed and angry with him for being a crowd and a fool. he could not use the stairs now. Was that why that lady had smiled? Did she know what would happen?
(I) Why did Martin start running down the stairs? How did he fall?
Answer : Martin started running down the stairs on seeing the old lady in the elevator. Since the stairs were dark, Martin could not see them and finally fell down.
(iI) What were Martin’s father’s feelings on the way to the hospital? How had he reached earlier when Martin took the stairs to reach his house on the seventeenth floor?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iII) Why would Martin not be able to use the stairs? how do you think Martin would have been affected by this condition?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iV) Why did Martin think that fat lady had smiled and knew what was going to happen to him?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(v) Explain briefly what could have given rise to Martin’s thoughts about the fat lady.
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Extract 6
But the door was already closing. ‘Afraid to be in the elevator alone?” said his father. ‘Grow up, Martin. ‘the door slammed shut.
martin hobbled to the buttons and pressed nine, but it didn’t do any good. The elevator stopped at ten, where that fat lady was waiting for him. She moved in quickly, and he was too slow to get past here in time to get out. The door closed and the elevator began to move.
‘Hello, Martin, ‘she said, and laughed, and pushed the Stop button.
(I) How did Martin remain alone in the elevator? What did his father tell him?
Answer : Martin remained alone in the elevator when his father got down from the elevator on the ninth floor to meet Mrs. Ullman. Martin’s father asked him if he was feeling scared to be in the elevator alone and then told him to grow up, i.e., to give up his fear of the elevator.
(iI) Why did Martin want to press button nine on the elevator? What had happened instead?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iII) Why could Martin not move out of the elevator? What happened thereafter?
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iV) Why do you think that the lady laughed and then pushed the ‘Stop button? Give a reason to support your answer.
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(v) The story ends in a cliffhanger. What is a cliffhanger? Explain what according to you would have happened at the end. Give reasons to justify your views.
Answer : ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
