The NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – “If I Were You” provides detailed explanations and answers to all the questions in the chapter. This one-act play, written by Douglas James, is a suspenseful and humorous story about an intelligent playwright named Gerrard who outwits a criminal attempting to murder him. Through clever dialogue and quick thinking, Gerrard turns the tables on the intruder. The solutions help students understand the plot, characters, and themes of deception and wit. These solutions are crafted to improve students’ comprehension and critical thinking, following the latest NCERT guidelines to prepare effectively for exams.
Thinking About the Text:
I. Answer These Questions.
1. At last a sympathetic audience.”
i. Who says this?
Answer: Gerrard has said this.
ii. Why does he say it?
Answer: An intruder asked him to speak about himself. That’s why he said so.
iii. Is he sarcastic or serious?
Answer: He said this in a sarcastic tone.
2. Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on?
Answer: The intruder chose Gerrard because he resembles Gerrard. He planned to escape by impersonating Gerrard because he was a killer and the police were closing in on him.
same.
3. I said it with bullets.”
i. Who says this?
Answer: Gerrard has spoken the above lines.
ii. What does it mean?
Answer: He shot someone with his gun to escape as things were going wrong.
iii. Is it the truth? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?
Answer: This is not true. Gerrard said this only to save himself from the shot of the intruder.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I Were You
4. What is Gerrard’s profession? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.
Answer: Gerrard’s profession is that of a playwright. There are number of instances that reflect this but some of them are as follows:
- This is all very melodramatic, not very original, perhaps, but…”
- Finally, a sympathetic audience!”
- In most melodramas the villain is foolish enough to delay his killing long enough to be frustrated”.
- I said, “You were luckier than most melodramatic villains.”
- That’s a disguise outfit; false moustaches and what not”
- Sorry I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal, I’ve had a spot of bother – quite amusing. I think I’ll put it in my next play.”
5. You’ll soon stop being smart.”
i. Who says this?
Answer: The line is said by the intruder.
ii. Why does the speaker say it?
Answer: The intention behind saying the line is to frighten the Gerrard.
iii. What according to the speaker will stop Gerrard from being smart?
Answer: Intruder assumed that once Gerrard got to know about what was going to happen with him, he would stop acting smart. The intruder was planning to take the identity of Gerrard by killing him.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I were You
6. They can’t hang me twice.”
i. Who says this?
Answer: The line is spoken by an intruder.
ii. Why does the speaker say it?
Answer: The speaker said so because he was telling Gerrard about his murdering of a man and he won’t mind killing him too as the police cannot hang him twice for the same offence.
7. A mystery I propose to explain.” What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?
Answer: Gerrard created the mystery story to save his life from an invader. The story opens with Gerrard describing himself as a criminal, like an intruder. He asked the invader to meet people from various trades and to be a bit of a mystery man who is here today and gone tomorrow. When things began to go awry, the game became less enjoyable. As he murdered someone and fled the crime scene. Unfortunately, one of his men was captured, revealing information that would otherwise have been burned by his men. With this, he concluded that certain difficulties were in his path, which is why he had to flee the spot.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I were You
8. This is your big surprise.”
i. Where has this been said in the play?
Answer: The line was spoken twice in the drama. The intruder stated it for the first time when announcing his plan to assassinate Gerrard. On the second occasion, Gerrard used this to show his fictitious identity to the invader.
ii. What is the surprise?
Answer: The surprise was the plan of the intruder to kill Gerrard and copy his identity in order to lead a secure life whereas, on the other hand, Gerrard’s secret was a fictitious identity so that he could refrain from getting killed by the intruder.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I Were You
Thinking About the Language
II. Consult Your Dictionary and Choose the Correct Word From the Pairs Given in Brackets.
1. The (site, cite) of the accident was (ghastly/ghostly).
Answer: The site of the accident was ghastly.
2. Our college (principal/principal) is very strict.
Answer: Our college principal is very strict.
3. I studied (continuously/continually) for eight hours
Answer: I studied continuously for eight hours.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I Were You
4. The fog had an adverse (affect/effect) on the traffic.
Answer: The fog had an adverse effect on the traffic.
5. Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant (artist/artiste).
Answer: Cezanne, the famous French painter, was a brilliant artist.
6. The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary (college/college) of science fiction and mystery.
Answer: The book that you gave me yesterday is an extraordinary collage of science fiction and mystery.
7. Our school will (host/hoist) an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
Answer: Our school will host an exhibition on cruelty to animals and wildlife conservation.
8. Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and (shake/shape) well before using the contents.
Answer: Screw the lid tightly onto the top of the bottle and shake well before using the contents.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I were You
III. Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, Oh! That was clever!” That is ironic. You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
- Oh, wasn’t that clever! /Oh, that was clever!
- You have been a great help, I must say!
- You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
- Oh, very funny! /How funn
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically.
Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way. Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I were You
Write down three such expressions along with what they really mean.
| What the Author Says | What He Means |
| Why, this is a surprise, Mr-er- | He says that the intruder is a social
visitor and he is welcoming him. In this way he helped himself in hiding his fear. |
| At last, a sympathetic audience. | He pretended that the intruder was
willing to listen to him. Intruder wanted to find the information for his own use. |
Answer:
| What the Author Says | What He Means |
| You won’t kill me for a very good
reason. |
As there is no reason but still Gerrard
pretends that there is a very good reason. |
| Sorry, I can’t let you have the props
in time for rehearsal, I have had a spot of bother- quite amusing. |
The ‘spot of bother’ which according
to Gerrard is quite amusing is in reality a life-threatening situation, where he was threatened by a criminal who wants to kill him. |
| You have been so modest | Gerrard considers it immodest on the
part of the intruder to know about Gerrard without revealing his own identity to him. |
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 9 – If I were You
For the Next Chapter Solution Click Below
CHAPTER 2 – The Sound of Music
CHAPTER 4 – A Truly Beautiful Mind
CHAPTER 5 – The Snake and The Mirror