Telephone
1. Why don’t I have a telephone`? Not because I pretend to be wise or pose as unusual. There are two chief reasons: because I don’t really like the telephone and because I find I can still work and play, eat, breathe, and sleep without it. Why don’t I like the telephone? Because I think it is a pest and a time-waster. It may create unnecessary suspense and anxiety, as when you wait for an expected call that doesn’t come; or irritating delay, as when you keep ringing a number that is always engaged. As for speaking in a public telephone box, that seems to be really horrible. You would not use it unless you were in a hurry, and because you are in a hurry you will find other people waiting before you. When you do get into the box, you are half asphyxia-acted by stale, unventilated air, flavoured with cheap face powder and chain-smoking; and by the time you have begun your conversation your back is chilled by the cold looks of somebody who is fidgeting to take your place.
2 If you have a telephone in your house, you will admit that it tends to ring when you least want it—when you are asleep, or in the middle of a meal or a conversation, or when you are just going out, or when you are in your bath. Are you strong-minded enough to ignore it, to say to yourself, ‘Ah well, it will be the same in a hundred’ years time’? You are not. You think there may be some important news or message for you. Have you never rushed dripping from the bath, or chewing from the table, or dazed from the bed, only to be told that you are the wrong number? You were told the truth. In my opinion, all telephone numbers are wrong numbers. If, of course, your telephone rings and you decide not to answer it, then you will have to listen to an idiotic bell ringing and ringing in what is supposed to be the privacy of your own home. You might as well buy a bicycle bell and ring it yourself…
3 If like me, one is without a telephone, somebody is sure to say, ‘Oh, but don’t you find you have to write an awful lot of letters ?’ The answer to that is ‘Yes, but I should have to write an awful lot of letters anyway.’ This may bring the remark: ‘Ah well, if you don’t have a telephone, at least you must have a typewriter.’ And the answer to this is ‘No’.
4 ‘What, no telephone and no typewriter! Do please explain why.’ Well, I am a professional man of letters1. When I was younger I thought a typewriter would be convenient. I even thought it was necessary and that editors and publishers would expect anything sent to them to be typewritten. So I bought a typewriter and taught myself to type and for some years I typed away busily. But I did not enjoy typing. I happened to enjoy the act of writing. I enjoy forming letters or words with a pen, and I could never enjoy tapping the keys of a typewriter. There again, there was a bell—only a little bell that rang at the end of each line—but still, a bell. And the fact is, I am not mechanically minded, and a typewriter is a machine. I have never been really drawn to machines. I don’t like oiling, cleaning. or mending them. I do not enjoy making them work. To control them gives me no sense of power—or not the kind of power that I find interesting. And machines do not like me. When I touch them they tend to break down2, get jammed, catch fire, or blow up.
Word Meanings:-
1.pen—an annoying person or dung 2. asphyxiated—made ill due to lack of fresh air reaching the lungs. 3. fidgeting—making small restless movements, thus annoying other people 4. dazed — surprised. 5.man of letters—one whose profession is literature or academic study. 6. break down — go out of order.
Questions
(a)On the basis of your reading of the above passage makes notes on it, using headings and sub-headings. Use recognizable abbreviations (wherever necessary—minimum 4) and a format you consider suitable. Also, supply an appropriate title to it.
(b) Write a summary of the above passage in about 150 words.
Answers
Notes on the contents of the Passage :
1.Why the war. dislikes having a type.
— can do without it in all ways
— thinks it a pest and a time-waster
— creates unnecessary suspense and anxiety
2. What he thinks of using a tlph. box
— ppl. waiting before you can’t use when in hurry
— smelly stinking boxes
— cold looks of ppl. waiting behind you
3. The nuisance of having a type.
— unwtd. disturbance during sleep. meals, conversation etc.
— can’t be ignored in any case
— even if ignored, the idiotic bell is most jarring.
4. The writer prefers writing letters i.o. having a tlph.
5. Enjoys writing letters by hand i.o. using a tower.
— the jarring little bell at the end of each line
— the problem of oiling, cleaning. mending
— freq. breaking down and other problems.
| Abbreviations used :
1. wr. — writer 2. tphs. — telephone 3. ppl. — people 4. unwtd.—unwanted 5. i.o.—instead of 6. type. — typewriter
|
Heading: Telephone—An Avoidable Nuisance
Summary of the Passage:
The writer lists some reasons why he doesn’t want to have a telephone. He regards it a pest and a time waster. He doesn’t feel its need in any way. He can do everything perfectly well without having to use a telephone. He calls it an unwanted disturbance the idiotic bell of which can’t be ignored, and which keeps jarring on one’s nerves even when ignored. Making an urgent call at a public telephone box, which is invariably smelly and stinking is also a very unpleasant experience. One can’t do it immediately since there are always people waiting before you. Also, there are people at your back. The writer prefers writing letters instead of holding conversations on the telephone. And he prefers writing them down by hand instead of typing on a typewriter. The machines, he says, don’t like him. They tend to break down when he touches them.
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