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Literary passages · Question 226 of 305

How did Holmes know that Watson had been out in bad weather?

Question 226

MediumOriginal question

“I see it, I it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”

“My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is , and my wife has given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it out.”

He to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.

“It is itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in weather, and that you had a particularly boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.”

How did Holmes know that Watson had been out in bad weather?

Options for question 226

Show the answer and explanation
CorrectNot quiteAnswer D

Correct answer: D

Explanation

  1. Holmes explains that the leather inside Watson's left shoe "is scored by six almost parallel cuts", made by someone "carelessly" scraping off "crusted mud".

  2. Crusted mud means Watson had been out in wet, muddy weather.

Worth noting

Watson had "changed my clothes", so there was no wet coat to see.

Concept
Following a chain of reasoning
Typical time
45 s
Your time
—
The rule this testsA detail the passage states
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Ten questions from Literary passages, at your own pace.

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Ten questions from Literary passages, at your own pace.