Question 230
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.”
Holmes says "It is simplicity itself". This shows that he
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Watson is astonished; Holmes "chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together", then says it is simple.
The chuckle and the words show confidence and a certain pleasure in his skill.
Worth noting
Holmes explains in detail, so he is not trying to change the subject.
- Concept
- Identifying a character's attitude
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Literary passages, at your own pace.