Question 82
MediumOriginal questionCustomer: How much for the mangoes?
: For you, sister, a hundred and twenty a kilo.
Customer: A hundred and twenty! Are they grown in gold?
Vendor: In the finest in Ratnagiri. Smell one. Go on.
Customer: I can smell it from here. The shop at the corner sells them for ninety.
Vendor: Then the shop at the corner must be selling very small, very sad mangoes. Look at the colour on these.
Customer: The colour is very nice. The price is less nice. A hundred.
Vendor: A hundred and ten, and I'll give you the best ones myself.
Customer: A hundred, and I'll come back every Sunday.
Vendor: (sighs) Every Sunday?
Customer: Every Sunday until the ends.
Vendor: My children will go hungry, but all right. A hundred. For a customer who keeps her promises.
Customer: You haven't seen me keep it yet.
Vendor: I have seen your face. That is enough.
Why does the vendor describe the corner shop's mangoes as "very small, very sad"?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The customer says the corner shop sells for ninety. The vendor replies that cheaper mangoes must be worse.
It is a playful sales trick to defend his higher price.
Worth noting
He has not said he has seen them. "Must be" shows he is guessing, or pretending to.
- Concept
- Inferring a speaker's purpose
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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