'Three Students' Grade 12 Optional English
About the writer
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish writer, best known for his creation of the detective character
Sherlock Holmes. He was born in a prosperous Irish family.
About the story 'Three Students'
The story 'Three
Students' deals with a case of stealing
the exam questions form a professor's
room. The professor, Hilton Soames
found that somebody has seen the question prior to the examination. So, he asks
for Holmes's (a detective) help. The professor didn’t want police’s involvement in the case because it would be
the matter of scandal and may affect the university’s
reputation. Soames finds several
clues in his room; a cut on his desk, a
broken pencil and some black clay. There are three suspects-the students
who live above his room and he quickly realizes which student is to blame. At
the end, the student admits that he saw the paper, and explains that he does
not take the exam after all as he has been offered a job in South Africa.
Sherlock Holmes: A fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is based in London and is famous for his prowess (पराक्रम) at using logic and astute (चतुर) observation to solve cases.
Dr. Watson: The only friend and confidante of
Sherlock Holmes. He is an ordinary man, whereas Holmes is brilliant and
analytical.
Professor Soames: A university professor who asks
Holmes and Watson to help him solve a mystery.
Bannister: He is Soames’ faithful butler (male worker). He has been working for Soames for ten years. He is a nervous little man and spends most of the story trying to cover up for the thief.
Gilchrist: One of the three suspects, he is a
hard-working, excellent student and athlete.
Daulat Ras: An Indian student who is among the
three suspects in the case. He is rather nervous and anxious but very
hard-working.
McLaren: He is the third of the suspects. He is a
brilliant student but unfortunately, he is lazy and unprincipled.
Main summary of the story
Holmes and Watson were staying in a university town when one evening Mr. Hilton Soames, a university lecturer, called on them. He was very agitated (व्यथित) and explained that the following day there was a Greek examination for a very important scholarship and that he was an examiner. He had received the proofs, on three sheets of paper, and a cup of tea. After having unrolled and read the proofs, Soames went out at 4:30pm.
When he returned he found a key in the lock of the door. He later found out that it belonged to Bannister, his servant, who had gone into the office to ask if he wanted a cup of tea. When Soames went into his office, however, he saw that somebody had moved the papers. The third page was still on his desk but the first one was on the floor and the second was by the window.
When Soames asked Bannister if he had looked through
the papers, he said he hadn’t and Soames believed him. He thought that somebody
had seen the key in the lock, gone into his office, and looked at the proofs.
When Soames went into his office he looked for evidence. He found some shreds of pencil and some black earth (clay). He also noticed that there was a cut in the red leather on his new desk. Soames was
very worried because if they didn’t find the man, they
would have to postpone the examination and this would create a scandal at the university. Holmes asked
Soames if anybody had come into the room while he was checking the papers. Soames explained that Daulat Ras,
an Indian student, had come in but had not seen anything.
Holmes, Watson, and Soames all went to Soames’ study which was on the ground floor and overlooked the courtyard. Holmes
looked at the proofs and said that the visitor had copied the first part and while he was copying the second, Soames arrived. So the man had to
escape quickly. He also said that the man had broken the pencil
and he had to sharpen it. A piece of the pencil had the letters 'NN' on it. They were two letters of Johann Faber, a famous maker of pencils. Holmes saw that the earth
contained some sawdust. He then examined the scratch on the desk.
Soames told Holmes about the three students.
Gilchrist was a very brilliant student and also a very good athlete and his father had lost all his money gambling on the horses. Daulat Ras was also a good
student but weak at Greek, while McLaren was probably the most industrious of the three but unruly and didn’t study very
much so he could be the culprit. Then Holmes asked Bannister why he went to sit in
the chair near the window when he felt bad when there were several other chairs in the room nearer to him. When
asked who he suspected, Bannister said he didn’t think he knew anybody who
would commit such a crime.
Holmes, Watson, and Soames went to talk to the
students. First, they visited Gilchrist. Holmes drew some of the medieval furniture in a notebook using a pencil he had borrowed
from Gilchrist. He did the same when they visited the Indian student.
Unfortunately, they didn’t find any clues. Then they visited McLaren, who was
very rude to them. As they left Holmes asked Soames how tall McLaren was. Soames replied that he was taller
than the Indian but not as tall as Gilchrist. Then Holmes and Watson went to four stationery to look for Johann Faber pencils but they
didn’t have them in stock. The following morning Holmes told Watson that he
had solved the mystery. He had got up early and gone out to work on the case.
Read the following TRUE and FALSE exercise about Three Students for better understanding
1) Holmes and Watson were at the university. FALSE
(They were at university town)
2) Mr. Soames worked at the university. TRUE
3) At first Holmes was not interested in the case.
TRUE
4) Soames left his office before checking the
proofs. FALSE (He didn’t check completely)
5) Bannister had left his key in the door. TRUE
6) Somebody had moved all three of the proofs. FALSE
(Only two papers were moved)
7) Holmes, Watson, and Soames went to the university
library. FALSE (They went to the office of MT Soames)
8) They arrived in the morning. FALSE (They arrived
in the evening)
9) The thief used a large, dark blue pencil with
soft lead. TRUE
10) Soames went to look for Holmes when he saw the
key in the door. FALSE (Went to look for Holmes when he saw the messed up
papers)
11) Soames’ bedroom was not very nicely decorated.
TRUE
12) Gilchrist is both a good student and athlete.
TRUE
13) Daulat Ras is not very good at Greek. TRUE
14) Miles McLaren is a disciplined student. FALSE
(He was involved in a card scandal)
15) Bannister is now feeling better. TRUE
16) Bannister says he forgot to take the key out of
the lock. TRUE
17) Holmes found some interesting clues in
Gilchrist’s room. FALSE
18) McLaren was very rude to Holmes. FALSE
19) Watson does not suspect Bannister. FALSE
20) Holmes ordered some pencils from the
stationers’. FALSE (He went himself to the stationery to check the pencils)
21) Holmes found another piece of earth. TRUE
Thank you sir
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