Question

…. Mr Purcell heard it no more than he would have heard the monotonous ticking of a familiar clock.” (Read para beginning with “It was a rough day…”)

(i) What does ‘it’ refer to?

(ii) Why does Mr Purcell not hear ‘it’ clearly?

Answer 1

(i) Here, ‘it’ refers to the chirping, squeaking and mewing of the birds and animals in the shop.

(ii) Mr Purcell did not hear the noise clearly because he owned the pet shop and thus, these noises seemed usual to him, like the monotonous ticking of a clock. He was used to the noise.