Sherlock Holmes Visits the Scene of the Crime from A Study in Scarlet by A. C. Doyle (adapted from Secondary Certificate English textbook).

Number 3, Lauriston Gardens, wore an ill-omened look. It was one of four which stood back some little way from the street, two being occupied and two empty. The latter looked out with three tiers of vacant melancholy windows, which were blank and dreary, save that her and there a ‘To Let’ card had developed into a cataract upon the bleared panes. A small garden sprinkled over with a scattered eruption of sickly plants separated each of theses houses from the street, and was traversed by a narrow pathway, yellowish in colour, and consisting apparently of a mixture of clay and gravel. The whole place was very sloppy from the rain which had fallen through the night. The garden was bounded by a three-foot brick wall with a fringe of wood rails upon the top, and against this wall was leaning a stalwart police-constable, surrounded by a small knot of loafers, who craned their necks and strained their eyes in the vain hope of catching some glimpse of the proceedings within.
I had imagined that Sherlock Holmes would at once have hurried into the house and plunged into a study of the mystery. Nothing appeared to be further from his intention. With an air of nonchalance which, under the circumstances, seemed to border upon affectation, he lounged up and down the pavement, and gazed vacantly at the ground, the sky, the opposite houses and the line of the railings. Having finished his scrutiny, he proceeded slowly down the path, or rather down the fringe of grass which flanked the path, keeping his eyes riveted upon the ground. Twice he stopped, and once I saw him smile, and heard him utter an exclamation of satisfaction. There were many marks of footsteps upon the wet, clayed soil, but since the police had been coming and going over it, I was unable to see how my companion could hope to learn anything from it. Still I had had such extraordinary evidence of the quickness of his perceptive faculties, that I had no doubt that he could see a great deal which was hidden from me.

1. Briefly explain the following phrases: refer especially to the adjectives used: an ill-omened look, melancholy windows, bleared panes, a stalwart Police-constable, the vain hope. (5)

2. How does the writer’s word-choice convey an impression of wretchedness and drabness in his first paragraph? (4)

3. Explain the meaning in each of the following:
“an air of nonchalance which, under the circumstances, seemed to me to border upon affectation”
“I had had such extraordinary evidence of the quickness of his perceptive faculties” (4)

4. Give a word or short phrase that might be used in place of the following: eruption, craned, lounged, vacantly, scrutiny. (7)

5. Dr Watson is narrating here. What sort of a man do you imagine him to be judging from the way he speaks and using evidence from the text. (4)

(22)