Answer the following questions, each in about 40-50 words:

Q.1 What was the condition of the parents of Matilda on the arrival of the doctor?

Ans: When the doctor arrived, the mother looked upset and worried. She was cleanly dressed. She was ready to co-operate with the doctor. The father was worried as the girl was sitting on his lap. The doctor had to satisfy both with his treatment of the girl.

Q.2 What was the behavior  of the  child with the doctor? What does it tell of her character?

Ans: The child was very angry and ready to fight. She did not obey the doctor in her treatment. She was a rude, indecent child who needed control and training. She was foolish not to understand the need for her medical treatment. Her mind was quite undeveloped. But she was very emotional.

Q.3 For how long did the girl have fever and for what reason?

Ans: The girl had fever for three days. She had a serious throat disease. This disease had caused the fever. Firstly, it looks she had eaten harmful food or had cold drinks too often. Secondly, her parents did not start her medical treatment much earlier in a proper way.

Q.4 Why did girl no change her expression when the mother said, “Does your throat hurt you?” What did the doctor have to do first?

Ans: The girl did not change her expression because she did not think she had a bad throat. She had earlier told the parents that her throat did not hurt her. The doctor had first to examine the throat of the girl. He wanted to see if she really had diphtheria(disease of the throat) or not.

Q.5 Why did the doctor call the sick girl by her first name? Do doctors like to address their patients by their first name?

Ans: The doctor called the girl by her first name, ”Mathilda” just because she was a child. He wanted to be frank with her to show his kindness. Doctors like to address their patients thus to look frank and close to them. We use the first name of those with whom we are frank.

Q.6 Did the sick girl promptly (readily) respond to the instruction of the doctor?

Ans: The doctor asked the girl to open her mouth. He even told her that he did not have anything in his hands that could trouble  her. Yet she did not let herself be examined. It appears she had little experience of suitable medical treatment. Her parents had not trained her in proper manners.

Q.7 Why did the parents rebuke(check severely) Mathilda?

Ans: The parents had to do this because Mathilda was not opening her mouth to the doctor. She even threw the doctor’s glasses down when he moved closer. She was out of control and had to be checked severely. The parents should have trained and instructed her suitably.

Q.8 What was the threat of the doctor to the child for not showing her throat?

Ans: The doctor threatened the child that if she not co-operate, she would have to go to the hospital. He asked her mother to hold the girl’s body and hands firmly. The child cried wildly and asked others not to kill her. She was mentally and emotionally upset. Her fear of some harm coming to her from her medical treatment made her misbehave. 

Q.9 Why did the girl break the wooden blade? What does it tell of her character?

Ans: She broke the wooden blade because she was afraid it might hurt her throat. She was also not in a mood to be disturbed in her pain and trouble. Her behavior shows that she was a foolish girl having little understanding of the need to get medically treated. She did not respect her elders and obey her parents well.

Q.10 What was the condition of the tonsils of the sick girl? What did she need?

Ans: Both her tonsils were covered with membrane (something like skin). She had an extremely painful and red throat. She needed immediate medical treatment. She perhaps needed a surgical operation of the tonsils or their removal.

MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.1 What was the condition of the girl when the doctor arrived? (or) How did she look?

Ans: The girl was fully dressed and was sitting on her father’s lap. She was very upset and angry to see the doctor close to her. She was strong like a cow, but her face was flushed (become red) with disease . She was breathing fast and was running high fever.

Q.2 Why did the parents keep the sick child in the kitchen?

Ans: The parents of Mathilda kept her in the kitchen because it was warm there. The child was suffering from a very dangerous disease of the throat. She was running fever and must be feeling cold. Perhaps Mathilda’s mother could take care of her better in the kitchen.

Q.3 How did the doctor finally open Mathilda’s mouth and what did he find?(or) How did the doctor succeed in examining the girl’s throat?

Ans: The doctor took the girl’s neck and jaws into his hands forcibly. He pushed the silver spoon behind her teeth into her throat. As she felt difficult to breathe, she opened her mouth. Thus, he saw her tonsils covered with disease germs.

Q.4 Describe the feelings of the doctor in his struggle to diagnose (find out medically) the disease?

Ans: The doctor felt that Mathilda was very angry at his arrival. When he tried to have her mouth opened, she did not open it. Her mother said to her that the doctor was not going to hurt her. The doctor minded the use of  the word”hurt” for him.

Q.5 Compare ;and contrast the general conduct of a healthy and sick child.

Ans: A healthy child behaves very gently towards others. A well-kept or well-grown-up child is not so much upset when he has a medical examination. A sick child like Mathilda becomes sensitive or touchy. He or she cannot be gentle in her behavior towards others.

Q.6 Under what circumstances is the use of force justified in medical or surgical treatment?

Ans: The use of force is justified when a patient like Mathilda is not ready to have herself or himself examined. Suppose a person needs an operation on any part of his body and he refuses to be operated on. He should be forcibly made unconscious and taken to the operation theatre.