The Man Who Was a Hospital

By Jerome K. Jerome

 

Jerome K. Jerome was a British writer and humourist best known for his comic novel “Three Men in a Boat.” His works often blend humor with keen social observations, showcasing the absurdities of everyday life. Jerome’s light-hearted and witty style made him a popular figure in late 19th and early 20th-century English literature.

It is a humorous essay that satirizes the tendencies of hypochondriacs-people who believe they are suffering from every possible illness. The narrator humorously describes his experience of reading a medical book and convincing himself that he has all the diseases listed therein. Through witty observations and irony, the essay highlights the absurdity of self-diagnosis and the dangers of overthinking one’s health.

 

Mcqs from the Text

1. How did the author come to know that his liver was out of order?

(a)Through circular (b) through medicine book (c) he was feeling pain (d) None of these

2. The author never read any circular without being impelled to the conclusion that

(a)he is in good health (b) he is suffering from that particular disease (c) he should see a doctor (d) the symptoms do not match his condition

3. Where did the author go to read up on the treatment of some slight ailment?

(a)British Library (b) British Museum (c) Hospital (d) Medical College

4. What was the disease the author fancied he had?

(a)Scarlet fever (b) Typhoid fever (c) Hay fever (d) None of these

5. I idly turned the leaves and began to ___________ study diseases, generally.

(a)carelessly (b) carefully (c) indolently (d) None of these

6. ___________ I was relieved to find, I had only a modified form.

(a)Cholera (b) Typhoid (c) Scarlet Fever (d) Bright’s disease

7. I seemed to have been born with ___________.

(a) diphtheria (b) cholera (c) hay fever (d) St. Vitus’ Dance

8. ____________ I had with severe complications.

(a)Typhoid (b) hay fever (c) Cholera (d) Bright’s disease

9. I plodded ____________ through the twenty-six letters.

(a)nervously (b) conscientiously (c) indifferently (d) None of these

10. Which disease did the author conclude he did not have?

(a)Cancer (b) hay fever (c) Cholera (d) housemaid’s knee

11. The author calls it an _______________ that he did not have a housemaid’s knee.

(a)injustice (b) invidious reservation (c) insult (d) unfairness

12. The author felt hurt at first and it seemed to him some sort of _______ that he did not have a housemaid’s knee.

(a)injustice (b) slight (c) insult (d) none of these

13. The author had every known malady in ___________.

(a)pharmacology (b) medicine (c) the world (d) none of these

14. The author thought that he should be an _______________ in a medical class.

(a)acquisition (b) asset (c) achievement (d) attainment

15. What was the pulse rate of the author when he timed it?

(a)147/min (b) 147/hour (c) 80/min (d) 120/min

16. The author tried to feel his ________ but could not feel it.

(a)liver (b) pulse (c) heart (d) none of these

17. What did the author gain after seeing the tip of his tongue?

(a)that he is going to die (b) that he had scarlet fever (c) that he is going to live (d) that he is having typhoid

18. I had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy man. I crawled out as a _____ wreck.

(a) decrepit (b) dilapidated (c) crumbling (d) none of these

19. What is the meaning of chum?

(a)friend (b) doctor (c) psychologist (d) None of these

20. What does a doctor want according to the author?

(a) patients (b) money (c) practice (d) None of these

21. He would get more practice out of me than _______ ordinary, commonplace patients.

(a) fifteen hundred (b) seventeen hundred (c) sixteen hundred (d) fourteen hundred

22. The author said to the doctor that he would not waste his time by telling him what is the matter with him because according to him he was __________.

(a)about to die (b) suffering from every disease listed in pharmacology (c) too busy (d) none of these

23. The doctor opened him, looked down at him, and clutched hold of my wrist, and then he ________ me over the chest.

(a)patted (b) hit (c) knocked (d) none of these

24. Why did the chemist say that he did not have what was written in the prescription?

(a)he was short of stock (b) the prescription contained instructions, not medicine (c) he could not understand the writing of the doctor (d) none of these

25. The chemist told the author that if he were a co-operative store and family hotel combined, I might be able to ________ you.

(a)cater (b) oblige (c) gratify (d) fulfill

26. The prescription ran: 1 lb beef steak every ________.

(a)3 hours (b) hour (c) 6 hours (d) day

 

 

Answer
Key

1. through circular 2. He is suffering from that particular disease   3. British Museum 4. Hay-fever 5. Indolently          6. Bright’s disease         7. Diphtheria         8. Cholera        9. Conscientiously

10. Housemaid’s knee    11. Invidious reservation       12. Slight      13. Pharmacology     14. Acquisition      15. 147/min     16. Heart      17. That he had scarlet fever      18. Decrepit     19. Friend

20. Practice       21. Seventeen hundred         22. He was suffering from every disease listed in the pharmacology       23. Hit         24. The prescription contained instructions, not medicine                  25. Oblige         26. Six hours

Questions and Answers

Q: How did Jerome K. Jerome come to suspect that his liver was out of order? What were the diseases he thought he was suffering from on reading a book on the treatment of diseases?

Ans. He was reading a patent liver pill circular where all the symptoms were given by which a man could tell when his liver was out of order. He thought that he had all those symptoms. After reading a book on the treatment of diseases, Jerome K. Jerome concluded that he was suffering from almost all the diseases listed in the book save Housemaid’s Knee.

Q: What was the disease he discovered he did not have?

Ans. He sifted through all the twenty-six letters and the only disease he concluded he was not suffering from was housemaid’s knee. He probably did not have that disease because it often occurs in women doing household work.

Q: Was he pleased to find that he did not have Housemaid’s Knee?

Ans. The author was not pleased when he found out that he did not have the housemaid’s knee. He called it an ‘invidious reservation’. He felt hurt and thought that it was some sort of slight that he did not have it.

Q: What was his first reaction when he found out that he did not have Housemaid’s Knee?

Ans. When he found out that he did not have Housemaid’s Knee, he felt hurt about this at first and considered it a slight. After a while, when he thought that he had every other known malady in pharmacology, he grew less selfish and decided to do without Housemaid’s Knee.

Q: Why should he be an acquisition to a medical class?

Ans. He should be an acquisition to a medical class because he was suffering from every known malady in pharmacology. The students would not have to walk to different hospitals to examine the patients of different diseases. All they had to do was to walk around his bed and get their degree.

Q: Describe his visit to the medical man.

The author went to his medical man who was his old friend and told him that he would not waste his time by telling him about the diseases he was suffering from. He said that he was suffering from all diseases save housemaid’s knee and told him how he came to discover it. The doctor examined him, wrote a prescription, folded it, and gave it to him.

Q: He thought that he was doing the doctor a good turn by going to him. Why?

Ans. He was doing the doctor a good turn by going to him because he was suffering from so many diseases. All a doctor wants is practice and with the author, the doctor will get more practice out of him than seventeen hundred ordinary, commonplace patients with only one or two diseases.

Q: What was the prescription given to him by the doctor?

Ans. The doctor gave him the prescription which ran:

1 lb. beefsteak every six hours,

Ten-mile walk every morning,

Bed at 11 sharp every night.

And don’t stuff your head with things you don’t understand.

Q: Describe his visit to the chemist.

Ans. The author took the prescription to the nearest chemist and handed it in. The man read it and then handed it back. He said he did not keep it. The author asked him why he did not have it. He is a chemist and he is supposed to have it. The chemist answered that if he were a cooperative store and family hotel combined, then he could have obliged him. Being only a chemist hampers him because the prescription did not have any medicines. It only contains instructions about exercise, diet, and daily routine.

Q: What is the significance of the doctor’s advice “Don’t stuff your head with things, you don’t understand”?

Ans. The doctor’s advice is very significant because it is only the job of professionals to make decisions on professional issues. One should be especially careful regarding matters pertaining to one’s health and should consult a doctor and let him decide on the matter. One should not decide merely based on superficial knowledge.