Page 82 - DENG104_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_I

Unit 6: After Twenty Years by O. Henry

(c) wanted the same things out of life. Notes

(d) didn’t actually care much about each other. _______
4. Bob’s hand most likely trembles at the end of the story because of his feelings of
(a) fear. (b) anger.
(c) hatred. (d) regret. _______

5. The story implies that the reason Bob and Jimmy lost track of each other was because
(a) Bob was staying out of sight to avoid arrest.
(b) Jimmy had become a police officer.
(c) Bob was too busy to think about his old friend.
(d) Jimmy’s address kept changing. _______
6. When the police officer asked Bob whether he would hold his friend to the exact time
of the meeting, he actually wanted to find out whether
(a) Bob was as true a friend as he claimed to be.
(b) he had enough time to send another officer.

(c) Bob knew that he really was Jimmy.
(d) he should come back later without his police uniform. _______
7. The first clue that something unexpected was about to happen came when Bob
(a) lit a cigar.

(b) noticed that Jimmy was much taller than he used to be.
(c) pulled out his watch
(d) read the note from Patrolman Wells. _______

6.4 Summary

• After Twenty Years is a story about two characters, Bob and Jimmy Wells. Before
parting ways in order to build their careers, the two friends had promised each other
that twenty years down the line, they would meet at a particular restaurant. The story
begins with one friend, Bob, having reached the meeting place and waiting for his
friend to turn up. While waiting, a policeman on his duty stops by and Bob tells him
the reason behind his standing in the dark corner. The cop informs him that the restaurant
was demolished five years ago. A conversation starts and Bob tells the policeman about
his career and how he struck it rich in the west and how he wishes that Jimmy too had
done well.
• The policeman wishes him luck and continues on his beat. A little later, a man walks
up to Bob, and addresses him by his name. The two friends then get chatting, with Bob
telling his friend about how the west treated him. While walking, they reach a lighted
area, when Bob stops abruptly and realizes that the person he has been talking to all
along was not his friend Jimmy. When Bob says the same to the other man, Bob is
informed that he has been under arrest for the past ten minutes. The stranger then
hands a note to Bob. The note is from Patrolman Jimmy Wells, (the same policeman
who was talking to Bob when he was waiting for Jimmy to turn up) and says that
Jimmy was in the appointed place at the given time, but when Bob lit the cigar and

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