The Hack Driver Class 10 English Exam Questions

Please refer to The Hack Driver Class 10 English Exam Questions provided below. These questions and answers for Class 10 English have been designed based on the past trend of questions and important topics in your class 10 English books. You should go through all Class 10 English Important Questions provided by our teachers which will help you to get more marks in upcoming exams.

Class 10 English Exam Questions The Hack Driver

Class 10 English students should read and understand the important questions and answers provided below for The Hack Driver which will help them to understand all important and difficult topics.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Why was the narrator sent to New Mullion by his law firm?
Ans. The narrator was a new entrant in the law firm. So, he was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins. A case was coming up in the court which required Lutkins’ presence urgently.

Question. Why did the narrator think of fleeing to his hometown to practice law?
Ans. The narrator was a junior assistant clerk in a law firm where he had the job of serving summons. He hated this work as it took him to the wrong side of the city where he had been beaten up too by the people. This is why he had considered fleeing to his hometown and practicing law there.

Question. What happened at Lutkin’s mother’s farm?
Ans. When the lawyer and Bill reached the farmyard looking for Lutkins, his mother shouted at them and charged at them with an iron off the stove. However, they did manage to search the house by peering through the windows.

Question. Who befriended the narrator when he went to New Mullion? Where did he take him?
Ans. The hack driver befriended the lawyer when he went to New Mullion to serve summons on a man called Oliver Lutkins. The hack driver took him to all the places that Lutkins hanged out at. They went to Fritz’s to see if Oliver was playing a game of poker then to so many other places and finally to Lutkin’s mother’s farm. But all this was in vain.

Question. How did Lutkins’ mother receive the narrator?
Ans. At last Lutkins took the narrator to meet his mother. Lutkins mother came out of the kitchen with an iron from the old stove. She marched on the narrator shouting loud. This frightened him and he retreated, making a fool of himself.

Question. How did the narrator feel after knowing that the hack driver was Lutkins himself?
Ans. The narrator at last came to know the truth from the official. It was that the man as the hack driver was Lutkins himself. He felt shocked at this deception.
His feelings were hurt as Lutkins and his mother laughed at him.

Question. Why did the narrator think that in finding New Mullion he had found a treasure?
Ans. The narrator had found Bill, a deep and rich human, he thought he would grow to love Fritz and Custaff and a hundred other slow-spoken, simple, wise neighbours. He pictured an honest and happy life beyond the strict limits of universities and law firms. He had discovered a new way of life and so thought that he had found a treasure.

Question. What job did the narrator get after graduation? Did he like his work?
Ans. The narrator became a junior assistant clerk in a good law firm after graduation. However, he did not like his work. He had to serve summons and for the same he had to visit dirty and shadowy corners of the city which he disliked a lot.

Question. With what impression did the lawyer come back to the city?
Ans. The lawyer returned to the city with a good impression. In fact, he even thought about practising law at New Mullion. The people here were deep, compassionate and humans. They were simple, wise, good and helpful. The place was simply ‘a treasure’ for him.

Question. What job did the narrator get after graduation? Did he like his work?
Ans. The narrator became a junior assistant clerk in a good law firm after graduation. However, he did not like his work. He had to serve summons and for the same he had to visit dirty and shadowy corners of the city which he disliked a lot.

Question. What happened at Lutkin’s mother’s farm?
Ans. When the lawyer and Bill reached the farmyard looking for Lutkins, his mother shouted at them and charged at them with an iron off the stove. However, they did manage to search the house by peering through the windows.

Question. How did the narrator feel after knowing that the hack driver was Lutkins himself?
Ans. The narrator at last came to know the truth from the official. It was that the man as the hack driver was Lutkins himself. He felt shocked at this deception.
His feelings were hurt as Lutkins and his mother laughed at him.

Question. What does Bill say about Lutkins?
Ans. Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard person to find as he was always busy in some activity or the other. He owed money to many people, including Bill himself but he had never paid back anybody. He also tells the lawyer that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.

Question. Why did the young lawyer wish to return to New Mullion? 
Ans. The young lawyer wished to return to New Mullion to practice law. He was overjoyed by the ride given by hack driver. He was happy with Bill’s wisdom and quick wittedness. He thought of living with wise neighbours in New Mullion. He pictured an honest and happy life beyond the strict limits of universities and law firms.

Question. Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken for a ride? 
Ans. Yes, the lawyer was gullible (innocent).
He believed every word of what Oliver Lutkins said. He should have asked about Lutkins from other villagers also. instead of depending completely on the hack driver.

Question. What does the hack driver do to help the lawyer to look for Oliver Lutkins?
Ans. A hack driver at the station, who called himself Bill Magnuson, befriends the lawyer. Bill told the lawyer that he knew Lutkins and would help in finding him.
Bill took him to all the places where Lutkins was known to be present. He took the lawyer to Fritz’s shop, where Lutkins played a lot of poker; to Gustaff ’s barber shop and then to Gray’s barber shop; to the poolroom and several other places before finally taking him to Lutkins’ mother’s farm. However, Oliver Lutkins was not found any where.

Question. The young man earned for himself the ire of his office people on his return from New Mullion. Explain why. 
Ans. The young man earned for himself the ire of his office people on his return from New Mullion because his task remained incomplete. He went to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins, who was needed as a witness. When he failed to find him, everybody in the office got upset with him.

Question. What about the delivery man appealed to the young junior assistant clerk from the city?
Ans. When the narrator reach New Mullion, the delivery man was the only agreeable sight to the narrator. His presence appealed the narrator for he had a friendly and open manner. It filled the young junior assistant clerk with warmth. This kindness and his smile made the clerk feel like he was an old friend.

Question. ‘But he was no more dishonest than I’. Explain. 
Ans. The lawyer says the following words because the hack driver was charging him a large amount to search for Lutkins.
However, just like the hack driver, he was also going to charge the firm for the expenses of visiting New Mullion. Therefore, both of them were equally dishonest.

Question. When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for Lutkins? When do you think ‘Bill’ came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
Ans. When the lawyer reached the station, ‘Bill’ at once got to know that the lawyer was looking for him. When the lawyer told and confirmed Bill’s opinion that he was looking for Oliver Lutkins, he made a plan to fool the lawyer.

Question. Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place? 
Ans. The lawyer was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins, who was needed as a witness in a law case.
The lawyer thought that the place must be a beautiful and peaceful country village.

Question. Why did Lutkins pretend to be Bill Magnuson?
Ans. Lutkins pretended to be Bill Magnuson as he did not want to accept the summons and be a witness in the case. So, he pretended to help the lawyer in finding Lutkins and wandered everywhere.

Question. What do you think inspired the minister’s wife to sing the loudest in church when she was most in debt? 
Ans. Bill told the narrator that the minister’s wife sang the loudest when she was most in debt. It was probably so that God would hear her first and help her settle the debt as soon as possible.

Question. Explain why Bill’s offer wasn’t ‘entirely a matter of brotherly love’. 
Ans. When the narrator became hungry, Bill offered to bring lunch that his wife would make. It was not entirely a matter of brotherly love because he was charging money from the narrator. The narrator was paying Bill for his time and also for the lunch.

Question. Why did the lawyer hate his work?

Or

Why did the lawyer call his work ‘unpleasant’
Ans. The narrator called his work unpleasant and hated his work because unlike expectation of practicing law, he was sent to serve summons. He had to go to all sorts of dirty and dangerous places to meet criminals. At times, he was also beaten by those people to whom he had to serve summons.

Question. Explain how the narrator’s expectations fell short of what he’d expected when he was sent to New Mullion? 
Ans. The narrator wished to see a sweet and simple country village but when he reached New Mullion, he was disappointed. He saw streets that looked like rivers of mud, with wooden shops, on the side, that were either painted brown or not painted at all.

Question. Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer? 
Ans. Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer because almost the entire village had enjoyed Lutkins making a fool of the lawyer. Only they (Lutkins’ neighbours) had not seen the lawyer but had come to know what had happened. They wanted to see the gullible man whom Lutkins had taken for a ride.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. Lutkins was really a ‘hard fellow to catch’. Explain on the basis of the story ‘The Hack Driver’?
Ans. The lawyer from the city who comes to serve summons on Lutkins does not recognize him. He had never seen Lutkins or did he have any image or photograph of him. This absence of identity proof helped Lutkins in fooling the lawyer and pretending to be someone else named Bill. Lutkins used this to his advantage and takes the lawyer on a merry ride around the village pretending to be someone else and helping him catch himself. This craftiness makes him a very hard fellow to catch. He not only avoids being served summons by the lawyer but he also earns money off him for looking for himself. He befriends the lawyer and earns his confidence easily and then proceeds to befool him throughout the day. Lutkins really is a hard fellow to catch.

Question. Give a character sketch of Lutkins.
Ans. Lutkins was a wise, clever and crafty man. He need no certificate of his qualities when summons is meant for him. And he also proves himself capable of these summons. Clearly, he has done something wrong or illegal and he doesn’t mend himself. He deceives the narrator repeatedly. He poses before him as Bill or Magnuson and befools him. So, he is really a genius at befooling people. He convinces the narrator that he himself has to take some money from Lutkins. He confuses him by saying that Lutkins was seen at various places a few minutes ago. Finally, he takes the narrator to his own house and shows him his mother. This impresses thenarrator.

Question. Why did the narrator decide to practise law in New Mullion? What happened to this plan in his second visit?
Ans. The narrator joined a law firm as a junior assistant clerk and was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins. New Mullion was a town in the countryside. It was about forty miles away. The narrator found the town dirty. But a man helped him to search Lutkins. The man offered his hack on hire to the narrator. The narrator found the people slow-spoken, simple and wise. They were very helpful too. So, he pictured that he would practise law there.
But in his second visit, that picture was totally changed. The man who had hired his hack to the narrator was Lutkins himself. So Lutkins himself had deceived the narrator. This changed the image of New Mullion in narrator’s mind.

Question. Appearances can be deceptive. Discuss on the basis of the story ‘The Hack Driver’?
Ans. When the lawyer arrives at the station of New Mullion, he doesn’t like the look of the village. The only thing he finds agreeable is the delivery man at the entrance who looks very cheerful and helpful. He starts liking the village and its villagers after spending the day with the hack driver. However, it is only the next day that he realises that the very same hack driver and the seemingly simple people of the village have made a fool out of him. The village that seemed boring and uninteresting to him suddenly became a place he wanted to move to leaving his city life. Also, the cheerful and helpful hack driver turned out to be a very cunning and troublesome man. Hence, it can be said with surety that appearances can be deceptive.

Question. Write a character sketch of the hack driver.
Ans. The hack driver seemed to be a simple countryman at his first appearance who was ready to help the narrator. The lawyer was in search of Lutkins and hence, the hack driver took him to various places where he might find Lutkins. The next day, the case came up in court. As he was unable to find Lutkins, the lawyer was asked to go back to New Mullion with a man who had worked with Lutkins. The lawyer was shocked to find that the hack driver himself was Lutkins. He felt humiliated and learned not to be hasty in judging a person. Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard fellow to catch . He was always up to something or the other.He owed money to many people, including Bill, and had never even paid anybody a cent. He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.

Question. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. By the end of the story, he was hurt on knowing the truth of the hack driver. Would you call Lutkins an insensitive fellow? Should we hurt the feeling of someone like this?
Ans. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. He impressed him by his deceptive nature.
He pretended to help him. But he was making a fool out of him. He roamed around the city with the lawyer in search of Lutkins. He did not reveal that he himself was Lutkins. Wherever he went, he made the lawyer a laughing stock for others. Everyone was amused to see how Lutkins was  making a fool of the lawyer. By the end of the story when the lawyer revisited the place, he was hurt to know how the hack driver had befooled him. No doubt the hack driver was an insensitive human being. He did not care for his emotions. No, we should not hurt someone’s emotions for the sake of self¬entertainment.

Question. In life, people who easily trust others are sometimes made to look foolish. One should not be too trusting.
Describe how Oliver Lutkins made a fool of the young lawyer?
Ans. Lutkins impressed the young lawyer with his friendly manner, thus leading the lawyer to think that the people of the town were trustworthy. He claimed to know most of the places where Lutkins could be found. Lutkins charged the young lawyer a high price for the hack and food. He alerted Fritz, his friends and mother not to reveal his identity to the lawyer. He even went to the railway station to see the young lawyer off. The young lawyer, on his second visit, learnt that the hack driver himself was Lutkins. The young lawyer thus, learned a lesson that no one should be too trustworthy and one must be alert at all the times.

Question. Write a character sketch of the hack driver.
Ans. The hack driver seemed to be a simple countryman at his first appearance who was ready to help the narrator. The lawyer was in search of Lutkins and hence, the hack driver took him to various places where he might find Lutkins. The next day, the case came up in court. As he was unable to find Lutkins, the lawyer was asked to go back to New Mullion
with a man who had worked with Lutkins. The lawyer was shocked to find that the hack driver himself was Lutkins. He felt humiliated and learned not to be hasty in judging a person.
Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard fellow to catch . He was always up to something or the other.
He owed money to many people, including Bill, and had never even paid anybody a cent. He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.

Question. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. By the end of the story, he was hurt on knowing the truth of the hack driver. Would you call Lutkins an insensitive fellow? Should we hurt the feeling of someone like this?
Ans. Lutkins played with the emotions of the young lawyer. He impressed him by his deceptive nature. 
He pretended to help him. But he was making a fool out of him. He roamed around the city with the lawyer in search of Lutkins. He did not reveal that he himself was Lutkins. Wherever he went, he made the lawyer a laughing stock for others.
Everyone was amused to see how Lutkins was making a fool of the lawyer. By the end of the story when the lawyer revisited the place, he was hurt to know how the hack driver had befooled him. No
doubt the hack driver was an insensitive human being. He did not care for his emotions. No, we should not hurt someone’s emotions for the sake of self¬entertainment.

Question. He was so open and friendly that I glowed with the warmth of his affection. I knew, of course, that he wanted the business, but his kindness was real. I was glad the fare money would go to this good fellow. I managed to bargain down to two dollars an hour, and then he brought from his house nearby a sort of large black box on wheels.
(a) Who was so open and friendly?
(b) Did he take the lawyer to his destination?
Ans. (a) The delivery man or Bill, was an open and friendly man according to the narrator.
(b) No. Bill was himself Lutkins and fooled the narrator into going around the town on a wild goose chase.

Question. Write a character sketch of the hack driver.
Ans. Cheerful and Friendly The hack driver, named Bill was a red-faced, fourty years old man with a cheerful and a pleasant personality. The narrator met the hack driver when he had come to New Mullion to serve summons on Oliver Lutkins. Initially, the narrator found Bill to be a friendly, wise and an agreeable fellow. ]
Helful A great schemerWhen the narrator informed Bill about his visit, Bill readily accepted to help him and took him to all the places where Lutkins could be found. However, later the narrator get to know that Bill was a clever fellow. Bill had all the arts with him to win the confidence of gullible (innocent) people like the lawyers and fool them.
A Great Schemer Bill himself was Oliver Lutkins and as soon as he got to know about the lawyer’s visit, he devised a plan. He pretended to help the lawyers. All of this show that Bill was a great schemer. He cleverly ooled the lawyer into believing that he was trying to help. But in reality, he never allowed the lawyer to come directly in touch with the people. Therefore, Bill perfectly played a double role and outwitted the narrator.

Question. In life, people who easily trust others are sometimes made to look foolish. One should not be too trusting. Describe how Oliver Lutkins made a fool of the young lawyer. 
Ans. It is true that in life people who easily trust others are easily made to look foolish. One must remember that not everyone is honest and thus one should not trust everyone blindly.
In the story, ‘the Hack Driver’, Oliver Lutkins using this characteristic of the lawyer makes him a fool, throughout his first visit to the village.
First, he introduced himself as Bill at the railway station and assured the lawyer that they would together search for Lutkins. He told the lawyer that he knew most of the places where Lutkins used to hang out.
In succession, he took the narrator to Fritz, then to the barber’s shop, then to Gray’s shop and finally to Lutkins’ mother, whom he called a ‘terror’. He deceived the lawyer throughout and also made money by taking the lawyer around. Thus, because of Lutkins’ desire to not be a witness to a case, he made a plan to fool the gullible lawyer and broke his trust.

Question. What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’ mother? How did she treat the narrator?
Ans. While going to Lutkins’ mothers house, the hack driver informed the narrator that Lutkins’ mother was a terror. He told him that she was about nine feet tall and four feet thick lady who was as quick as a cat. He also told him that once he had taken a trunk for her at her farmhouse and she had almost taken his skin off. All this information frightened the narrator but he still went to look for Lutkins at his mother’s place.
When they reached Lutkins mother’s house, they were faced with an enormous and cheerful old woman. Bill went to her and informed her about their visit. Lutkins’ mother bluntly told them that shee did not know anything about Lutkins. When Bill pressed for searching the house as it was their legal right, she went inside and came out with a hot iron rod to attack them. Consequently, both of them ran away from the location.

Question. Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is that no one lets out the secret? (Hint : Notice that the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep out of sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s). Can you find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates the tour? 
Ans. Lutkins never allows the lawyer to reach the place where the imaginary Lutkins is supposed to be present at a given time. The way he weaves stories about Lutkins’ vagabond nature and the way he scares the lawyer about Lutkins’ mother are ways of fooling the lawyer devised by the hack driver. Everywhere he does not allow the lawyer to ask about Lutkins but he himself pretends to ask about him, which the villagers are knowing is a pretence. So, the villagers also join in the whole drama. Lutkins it can be said manipulates the tour cleverly. At every place he takes the lawyer, he asks him to either stay outside or stay behind him. With his effective place he is able to prove his honesty and Lutkins dishonesty.

Extract Based Questions :

Question. Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow. 
So we pursued him, just behind him, but never catching him, for an hour till it was past one o’ clock. I was hungry. But I had so enjoyed Bill’s rough country opinions about his neighbours that I scarcely cared whether I found Lutkins or not. “How about something to eat?” I suggested. “Let’s go to a restaurant and I’ll buy you lunch.” “Well, I ought to go home to the wife. I don’t care much for these restaurants — only four of them and they’re all bad. Tell you what we’ll do. We’ll get the wife to pack up a lunch for us.
(i) Who was pursuing whom?
(ii) Why were they pursuing him?
(iii) What do you understand by Bill’s rough country opinions?
(iv) Why do you think Bill suggested the narrator to get their lunch packed by Bill’s wife?
(v) How much charge did Bill tell for getting the lunch packed by his wife?
Ans. (i) The narrator and Bill were pursuing Lutkins.
(ii) They were pursuing him because the lawyer had to serve him summons.
(iii) Bill’s rough country opinions means the opinions he had for the people of his town and the way he pictured the image of everyone in the town.
(iv) Bill suggested so in order to earn more money from the narrator.
(v) Bill told that his wife would not charge more than a dollar.

Question. Read the extract to attempt the questions that follow.
He was so open and friendly that I glowed with the warmth of his affection. I knew, of course, that he wanted the business, but his kindness was real. I was glad the fare money would go to this good fellow. I managed to bargain down to two dollars an hour and then he brought from his house nearby a sort of large black box on wheels. He remarked, “Well, young man, here’s the carriage” and his widesmile made me into an old friend. These villagers are so ready to help a stranger. He had already made it his own task to find Oliver Lutkins for me.
(i) Who is ‘he’ in these lines?
(ii) Give an instance of his kindness.
(iii) Find a word from the extract which means ‘a gentle feeling of fondness’.
(iv) Pick out the qualities of the hack driver with context to the above extract.
(v) What did the narrator mean by saying “these villagers are so ready to help a stranger”?
Ans. (i) ‘He’ in these lines is Bill Magnuson, the hack driver. 
(ii) He offered to take the narrator through the village and find Lutkins.
(iii) ‘Affection’ from the extract means ‘a gentle feeling of fondness’.
(iv) The hack driver was open, friendly, affectionate, kind and ready to help the narrator.
(v) The narrator means that the village people are friendly and they made strange people’s task as their own in order to help them heartily.