Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined armchair with a long sigh of satisfaction.Three times a day for many months I had witnessed this performance, but custom had not reconciled my mind to it. On the contrary, from day to day I had become more irritable at the sight, and my conscience swelled nightly within me at the thought that I had lacked the courage to protest. Again and again I had registered a vow that I should deliver my soul upon the subject, but there was that in the cool, nonchalant air of my companion which made him the last man with whom one would care to take anything approaching to a liberty. His great powers, his masterly manner, and the experience which I had had of his many extraordinary qualities, all made me diffident and backward in crossing him.Yet upon that afternoon, whether it was the Beaune which I had taken with my lunch, or the additional exasperation produced by the extreme deliberation of his manner, I suddenly felt that I could hold out no longer. ―Which is it to-day?‖ I asked,—―morphine or cocaine?‖He raised his eyes languidly from the old black letter volume which he had opened. ―It is cocaine,‖ he said,—―a seven-per-cent solution. Would you are to try it?―No, indeed,‖ I answered, brusquely. ―My constitution has not got over the Afghan campaign yet. I cannot afford to throw any extra strain upon it.‖ He smiled at my vehemence. ―Perhaps you are right, Watson,‖ he said. ―I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. I find it, however, so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.But consider!‖ I said, earnestly. ―Count the cost! Your brain may, as you say, be roused and excited, but it is a pathological and morbid process, which involves increased tissue-change and may at last leave a permanent weakness. Surely the game is hardly worth the candle. Why should you, for a mere passing pleasure, risk the loss of those great powers with which you have been endowed? Remember that I speak not only as one comrade to another, but as a medical man to one for whose constitution he is to some extent answerable.He did not seem offended. ―My mind,‖ he said, ―rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants.Source: The Sign of the FourOn the basis of your reading of the above passage, choose the best option from among the choices given below each of the following questions:1. What could be the cause of ―innumerable puncture marks‖ on Holmes‘ forearm? a) He was suffering from a disease b) He had a tattoo on his arm c) He was injecting a drug daily d) Nothing is clearly mentioned 2. What do you understand about the narrator‘s response to what he saw for many months? a) he was not interested b) he was annoyedc) he was pleased d) he was confused3. What can we understand about the personality of the narrator‘s companion? He was a) arousing wonder & respect b) easygoing c) quarrelsome d) fun loving4. Watson refused to take cocaine because a) he did not have money to buy it b) he was not in the best of health c) he was afraid of his companion d) . both a and c5. When Watson refused to take cocaine, Sherlock Holmes a) accepted his answer b) tried to persuade him c) criticized him d) got angry with him6. ‗The game is hardly worth the candle‘ means a) do not play games with a candle b) the risk is more than the pleasure c) I agree with our view d) Cocaine is costlier than a candle7. What is the profession of Watson? a) Writer b) detective c) engineer d) doctor8. Sherlock Holmes said he could stop taking cocaine if a) he took a new year resolution b) Watson did not like it c) he had some exciting mental work d) Watson offered to help9. This image symbolically represents a / an : a) Cardiogram b) cryptogram c) angiogram d) epigram 10. Match the words in column A with their meanings in column B given blow:Column AColumn BAConscience1Forceful expressionBVehemence2Lack of confidenceCNonchalance3Knowing good and badDDiffidence4Cool indifferencea) A-3 B – 1 C – 4 D – 2 b) A - 2 B - 4 C – 1 D – 3 c) A – 4 B – 3 C – 2 D- 1 d) A – 1 B – 2 C – 3 D-4