BSc Semester 6

AEC Short Questions Answers

Lesson 1 – “How Wealth Accumulates and Men Decay”
1. What all operations are involved in the making of a pin?
Ans. First of all, the pin makers buy the raw material, then shape it;
make the head and the point; ornament it; and take it to market and sell
it. Thus, there are three operations are involved: buying, making and
selling.
2. What was called pin money? Why was it so called?
Ans. Pin money was a small allowance given to women for personal
expenses. It was called so because pins were once expensive and
essential household item.
3. Why is it important to teach children that stealing a pin is
wrong?
Ans. After the arrival of machinery, pins are produced abundantly. As
a result, pins have become so cheap. Hence pins are recklessly thrown
away and wasted. So, it is important to teach children that stealing a pin
is a wrong.
4. Why does the author say that a woman is not likely to know any
connection between sheep and clothes?
Ans. In the earlier time, the whole work of cloth making from sheep
shearing to finished garment was done by women. Today everything is
done by machines. That’s why women of this modern generation is
unable to make woollen dress by herself and she is not even aware of
any connection between sheep and clothes.
5. What does the author say about serious thinkers?
Ans. The author mentions that many serious thinkers, like John Ruskin
and William Morris, were deeply troubled by the rise of machinery.
They questioned whether losing skills and degrading workers, just to
produce and waste pins in bulk, truly represented progress in wealth.
 Lesson 2 – “After Twenty Years”
1. Describe the appearance of the police man on the beat.
Ans. He was a fine-looking cop, watchful, and guarding the peace. He
moved along the street. He looked strong and important. This was the
way he always moved. He did not think of how he looked. There were
few people in the street to see him.
2. Why were the streets devoid of people?
Ans. The streets were devoid of people because people in this part of
city went home early. Most of the door belonged to business places that
had been closed hours ago.
3. What story did the man standing near the hardware store tell
the passing cop?
Ans. The man standing near the hardware store told the passing that he
was waiting for his friend there. Twenty years ago, they agreed to meet
there.
4. Describe the appearance of the man waiting for his friend?
Ans. The man waiting for his friend had a colourless square face with
bright eyes and a little white mark near his right eye. He had a large
jewel in his necktie.
5. When and how did Bob realise that the tall man was not his
friend? How did he react?
Ans. When both Bob and that tall man came near the shop bright
with electric light each looked at the other’s face. Bob stopped
suddenly and pulled away his arm from the tall man and said that he
was not Jimmy Wells because twenty years was a long time but not
long enough to change the shape of man’s nose.
 Lesson – 3 “J C Bose”
1. Why is the experimenter’s talent referred to as being a curious
one?
Ans. The experimenter’s talent is referred to as being curious because
he reveals the secret of mystery using simple things. As Faraday
invented electricity using tea box, wire with silk, a little sealing wax
and two or three jam pots.
2. Who was Sir J C Bose? What experiment did he carry out?
Ans. J C Bose was an Indian scientist. He had his Bose institute in
Calcutta. He carried out experiment on plants. He invented instruments
recording plant feeding and heart pulsations. He also experimented the
effect of poison on the heart beats of vegetation.
3. What spectacle affects human beings painfully? Why do you
think this happens?
Ans. The spectacle of a dying animal affects human being painfully
because they can see its struggles and they sympathetically feel of its
pain.
4. Was Bose’s experiment with chloroform successful? What could
have happened?
Ans. Bose’s experiment with chloroform was successful. Generally,
transplanting a fully grown-up tree is fatal. As most men would die if
their legs and arms were cut off without anaesthetic. Bose used
chloroform. The operation was completely successful as the tree took
roots in its new place and flourished.
5. Why should sensitive souls stay clear of the Bose Institute?
Ans. Sensitive souls have converted to vegetarianism after their visit to
the slaughter house. If they visit to the Bose Institute, they will learn
that even the plants and vegetations are as alive as animals. They will
have to reduce their menu still further and come to mineral diet.
 Lesson – 4 “Of Sophia and Chitti”
1. Who was Sophia? Why was she touring 65 nations?
Ans. Sophia was a social robot which could mimic social behaviour
and interact with humans to learn social behaviours. She was a beautiful
girl, with no hair, draped in a red traditional Bengali sari. She had
become the centre of attraction in the whole world. She toured 65
nations because every country wished her to have.
2. Who built Sophia and why was she built?
Ans. Sophia was built by a Hong Kong based company Hanson
Robotics. She was built to mimic social behaviour and inspire feelings
of love in human beings.
3. Who is Chitti? Why was he created?
Ans. Chitti is the main character in Rajinikanth’s 2010 film ‘Enthiran’
(Robot) directed by S. Shankar. He was created to protect humanity but
it develops human emotions and falls in love with the inventor’s girl
friend Sana. Moreover, it attempts to kill its inventor to claim his lady
love Sana portrayed by Aishwarya Rai.
4. What do digital assistants do?
Ans. Digital assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri are
everywhere in our mobile phone or smart speakers to self-driving cars.
They make our works easy and save our time.
5. What role are chatbot increasingly playing in human lives?
Ans. Chatbots are used by most banks and companies to handle routine
client queries. Many lonely people are finding company with chatbots.
Data suggests that the average time spent in a human to chatbot
conversation is much more than the average human to human
conversation. The chatbots being powered by machine are able to
mimic almost human like conversation. Many young lonely men and
women are betrayed by chatbots. They believe that there must be a real
human being talking to them and hope to meet in person some day.

Lesson 5 – “Dr Heidegger’s Experiment”

1. Why did Dr Heidegger invite his friends to his study?
Ans. Dr Heidegger had invented the water of youth. He invited his
friends to his study room to make an experiment on them to see the
effect of the water of youth.
2. What was the reaction of the four friends when he informed
them of the elixir?
Ans. When the doctor informed his friends of elixir, they laughed at
him. They expected that it may be the murder of a mouse in an air pump
or may be the examination of a cobweb by the microscope or some
similar nonsense with which he was used to annoy his friends.
3. How did Widow Wycherly act once she had consumed the elixir?
Ans. After drinking the elixir, Widow Wycherly became vain and
excited about her regained youth. She admired herself in the mirror and
enjoyed the attention of the three men. Flirting with them, she
encouraged their rivalry, which led to a chaotic fight that ultimately
spilled the elixir.
4. What caused the jug containing the elixir to break?
Ans. After drinking the water of youth, the four friends felt young again
and were overcome with excitement. The three men, inflamed by
passion and the flirtations of Widow Wycherly, began to fight for her
attention. In their struggle, they grabbed each other’s throats, and as
they moved around, they accidentally overturned the table, breaking
the vase and spilling the precious elixir on the floor.
5. What did the four friends decide to do in the future?
Ans. The four friends decided to make a pilgrimage to Florida in the
future and drink the water of youth from the Fountain of Youth every
morning, noon, and night to stay young forever.