Quick Thinking

By
Stephen W. Pollak
A) Questions & answers
1- What kind of a story do you think "Quick Thinking" is?
- I think it is a tragic story.
2- What was Mr Benting?
- He was a former ‫ سابق‬officer ‫ ضابط‬in the Indian police.
3-According to ‫ طبقا لـ‬Benting, what was the most important
quality ‫ صفة‬of a policeman?
- Taking quick decisions ‫ قرارات‬and the ability ‫ قدرة‬to act ‫يتصرف‬
quickly.
4- According to Woodward, what are the most important
qualities of a policeman?
- He thought that thoroughness ‫ الدقة‬and method ‫ الطريقة‬in the solution
‫ حل‬of a crime ‫ جريمة‬are the most important qualities.

Why didn't Mckeown's work need any sudden decision ‫قرار‬

5-
‫?مفاجئ‬
- Because most of his work was to meet people, talk to them and
listen to what they said.
6- What was Mckeown's opinion about the most important
quality of a policeman?
- They were meeting people, talking to them and listening to what they
said.
7- What had Mr Benting just completed when he was attracted
‫ انجذب‬to the advertisement ‫ اعلن‬in the Times?
- He had just completed the Police College in England.
8- What was Van's advertisement for?
- It was for a young man with a cool head ‫ هادئ‬for unusual work.
9- How did Mr Benting get his job with Van Lutjens?
- Through ‫ من خلل‬an advertisement in the Times.
10- What is Mr Benting employed ‫ يوظف‬to do?
- To watch over ‫ يراقب‬Van Lutjens's diamonds ‫ ماس‬during traveling to
New York by sea.
11- Why did Van Lutjens want a man with a cool head ‫هادئ‬to watch
over his diamonds?
- Because he was restless ‫ قلق‬about his diamonds and wanted
someone to watch over him.
 (1)
12-Where did Mr Benting meet Van Lutjens?
- He met him in his room in a hotel in London.
13- Why did Jack Benting go to the hotel?
- To meet Van Lutjens.
14- What was Van Lutjens?
- He was one of the leading ‫ بارز‬diamond merchants ‫ تجار‬in
Amsterdam.
15- To what extent ‫ إلى أى مدى‬did Van Lutjens admire his two
lifeless stones? Or: Show that Van Lutjens was so mad ‫مجنون‬
about his two lifeless stones.
- He spent hours looking at them. They never left him. He considered
‫ اعتبرهم‬them his children.
16- MrBenting thought that the job he was offered in 1921
sounded boring ‫مملة‬, so why did he accept it?
- Because he was offered a lot of money.
17- Why did Van Lutjens take the diamonds to New York?
- To show them to an American group ‫ جماعة‬of diamond buyers.
18-Who was Frans Van Meulen of Antwerp?
- He was the greatest diamond cutter ‫ قاطع‬of all time. Some of the
stones that had been cut by Van Meulen were part of the British
Crown jewels.
19- Where did Lutjens obtain ‫ يحصل على‬the famous Rozelles
earrings?
- He obtained them from a member ‫ عضو‬of one of Central Europe's
royal families in Paris.
20-Where did Van Lutjens keep the diamonds?
- He kept them in a small black box put in a leather case.
21- How did Van Lutjens feel towards ‫ تجاه‬his diamonds?
- He called them his children. He loved their beauty ‫جمال‬.
22- How did Van Lutjens admire ‫ يعجب بـ‬his diamonds?
- He believed they were the greatest discovery ‫ اكتشاف‬in his life and he
called them his children.
23- Why didn't Mr Benting leave Van Lutjens's side?
- Because his work was to watch over him.
24-Why did Van Lutjens call the diamonds "his children"?
- They were so valuable ‫ قيمة‬and so beautiful. He loved the beauty of his
jewels.
25- MrBenting criticized ‫ انتقد‬Van Lutjens for taking the diamonds
out of the safe to look at them, why was he so worried about
this?
- Because it would give chance ‫ فرصة‬to thieves to see them and steal
‫ يسرق‬them.

(2)
26- What did Van do when the ship gave a sudden ‫ فجائى‬violent
‫ عتيف‬roll ‫?ميل‬
- He seized ‫ أمسك‬the top of the iron railings ‫سور حديدى‬, but dropped the
box which fell into the sea.
27-When could Van save himself?
- When he seized the top of the iron railings.
28-Why did the box containing the diamonds fall into the sea?
- Because the ship gave a sudden violent roll.
29-How did Van Lutjens lose his jewels?
- The box containing ‫ يحتوى على‬the diamonds fell into the sea.
30- When Mr Benting told his friends about the diamonds falling
into the sea, why did Mckeown ask him how much he was
being paid?
- He wanted to know if Mr Benting was being paid well to dive into the
sea to get the diamonds back.
31- Do you think that Mr Benting shares ‫ يشارك‬any responsibility
‫ مسئولية‬for the loss ‫ ضياع‬of the diamond earrings ‫?حلقان‬
- I don't think so because he advised Van Lutjens more than once not
to bring them from the ship's safe ‫خزنة‬.
32- What did Mr Benting throw ‫ يرمى‬into the sea and why did he
throw them?
- He threw ‫ رمى‬a table and two chairs into the sea to mark ‫ يحدد‬where
the earrings fell.
33- What was Benting's decision ‫ قرار‬when the box fell into the
sea?
Or: What did Benting do when he saw the box disappear into
the water?
- He threw a table and two chairs into the sea. He persuaded ‫ أقنع‬the
captain to go back to the place where the earrings fell to get the
box.
34- Why did Mr Benting throw the table and chairs into the sea?
- To mark where the earrings fell.
35-When did the captain stop Berengaria?
- He stopped it when Benting mentioned ‫ ذكر‬the value ‫ قيمة‬of the
diamonds and pointed at the furniture ‫ أثاث‬dancing on the waves.
36- Why didn't Van Lutjens pay Benting extra ‫ زيادة‬for saving his
precious earrings?
Or: Why didn't Van Lutjens reward ‫ يكافئ‬Jack Benting?
- Because he died.
37- What happened to Van Lutjens when the little box fell into the
sea?
- He had a heart attack ‫ أزمة قلبية‬and died.

(3)
38- What happens to Van Lutjens in the end?
- He dies.
39- Howdid Lutjens meet his end ‫ ?يلقى حتفه‬Why?
- He died of a heart attack because he saw his earrings fall into the
sea.
40- Do you think that Van Lutjens an old or a young man? Give
reasons for your answer.
- He was an old man because he had handled diamonds for 43
years.

B) Quotations
1- "But I remember one or two cases ‫ حالتين‬where no courage
‫شجاعة‬, knowledge or determination ‫ عزم‬would have helped,
and where the ability to make a quick decision ‫ قرار‬brought
the only hope of success."
a) who says this?
- Jack Benting.
b) At which point in the story does he say it: the beginning,
middle or end?
- The beginning.
c) How does sentence relate to ‫ ترتبط بـ‬the story?
- The story is about his quick decision to throw the furniture which
helped him to find the earrings.
2- " One day an advertisement in The Times attracted my
attention."
a) Who said this to whom?
- Benting said this to Mckeown and Woodward.
b) What did the advertisement say?
- It said, "Young man wanted for unusual work. Must have cool head."
c) Why did the speaker accept the job?
- Because the money offered was generous.
3- "Young man wanted for unusual work. Must have cool head."
a) By whom was this advertisement placed?
- Van Lutjens.
b) What was the unusual work?
 - Looking after the earrings.
c)Why did the employer insist on having a cool head?
- He was restless about his earrings and wanted him to watch over
him.
4- "I must go down and look at my children."
a) Who said these words?
- Van Lutjens.
b) Who was he talking to?
- Mr Benting
c) What was he talking about?
- The diamond earrings.
(4)
5- "I must go down and look at my children."
a) who was the speaker? To whom?
- Van Lutjens said this to Benting.
b) What was he talking about?
- The diamond earrings.
c) Why did he consider them his children?
- Because he had never left them since he bought them 4 months
ago.
6- "I must go down and look at my children."
a) who says this to whom?
- Van Lutjens says this to Benting.
b) Who or What are these children?
- The diamond earrings.
c) Where will the man go down to look at his children?
- To the ship's safe.
7-"I know it's foolish, but I just can't help it ‫ل أستطيع أن أمنع‬
‫نفسى‬."
a) Who made this statement?
- Van Lutjens.
b) What did the speaker mean by it?
- He meant that it was foolish to look at them for pleasure ‫متعة‬.
c) How did he show his foolishness ‫?حماقة‬
- He took them out of the safe on more than one occasion.
8- "But before he could open the lock ‫ قفل‬to look at his diamonds,
the ship gave a sudden and violent roll."
a) Where was Van Lutjens at that time?
- He was at the table by the side of the ship.
b) What did he want to do?
- He wanted to look at his diamonds.
c)Where did the small box fell?
- It fell into the sea.
9- "It was really rather simple you know. Wonderful quick
decisions are only taken in Hollywood."
 a) What was the quick decision Benting took?
- He threw the table and two chairs into the sea.
b) To what extent was it successful?
- He could mark where the earrings fell.
c) Why wasn't he rewarded for his quick decision?
- Because Van Lutjens died.
10- “When I got back, two men were just carrying him dead of
heart failure.”
a) Who said these words?
- Benting.
b) Who was the dead man?
- Van Lutjens.
(5)
c)What was the cause of his death?
- A heart attack.
11- "When I saw the box disappear I seized the table and two of
the chairs and threw them over the railing after the box."
a) Why was Van Lutjens going to New York?
- To sell his diamonds to an American diamond buyer.
b) Why did Benting throw them into the sea?
- Because if the box of diamonds was floating on the surface of the
water the furniture would mark the place where they had been lost.
c) How did Van Lutjens meet his end?
- He died of a heart attack.
12-"Well done. I hope the old Dutchman paid you extra."
a) Who said this to whom?
- Woodward said this to Benting.
b) How did Jack Benting get back the box?
- He threw the table and chairs into the sea to mark where the
earrings fell. He persuaded the captain to go back where the earrings
fell to get back the box.
c) What happened to Mr Van Lutjens when the box fell into
the water?
- He died.
13-"Well done. I hope the old Dutchman paid you extra."
a) Who was the speaker? To whom?
- Woodward to Mr Benting.
b) Why did the speaker believe that the Dutchman had paid
him extra?
- Because he could get back the earrings from the sea.
c) What happened to the Dutchman ‫?هولندى‬
- He died.
14-" His heart must have stopped a long time before the engines
did."
a) Who said this?
 - Mr Benting said this.
b) Who was he talking to?
- He was talking to his friends.
c) Who was he talking about?
- He was talking about Van Lutjens.
d) When did the man's heart stop?
- It stopped as soon as his diamonds fell into the sea.