Fantasy (The Romance of a Busy Broker)

Working with words

Match the following words with their definitions.

Consult a dictionary or search over the internet and write definitions of the following terminologies used in the stock market.

a. Liquidity: The ability of an asset to be easily bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset's price. In the context of stock market, Liquidity refers to the ease of buying or selling shares of a company without causing a significant change in the stock price.

b. IPO (Initial Public Offering): The process of a private company issuing shares of stock to the public for the first time. This process is done through an IPO, where the company raises capital by issuing shares of stock to the public.

c. NEPSE (Nepal Stock Exchange): The only Stock Exchange of Nepal. It is located in Singha Durbar Plaza, Kathmandu Nepal. It is the first and the largest securities market of Nepal.

d. Index: A statistical measure that represents the performance of a group of stocks, which can be used as a benchmark to measure the performance of a single stock or a portfolio of stocks.

e. Portfolio: A collection of investments held by an individual or an institution, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. The term is used to refer to the stocks, bonds, or other securities held in an investment account or by an investment company.

f. Dividend: A payment made by a company to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits. Dividends are usually paid on a regular basis, such as quarterly or annually.

g. Turnover: The number of shares traded in a given period of time, usually measured in shares per day or shares per month. It is used as a measure of the liquidity of a stock.

h. Margin: The amount of money that an investor must deposit in order to trade on margin. Margin trading allows investors to trade on leverage, meaning that they can trade with more money than they have in their account.

Comprehension

Write ‘T’ for true statements, ‘F’ for false ones or ‘NG’ if the information is not given in the text.

a. Harvey Maxwell was a stock broker. → T
b. He was not happy with his clerk, Pitcher. → NG
c. Miss Leslie had been married to Maxell for a year. → F
d. Maxwell had hired a machine to work in his office. → NG
e. He had instructed Pitcher to get a new stenographer. → T
f. Miss Leslie was amazed by Maxwell’s proposal. → T
g. She thought that he had probably gone mad. → F
h. She realized that he had been absent-minded due to his business. → T

Answer the following questions.

a. How did Maxwell enter his office?

Maxwell entered his office briskly with the young lady stenographer and greeting Pitcher by saying “Good Morning”.

b. Describe the physical appearance of the young lady.

The young lady is described as beautiful in a way that is decidedly unstenographic. She foregoes the pomp of the alluring pompadour, wears no chains, bracelets, or lockets. She has not the air of being about to accept an invitation to lunch. Her dress is grey and plain, but it fits her figure with fidelity and discretion. In her neat black turban hat was the gold-green wing of a macaw.

c. What changes did Pitcher notice in the young lady?

Pitcher noticed that the young lady was lingering in the outer office instead of going straight into the adjacent room where her desk was. He also noticed that she moved over by Maxwell's desk, near enough for him to be aware of her presence.

d. What was Pitcher’s reply to the young lady concerning a new stenographer?

Pitcher replied that Maxwell had told him to get another stenographer and he had notified the agency the previous afternoon to send over a few samples that morning. He also mentions that it is 9.45 am and no one has shown up yet.

e. What proposal did Maxwell make with Miss Leslie?

Maxwell made a marriage proposal with Miss Leslie.

f. How did she react to his proposal?

She acted very queerly when he proposed her. At first she seemed overcome with amazement; then tears flowed from her wondering eyes; and then she smiled sunnily through them, and one of her arms slid tenderly about the broker’s neck.

Critical thinking

What message does the writer want to give by presenting Maxwell as an extremely absent-minded person?

It seems that the writer wants to show the reader the extreme focus and dedication of a successful stockbroker like Maxwell. The writer might want to emphasize the contrast between the fast-paced, hectic and stressful nature of the stock market and the personal life. The writer may also be trying to highlight the idea that success in the stock market requires a lot of hard work, focus, and dedication and this dedication may have an impact on the personal life of the person.

Imagine you are Miss Leslie. Write how you were troubled emotionally when your own husband came to you and made a marriage proposal.

As Miss Leslie, I was deeply troubled emotionally when my own employer, Harvey Maxwell, came to me and made a marriage proposal. I had been working as his stenographer for a year and during that time, I had developed feelings for him. I had always hoped that he would notice me and realize that there was something more between us.

But when he came to me with a proposal, it was not the one I had hoped for. I was shocked and confused by his sudden and unexpected proposal, especially since we had never spoken of marriage before. I felt a mix of emotions, including disappointment, sadness and hurt. I had always thought that if he ever proposed, it would be because he had feelings for me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. But his proposal felt more like a practical arrangement than a romantic one.

I couldn't help but wonder if he had only proposed because he needed a wife for social or personal reasons, rather than because he truly loved me. This realization made my heart ache and I felt a deep sense of rejection. I also worried about how our professional relationship would change if we were to get married.

In the end, I realized that I deserved to be loved and cherished for who I am and not just for the practical benefits that I could provide. I respectfully declined his proposal, and decided to continue to work for him, but with a heavy heart.

Grammar

Relative clause

A relative clause is a type of clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. It is also known as an adjective clause. It is called a "relative" clause because it "relates" to a noun or pronoun in the main clause. The relative clause is usually introduced by a relative pronoun (such as "who," "whom," "whose," "that," or "which") or a relative adverb (such as "when" or "where").

Relative clauses are used to provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in the main clause, and they are usually set off by commas. For example:

• The man who stole my wallet has been arrested. (The relative clause "who stole my wallet" provides additional information about the noun "man" in the main clause.)
• The book, which I read last night, was really interesting. (The relative clause "which I read last night" provides additional information about the noun "book" in the main clause.)

It is easy to identify a relative clause by looking for a relative pronoun or adverb at the beginning of the clause. Additionally, the relative clause usually comes after the noun or pronoun that it modifies.

You can also test it by removing the relative clause. If the clause is non-essential and the sentence still makes sense and has a clear meaning, then the clause is a relative clause.

For example, in the sentence "The man who stole my wallet has been arrested" if you remove the relative clause "who stole my wallet" it still makes sense "The man has been arrested".

In a sentence "The book, which I read last night, was really interesting." if you remove the relative clause "which I read last night" it still makes sense "The book was really interesting."

Study the following sentences and underline the relative clauses.

a. I snatched a minute when things had slackened a minute.
b. Instead of going straight into the adjoining room, where her desk was, she lingered slightly irresolute in the outer office.
c. She was beautiful in a way that was decidedly stenographic.

Fill in the blanks with suitable relative pronouns: who, which, that, whom, whose, where, why, how, what or when.

a. There is a lady whose wallet has been stolen.
b. Do you know the man who sold these glasses?
c. The knife which you cut the bread with is very sharp.
d. Why do you blame him for everything that goes wrong?
e. A cemetery is a place where dead bodies are buried.
f. This school is for those children whose mother tongue is not Nepali.
g. I don’t know the name of the person whom I spoke over the telephone.
h. I came to Kathmandu on the day when the devastating earthquake took place.
i. In the application form she wrote why she needed a good payment.
j. The pilot explained how he made force landing on the road.

Join the following pairs of sentences using who, which, that, whose, whom, where, when or what.

a. The building was destroyed in the fire. It has now been rebuilt.
The building that was destroyed in the fire has now been rebuilt.

b. A new cricket stadium is being made in Chitwan. It can accommodate one hundred thousand people.
A new cricket stadium which can accommodate one hundred thousand people is being made in Chitwan.

c. Shanghai is the most populated city in the world. I stayed there for five years.
Shanghai, where I stayed for five years, is the most populated city in the world.

d. This is the man. I gave some money to him this morning.
This is the man whom I gave some money to this morning.

e. Do know the man? His son was awarded in the school yesterday.
Do you know the man whose son was awarded in the school yesterday?

f. His step-mother was not very kind to him. He had been staying with her.
He had been staying with his step-mother, who was not very kind to him.

g. He can never forget Nakkhu Jail. He had spent 14 years there.
He can never forget Nakkhu Jail, where he had spent 14 years.

h. He showed me his new tab. He had paid a hundred thousand rupees for it.
He showed me his new tab, which he had paid a hundred thousand rupees for.

i. Nelson Mandela joined ANC in 1930s. He was a student then.
Nelson Mandela joined ANC in 1930s when he was a student.

j. She forgot to buy the things. Her mother had told to buy them.
She forgot to buy the things that her mother had told to buy.