How would you interpret the students’ silence when Julius said, “They just told me to go home and never come back.” They were ……
Carefully read the passage below and use it to answer the question
Julius came out of the staff common room leaving the principal and the headmaster
behind. He walked with defiant limp straight into his classroom. He knew that three
hundred pairs of eyes were looking at him from several windows. He could hear
cheering hisses but he despised them all. He felt tall. The class teacher who was also
the headmaster was still in the staff room. The boys stood up and gathered around
him. He was disappointed that the girls did not rush to him as the boys had done.
They red barrels of questions at him but he did not appear eager to answer any. He
knew they must know the details by now and be anxious to hear the end of it. But he
would not give it to them yet. They must see him as he truly was. They must
completely forget all the impressions they had gathered on the football eld and on
the race track. Then, he told himself that he must not look serious because if they
discovered the truth, they might think he was crying for himself. He was a hero and
heroes are to be admired not pitied. ‘They just told me to go home and never come
back’. There was stunned silence. Julius noticed a crumpled look come onto Dora’s
face and quickly said, ‘Oh, it was only a joke’. Then, there was a sigh of relief and
everybody was laughing with him. Julius felt happy because they did not yet know the
truth. He laughed carelessly.
Culled from Ogundipe and Tregido: Practical English Course Book 3