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Read these lines: "With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelled with the pain. There is water in your eyes, said he as he released me. I perceive that all is as it should be. But we have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and once by paint." Why was the hair pulled?
ATo punish him for pushing through the crowd
BTo find out whether the red hair was his own
CTo test whether he could bear a hard day of work
DTo see how thick the head of hair really was
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. To find out whether the red hair was his own
1. The last sentence gives the reason directly: the League has twice been fooled by wigs and once by paint.
2. A wig comes away under a hard pull, and real hair does not.
3. The tears in the applicant's eyes prove the pull hurt, which proves the hair is rooted in his own scalp.
4. The man says at once that all is as it should be, confirming the test has passed.
5. So the pull was a check on whether the hair was genuine, option B.
6. Punishment is ruled out because the man is warm towards him throughout.
7. Thickness is never mentioned, and no work is described at this point.
_Source: Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892), The Red-Headed League_
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