The Midnight Visitor
Presence of mind
Explain presence of mind and how to act calmly in an emergency.
Spies in stories. Think of famous detectives and spies: James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and from India, Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi. Most look sharp or stylish. Ausable is fat and wheezing. But his mind is sharp: appearances deceive.
When did he make his plan? Ausable had ordered drinks for when he returned, so he knew a knock was coming. When he saw Max, he invented the balcony, the police and the shooting, and used the knock as his weapon. He thought fast, using what he already knew.
Presence of mind means thinking quickly and acting calmly and wisely in sudden danger or surprise. It helps to think ahead about what could go wrong.
What would you do? For each, stay calm, act safely, then get help:
- a fire in the kitchen;
- someone choking;
- an electrical appliance sparking;
- a road accident;
- a flood;
- a family member missing in a crowd.
Share a real story of someone's presence of mind.
Practise this lesson
Questions that get harder as you improve, a Tutor that helps without giving the answer away, and progress you can see. Free for every learner.
No account, no email address. Opens the real product.