Problem Solution Comprehension - Roadside Restaurant

The following short story outlines a traveller's problem. He then attempts to explain the solution. This is followed by 5 comprehension questions with answers and their location within the passage:

I left the beach hungry, just as the sun was setting and took the same walking route, more or less, back toward my hotel in the suburbs of Danang. On the way I passed a lot of cafes and restaurants, but none  interested me until I got to a major road crossing and a makeshift pavement restaurant. As I stopped at the intersection the middle aged lady in charge seemed keen on serving me though with no apparent English, spoken or written. She pointed to the limited  Vietnamese menu and I responded by shrugging my shoulders, hoping to indicate that I didn’t know what any of the items on offer were. She was unfazed, put up three fingers which I assumed to indicate the price (30,000 dong), and decided for me what I would eat. I sat down at one of the empty tables while she prepared my food. Soon she delivered a steaming bowl of noodles with a variety of meat – some roughly cut beef, a grey tasty meatball and some slices of I don’t know what. All were good, tasty and satisfying. My hunger disappeared without a spoken word required. She accepted the 30k as though it was the clearly agreed price and I continued on my way to the hotel feeling satisfied not only with the meal but with the ease at which it had been negotiated.

What made this transaction so easy when neither of us understood the other’s language? It was probably the fact that I was clearly looking for food, moving slowly and closely enough to attempt communication, and that both of us were willing to overcome the language barrier to make a deal. In other words there was a lot of context to support the transaction and barriers to communication were weaker than the desire of both parties to reach an agreement.

We understood  each other’s intentions because of our proximity, location, our presumed roles and the expected outcomes of those types of interaction. Although I didn’t get to choose my meal, I expected and was happy to get a bowl of noodles of some description.

If I had been passing by,  even on a motorcycle, the vehicle speed would have been a major barrier to communication. The moment where we both established our roles and understood the assignment would easily have slipped by in the blink of an eye. I would have blended into the stream of traffic and not stood out as a potential customer. I would have had to recognize a good reason to intentionally stop the vehicle at that restaurant to initiate the interaction while negotiating traffic at the same time: an unlikely outcome.

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Here are five comprehension questions along with their answers and locations within the text:

Question 1: Why did the narrator stop at the makeshift pavement restaurant? 

Question 2: How did the narrator communicate their lack of knowledge about the menu items to the middle-aged lady? 

Question 3: What did the middle-aged lady do to indicate the price of the meal? 

Question 4: What did the narrator find satisfying about the meal and the transaction? 

Question 5: What would have been a major barrier to communication if the narrator had been on a motorcycle? 

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Answers:

Question 1: Why did the narrator stop at the makeshift pavement restaurant? 

Answer: The narrator stopped at the makeshift pavement restaurant because they were hungry and had passed many other cafes and restaurants that did not interest them. 

Location: "I left the beach hungry...back toward my hotel...until I got to a major road crossing and a makeshift pavement restaurant."

Question 2: How did the narrator communicate their lack of knowledge about the menu items to the middle-aged lady? 

Answer: The narrator communicated their lack of knowledge by shrugging their shoulders to indicate they didn’t know what the menu items were. 

Location: "She pointed to the limited Vietnamese menu and I responded by shrugging my shoulders, hoping to indicate that I didn’t know what any of the items on offer were."

Question 3: What did the middle-aged lady do to indicate the price of the meal? 

Answer: The middle-aged lady put up three fingers, which the narrator assumed indicated the price of 30,000 dong. 

Location: "She was unfazed, put up three fingers which I assumed to indicate the price (30,000 dong)..."

Question 4: What did the narrator find satisfying about the meal and the transaction? 

Answer: The narrator found the meal satisfying because it was tasty and filled their hunger, and they were also pleased with how easily the transaction was completed despite the language barrier.

 Location: "All were good, tasty and satisfying. My hunger disappeared without a spoken word required...feeling satisfied not only with the meal but with the ease at which it had been negotiated."

Question 5: What would have been a major barrier to communication if the narrator had been on a motorcycle? 

Answer: A major barrier to communication would have been the vehicle speed, which could have made it difficult for the narrator to stop and establish their role as a potential customer. 

Location: "If I had been passing by, even on a motorcycle, the vehicle speed would have been a major barrier to communication."