This post “The Third Level” has a brief life history of the poet, introduction, theme, word meanings, summary, main points, important extracts, questions, and answers with all NCERT solutions to facilitate the understanding of the lesson. Academicseasy is presenting a fully revised and updated study material of the lesson in accordance with the new latest syllabus introduced by CBSE and NCERT for the session 2020-21. We have made a judicious selection of the material for an intensive comprehension of the text. We hope it will meet your requirements. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome to enable us to develop this post in a better way.

The Third Level Author

Walter Braden “Jack” Finney was an American author. He was born on October 2, 1911, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Finney was given the name Jack Finney. After his father died when he was three years old, he was renamed Walter Braden Finney in honor of his father, but he continued to be known as “Jack” throughout his life. He graduated in 1934 from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He married Marguerite Guest. They had two children, Kenneth and Marguerite. After living in New York City and working for an advertising agency there, he moved with his family to California in the early 1950s. He lived in Mill Valley, California. He died of pneumonia and emphysema on November 14, 1995, at the age of 84 in Greenbrae, California. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers, including The Body Snatchers and Time and Again.

Image Reference: today.agrilife.org

The Third Level Introduction

The narrator interweaves fantasy with reality in the most futuristic projection of time travel. Charley, a young New York commuter loses his way. He finds himself in what he thinks is the third level of the Grand Central Station in New York. The Grand Central Station has subways on two levels from where the commuters take trains to different destinations. No third level was ever built. However, Charley believes in the existence of a third level, operating in a time-frame of 1890s. The period of the 1890s represents a peaceful life not possible in the present era. From this level, Charley wants to travel to Galesburg, Illinois, with his wife Louisa. For him, it is a part of reality while his psychiatrist friend calls it a “waking-dream wish fulfillment.”

“Waking-dream wish fulfillment.” = a pleasant wish that makes you forget about the present.

The Third Level Theme

The story The third level is the most concise and entertaining story about time travel. Charley wishes to be transported to the third level, the world of 1894 which is supposedly a much happier and quieter place to be. The question of whether the third level exists in reality or only in Charley’s mind can be inferred from Sam’s letter. The story also dwells on the theme of escapism, not only as a psychological refuge from the grim realities of the present-day world but also as a desire to stay with the past or to keep the past alive in the complexities of the present.

The Third Level Word Meanings

Stack = pile

Psychiatrist = a doctor who studies and treats mental illness.

Refuge = shelter

Uptown = to the parts of a city that are away from the centre.

Tan = a yellowish-brown colour

Suburban = connected with an area that is outside the centre of the city

Corridors = long narrow passages with doors.

Spittoons = containers, used especially in the past, for people to spit into.

Vest = waistcoat

Sideburns = hair that grows down the sides of a man’s face in front of his ears.

Leg of mutton sleeves = (here) tight-fitting sleeves

Seeing Nelly Home = a favourite song of 1890s.

Hay = dried grass

Feed = (here) food for animals

The Third Level Characters and Places

Charley = a thirty-one-year-old young man, the protagonist of the story

Louisa = wife of Charley

Sam Weiner = Charley’s friend, a psychiatrist

The clerk = a ticket window clerk at the third level

President Cleveland = Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was an American politician and lawyer who was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office (1885–1889 and 1893–1897).

Grand Central Station = a Railway station in Newyork. Grand Central Terminal is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. 

The World = the name of a newspaper in 1894

Galesburg = Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States.

Illinois = is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Illinois is known as the “Land of Lincoln” as Abraham Lincoln spent most of his life there.

The Third Level Summary

The story begins in a mock-serious manner. Everyone knows that there are only two levels at Grand Central Station in New York. But Charley, a 31-year-old guy asserts that there are three and he had been on the third level.

One night Charley, an ordinary guy worked late at the office. He was in a hurry to reach home. So he decided to take the subway from Grand Central Station. He turned into Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue and went down the steps to the first level where one could take trains like the twentieth century. Then he walked down the second level where trains left for suburban areas. Then he ducked into an arched doorway heading for the subway and got lost.

He had lost his way a couple of times earlier too while taking the subway. Once, he entered the lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel while the other time he emerged at an office building that was three blocks away. But this time when he loses his way, something unique happens. He visits the third level.

Charley keeps walking in the quiet corridor, angling left and slanting downward, till he reaches an architecturally old station that is completely different from the two familiar levels. The antiquated small room with fewer ticket counters and train gates, a wooden information booth, flickering open flame gas lights, and brass spittoons remind him of the architecture of the 1800s. He also finds that people are dressed in outmoded outfits. He notices that the date in the newspaper ‘The World’ is printed June 11, 1894. He turns towards the ticket windows and wants to buy two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois. Since he had no old-style currency, he could not buy tickets and came back home.

He had always wanted to travel to Galesburg with his wife, Louisa. In his mind, it is a wonderful town still, with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches meet overhead and roof the streets. It is a place with long and pleasant summer evenings where people sat out on their lawns, smoked cigars, and talked quietly. So, the next day during lunch, he exchanges three hundred dollars for old-style bills amounting to some two hundred only. The loss doesn’t bother him much as he believes that in Galesburg everything will be cheaper and that he can manage even with a small amount. But, he could never again find the corridor leading to the third level.

His wife Louisa is worried after knowing all this and asks him not to look for the third level any further. Suddenly Charley realizes that his psychiatrist friend, Sam Weiner with whom he shared his experience, is nowhere to be found, so he and his wife keep looking for him at the weekends.

One day while fussing with his stamp collection, Charley comes across a letter that was not there earlier. It bears the postmark on a faded six-cent stamp with a picture of President Garfield. The envelope was sent on July 18, 1894, to Charley’s grandfather in Galesburg and is addressed to Charley. The letter reads that Sam has reached Galesburg and is enjoying his life there. He also invites Charley and Louisa to Galesburg. When Charley goes to the stamp and coin store, he found out that Sam had bought eight hundred dollars’ worth of old currency bills to establish his business of hay feed and grain in Galesburg. The letter was written by Sam Weiner, who was Charley’s psychiatrist.

This story brings us to the conclusion that people find it hard to make peace with unpleasant things they come across in life. It brings out a common man’s craving for peace and security. Like any common man, Charlie too appreciates the so-called ‘pleasures’ of everyday life. He wants to stay in the past because 1894 is much more peaceful, secure, and serene. The world in 1894 hasn’t seen the repercussions of war. The insecurities that come with war, terror, and disease had gotten the better of common folks like Charlie who wants a transient relief from the harsh realities of life.

The Third Level Summary in Hindi

कहानी एक मजाक-गंभीर तरीके से शुरू होती है। हर कोई जानता है कि न्यूयॉर्क में ग्रैंड सेंट्रल स्टेशन पर केवल दो स्तर हैं। लेकिन चार्ली, एक 31 वर्षीय व्यक्ति का दावा है कि तीन हैं और वह तीसरे स्तर पर था।

एक रात चार्ली, एक साधारण आदमी ने कार्यालय में देर से काम किया। वह घर पहुंचने की जल्दी में था। इसलिए उन्होंने ग्रांड सेंट्रल स्टेशन से मेट्रो लेने का फैसला किया। वह वेंडरबिल्ट एवेन्यू से ग्रैंड सेंट्रल में बदल गया और पहले स्तर पर कदम रखा, जहां कोई बीसवीं शताब्दी जैसी ट्रेनों को ले जा सकता था। फिर वह दूसरे स्तर पर नीचे चला गया जहाँ ट्रेनें उपनगरीय क्षेत्रों के लिए रवाना हुईं। फिर उसने मेट्रो के लिए एक धनुषाकार द्वार में प्रवेश किया और खो गया।

वह मेट्रो ले जाने के दौरान कुछ समय पहले भी अपना रास्ता खो चुका था। एक बार, उन्होंने रूजवेल्ट होटल की लॉबी में प्रवेश किया, जबकि दूसरी बार वे एक कार्यालय की इमारत में उभरे जो तीन ब्लॉक दूर थी। लेकिन इस बार जब वह अपनी राह खोता है, तो कुछ अनोखा होता है। वह तीसरे स्तर पर जाता है।

चार्ली शांत गलियारे में चलता रहता है, बाएं कोण को झुकाता है और नीचे की ओर तिरछा होता है, जब तक कि वह एक वास्तुशिल्प रूप से पुराने स्टेशन पर नहीं पहुंच जाता है जो दो परिचित स्तरों से पूरी तरह से अलग है। कम टिकट काउंटर और ट्रेन के गेट, लकड़ी के सूचना बूथ, खुली लौ गैस की रोशनी और चंचल चम्मच के साथ प्राचीन छोटा कमरा 1800 के दशक की वास्तुकला की याद दिलाता है। वह यह भी पाता है कि लोगों को कपड़े पहने आउटफिट पहना जाता है। उन्होंने नोटिस दिया कि समाचार पत्र ‘द वर्ल्ड’ में तारीख 11 जून, 1894 छपी है। वह टिकट खिड़कियों की ओर मुड़ता है और गैलेसबर्ग, इलिनोइस के लिए दो टिकट खरीदना चाहता है। चूंकि उनके पास पुरानी शैली की मुद्रा नहीं थी, इसलिए वे टिकट नहीं खरीद सके और घर वापस आ गए।

वह हमेशा अपनी पत्नी लुइसा के साथ गल्सबर्ग की यात्रा करना चाहते थे। उनके दिमाग में, यह अभी भी एक अद्भुत शहर है, जिसमें बड़े पुराने फ्रेम हाउस, विशाल लॉन और जबरदस्त पेड़ हैं, जिनकी शाखाएं ओवरहेड से मिलती हैं और सड़कों की छत बनाती हैं। यह लंबी और सुखद गर्मियों की शाम के साथ एक जगह है जहां लोग अपने लॉन पर बैठते हैं, सिगार पीते हैं, और चुपचाप बात करते हैं। इसलिए, अगले दिन दोपहर के भोजन के दौरान, वह पुराने शैली के बिलों के लिए तीन सौ डॉलर का आदान-प्रदान करता है, जो केवल दो सौ तक होता है। नुकसान उसे बहुत परेशान नहीं करता है क्योंकि उसका मानना ​​है कि गल्सबर्ग में सब कुछ सस्ता हो जाएगा और वह एक छोटी राशि के साथ भी प्रबंधन कर सकता है। लेकिन, वह फिर कभी भी गलियारे को तीसरे स्तर तक ले नहीं पाया।

उनकी पत्नी लुईसा यह सब जानने के बाद चिंतित हैं और उन्हें आगे किसी भी तीसरे स्तर की तलाश नहीं करने के लिए कहती हैं। अचानक चार्ली को पता चलता है कि उसका मनोचिकित्सक दोस्त, सैम वेनर जिसके साथ उसने अपना अनुभव साझा किया है, वह कहीं नहीं पाया जाता है, इसलिए वह और उसकी पत्नी सप्ताहांत में उसकी तलाश करते रहते हैं।

एक दिन अपने स्टांप संग्रह के साथ उपद्रव करते हुए, चार्ली एक पत्र भर में आता है जो पहले नहीं था। यह राष्ट्रपति गारफील्ड की तस्वीर के साथ एक फीके छह-स्टैम्प पर पोस्टमार्क रखता है। लिफाफा 18 जुलाई, 1894 को चार्ली के दादा को गैलेसबर्ग में भेजा गया और उन्हें चार्ली को संबोधित किया गया। पत्र में लिखा है कि सैम गैलसबर्ग पहुंच गया है और वहां अपने जीवन का आनंद ले रहा है। वह गैलीसबर्ग के लिए चार्ली और लुईसा को भी आमंत्रित करता है। जब चार्ली स्टांप और सिक्का की दुकान पर गया, तो उसे पता चला कि सैम ने गैलीसबर्ग में घास का चारा और अनाज के अपने व्यवसाय को स्थापित करने के लिए आठ सौ डॉलर के पुराने मुद्रा बिल खरीदे हैं। पत्र सैम वेनर ने लिखा था, जो चार्ली के मनोचिकित्सक थे।

यह कहानी हमें इस निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचाती है कि लोगों को जीवन में आने वाली अप्रिय चीजों से शांति बनाने में मुश्किल होती है। यह शांति और सुरक्षा के लिए एक आम आदमी की लालसा को दूर करता है। किसी भी आम आदमी की तरह, चार्ली भी रोजमर्रा के जीवन के तथाकथित ‘सुखों’ की सराहना करते हैं। वह अतीत में बने रहना चाहता है क्योंकि 1894 अधिक शांतिपूर्ण, सुरक्षित और निर्मल है। 1894 में दुनिया ने युद्ध के नतीजों को नहीं देखा। युद्ध, आतंक और बीमारी के साथ आने वाली असुरक्षाओं ने चार्ली जैसे आम लोगों को बेहतर बना दिया था जो जीवन की कठोर वास्तविकताओं से एक क्षणिक राहत चाहते हैं।

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The Third Level Questions and Answers (2 marks)

Q1 What, according to the psychiatrist, was Charley’s problem?

Ans. Charley told the psychiatrist about his belief in the existence of the third level at the Grand Central Station but was told by his friend that it was only a waking- dream wish fulfillment. The psychiatrist also added that Charley was unhappy because of the insecurity, fear, war, worry and that he just wanted to escape just like everyone else.

Q2. What did the psychiatrist think about Charley’s stamp collection? Why did Charley not agree with him?

Ans. The psychiatrist thought that Charley’s stamp collecting was a temporary refuge from reality. Charley did not agree with him because his grandfather for whom things were nice and peaceful and who did not need refuge from reality also collected stamps.

Q3.How does Charley describe himself?

Ans. Charley describes himself as just an ordinary guy, thirty-one years old. He wore a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat with a fancy band. He was just like other men he passed on the road and he was not trying to escape from anything.

Q4.What idea did Charley have about the tunnel and why didn’t he tell the psychiatrist about it?

Ans. Charley felt there was a tunnel that nobody knew about. Grand Central, he felt, was like an exit, a way of escape and perhaps that’s how he got into the tunnel. He didn’t want to tell the psychiatrist, for he would not have believed him and would have wanted to treat him.

Q5. How did Charley make sure that he had actually travelled in the past?

Ans. Charley went to the newsstand and looked at the Newspaper, he saw that it was ‘The World’, a Newspaper that was no longer published. He later discovered through Public Library files it was printed on June 11, 1894.

Q6. Describe Galesburg, as it existed in the year 1894?

Ans. Galesburg was a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge lawns, and tremendous trees whose branches met overhead and roofed over the streets. In 1894, summer evenings were twice as long, and people sat on their lawns. They smoked and gossipped.

Q7. What preparations did Charley make to go to Galesburg?

Ans. He drew 300 dollars out of the bank and purchased old-style currency.

Q8. In which context did Charley say, “eggs were thirteen cents a dozen in 1894”?

Ans. Charley had got his three hundred dollars out of the bank and got them changed into old-style currency so that he could go back to the third level and buy the tickets to Galesburg. For his three hundred dollars he had got only two hundred dollars old-style currency but he didn’t mind that. The only consolation was that in the year 1894, the two hundred dollars would have more value, as things were much cheaper then than they were now.

Q9.What was the reaction of the Clerk at the Ticket counter? Why

Ans. After Charley discovered that he was on the Third level, he decided to go to Galesburg with his wife Louisa and turned to purchase two tickets from the ticket counter the clerk at the ticket counter glanced at his fancy hatband curiously. However, when Charley counted the money and handed over the currency notes to the clerk, he started staring at Charley openly. He felt that Charley was trying to give him fake currency as the currency used in 1894 were old-style bills half as big as the notes that Charley was using, he even threatened to turn him to the authorities Charley did not relish the prospect of going to jail therefore he turned and got out of the Third level as fast as possible.

Q10. Why is the fact that Sam has moved to the third level ironical?

Ans. Sam believed that only two levels existed. He explained Charley’s experience as ‘ Waking – dream wish fulfillment. He believed the third level was a medium to escape from the tension of modern life. But later, Sam himself found the third level and got settled there. Earlier he believed there was not the third level at all but ironically he himself became a resident of Galesburg. He even urged Charley to keep finding it.

Q11. What made Louisa, Charley’s wife, believe that the third level was a reality?

Ans. Louisa, like Charley’s friends, believed whatever explanations the psychiatrist friend had given. But later, when she received a mail from Sam himself from the old Galesburg, Louisa believed that Charley was true to his claims and even began to search for the third level.

Q12. What is the first-day cover?

Ans. When a new stamp is issued, stamp collectors buy some and use them to mail envelopes to themselves on the very first day of sale; and the postmark proves the date. They’re never opened; they just put blank paper in the envelope. The envelope is called a first-day cover.

Q13. Who had sent the first-day cover and what was written on it?

Ans. Sam had sent the first-day cover. Sam wrote that he had discovered the Third level and had reached Galesburg. He found Galesburg peaceful and friendly .he advised Charley to keep looking for the third level and reach Galesburg.

Q14. How did Charley happen to reach the Third Level of Grand Central Station, New York?

Ans. One day Charley worked for more time at the office. So he was late for home. So he took the subway from the Grand Central to reach the second level of it. From there he was to catch a train. He started walking quickly. He reached the second level. But, all of a sudden, he lost his way there. He entered a corridor that had a left turn. It was also slanting somewhat downwards. It was like a tunnel. He met no one on the way. There was dead silence. Even he could hear the sound of his own footsteps. Then the corridor took a sharp left turn. After coming down a flight of stairs he reached the third level of the Grand Central Station.

Q15. What does the third level refer to?

Ans. The Grand Central Station of New York has subways on two levels from where the commuters take trains to different destinations. No third level was ever built. However, Charley believes in the existence of a third level, operating in a time-frame of 1890s. The third level signifies an escape from the modern world that is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, and all the rest of it. The period of the 1890s represents a peaceful life not possible in the present era. From this level, Charley wants to travel to Galesburg, Illinois, with his wife Louisa. For him, it is a part of reality while his psychiatrist friend calls it a “waking-dream wish fulfillment.”

Q16. Do you think that the third level was a medium of escape for Charley? Why?

Ans. Yes, the third level was a medium of escape for Charley from the unhappy modern world that is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, and the like. This is because he could never find it again at the Grand Central Station. Charley did not agree with his psychiatrist friend when the latter called his experience of visiting the third level ‘a waking-dream wish fulfillment.’ His friend tried in vain to make him realise that his hallucinations are a result of his strong desire to escape to the peaceful times of the 1890s.

The Third Level Questions and Answers (6 marks)

Q1. Describe the Grand Central Station at the third level?

Ans. Grand Central Station at the third level looked very different. There were Fewer ticket windows and train gates. The information booth was in the center, it was made of wood and was a very old looking man in the booth who wore green eyeshade and long sleeve protectors. The lights were dim and flickering as they were open flame gaslights. There were brass spittoons on the floor.

Men wore Derby hats a black four-button suit with tiny lapels and he had a big, black handlebar mustache. Men had beards, sideburns, and fancy mustaches. Women wore dresses with the leg of mutton sleeves. He caught a glimpse of a very small Currier &Ives Locomotive with a funnel-shaped stack. He also saw a copy of the “The World’, a Newspaper which hadn’t been published for years.

Q2. Would Charley ever go back to the ticket counter on the third level to buy tickets to Galesburg for himself and his wife?

Ans. After reading the story we get to know that Charley was interested in travelling to Galesburg with his wife Louisa. However, he couldn’t locate the third level again. The first time around, he found the third level by accident. When he reached the ticket-counter, he realized that the currency he had with him was not useful as it belonged to a different period. He went back to convert his three hundred dollars into the “old-style currency” that could enable him to buy two tickets to Galesburg. However, when he returned to the Grand Central, he could not find the corridor leading to the third level. He couldn’t go back looking for the third level as his wife was too worried about him. Moreover, he himself had stopped looking for it after some time.

Q3. What do you infer from Sam’s letter to Charley?

Ans. The letter was addressed to Charley but mailed to his grandfather in Galesburg, Illinois. It was mailed in 1894 and now appears in his grandfather’s collection. The letter was suddenly found among the first-day covers where it had never been seen earlier. Moreover, the contents of the letter are exactly what Charley thought about Galesburg of the 1890s. Sam’s letter to Charley is a mystery that blends together the worlds of reality and fantasy, and thus, needs further exploration. There are two perspectives from which one can look at the letter. At one level, it proves that Sam has reached Galesburg of 1984. However, if we look at a deeper level, we can infer that the letter is just another instance of his hallucination or dreams of escapism. It is possible that while Charley was looking at the old first-cover letter, he was carried away to a different world where the letter was sent to Charley by Sam. The letter reflects Sam’s undeterred urge that forces him to keep looking for the third level.

Q4. ‘The modern world is full of insecurity, fear, war, worry, and stress.’ What are the ways in which we attempt to overcome them?

Ans. We can overcome the anxieties and insecurities bred by our inevitable existence in the modern world by getting involved in some practical and beneficial activities. Cultivating hobbies, spending time with family and friends, going on trips and excursions, pursuing meditation and exercises help us live a balanced and healthy life. Reading good books is equivalent to having good friends with great insight. They not only enrich us with the vast store of knowledge but also help us to learn from other’s experiences and stay rooted in some basic qualities of humanity. Joining hobby classes or gym, attending social events like birthdays and weddings, going for outdoor games, interacting meaningfully through social-networking sites and writing diaries, etc can also help us relieve our worries and stay focussed and disciplined in life. Simple activities like listening to music, playing with pets, an occasional dinner out, watching cinema or plays or going to places like parks, etc. can go a long way in helping us get rid of stress, boredom, and insecurities.

Q5. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?

Ans. Yes, there are certain instances in the story that show an intersection of time and space. Firstly, the first two levels of Grand Central Station were located in the present time while the third level existed in the 1890s. Secondly, Charley and his wife, Louisa, live in the present time yet he rushes to get old currency to buy two tickets to go to the Galesburg of 1894. Further, the old architecture of the platform at the third level is different from the modern platforms of the first two levels. Besides, the archaic manner of dressing by the people, and the newspaper, The World, dated June 11, 1984, also overlaps with Charley’s real-time world and existence. Lastly, the letter that was mailed to Charley’s grandfather on 18th July 1894 highlights the intersection of time and space as the sender (Charley’s friend Sam) and receiver (Charley himself) belong to the present time.

Q6. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection? Discuss.

Ans. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection. Before the Wright Brothers invented the first aeroplane, nobody could have dared to believe that man could fly. Before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, it would have been impossible to believe in long-distance talks happening in the real-time interface. Moreover, there are examples of inventions, like that of inventing the modern-day sewing machine with a needle that has a hole on its wrong end, which were conceived in dreams but now are part of our everyday reality. All this emphasizes that fantasies of one point of time that seem illogical may turn out to be revolutionary things that change the future of mankind. Similarly, it would not be far-fetched to think about railway stations fitted with time-machine devices that would make travel from one era to another just a matter of time.

Q7. Philately helps keep the past alive. Discuss other ways in which this is done. What do you think of the human tendency to constantly move between the past, the present, and the future?

Ans. Besides philately, there are numerous other ways to help keep the past alive. Collecting historical artifacts, paintings, and inscriptions in a museum, collecting and reading books (including autobiographies, bio-sketches, letters, and diary entries) written in different eras, collecting and viewing documentaries and other videos are all a few ways of revisiting history. Besides, we can keep our culture and traditions alive when we follow the rituals in ceremonies, treasured memories in the form of videos, photographs, and audio collections. Also, reviving old monuments, buildings, and other artifacts may prove a huge learning opportunity to those visiting such places, and promote tourism at the same time. The capacity to oscillate between the past, present, and future is a great intellectual gift. This human tendency enables him to plan for the future in the present by reaping benefits from the past. Consider a very simple example of adopting a study technique for board exams. Considering the past result (of the class test or half-yearly exams) a student makes a strategic plan to address the weak areas more and score better in the future. Thus, such a tendency helps in ensuring acceptance of the impact of important decisions taken at any point in time and learning from them.

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