Question 127
MediumOriginal questionOn her first day at the new school in Pune, Anjali ate lunch alone, because she did not know anyone and because her lunchbox smelled of fish curry. She had noticed the girl beside her when she opened it.
On the second day, she asked her mother for sandwiches.
Her mother looked at her for a moment and then, without a word, packed the fish curry again, with extra rice.
Anjali was all morning. At lunch she opened the box as little as she could, holding the lid half-closed like a . That was when a voice behind her said, "Is that macher jhol?"
It was a tall boy from the back row, Rohan, whom she had heard the teacher twice already. He was holding a steel box of his own. "My dadi makes it," he said, "but hers is always too spicy. Swap you half for half?"
His box held poha, bright yellow and dotted with peanuts. Anjali, who had eaten poha every week of her life in Kolkata and never once liked it, found that it was the best thing she had tasted in a month.
By Friday, four of them were sharing. Nobody asked for sandwiches again. Anjali never told her mother what had happened; she her mother had guessed.
Anjali held the lid "half-closed like a shield". The comparison shows that she was
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
A shield is held up for protection. She holds the lid so that as little of her lunch as possible can be seen or smelt.
The comparison shows she was hiding her food, as if protecting herself from the others' reactions.
Worth noting
"Proudly" is the opposite: she opened the box "as little as she could".
- Concept
- Interpreting a comparison
- Typical timeTypical
- 40 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.