Question 25
MediumOriginal questionThe science fair was at ten, and at a quarter to ten Irfan's volcano was a very cone of clay that did absolutely nothing.
He had tested it twice at home. Both times, when he poured vinegar into the baking soda, red foam had come rushing out of the top and down the sides, and his little brother had screamed with . Now, with the judges two tables away, he poured, and waited, and the volcano gave a small, sad bubble and stopped.
His friend Neha leaned over. "Did you use the same baking soda?"
He had not. At home, his mother had given him a fresh packet. This morning, in a hurry, he had taken the old tin from the back of the cupboard.
There was no time to buy more. So when the judges arrived, Irfan did not show them an . He showed them the sad bubble, and then he told them why it was sad: that the old baking soda had lost most of its power, that the needed fresh powder to make enough gas, and that he had learnt more about it in the last fifteen minutes than in the whole of the week before.
He did not win. But one of the judges wrote something on her sheet, and at the end of the day she came back to shake his hand.
What does the story suggest about failure?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Irfan says he learnt more in fifteen minutes of failure than in the whole week before, and the judge respects his explanation.
The story suggests that understanding a failure can be worth more than a success you do not think about.
Worth noting
He did test twice, and it still failed at the fair. The story shows that testing alone did not prevent failure.
- Concept
- Identifying the idea a story suggests
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.