Question 300
HardOriginal questionPriyanka had won the district running race three years in a row, and everyone, including Priyanka, she would win it a fourth time.
The new girl from the government school ran . She was a head shorter than Priyanka and wore a T-shirt three sizes too big, and at the start she stood a little from the others, as if she was not sure she was allowed to be there.
For three hundred metres, Priyanka led, as she always did. Then she heard feet behind her that should not have been there, quick and light, and the barefoot girl went past her on the inside as if Priyanka were standing still.
Priyanka had imagined losing before, in the way people imagine things that will never happen. It had always been a disaster in her imagination: tears, silence in the car home, her coach looking away. What she had not imagined was how strange it would feel to be beaten fairly by someone better.
At the finishing line, the new girl bent over with her hands on her knees, breathing hard, and did not seem to know what to do next. Nobody had come to cheer for her.
Priyanka walked over. "Where did you learn to run like that?" she asked.
The girl looked up, . "Running to school," she said. "It's six kilometres."
"Then you've been training longer than I have," said Priyanka, and held out her hand.
Why does the writer mention that "Nobody had come to cheer for her"?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The girl won, yet had no one to share it with and "did not seem to know what to do next".
This makes Priyanka's walking over to her a real kindness, not just politeness.
Worth noting
She had just won the race, so the detail cannot be about her ability.
- Concept
- Understanding why a detail is included
- Typical timeTypical
- 55 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.