Question 318
HardOriginal questionThe form had lain on the kitchen shelf for nine days, under the tea tin. Kavya could see its corner from where she sat.
It was for a at a college in Pune, three hundred kilometres away. Her teacher had filled in the parts she could and written, in the , "You must apply. Last date 30th." Today was the 28th.
Her father's shop had done badly since the new supermarket opened on the highway. Her mother now stitched blouses in the evenings, and Kavya did the for the shop after school, because she was better with numbers than anyone else in the house. If she went to Pune, who would do them?
She had not told her parents about the form. She had told herself it was because there was no point. Now she was not so sure. Perhaps she had not told them because she was afraid of what they would say. Or perhaps because she was afraid they would say yes.
In the evening, her father came in, took down the tea tin, and the form slid to the floor. He picked it up and read it slowly, all of it, including the margin. Kavya held her breath.
He put it on the table in front of her. Then he went to the drawer, took out a pen, and laid it beside the form.
"The accounts," he said, "I will learn."
Why might Kavya have been "afraid they would say yes"?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
As long as no one says yes, Kavya does not have to decide.
A yes would make the choice real: she would have to go, and her family would lose her help with the accounts.
Worth noting
She clearly wants the scholarship. Her fear is of what going would cost her family, not of studying.
- Concept
- Inferring a character's hidden feelings
- Typical timeTypical
- 60 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.