Question 323
HardOriginal questionThere were six of them on the bench outside the office, and Divya was the only one without a file. She had her certificates in a plastic bag from a sweet shop.
When her name was called, three people sat behind a long table. The man in the middle asked the usual questions, and she gave the answers she had practised in front of the mirror. Then the woman on the left, who had said nothing so far, put down her pen.
"Tell us about a time you failed."
Divya had not practised this. The honest answer came into her head before she could stop it: her first attempt at the bank exam, when she had studied every night for six months and missed the by two marks.
She could have something small and safe. Instead, she told them the truth: the six months, the two marks, the week she spent not speaking to anyone. Then she told them what came after. She had gone through the paper question by question and found that she had lost nine marks to errors. So she had practised checking her work until it became a habit.
"Did you pass the second time?" asked the woman.
"I have not taken it a second time," said Divya. "I am taking it in March."
There was a silence. Divya was sure she had ruined everything.
The woman picked up her pen again, and for the first time that morning, she smiled.
Why did Divya think she "had ruined everything"?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
She told them about failing, and then admitted she had not yet passed. In the silence that followed, she feared that honesty had cost her the job.
Worth noting
Nothing in the story suggests rudeness or lateness.
- Concept
- Inferring a character's reasoning
- Typical timeTypical
- 60 s
- Your timeYours
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