Question 243
MediumOriginal questionMr Bhatia arrived at the government school in Chandpur with three suitcases and a lot of plans. He had taught for five years in a private school in Delhi, and he was sure the village children would be behind.
On his first day he asked the Class 7 students to name the parts of a plant. They gave the answers in the book, slowly and shyly. He sighed. Then he asked them to name the plants they could see from the window.
The room changed. Hands went up everywhere. A girl named Rekha named eleven plants in two minutes, and told him which ones cured a stomach ache and which ones made goats sick. A boy explained how to tell from the colour of a neem leaf whether the rains would be early. Another described how his father mango trees, and drew it on the board, more clearly than the in the textbook.
Mr Bhatia had planned to teach them about plants. Instead he spent the taking notes.
That evening he wrote to a friend in Delhi. "I came here thinking I would bring knowledge to the village," he wrote. "I have been here one day, and I already know less than a twelve-year-old girl about the things growing outside my window."
He did not throw away his plans. But he added a new one. Every Friday, the class would teach him.
Why did "the room change" when he asked about the plants outside the window?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The answers from the book came "slowly and shyly", but about real plants "Hands went up everywhere", with knowledge of cures, rains and grafting.
Worth noting
The new question was not from the book; that is why it brought out what they really knew.
- Concept
- Identifying the cause of a change
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Narrative passages, at your own pace.