Question 150
HardOriginal questionMother: Your father's cousin says science is the only choice.
Aditi: He says that about everything he chose himself.
Mother: That's not fair. He's a successful man.
Aditi: He is. And he tells us every Diwali how much he hates his job.
Mother: (laughs ) He does, doesn't he.
Aditi: Amma, I'm not saying science is wrong. I'm saying it isn't mine. When I read about the Mughal for my project, I forgot to eat lunch. When I do chemistry, I watch the clock.
Mother: You can't build a life on forgetting lunch.
Aditi: Why not? People who forget lunch over their work usually end up good at it.
Mother: And what if history doesn't give you a job?
Aditi: Then I'll have tried the thing I love and learnt something. If I choose science and fail, I'll have neither.
Mother: (after a long pause) Write down three jobs you could do with history. Real ones. We'll look at them together, and then we'll talk to your father.
Aditi: That's not a yes.
Mother: It isn't a no, either.
How does the conversation end?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The mother asks for three real jobs in history to look at together, and says her answer "isn't a no, either".
She has not agreed, but she has moved from doubt to a serious conversation.
Worth noting
Aditi herself says "That's not a yes", and her mother does not contradict her, so the mother has not agreed at once.
- Concept
- Understanding an open ending
- Typical timeTypical
- 55 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Poems and conversations, at your own pace.