Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
Linthoi had never played on a ground so flat. At home in Imphal the college field was all tufts and bare patches, and a ball could hop sideways off a stone. Here in Kolhapur the grass was cut short and even, the lines were newly painted, and a raw wind blew across it from the hills.
In the hostel the night before, Sanatombi had talked until the warden switched off the light, about the dal, about the Kerala girls in the next room who laughed at everything. Linthoi had lain awake listening to the ceiling fan tick on each turn. At breakfast the rice was the wrong kind, dry and loose. She finished every grain, because Coach Tomba was noting who left food on their plates.
Behind the stand she retied her left boot twice.
The first time the ball came to her, she hit it far too hard and it rolled out for a goal kick. Someone in the crowd shouted something in Marathi. She did not know what it meant and decided it was not about her.
Coach Tomba did not shout from the line. He held out his palm and pressed it down through the air, twice, slowly.
Ten minutes later she took a high ball on her chest, let it drop, and slid it out to Roja on the wing without looking up. It left her foot the way it did at home. Roja’s cross was cleared, but Linthoi noticed she was breathing properly again. By the second half she had stopped hearing the crowd.
What does the scene mainly show about Linthoi?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → She is tense before and early in the match, but steadies once play starts to feel familiar
Linthoi is nervous at the start, and she calms down when the game begins to feel like football at home.
- Her nerves show in small actions. She lies awake the night before, she ties the same boot again “twice”, and her first touch is “far too hard”.
- Then a pass “left her foot the way it did at home”. After that she is “breathing properly again”, and by the second half she has “stopped hearing the crowd”. To steady means to become calm and settled.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: She is confident and hardly notices how different the new ground is — Incorrect. Contradicted: The very first line is about how new the ground feels to her: she “had never played on a ground so flat”.
Option 2: She is hurt by the shout from the crowd and loses her nerve for the rest of the game — Incorrect. Contradicted: She decides the shout “was not about her”, and she plays better as the game goes on.
Option 3: She is annoyed that the coach keeps such a close eye on the players — Incorrect. Not mentioned: She finishes her rice because the coach is watching, but nothing shows that this annoys her.