Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
Biscuit slipped out of her collar near Gariahat market a little after dusk, when the first rockets of Kali Puja went up. She ran until the bangs were behind her, and then she ran some more.
When she stopped, it was under a parked lorry, flat on the warm tar, her ribs going in and out like a bellows. Buses ground past a few feet away. A boy selling balloons crouched and held out his hand. She watched the hand. She did not move, and after a while he went away.
The city she knew was a map of smells, and tonight half of it had been rubbed out. The air still tasted of gunpowder. She crawled out and lifted her nose anyway, turning it from side to side. Frying onions. Wet sacks outside a grain shop. Then, faint, the burnt-milk smell of the sweet shop on her own corner.
She kept to the edge of the road. At the big crossing she waited while two autos and a cycle-rickshaw went by. Then she bolted between a bus and a handcart and was on the far pavement before the traffic policeman could lift his whistle.
It was nearly ten when she turned into her lane. Mr Sen stood at the gate in his vest, a torch in one hand and her empty collar in the other. The beam wobbled on the wall. He did not call her name. He crouched, slowly, the way the balloon boy had, and waited.
She came the last few steps with her tail low and pushed her whole head against his chest.
How does Biscuit most likely feel when the balloon boy holds out his hand?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Frightened, and unsure whether this stranger can be trusted
Biscuit is still scared after her long run, and she does not know what the boy will do.
- She lies “flat on the warm tar” under a lorry, a place to hide. Her ribs go “in and out like a bellows”. A bellows is a bag that pumps air, so this shows she is panting hard.
- When the boy holds out his hand, “She watched the hand. She did not move.” She keeps her eyes on him but does not come out. This shows fear and doubt about a stranger.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Angry, and ready to snap at anyone who comes near her — Incorrect. Not mentioned: She does not growl or bark. She only watches and stays still until the boy goes away.
Option 3: Hopeful that the boy will give her something to eat — Incorrect. Not mentioned: The boy is selling balloons, and no food is offered. The passage says nothing about hunger.
Option 4: Calm, since the noise of the rockets is now far behind her — Incorrect. Contradicted: The bangs are behind her, but she is not calm. She is hiding and breathing hard.