If I met a working man and his wife in the streets between eleven o'clock and midnight on their way home from the Ambigu Comique, I used to amuse myself by following them from the Boulevard du Pont aux Choux to the Boulevard Beaumarchais. The good folk would begin by talking about the play, then from one thing to another they would come to their own affairs, and the mother would walk on and on, heedless of complaints or question from the little one that dragged at her hand, while she and her husband reckoned up the wages to be paid on the morrow, and spend the money in a score of different ways. Then came domestic details, lamentations over the excessive dearness of potatoes, or the length of the winter and the high price of block fuel, together with forcible representations of amounts owing to the baker, ending in an acrimonious dispute, in the course of which such couples reveal their characters in picturesque language. As I listened, I could make their lives mine, I felt their rags on my back, I walked with their gaping shoes on my feet; their cravings, their needs, had all passed into my soul, or my soul had passed into theirs. It was the dream of a waking man. I waxed hot with them over the foreman's tyranny, or the bad customers that made them call again and again for payment.
What topics of discussion would be brought up by the couples when they begin by talking about the play?
A. The amounts pending with the grocer.
B. High price of block fuel.
C. Domestic details.
D. Excessive price of onions.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B and C only
The couples begin with the play, move on to their own affairs and wages, and then come to domestic details: the dearness of potatoes, the length of the winter, the high price of block fuel and the amounts owing to the baker.
(A) The amounts pending with the grocer. — Incorrect.
- The amounts owed are to the baker.
- No grocer is mentioned.
- Correct form: The amounts owing to the baker.
(B) High price of block fuel. — Correct.
- The couples complain about "the high price of block fuel".
(C) Domestic details. — Correct.
- The passage says, "Then came domestic details".
(D) Excessive price of onions. — Incorrect.
- The complaint is about the dearness of potatoes, not onions.
- Correct form: Dearness of potatoes.
Note: In the original NTA paper, Option 1 read "C only". NTA accepted this option as a correct answer as well. To leave only one correct answer and avoid confusion for students, it has been changed here to "D only".
Advice for the exam: In the real exam, mark the answer that is grammatically or factually correct. If NTA’s provisional answer key marks a different option, challenge it during the answer-key challenge window and give the reason in one or two lines.