Comprehension:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow
The old man remained dreaming in the sun. His kite shop was gone. He still made kites for his own amusement and for the benefit of his grandson, Ali. Not many people bought kites these days. Adults disdained them and children preferred to spend their time at the cinema. Moreover, there were not many open spaces left for flying of kites.
But the old man remembered a time when grown men flew kites and great battles were fought, the kites swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other until the string of one was severed. Kite flying was then the sport of the kings, and the old man remembered how the Nawab himself would participate in this noble pastime. There was time, then, to spend an idle hour with a gay dancing strip of paper. Now everyone hurried in a heat of hope and delicate things like kites and daydreams were trampled underfoot.
He, Mehmood the kite-maker, had in the prime of his life been well-known throughout the city. Some of his kites sold for three or four rupees each! Everyone in the neighbourhood would ask after his health; but now, no one visited him. The children who had bought kites from him 10 years ago, had grown up in a swiftly changing and competitive world and they looked at the old kite-maker and the banyan tree with the same indifference. Both were taken for granted – permanent fixtures that were of no concern to the raucous, sweating mass of humanity that surrounded them.
Based on your reading of the passage identify the statements that are true:
A. The old man was a popular kite-maker of his time.
B. Kite-flying was a preferred leisure time activity in the past.
C. Mehmood gave up making kites as the cost of production was beyond his reach.
D. In this fast changing world Mehmood feels lonely.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A, B and D only
A. The old man was a popular kite-maker of his time. — Holds true.
- In the prime of his life, Mehmood had been "well-known throughout the city", and everyone asked after his health.
B. Kite-flying was a preferred leisure time activity in the past. — Holds true.
- Grown men flew kites, the Nawab joined in, and there was time "to spend an idle hour" with a kite.
C. Mehmood gave up making kites as the cost of production was beyond his reach. — Does not hold true.
- He still makes kites for his own amusement and for his grandson.
- The passage says nothing about the cost of making them.
D. In this fast changing world Mehmood feels lonely. — Holds true.
- In a "swiftly changing and competitive world", no one visits him and people look at him with indifference.