Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
In the summer of 2016, people flocked to parks, beaches and old monuments in many cities. They would stop, stare at their phones and set off in a new direction. They were not lost. They were playing Pokémon GO, a game released that July by the American company Niantic.
The trick was augmented reality, a digital picture laid over the real world. The game showed small cartoon creatures on the camera view of the street around the player, so a creature might seem to sit on a bus-stop bench or a temple step. Real landmarks such as statues, fountains and post offices became PokéStops, where players picked up free items, or gyms, where they battled one another. Nothing could be caught from the sofa. Even the eggs in the game hatched only after the player had walked a set distance.
Doctors have long found it hard to get people to walk more. A phone game seemed to manage it in a week. Studies of players’ daily steps found that they did walk a good deal more in the first weeks. Then the extra walking slowly tapered off, and after some weeks most players were walking about as much as they had before.
The game brought other worries as well. Some players stepped into traffic with their eyes on the screen. Others wandered into private gardens and buildings, chasing a creature that existed only on a phone. By the time Pokémon GO was launched in India in December 2016, such stories had already travelled ahead of it.
The word ‘flocked’, as used in the passage, means:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → went in large numbers
Flocked means went in large numbers.
- The passage says people “flocked to parks, beaches and old monuments in many cities” in 2016.
- So many people were playing the game that these places filled up with players. Example: Fans flocked to the stadium gates hours before the match.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: went back to after many years — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of revisited. Example: After college, Ravi revisited his old school in Dehradun.
Option 2: went secretly, hoping not to be seen — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of sneaked. Example: The boys sneaked out of the hostel to buy samosas.
Option 3: went quickly to escape danger — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of fled. Example: The villagers fled to higher ground when the river rose.