Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
The first bicycles reached India in the late nineteenth century. They came in with British officials and missionaries, and with a few rich Indians. Almost all of them were imported, and the price was far beyond what a farmer could pay. In a village, a bicycle was a novelty. Children ran behind it, and old men broke off their talk to stare at a man sitting high on two thin wheels.
This began to change after independence, when Indian factories started making bicycles in large numbers. Ludhiana in Punjab became the best-known centre. Firms such as Hero grew there from small units into big makers. As prices came down, the machine moved from the officer’s veranda to the farmer’s courtyard.
What it brought was distance. A milkman could now reach the town before his milk turned sour. A postman could cover several villages in a day. A small trader could tie a sack to the carrier and try a weekly market that had once been out of reach.
For children, and for girls most of all, the change went deeper. The nearest high school was often in another village, too far to walk, and many parents did not want their daughters on long, lonely roads. When state governments began to give bicycles to schoolgirls, as Bihar did from 2006, many more girls joined high school. On many rural roads today, the morning traffic is a line of girls in school uniform, riding two or three abreast, bags in the front basket.
The word ‘novelty’, as used in the passage, means
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → something new and unusual that draws attention
A novelty is something new and unusual that draws attention.
- The passage says that in a village, a bicycle was a novelty.
- Children ran behind it, and old men stopped talking to stare. People act like this when they see something they have never seen before. Example: The first smart board in our school was such a novelty that every class came to see it.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: something costly that only a few families could afford — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of luxury. Example: In those days a car was a luxury in our small town.
Option 2: something cheap and small that is sold as a toy — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of trinket. Example: She bought a plastic trinket at the village fair for five rupees.
Option 4: something needed every day for one’s work — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of necessity. Example: For a tailor, a sewing machine is a necessity.