Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

Striking the largest ever deal by one airline took months of secret talks carried out a stone's throw from Britain's Buckingham palace and culminating in a celebration over coastal Indian curries, according to people involved in the talks. Air India's record aircraft deal has put the Tata Group-owned airline in the league of aspiring global carriers. On Tuesday, it provisionally agreed to acquire almost 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing to take on domestic and international rivals. The deal was in the making for over a year, insiders said. Serious talks began last summer and continued until days before Christmas when outlines were agreed. As the astonishing scale of the deal began to crystallise, Reuters reported in December the parties were nearing a record 500-plane agreement. The epicentre of deal making was St James' Court - a luxury Victorian hotel near Buckingham Palace in London's West End. In the hothouse atmosphere of a classic aircraft industry negotiating ritual known as a ‘bakeoff’, negotiators from the airline, plane-makers and engine-giants camped out at the Tataowned hotel and neighbouring suites for days at a stretch. They were chasing a bigger slice of a fast-growing market that has seen many airline growth plans rise and fall.

Select the correct meaning of ‘a stone's throw’

a close distance

The correct answer is OPTION 1-   a close distance

The correct meaning of ‘a stone's throw’ in the passage is:  a close distance

The other options are incorrect:

a small effort: The phrase refers to physical distance, not the amount of effort involved.
an easy task: Similar to the above, it describes distance, not difficulty.
an insulting act: There's no implication of insult in the phrase. It simply means something is nearby.