Read the passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
Part of our programme included spending an afternoon on a machaan that overlooked a waterhole in the forest. Our riding elephants dropped us off, and we were given strict instructions to remain put until later, the elephants would come to pick us up.
So we sat, hoping that a tiger or leopard would come down for a drink. No such luck. After a while, a juvenile rhesus macaque poked its head out and looked around warily. Then, taking infinitesimal care, it emerged into the clearing cautiously. If it had been born and brought up in Delhi, it would have probably charged out, clambered up our machaan and relieved us of our drinking water and snacks. But not this fellow. I thought these forest monkeys were such wimps!
It was getting darker by the minute- and there was no sign of our elephant pickups. So we decided to trek back to Dhikala. We set off in single file along the forest path. When I was suddenly confronted by all the pioneering leaders rushing pell-mell back urgently whispering, 'mad elephant, mad elephant!' I saw the bulk of an elephant- I can't vouch if its head was aggressively cocked and trunk rolled up, appraising us prior to charging. Incontinently, we fled, to our machaan and clambered up.
One spank from its trunk would have sent any of us flying clear across the waterhole! We could only sit quietly. I realised that the juvenile rhesus had a very good reason for being so cautious. We had not.
The purpose of spending an afternoon on a machaan was to ______
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → watch the predators in their natural habitat.
The machaan overlooked a waterhole, and the author says, "So we sat, hoping that a tiger or leopard would come down for a drink." Tigers and leopards are predators, and the waterhole is part of their natural home, so the afternoon on the machaan was meant for watching them in the wild. (A machaan is a raised wooden platform built in trees for watching animals.)
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: experience the feeling of being in a tree house. — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the passage says nothing about enjoying the platform itself. The group sat there waiting for animals to appear.
Option 3: hunt the wild animals from a safe height. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the group came to watch animals, not to kill them: they sat "hoping that a tiger or leopard would come down for a drink", and nothing in the passage mentions weapons or hunting.
Option 4: enjoy the beauty of the jungle from a vantage point. — Incorrect. Wrong focus: a vantage point is a high place that gives a good view. The machaan was one, but the passage speaks only of hoping to see predators, not of admiring the scenery.
Example: From the vantage point of the fort wall, we could see the whole city.
Note: In the original NTA paper, Option 3 read "climb off and on an elephant easily from a height". 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 "hunt the wild animals from a safe height".
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.