Read the following passage and answer the question that follows:
I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an Xbox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.
If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a normal face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing. Here's what I think: the only reason I'm not ordinary is that no one else sees me that way. But I'm kind of used to how I look by now. I know how to pretend.
I don't see the faces people make. We've all gotten pretty good at that sort of thing: me, Mom, Dad Via. Actually, I take that back: Via's not so good at it. She can get really annoyed when people do something rude. Like, for instance, one time in the playground some older kids made some noises. I don't even know what the noises were exactly because I didn't hear them myself, but Via heard and she just started yelling at the kids. That's the way she is. I'm not that way.
What is the antonym of 'stared at'?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → ignored
- To be stared at is to be looked at fixedly for a long time, often with curiosity or rudeness. The narrator says people stare at him wherever he goes.
Example: The stranger in the bright costume was stared at by everyone in the market. - To be ignored is to be given no attention at all, so it is the opposite of being stared at.
Example: His warning was ignored until it was too late.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: exposed — Incorrect. Exposed means left open to view or to harm; a person who is stared at is exposed rather than the opposite.
Example: The workers were exposed to the hot sun all day.
Option 3: given away — Incorrect. To be given away means to be handed to someone free, or to be revealed; it is not related to being looked at.
Example: The old clothes were given away to charity.
Option 4: pretend — Incorrect. To pretend is to act as if something is true when it is not; it is a different idea and is not even in the same form as "stared at".
Example: The child pretended to be asleep when his mother came in.