Read the poem given below and answer the question by choosing the correct option:
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more-that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut-my eyes are blue-
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke-
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is-what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is... Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
The long and never-ending list of sicknesses given by little Peggy in the poem shows that she is _________.
Choose the correct option from the following:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → desperate to miss school
Peggy opens with "I cannot go to school today" and piles up one impossible illness after another. The moment she learns that it is Saturday, all the illnesses vanish and she runs out to play. The list was only an excuse: she was desperate to miss school.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: genuinely unwell — Incorrect. Contradicted: a sick child could not jump up and say "I'm going out to play!"; her quick recovery shows she was never ill.
Option 3: an obstinate and headstrong child — Incorrect. Misread: obstinate and headstrong mean stubbornly refusing to change one's mind. Peggy does not refuse openly; she pretends to be ill, and she drops the act at once when there is no school.
Example: The obstinate boy would not listen to anyone.
Option 4: a neglected child — Incorrect. Contradicted: nothing in the poem suggests that she is not cared for; someone is listening to her and answers her.