Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
TOWARDS evening the storm was at its height. From the terrific downpour of rain, the crash of thunder, and the repeated flashes of lightning, you might think that a battle of the gods and demons was raging in the skies. Black clouds waved like the Flags of Doom. The Ganges was lashed into a fury, and the trees of the gardens on either bank swayed from side to side with sighs and groans.
In a closed room of one of the riverside houses at Chandernagore, a husband and his wife were seated on a bed spread on the floor, intently discussing. An earthen lamp burned beside them.
The husband, Sharat, was saying, "I wish you would stay on a few days more; you would then be able to return home quite strong again."
The wife, Kiran, was saying, "I have quite recovered already. It will not, cannot possibly, do me any harm to go home now."
Every married person will at once understand that the conversation was not quite so brief as I have reported it. The matter was not difficult, but the arguments for and against did not advance it towards a solution. Like a rudderless boat, the discussion kept turning round and round the same point; and at last threatened to be overwhelmed in a flood of tears.
Which phrase from the passage can be used in the place of the following word: "ominous"
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Flags of doom
Ominous means giving the feeling that something bad is going to happen. In the passage the black clouds wave "like the Flags of Doom": doom is a terrible fate, so the clouds look like a warning of disaster, which is what ominous means.
Example: There was an ominous silence before the storm broke.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: lashed into a fury — Incorrect. Wrong focus: this describes the Ganges whipped into violent waves by the storm. It shows violence, not a warning of what is to come.
Option 3: at its height — Incorrect. Wrong focus: it means at its strongest point. It describes the storm's intensity, not a sense of threat.
Option 4: overwhelmed in a flood of tears — Incorrect. Wrong part of the passage: this describes how the discussion of the couple threatened to end in weeping. It has nothing to do with a bad sign.
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