Read the given passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
Maya sat by the window of her apartment in Boston, watching the snowfall coat the streets in silence. The winter here was nothing like the winters she had known as a child in Kolkata, where the chill in the air was softened by the warmth of family gatherings. She thought of her mother's kitchen, the scent of frying luchis and the distant hum of the morning news on the radio. Here, the mornings were different—quiet, lonely, and marked by the distant sound of car engines outside.
The phone rang, jolting her from her thoughts. It was her father, calling from India. "When are you coming to visit us?" he asked, his voice tinged with both hope and sadness. Maya hesitated. It had been two years since her last trip home and with each passing year, the distance seemed to grow—not just geographically but emotionally.
She glanced at the bookshelves in her living room, filled with English novels and photographs of friends from college. Somewhere between these shelves and the memories of her childhood, Maya felt split in two, as if she belonged fully to neither world.
Later that evening, as she prepared dinner, she tried recreating one of her mother's recipes. The spices didn't taste the same, the aroma felt incomplete. But as she sat down to eat, she felt a fleeting connection to home, as if she had carried a piece of it with her despite the miles.
Find a word in the passage that has the same meaning as "momentary".
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Fleeting
- Momentary means lasting for only a moment, very brief. The question asks for a word in the passage with this meaning.
Example: There was a momentary silence before the audience began to clap. - Fleeting means passing quickly, lasting a very short time. The passage says Maya felt "a fleeting connection to home", a connection that lasted only a moment, so fleeting is the word that means momentary.
Example: I caught only a fleeting glimpse of the deer before it ran away.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Distant — Incorrect. Distant means far away in space or time ("the distant hum of the morning news"). It is about distance, not shortness of time.
Example: We could hear distant thunder.
Option 2: Softened — Incorrect. Softened means made gentler or less harsh ("the chill in the air was softened by the warmth of family gatherings").
Example: His anger softened when he heard her apology.
Option 4: Marked — Incorrect. Marked here means distinguished or characterised by ("marked by the distant sound of car engines"). It has nothing to do with time.
Example: The festival was marked by music and dancing.
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