Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

English

Chapter

Comprehension - (Narrative / Factual)

Question:

Read the given passage and answer the six questions that follow.

When I was in my late teens and still undecided about which language I should write in, he told me that the language one is born into, one's mother tongue, can be the only possible medium of creative expression.

For most of his life, my father, Sripat Rai, had been a Hindi editor and critic. Off and on, he translated writings into English from Hindi. He was fond of saying that a failed writer becomes a critic. The weight of his literary expectation came, eventually, to rest on me. He seemed happy that I was showing an inclination for writing. "She will go far," he told my mother after reading the first story that I sent him from Melbourne.

My father's pronouncement on the mother tongue stayed with me when I later started writing fiction in Hindi. Another thing that I barely acknowledged even to myself was that I felt something like shame whenever I thought of writing in English. It seemed wrong for a granddaughter of Premchand even to be thinking so. Our family had a certain linguistic pride. I knew that Premchand was famous, but I had not at that time realised the extent of his popularity.

The fact that I was the granddaughter of Premchand, followed me everywhere. Everyone had a story to tell about their personal engagement with his fiction - the shopkeeper, the long time cook in my father's Delhi house, a tea vendor, etc. The list was long, for there was practically no one who had not read something by him that had moved them. However, it was this very ubiquity, the reverence and love that he inspired in people, that made of him something too large for me to comprehend in the early years of my life. It led also to the strange feeling that, without having read him and just by being related to him, I had somehow inhaled his writing. The reading happened much later.

Choose the correct meaning of the word "Ubiquity" as it appears in the passage:

Options:

Occasional

Restricted

Omnipresence

Unwanted

Correct Answer:

Omnipresence

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) - Omnipresence

  1. Occasional: This word refers to something that happens from time to time or irregularly. In the context of the passage, it does not fit because the author describes Premchand's influence as being widespread and constant, rather than sporadic.

  2. Restricted: This word suggests something that is limited or confined. However, the passage describes Premchand's influence as being extensive and reaching many people, indicating the opposite of restriction.

  3. Omnipresence: This word means the state of being present everywhere at the same time. In the context of the passage, it accurately captures the idea that Premchand's influence was widespread and felt by many people, making it the correct choice.

  4. Unwanted: This word describes something that is not desired or welcome. However, in the passage, there is no indication that Premchand's influence was unwanted. On the contrary, the author describes the reverence and love that people had for Premchand's writing. Therefore, this option is not appropriate in this context.