Read the following poem and answer the next five question by choosing the correct options:
The Coromandel Fishers
Rise, brothers, rise; the wakening skies pray to the morning light,
The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn like a child that has cried all night.
Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free,
To capture the leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the kings of the sea!
No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull's call,
The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are our comrades all.
What though we toss at the fall of the sun where the hand of the sea-god drives?
He who holds the storm by the hair, will hide in his breast our lives.
Sweet is the shade of the coconut glade, and the scent of the mango grove,
And sweet are the sands at the full o' the moon with the sound of the voices we love;
But sweeter, O brothers, the kiss of the spray and the dance of the wild foam's glee;
Row, brother, row to the edge of the verge, where the low sky mates with the sea.
“Let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull's call”
The reason the fishermen have to hasten is
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → sun is setting
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, there appears to be a discrepancy in the key: the correct answer should be Option (3) → tide is rising, as explained below.
The poem is set at daybreak: the skies are waking to "the morning light" and the wind lies asleep "in the arms of the dawn". The fishermen hurry to set their catamarans free "to capture the leaping wealth of the tide". They must go out while the tide brings in the fish, so the tide is the reason for their haste.
Option 1: Sea gull sleeps — Incorrect. Contradicted: the sea gull is calling, not sleeping. The fishermen follow "the sea gull's call" out to sea.
Option 2: sun is setting — Should be Incorrect. (But this is the correct answer in the NTA Answer Key.) The poem opens at dawn, so the sun is rising, not setting. Sunset is mentioned only in "at the fall of the sun", which says the fishermen will still be tossing on the sea at day's end. It is not the reason for hurrying out in the morning.
Option 3: tide is rising — Should be Correct. (Incorrect as per NTA) The fishermen hasten "to capture the leaping wealth of the tide": the fish come in with the incoming tide, and the boats must be out on the water while it lasts.
Option 4: sun is shining — Incorrect. Wrong reason: at daybreak the sun has barely risen, and sunshine is not given as a reason to hurry.
Advice for the exam: In the real exam, mark the answer that is grammatically or factually correct. If NTA’s provisional answer key marks a different option, challenge it during the answer-key challenge window and give the reason in one or two lines.