Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

English

Chapter

Comprehension - (Poetry / Literary)

Question:

Read the following stanzas and answer the question by choosing the correct options:

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers back,
For, of the faces round the fire,
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking 'cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

Find out a word from the above lines which means 'an arranged incident though happening accidentally':

Options:

bleak

across

happenstance

birch

Correct Answer:

happenstance

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) → happenstance

Here's why:

  • Happenstance literally means "a chance happening or event." While it doesn't directly imply "arranged," it highlights the seemingly accidental nature of the people being trapped together.
  • Bleak refers to something desolate and cold, across simply means from one side to the other, and birch is a type of tree. These words don't convey the meaning of something being arranged yet appearing accidental.