Comprehension:
Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
From my discourse with Mr. Lloyd, I gathered enough of hope to suffice as a motive for wishing to get well; a change seemed near, - I desired and waited for it in silence. It tarried, however; days and weeks passed: I had regained my normal state of health, but no new allusion was made to the subject over which I brooded. Mrs. Reed surveyed me at times with a severe eye, but seldom addressed me: since my illness, she had drawn a more marked line of separation than ever between me and her own children; appointing me a small closet to sleep in by myself, condemning me to take my meals alone, and pass all my time in the nursery, while my cousins were constantly in the drawing room. Not a hint, however, did she drop about sending me to school: still I felt an instinctive certainty that she would not endure me under the same roof with her; for her glance, when turned on me, expressed an insuperable and rooted aversion.
Eliza and Georgina, evidently acting according to orders, spoke to me as little as possible: John thrust his tongue in his cheek whenever he saw me, and once attempted chastisement; but as I instantly turned against him, he thought it better to desist, and ran from me uttering execrations, vowing I had bust his nose. I heard him in a blubbering tone commence the tale of how “that nasty Jane Eyre” had flown at him like a mad cat: he was stopped rather harshly by his mother, Mrs. Reed-
“Don’t talk to me about her, John: I had told you not to go near her; she is not worthy of notice; I do not choose that either you or your sisters should associate with her.”
Here, leaning over the banister, I cried out suddenly, and without at all deliberating on my words;
“They are not fit to associate with me.”
As per the passage, Jane Eyre responds only when she _______________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → is driven up the wall
To be driven up the wall means to be made extremely angry or irritated. Jane bears Mrs. Reed's coldness and her cousins' silence quietly; she reacts only when pushed too far: she "instantly turned against" John when he attempted to punish her, and she cried out "without at all deliberating on my words" when Mrs. Reed called her unworthy of notice.
Example: The constant noise from the construction site drove us up the wall.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: has burnt her boats — Incorrect. To burn one's boats means to do something that makes it impossible to go back (as an army that burns its boats cannot retreat). Not mentioned: Jane's outbursts are reactions to provocation, not a step taken to cut off a retreat.
Example: By selling his shop, he burnt his boats and had to make the new business work.
Option 3: is out of sorts — Incorrect. To be out of sorts means to feel slightly unwell or in a low mood. Contradicted: Jane has "regained my normal state of health", and her responses are sudden and strong, not a mild low mood.
Example: She was out of sorts after the long journey.
Option 4: has to cool her heels — Incorrect. To cool one's heels means to be kept waiting. Wrong link: Jane does wait for a change, but waiting is not what makes her respond.
Example: The visitors had to cool their heels in the lobby for an hour.