Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
Linthoi had never played on a ground so flat. At home in Imphal the college field was all tufts and bare patches, and a ball could hop sideways off a stone. Here in Kolhapur the grass was cut short and even, the lines were newly painted, and a raw wind blew across it from the hills.
In the hostel the night before, Sanatombi had talked until the warden switched off the light, about the dal, about the Kerala girls in the next room who laughed at everything. Linthoi had lain awake listening to the ceiling fan tick on each turn. At breakfast the rice was the wrong kind, dry and loose. She finished every grain, because Coach Tomba was noting who left food on their plates.
Behind the stand she retied her left boot twice.
The first time the ball came to her, she hit it far too hard and it rolled out for a goal kick. Someone in the crowd shouted something in Marathi. She did not know what it meant and decided it was not about her.
Coach Tomba did not shout from the line. He held out his palm and pressed it down through the air, twice, slowly.
Ten minutes later she took a high ball on her chest, let it drop, and slid it out to Roja on the wing without looking up. It left her foot the way it did at home. Roja’s cross was cleared, but Linthoi noticed she was breathing properly again. By the second half she had stopped hearing the crowd.
According to the passage, why does Linthoi eat all the rice at breakfast?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → She knows the coach is watching whose plates are not empty
The passage gives the reason in one line.
- “She finished every grain, because Coach Tomba was noting who left food on their plates.” To note means to watch and keep track of something.
- The word “because” links her eating to the coach’s watching, not to the taste of the rice.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: She finds she likes it more than she had expected — Incorrect. Contradicted: The rice is “the wrong kind, dry and loose”. She eats it in spite of this.
Option 2: Sanatombi had warned her that she would need her strength — Incorrect. Not mentioned: Sanatombi talks about the dal and the girls next door. She gives no advice about eating.
Option 3: She had been too nervous to eat anything the night before — Incorrect. Not mentioned: We learn she could not sleep the night before, but nothing is said about her missing a meal.