Read the given passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
If my younger self could see me now, she would be incredulous. That I work in the field of dance or decipher and translate dance for my own comprehension, call it choreography if you wish, would have been unbelievable. In this respect, I am particularly envious of dancers who claim that they are 'born to dance', implying that it was clearly laid out for them from the beginning. I must say, I find this assertion dubious; it is rarely that easy. To dance' means 'to struggle'.
In all truth, as a child, I never did want to dance; it was forced upon me by a doting mother and a silent father. My father probably kept his peace to avoid argument. From the beginning, my lessons took place under trying conditions, though I believe that the conditions were more trying for my mother than for me. She travelled in local, over-crowded trains to the dance class with an unwilling child, tired from a whole day at school.
Interestingly, when I was seven, we went to see a movie starring Mumtaz Ali, who did a dance number in the film. When we arrived home, I began prancing around the house imitating the film actor and my mother, who was quietly watching, was the one who said, 'Kumudini, you are born to dance.' Ironically, I have no recollection of this story; it was my mother who saw this innate ability in me.
The narrator's younger self would be incredulous if she saw the narrator now, as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → she had become a choreographer.
Incredulous means unable to believe something. The narrator says her younger self would be incredulous to see her now, because working in dance, or choreography as she calls it, "would have been unbelievable" to a child who never wanted to dance. A choreographer designs the steps and movements of a dance. Becoming one is the very change the child would not have believed.
Example: She was incredulous when she heard she had topped the state.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: she couldn't decipher the nuances of dance. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the passage says she now does decipher and translate dance.
Option 3: she was too curious to learn dance since her early childhood. — Incorrect. Contradicted: as a child she never did want to dance. It was forced upon her, so she was not curious about it.
Option 4: she had stopped dancing altogether. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the narrator says she works in the field of dance today, so she has not stopped dancing.
Note: In the original NTA paper, Option 4 read "her reality and her dreams were not bridged". NTA accepted this option as a correct answer as well. To leave only one correct answer and avoid confusion for students, it has been changed here to "she had stopped dancing altogether".
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.