Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows.
One day recently as I entered the park, I lifted a piece of bark from a fallen log (permission from a ranger) and saw three tiny symphylans, another group of reclusive insect like creatures on which the collembolan-hunting ants sometimes feed. These creatures, belonging to a special group of symphylans called japygid have a pair of pincers on their rear ends. Although there are many species of these worldwide, very little is known about any part of their biology. What is their preferred food, what is their life cycle, why are these pincers in such an unusual position? I have no idea. Nor can I, or any other biologist, guess what would happen if all were to disappear. What I thought at the moment was that if I had another lifetime to live, I could easily devote it to symphylans.
Consider in the same light the different kinds of flies alone you would capture in a field on a summer day by simply sweeping a butterfly net back and forth through the vegetation. (Try it; you'll be amazed.) Then ponder further, if you will, that the species are variously specialized to feed on particular kinds of fruit, or pollen, or fungi, or scat, or dead bodies, or, if you let them, your own fresh blood. Some flies are parasites on other insects_ and not just any insects, but one to several species on which they are specialized out of thousands available. When as a teenager I had this epiphany, and I almost became a dipterist, an entomologist who studies flies. I was mesmerized by delicate little flies of the family Dolichopodidae, glistening all over in metalic blues and greens as they displayed themselves on plant leaves in the summer sunshine.
Why do you think the narrator has to take permission before picking a bark?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → he was entering a reserved area
The author lifted the bark only with "permission from a ranger". A ranger is an official who guards a protected park or forest, where plants, logs and animals may not be disturbed without leave. The park is therefore a reserved area, and even lifting a piece of bark needs permission.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: he was trespassing — Incorrect. Contradicted: to trespass is to enter someone's land without the right to do so. The author only entered the park, and asking for permission is the opposite of trespassing.
Example: The farmer warned the boys not to trespass on his fields.
Option 2: the park belonged to the ranger — Incorrect. Misread: a ranger looks after a park on behalf of the authorities; he does not own it.
Option 3: he was an unknown territory — Incorrect. Not mentioned: nothing suggests the park was unknown to the author, and an unfamiliar place would not by itself call for a ranger's permission.