Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
The attic smelt of mothballs and old rain. Meera had brought masking tape and a marker, and by noon every carton carried one word: KEEP, KABADI or ASK. The taxi to Kalka was booked for four. She did not mean to miss it.
Tara was slower. She held each thing up to the skylight as if it might explain itself: a cracked thermos, a brass school bell, a cardigan darned at both elbows in three different colours of wool.
“Bua could have bought a new one,” Meera said. “She had a pension. She just didn’t like spending it.”
Everyone in the family said so. Kamla Bua was close with money. One crisp five-rupee note in every Diwali card, for forty years.
Under the eaves stood a tin trunk. Inside were letters, hundreds of them, tied in bundles with rubber bands that snapped at a touch.
“Love letters,” Tara breathed.
“Kabadi,” said Meera, and reached for the tape.
Tara had already opened one. Respected Madam, I have passed my B.Ed. The fee you sent for the last term… She opened another, and another. A nurse in Solan. A bank clerk in Mandi. A teacher in Rampur. Each one thanked her for a term’s fees, a hostel bill, a set of books. Many began by saying sorry for writing at all: I know you said thanks are a waste of a stamp.
Meera sat down on the KABADI carton. She read four letters without a word. Outside, a monkey thudded across the tin roof, and neither of them looked up.
“Five rupees,” Meera said at last, to no one.
At half past three she rang the taxi and asked for six o’clock. Then she peeled the label off the trunk.
As used in the passage, the word ‘close’ in “Kamla Bua was close with money” means
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → unwilling to spend or give; mean
Here close with money means not liking to spend or give money. Meera has just said that Bua “just didn’t like spending” her pension, and the family points to the single five-rupee note in every Diwali card. Example: The old shopkeeper was so close with money that he never switched on the second fan.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: on friendly and trusting terms with someone — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This sense is used for people. Example: Riya has stayed close to her school friends even after college.
Option 3: near in space or in time — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the common sense of the word. Example: The bus stand is close to the railway station.
Option 4: watchful and careful, as in close attention — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This sense describes how carefully something is watched or studied. Example: The guard kept a close watch on the gate all night.