Comprehension:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Jo’s face was sturdy when she came into the room that evening. There was stormy displeasure in every line of it; her lips were set, her eyes unusually bright and she brought a gust of icy air with her, as if she had swept through a whirlwind of her own making.
“I’ve made a dreadful mistake and I don’t know how I ever shall forgive myself,” she said grimly, flinging down her bonnet. Meg looked up in alarm. “Jo! What is it?”
“I’ve lost the story—my only copy! I dashed out in such a hurry that the wind carried it straight from my hands. I chased it halfway down the street, but it flew faster than I could run. A boy caught one page and waved it at me as if mocking my idiocy. And then—then it vanished round the corner.”
She threw herself into a chair, shaking with anger and humiliation. “But surely,” Meg ventured softly, “another copy—?” “There isn’t another!” Jo cried. “You know how long I worked on it. Every spare moment for months. And now it’s gone through my foolish carelessness.” A silence followed—heavy, sympathetic.
“Perhaps,” Meg offered, “there is a reason things happen so. Maybe losing it will make the next one better?” Jo gave a short, almost bitter laugh. “Reason? I see none. Only that my temper ruins more than it mends. I stampede through life like a runaway horse and blame the stones for tripping me. But this time—this time—I alone am to blame.”
Meg placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, but Jo did not lift her head. She sat rigid, as though the weight of her own expectation had finally fallen upon her.
Meg says “there is a reason things happen so” to -
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → gently nudge Jo to be more accepting of nature's plan.
Meg speaks softly and offers comfort: "Perhaps there is a reason things happen so. Maybe losing it will make the next one better?" She hints that the loss may serve some purpose and gently urges Jo to accept what has happened.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: suggest that Jo secretly wished to destroy the story. — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the wind carried the story away; nothing suggests Jo wanted it destroyed.
Option 2: make Jo realise her mistake. — Incorrect. Contradicted: Jo already knows her mistake ("it's gone through my foolish carelessness"); Meg's words look to the future, not at the fault.
Option 3: belittle Jo for her misery. — Incorrect. Contradicted: Meg "ventured softly" and later "placed a gentle hand on her shoulder"; she is sympathetic, not scornful.