Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
Breakfast in a college hostel mess in Pune is eaten in near silence, and not because anyone is sleepy. Almost every student has a white earbud in one ear. On the phones are podcasts: a history series on Spotify, two comedians arguing about cricket, a doctor explaining sleep, a long interview with a chess player. Forty years ago the same tables might have shared one radio on a shelf. Now each student carries a private station.
I find it hard to complain about this. A good podcast does what radio did at its best. It talks to you like a person, not like a textbook. Students who would never open a book on the Mughals will listen to ninety minutes about them while ironing a shirt or waiting for a bus. The format suits days that are full of small gaps, and the gaps get filled with something better than reels.
But the same ease is the trouble. A podcast asks so little that it is easy to give it almost nothing. Last month I watched a student cook dal, answer three chats and “listen” to an episode on the Indian Ocean trade, all at once. An hour later he could not recall a single point from it. His attention had been patchy, and he had not noticed. Half-heard talk can feel like learning without being learning.
The boy at the next table has just laughed out loud at something in his ear. I would like to know what it was, and whether he will still remember it by lunch.
The writer’s attitude towards podcasts can best be described as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Appreciative but doubtful: podcasts are welcome, though how much stays is unclear
The writer likes podcasts but is not sure how much students take from them.
- The writer finds it “hard to complain” about podcasts. They fill small gaps with “something better than reels”. This is appreciative, which means seeing the good in something.
- The writer also says the “same ease is the trouble”. A student forgot a whole episode in an hour. The last line asks whether the boy will remember by lunch. This is the doubt.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Enthusiastic but uneasy: podcasts are the best way to learn, though they can be tiring — Incorrect. Overstated: Enthusiastic means full of eager excitement. The writer never calls podcasts the best way to learn.
Option 2: Critical but fair: podcasts mostly waste students’ time, though a few are worth hearing — Incorrect. Contradicted: Critical means finding fault. But the writer finds it “hard to complain” and says podcasts fill gaps with something better than reels.
Option 3: Nostalgic but accepting: the old shared radio was better, though podcasts are here to stay — Incorrect. Not mentioned: Nostalgic means missing the past. The writer says a good podcast does what radio did at its best, not that radio was better.