Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
While I waited expectantly, Madame came in and told me that there was no room at all for me in the hotel, not a bed, not a corner. She was extremely friendly and seemed to find a fund of secret amusement in the fact; she looked at me as though expecting me to break into delighted laughter. “Tomorrow,” she said, “there may be. I am expecting a young gentleman who is suddenly taken ill to move from number eleven. He is at present at the chemist's. Perhaps you would care to see the room?”
“Not at all,” said I. “Neither shall I wish tomorrow to sleep in the bedroom of an indisposed young gentleman.” “But he will be gone,” cried Madame, laughing. “Perhaps you can recommend me another hotel?”
“Impossible!” She shook her head and turned up her eyes. “You see, it is the season in Bruges, and people do not care to let their rooms for a very short time.” Not a glance at my little suitcase lying between us, but I looked at it gloomily, and it seemed to dwindle before my desperate gaze. “My large box is at the station,” I said coldly, buttoning my gloves.
Madame started. “You have more luggage. Then you intend to make a long stay in Bruges, perhaps?” “At least a fortnight, perhaps a month.” “One moment,” said Madame. “I shall see what I can do.” She disappeared, I am sure not further than the other side of the door, for she reappeared immediately and told me I might have a room at her private house, “just round the corner and kept by an old servant who has been in our family for fifteen years. The porter will take you there, and you can have supper before you go.”
The word indisposed, as used in the passage, means
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → slightly ill
Indisposed means slightly ill or not well.
- Madame says the young gentleman was “suddenly taken ill”. He is also “at the chemist's”, the shop that sells medicine.
- So the narrator calls him “an indisposed young gentleman”. This means a young man who is unwell. Example: The principal was indisposed, so the vice-principal took the morning assembly.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: unwilling — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: Indisposed can mean unwilling, but only in the pattern “indisposed to do something”. Here it describes a man who has been taken ill. So this meaning does not fit. Example: After the long journey, Ravi felt indisposed to go out again that evening.
Option 3: badly behaved — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: This is the meaning of naughty or rude. The passage says nothing about how the young man behaved. Example: The naughty boy hid his sister's shoes before school.
Option 4: far from home — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: Indisposed has nothing to do with being away from home. The young man is unwell, not far away. Example: Meena felt lonely in the hostel, far from home.