Which of the following sentences contains a pun?

The correct answer is Option (3) → After twenty years of moving from town to town, our new school gardener says this job has finally let him put down roots.

Pun:

• A pun is a play on a word that has two meanings (or two words that sound alike).
• “Put down roots” has two meanings here. It means to settle down in one place after moving around. It also fits a gardener, whose plants put their roots down into the soil.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: On the drive to Shimla, my little brother asked a thousand times when we would reach. — Incorrect. This sentence uses hyperbole, a big exaggeration made for effect. Nobody asks “a thousand times” on one drive.

Option 2: During the maths exam, the school’s big “Silence Please” board fell off the wall with a loud crash. — Incorrect. This sentence uses irony, where the opposite of what we expect happens. A board that asks for silence is the very thing that breaks the silence.

Option 4: At six in the evening, our colony park is a fairground of cycles, cricket balls and running toddlers. — Incorrect. This sentence uses a metaphor, which says that one thing is another without “like” or “as”. The park is called “a fairground”.