Comprehension:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow
The old man remained dreaming in the sun. His kite shop was gone. He still made kites for his own amusement and for the benefit of his grandson, Ali. Not many people bought kites these days. Adults disdained them and children preferred to spend their time at the cinema. Moreover, there were not many open spaces left for flying of kites.
But the old man remembered a time when grown men flew kites and great battles were fought, the kites swerving and swooping in the sky, tangling with each other until the string of one was severed. Kite flying was then the sport of the kings, and the old man remembered how the Nawab himself would participate in this noble pastime. There was time, then, to spend an idle hour with a gay dancing strip of paper. Now everyone hurried in a heat of hope and delicate things like kites and daydreams were trampled underfoot.
He, Mehmood the kite-maker, had in the prime of his life been well-known throughout the city. Some of his kites sold for three or four rupees each! Everyone in the neighbourhood would ask after his health; but now, no one visited him. The children who had bought kites from him 10 years ago, had grown up in a swiftly changing and competitive world and they looked at the old kite-maker and the banyan tree with the same indifference. Both were taken for granted – permanent fixtures that were of no concern to the raucous, sweating mass of humanity that surrounded them.
The old man's recollection of the kite flying festivals in the past, is indicative of kite flying as a/an ______________________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → community fun activity
The old man recalls a time when grown men flew kites, great kite battles filled the sky, and even the Nawab took part in the pastime. People of every kind, from ordinary men to the ruler, shared it for pleasure in their idle hours, so it was a community fun activity.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: profitable craft sustaining families. — Incorrect. Wrong focus: his kites once sold for three or four rupees, but his memories of the festivals are about flying kites for fun, not about earning a living.
Option 2: activity of the elite — Incorrect. Only partly true: the Nawab took part, but so did ordinary grown men; the sport was not limited to the rich and powerful.
Option 3: outdoor fun activity for children. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the passage stresses that grown men flew kites in the past; today's children prefer the cinema.