Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the five questions that follow.
I caught sight of her at the play, and, in answer to her beckoning, I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her and if someone had not mentioned her name I hardly think I would have recognised her. She addressed me brightly.
‘Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time does fly! We’re none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.’
Did I remember?
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment in the Latin quarter overlooking a cemetery and I was earning barely enough money to keep body and soul together. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and presently I received from her another letter saying that she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me; but her time was limited and the only free moment she had was on the following Thursday and would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot’s afterwards? Foyot’s is a restaurant at which the French senators eat and it was so far beyond my means that I never even thought of going there. But I was flattered and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman. Few men, I may add, learn this until they are too old to make it of any consequence to a woman what they say. I had eighty francs to last me the rest of the month, and a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks I could manage well enough.
The narrator appears to be _______ about money matters.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → complacent
Complacent means too satisfied and sure that all is well, without seeing a possible problem. With only eighty francs for the rest of the month, the narrator is sure that "a modest luncheon should not cost more than fifteen" and that by cutting out coffee he "could manage well enough"; he does not think that the lunch at an expensive restaurant may cost far more.
Example: The team became complacent after two easy wins and lost the final.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: ignorant — Incorrect. Contradicted: ignorant means lacking knowledge, but he knows his money to the franc: "I had eighty francs to last me the rest of the month."
Example: He was ignorant of the new traffic rules.
Option 2: fastidious — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: fastidious means very careful about detail and hard to please; he does count his francs, but he takes it for granted that a lunch at an expensive restaurant will cost no more than a modest one, which is not the careful, exacting attitude the word describes.
Example: She is fastidious about keeping her desk tidy.
Option 3: intrigued — Incorrect. Not mentioned: intrigued means very curious and interested; nothing shows him curious about money.
Example: The children were intrigued by the magician's tricks.