Read the following passage and select the correct option. We planned to travel…
2014
Read the following passage and select the correct option.
We planned to travel to Calcutta towards the end of last November. We arranged tickets for the journey from an agency and began our long-cherished journey on the third day of the fourth week. It was a very clear day without a cloud in the sky. We felt very little motion as the vehicle moved smoothly into the air. The hostess brought a water bottle for each passenger along with a light meal packet in a card-board box. She also served tea or coffee according to the demands of the passengers. One passenger asked her when to open the box. She replied, ‘you can take it now or keep it to be used later’. We did not open the box then and there, as we did not feel any urge for it since we had just taken our meals.
The passage refers to a journey
- A.
by train
- B.
by ship
- C.
by bus
- D.
by air
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A literal-comprehension question asks you to identify a fact that is directly stated or clearly implied by the passage's own wording, without needing any outside knowledge — the answer is found by locating the descriptive clues the passage itself supplies for the mode of travel, the crew, and the physical sensations described.
Locate the clue describing the vehicle's motion: the passage states, "We felt very little motion as the vehicle moved smoothly into the air" — a vehicle moving "into the air" describes an ascent off the ground.
Locate the clue describing the crew: the passage refers to the attendant as "the hostess," a term describing cabin crew who serve refreshments to seated passengers.
Combine both clues: an ascent "into the air" together with a "hostess" serving water and a meal packet in a card-board box to seated passengers matches a mode of travel where passengers are airborne and served by cabin crew during the journey.
Contrast with the other options, each ruled out by the same clues:
by train — a train stays on the ground on rail tracks; it does not "move into the air," so the ascent clue does not fit this mode.
by ship — a ship stays on the surface of the water; it does not "move into the air" either, so the ascent clue rules this mode out too.
by bus — a bus travels on roads at ground level; "moved smoothly into the air" does not describe road travel.
Result: the only mode of travel consistent with a vehicle that "moved smoothly into the air" and an attendant called "the hostess" is by air.