Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow…
2021
Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :
The richness of her childhood experience came from living a life, which embraced tradition on one hand and exposure to the world of change, of questioning and questing on the other. Her father’s progressive ideas, his involvement in bringing about change in the restricted Brahminical society, his encouragement of Kamaladevi to follow her own inclinations and yet give her an opportunity to study in a school and participate in all the social functions with which he was involved, as a Senior Revenue Official, gave her confidence. The example of her grandmother, who lived the life of a scholar and fearless woman, who travelled alone without any fear of any social disapproval or adverse consequences, was a fitting example to Kamaladevi, who later travelled all over the world, often risking her life.
Girjabai, her mother was a dominant influence throughout her childhood and youth who set an example by overcoming all difficulties without a murmur. She discarded meaningless social customs and observances. She championed the cause of women. Her conviction was that a woman must educate herself, so that she could be independent and her insistence that Kamaladevi should not only study, but also participate in cultural activities and sports, enriched her daughter’s life.
Kamaladevi went with her mother to Seva Sadan and saw her exhorting women even older than her to become literate. She heard her read to them from the newspapers, magazines and extracts from books by social reformers and nationalists, followed by discussions and saw their attitudes changing. Girjabai’s love for music was shared by Kamaladevi and she was encouraged to learn North Indian and Carnatic music. This love of music was a great source of peace for Kamaladevi in her later years.
Which two contradictory kinds of experience did Kamaladevi have in her childhood?
- A.
Questioning and Questing
- B.
Tradition and Change
- C.
Childlike and Adult
- D.
Social and Individual
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
In literal reading comprehension, the correct choice is the information stated explicitly in the passage, without adding outside inference. When a passage frames an idea using a contrast structure such as ‘on one hand … on the other,’ the two contrasting elements joined by that structure form the exact pair a question about contradictory experiences is asking for.
The passage’s opening sentence describes the richness of Kamaladevi’s childhood experience as coming from living a life ‘which embraced tradition on one hand and exposure to the world of change, of questioning and questing on the other.’ The contrast structure ‘on one hand … on the other’ sits between the noun ‘tradition’ and the noun phrase ‘the world of change’ — these are the two contradictory kinds of experience the question asks about. The rest of the passage develops this same duality: her father’s progressive ideas and her grandmother’s departure from social convention represent change, while the family’s Brahminical background and customary expectations represent tradition.
Questioning and Questing — this phrase names the character of the ‘change’ side of the passage’s contrast; it is not itself a second, separate element opposed to tradition.
Childlike and Adult — this pair is not used anywhere in the passage to describe her childhood experiences.
Social and Individual — the passage discusses social functions and activities, but it never frames her childhood experiences in these terms.
Therefore, the two contradictory kinds of experience described are tradition and exposure to change — the pair given by the value ‘Tradition and Change.’