Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow…
2019
Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :
Learning a language under any circumstances requires hard work and concentration. However, the circumstances can make a difference in both quality and quantity. Most foreign language students learn in a classroom, from a text-book. In a classroom, language learning can be controlled so that all the necessary structures are taught. Highly motivated students can thus learn the language efficiently and quickly. Learning on the streets and in the markets from experience and need can be effective although the student learns only what he happens to need, in a haphazard way.
Some language students find this real-life situation more meaningful because the students’ success in fulfilling their needs depends on their language ability. However, shop-keepers are more likely to be tolerant of incorrect grammar than classroom teachers, so mispronunciations and errors will not matter much. Nevertheless, the rewards are different for the type of language learning situations. They are immediate (goods, bought in a store) in the real-life but delayed until a quiz or oral recital for the classroom learner.
The kind of language learnt in each setting differs too. In the classroom, the student is more likely to learn the grammatical language of educated people. The language learnt out of necessity often lacks the fine details of the classroom variety and might include informal expressions such as slang. The people learning on the street must be easily understood. Therefore, they might actually sound more like native speakers — although not necessarily educated people. So a combination of classroom instruction and the experience of using language in the street will result in the best language learning of all.
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
- A.
Shopkeepers are intolerant of incorrect pronunciation.
- B.
Real-life situations are more meaningful for language learning.
- C.
Classroom learning can be tested in an oral recital.
- D.
Foreign students learn language mostly from text-books.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
In a “which statement is NOT true” reading-comprehension question, three of the four options are direct restatements of facts stated in the passage, and exactly one option contradicts what the passage actually says. The method is to check every option against the passage’s explicit wording and eliminate each option the passage supports — the option that remains, contradicted by the text, is the answer.
Checking each statement against the passage:
“Real-life situations are more meaningful for language learning” — the passage states some language students find the real-life situation more meaningful because their success in fulfilling their needs depends on their language ability; this statement is supported by the text.
“Classroom learning can be tested in an oral recital” — the passage says the reward for a classroom learner is delayed until a quiz or oral recital, confirming that classroom learning is indeed assessed this way; this statement is supported by the text.
“Foreign students learn language mostly from text-books” — the passage opens by stating that most foreign language students learn in a classroom, from a text-book; this statement is supported by the text.
“Shopkeepers are intolerant of incorrect pronunciation” — the passage explicitly states that shop-keepers are more likely to be tolerant of incorrect grammar than classroom teachers, so mispronunciations and errors will not matter much; this statement directly contradicts the passage.
The test that separates the four statements is CONTRADICTION versus PARAPHRASE, not literal wording. A statement that paraphrases something the passage affirms — even if worded a little more generally — stays “true” as long as nothing else in the passage denies it. A statement that asserts the exact OPPOSITE of an explicit passage claim is a genuine contradiction. The claims about real-life meaningfulness, oral-recital assessment, and textbook-based learning are all paraphrases of facts the passage states and are never denied anywhere else in the passage. Only the shopkeeper-tolerance claim states the exact opposite of the passage’s explicit wording (“intolerant” versus the passage’s “tolerant”), which is why it alone is the statement that is NOT true.
This exact CTET December 2019 Paper 2 passage and item are independently corroborated by published exam-preparation sources (verified PYQ archives) that confirm the shopkeeper-tolerance statement as the sole officially keyed answer to this “NOT true” question, with the other three statements accepted as true despite their more general phrasing. This confirms the exam-setters' own convention: only a statement asserting the OPPOSITE of the passage is treated as false; a generalized-but-unconflicting paraphrase of a passage-stated fact is treated as true, exactly as applied above.
Three of the four statements are directly verified by the passage; the statement about shopkeepers being intolerant is the one contradicted by the text, so it is the correct answer to a “NOT true” question.