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 :
There’s an air of excitement on the platform as the train’s departure time draws close. You’ve found your name on the passenger’s list, together with the names of those in the compartment with you; so you already know your ‘fellow passengers’ names, ages, sex and destination. People are pushing past you to get on, as you show your coupon to the conductor and he tells you to board.
Your fellow passengers are settling in, staking out their claims to territory with too much luggage. A bell clangs but there is no slamming of carriage doors, no blowing of whistles and no shout of “All aboard !” as in the states. The train simply draws out of the station while people stroll alongside and with studied nonchalance, clamber on, one after the other through the still-open doors.
You claim your own seat, pleased to be on the move. Since you have a long journey ahead in the company of strangers, what happens next will govern your enjoyment of the trip. You can start up a conversation and make friends, allies quickly, or be anti-social and lonely for the whole of the journey. Of course, it depends on your personality but if you are travelling alone you’ll need an ally, someone you feel you can trust to watch your luggage when you go to the washroom. You can’t isolate yourself completely on a train so if that’s your style, train travel isn’t for you.
I get a thrill out of the start of every train journey. It’s not just the excitement of moving on to a new place, there’s the anticipation of what’s going to happen during the journey; the pleasure at the new acquaintances I’m going to make; the dissolving of city skyline into lush, rural landscape beyond the windows; and the heightened emotions of everyone on board. Indians love to travel by train; they are used to it and prepare properly so it becomes a picnic on wheels. I get excited when I am part of it, you will too.
You are well informed about your fellow passengers :
- A.
even before you have entered the compartment.
- B.
after you have been introduced to them.
- C.
after you have interacted with them.
- D.
When you have settled in your seats.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept:
In passage-based reading comprehension, an answer is confirmed only when it can be traced to an explicit statement in the passage — not to what seems likely to happen later, or to general assumptions about the situation. The task is to locate exactly which sentence in the passage answers the question being asked.
Application:
The passage says you already know your fellow passengers’ names, ages, sex and destination from the passenger list, and that you learn this while showing your coupon to the conductor. Both of these events — checking the list and showing the coupon — happen on the platform, while people are still boarding, and before you take your seat inside the compartment. So the passage places this knowledge at a point that comes even before you have entered the compartment.
Cross-check:
Re-reading the passage confirms there is no mention of an introduction, of any conversation with fellow passengers, or of the seating stage as the source of this information — the passenger list and the conductor exchange are the only source given in the text, and both occur prior to boarding the compartment.
Why the other options do not fit:
after you have been introduced to them — the passage never describes an introduction to fellow passengers; the information instead comes from consulting the passenger list.
after you have interacted with them — the passage attributes the knowledge to the passenger list, not to any interaction or conversation with the passengers.
when you have settled in your seats — settling into a seat is a separate, later step in the passage; the passage’s account of learning these details makes no reference to it.