Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting…
2023
Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Which of the following statements is true/false ?
A. Gathering rosebuds is the same as enjoying one’s life.
B. The sun can’t keep on shining forever.
Choose the correct option :
- A.
Both A and B are false.
- B.
A is true and B is false.
- C.
B is true and A is false.
- D.
Both A and B are true.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
In a True/False comprehension question built on two statements, each statement is checked independently against what the passage states directly or conveys clearly through its imagery — a metaphor that carries the poem's central claim counts as textual support, not as evidence against a statement.
Statement A: the opening lines — "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may... And this same flower that smiles today / Tomorrow will be dying" — use the rosebud as a stand-in for a fleeting opportunity; gathering it while it lasts is the poem's image for enjoying life before it passes, so statement A is supported by the text.
Statement B: the second stanza — "The higher he's a-getting, / The sooner will his race be run, / And nearer he's to setting" — states that the sun's light climbs only to run out sooner and move toward setting, so its shining is not endless; statement B is supported by the text.
Since the passage supports both statement A and statement B, the option that matches both statements being true is the one that fits the text.
"Both A and B are false" would require the rosebud image to be unrelated to enjoying life and the sun to shine without limit — contrary to both stanzas quoted above.
"A is true and B is false" keeps the carpe-diem reading of the rosebuds but sets aside the second stanza's statement that the sun's race will soon be run and it is nearer to setting.
"B is true and A is false" keeps the sun's declining course but sets aside the rosebud image, which is the poem's central metaphor for seizing life's fleeting opportunities.
Both statements hold, so the correct option is "Both A and B are true."