Question : Comprehension: Read the following passage and answer the questions. As I turned to the main road, my smartphone rang. I looked at the car's dashboard display for a fraction of a second to see the caller's name while I reflexively whirled the wheel around the street corner. The brief lapse in concentration was enough to miss a biker. Fortunately, both of us stopped at the right time but he ranted expletives at my family, particularly the women. Undeterred, I opened the window, smiled at him and said, "I am sorry." He immediately paused, and then just advised me kindly to look on all sides of the road while driving.
That is the power of the unique and wonderful act called smile. It can break barriers and bridge chasms. The power of the smile is often underestimated by us. Despite being the only species with this graceful expression, humans do not comprehend the myriad strengths of a smile and often forget to use it.
Just like the innumerable gifts of nature which we have taken for granted, I had missed the influence of a smile in my early years. The awakening occurred in my early twenties when I worked as a junior doctor in a hospital. We, a group of doctors, were having coffee together, one of the senior doctors told me, "You seemed to have missed an important developmental milestone."
Developmental milestone refers to various social, motor and vocal skills which a child acquires at each period of its development in infancy and childhood such as rolling over, standing and speaking. To my despair, he declared, "You haven't got your social smile yet." While I considered myself a pleasant person, his harsh comment rather irked me.
At three to four months of age, a growing child starts recognising familiar faces and in an attempt to interact with them, it expresses the social smile. It is typically towards the parents, grandparents and siblings initially, and then slowly extends towards other familiar faces. It is nature's evolutionary attempt to increase the bonding between humans. It is a way of expression to pronounce one's affability. But somewhere during our growth and interaction with society, we have been taught directly or indirectly that strangers are not to be smiled at. After long days of introspection, I made it a point to reclaim my lost milestone.
Question: There was a possibility of an accident occurring because:
Option 1: the writer was a careless driver
Option 2: the writer's attention was diverted for a brief moment
Option 3: both the writer and the biker were careless drivers
Option 4: the biker was riding rashly
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Correct Answer: the writer's attention was diverted for a brief moment
Solution : The second option is the correct answer.
The possibility of an accident occurring was because the writer's attention was diverted for a brief moment. The passage mentions that as the writer turned to the main road, their smartphone rang, leading to a momentary lapse in concentration as they looked at the car's dashboard display to see the caller's name. During this brief distraction, they missed a biker on the road.
Therefore, the correct answer is: "The writer's attention was diverted for a brief moment."
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Question: What does "I made it a point to reclaim my lost milestone" mean?
Option 1: The writer had forgotten to smile.
Option 2: The writer did not think much about smiling.
Option 3: The writer was trained to smile at strangers.
Option 4: The writer decided to smile more often.
Question: "That is the power...". What power is being referred to here?
Option 1: The power of a smart phone over human beings.
Option 2: The power of a car driver over a biker.
Option 3: The power of a distracted moment.
Option 4: The power of a smile to resolve issues.
Question: What was the effect of the senior doctor's comment on the writer?
Option 1: He realised that he did not smile often.
Option 2: He started smiling more often.
Option 3: It irritated him.
Option 4: It did not bother him.
Question : Comprehension: Read the following passage and answer the questions. As I turned to the main road, my smartphone rang. I looked at the car's dashboard display for a fraction of a second to see the caller name while I reflexively whirled the wheel around the street corner. The brief lapse in concentration was enough to miss a biker. Fortunately, both of us stopped at the right time but he ranted expletives at my family, particularly the women. Undeterred, I opened the window, smiled at him and said, "I am sorry." He immediately paused, and then just advised me kindly to look on all sides of the road while driving.
Question: Which of these developmental milestones is NOT mentioned in the passage?
Option 1: Spoken skills
Option 2: Auditory skills
Option 3: Learning to stand up
Option 4: Movement of the muscles
Question : Select the correct direct form of the given sentence.
He regretted that he had been very careless.
Option 1: He said, "Alas, how careless have I been!"
Option 2: He said, "Ah! How careless I have been?"
Option 3: He said, "I am very careless."
Option 4: He said, "Oh, I am so careless."
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