Question

Read the following passage carefully. "Mum!" I shouted. "Are you okay?" I saw her little tent shuddering in the gale and listened closely for her response. Her voice was almost casual: "Oh, yes, I’m fine." That’s my mother. It was the first night of our cycling trip through the interior of Iceland—a region so remote and inhospitable that for centuries, according to legend, it was abandoned. The weather was decidedly hurricane-like, but Mum wasn’t concerned. Months ago, I told her about my plan to pedal across Iceland. "It will be really difficult," I said. "The roads are unpaved and often washed out, and the wind is blowing constantly — sometimes so hard that it pushes you off the road." There was silence for a moment. Then she asked, "Can I come?" "Sure," I replied. "But like the rest of us, you have to train to do two 160 kilo metres a day back-to-back," "Wow," she said, "I could never do that." I had more faith in my mother’s physical abilities than she did. I’d seen her raise six children and put in long hours doing physical labour on our small farm. "Sure you can," I told her, "Start tomorrow." What really concerned me was what 1 perceived to be her frustrating humility: I thought her too self-depreciating about her intellect just because she had not completed college. 1 felt she underestimated her attractiveness just because she was not the type to wear makeup or fancy clothes. As I had grown into adulthood, the life I’d chosen seemed light-years away from Mum’s quiet existence, still caring for her children and her children’s children. Sometimes, on a visit home, I’d describe some recent trip I’d taken, and her blue eyes would shine with interest. So I couldn’t help thinking this trek might revitalize Mum, who had started to slow down in her 50s. It might spice up what I saw as her humdrum life. And it might be a boost to her tentative and retiring persona. Mum trained furiously, months in advance. As the trip roster was pared down to Mum, my good friend Allen and me, she stood as the most dedicated. Soon she was riding 80-100 kilo metres per day, and was as strong a rider as Allen or I. Choose the most appropriate meaning of the given word from the options provided: (a) The word ‘perceived’ means (i) associate (ii) acknowledge (iii) pressurize (iv) notice/ become aware of (b) The word ‘revitalize’ means (i) to pause (ii) to enjoy (iii) to give new life (iv) to end something (c) The word ‘tentative’ means .. (i) hesitant/not certain (ii) sure/ certain (iii) tense (iv) tempted (d) The word ‘abandoned’ means (i) to give up/leave behind (ii) to choose (iii) to accept something

Answer 1

Choosing the most appropriate meaning of a word from the options provided:

(a) The word ‘perceived’ means to notice/ become aware of.

Option (iv) is correct.

(b) The word ‘revitalize’ means to give new life.

Option (iii) is correct.

(c) The word ‘tentative’ means hesitant/ not certain.

Option (i) is correct.

(d) The word ‘abandoned’ means to give up/ leave behind.

Option (i) is correct.