Read the following passage carefully. ROMANCING THE RAIL 1. A couple of weeks ago, while detailing the many ways in which coping with the bleak economy can actually better our lives, I touched upon the romance of train travel and suggested that we would do ^ell to introduce our children to its charms. I have to confess that I was surprised by the kind of response this triggered from readers with stories to tell of their own rail adventures. 2. Browsing through them reminded me yet again why trains have such a special place in our lives. Well, perhaps not in the lives of a generation brought up on the dubious pleasure of cheap air travel. 3. I still vividly recall every detail of my first such excursion, taking a train from Sealdah station in Calcutta to visit my aunt’s tea garden in Assam. I settled down at my window seat and even before the train had pulled out, I was burrowing deep into the pleasures of Indian mythology. 4. But as the scene outside grew more rustic, even picturesque, my attention wandered to the marvellous moving display outside my window. There were gentle rolling fields, green and lush, more palm trees than I could count and endless expanse of bright blue sky. 5. Just then, a man entered my peripheral vision. Scythe in hand, he was intently cutting down some tall grass in the fields. "Oh look," I cried out to my mother, "It’s a farmer, a real-life farmer!" A city- bred child, I hadn’t realized until then that farmers actually had an independent existence outside of my story books. 6. That wasn’t the only discovery I made in the course of that first train journey or the many others to follow. Gazing out of the train window as I travelled across the country, I was introduced to a new India that was far removed from the bland boundaries of my middle-class urban existence. And Mike to believe today that this made me more aware of the complexities of the society that we live in. On the basis of your reading of the above passage answer the following questions: (a) Readers’ response to her suggestions made the writer realize…… (b) The pleasure/joys of travelling by train would not be appreciated by …… (c) The writer was lured away from the pleasures of Indian mythology …… (d) The two discoveries made during the train journey were …… (e) Travelling by train enhanced the writer’s awareness of …. (f) While travelling by train, the writer’s time was spent …...
Answers
Answer:
(a) the reason why trains have such a special place in lives of common people.
(b) a generation brought up with the pleasures of cheap air travel.
(c) the scene outside grew more rustic, even picturesque.
(d) (i) Farmers had an independent existence outside story books.
(ii) Introduction to a new India that was far removed from the boundaries of middle-class urban existence.
(e) the complexities of the society that we live in.
(f) (i) reading books on mythology.
(ii) appreciating the rustic picturesque scene outside.
The correct answers of the passage are -
(a) The reader's response to the suggestion made the writer realize, the reason of why trains have such a beautiful and special place in our lives
(b) the joys of travelling by train will not be appreciated by the generation that is bought up on the dubious pleasures of cheap air travel.
(c) The writer was lured away as, when he settled down at his window seat even before the train took off while boarding a train from Calcutta's Sealdah station to visit Assam's aunt's tea garden.
(d) The two discoveries made were -
- The independent existence of farmers outside of the story books
- A modern India far from the bland limits of urban middle-class life.
(e) Travelling by train enhanced, the awareness of the writer of the complexities of the society that they lived in.
(f) When the writer was travelling by train, the time was spent by by reading Indian mythology books and by looking out over the rustic and picturesque elegance of the beautifully moving show outside the window.