UPSC Prelims 2012 · CSAT

Question 66: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “For fourteen and a half months…” — Passage – 1 · as printed by UPSC

Which of the following explains best the sentence in the passage “I was almost a part of it” ?

aI was not alone in the cell.

bI was familiar with every bit of the cell.

cI greeted little tufts of grass like old friends.

dI felt quite at home in the cell.

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).

The author says he began to feel almost a part of the cell, and the very next sentences explain why: he knew each blemish on the walls, the floor and the ceiling. So the phrase means he was thoroughly familiar with every bit of the cell, option (b). Option (c) gives a detail from the yard, and option (a) is a separate point about the insects that shared the cell. Option (d), feeling at home, is a looser reading that the text does not use to explain the phrase.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Wrong. Having company in the form of wasps and lizards is a separate point made later.
(b) Right. The lines that follow explain the phrase by his knowing every mark and dent of the cell.
(c) Wrong. Greeting grass and stones as friends is a detail from the yard, not the explanation of the phrase.
(d) Wrong. Feeling at home is a loose paraphrase; the passage explains the feeling through familiarity.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2012, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.