Question

One day several months ago, my elder brother, who was ninety-five years old then, called me, on phone from Rameswaram. He started the conversation by narrating an incident about my friend's visit to him. During the discussion, my friend asked my brother, “How old is your house?” He said, “The house was built by our father, more than a century ago. My younger brother, and my earning grandchildren have now come out with a proposal to build a new house in the same place after demolishing this one.” My friend said he would not want to see such a historical place demolished. He was willing to make an arrangement through a trust to transform the house into a museum and library, while alternative accommodation was worked out for my brother and his family. My brother, was calling me, to say he was against the friend's proposal. “I would like to live in the house where I have grown and lived for ninety-five years. I would like to build a new house in the same place through the earnings of my kith and kin. I would not like to have any other arrangements. You thank your friend in a nice way”. It struck me,---here is a man who would like to lead his life on his own terms and does not want any help, well-meant though it might be. It was a great learning for me, and I saw in my brother, a reflection of my father, who lived to 103 years and inculcated such a tradition in us.
46. From the offer made by the narrator's friend, it's evident that the friend is-

• A. greedy
• B. an opportunist
• C. a Romanist
• D. an Antiquarian
• A. Buying a new house for the narrator
• B. Transforming the house into a museum
• C. Transforming the house into a library
• D. Making arrangements through a trust
• A. a magnificent building
• B. a historical building
• C. an architectural marvel
• D. a newly constructed building
• A. To hit as a kick
• B. To attack suddenly
• C. To come to mind suddenly
• D. To take down or dismantle
• A. Friends
• B. Relatives
• C. Parents
• D. Students

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Concept:
Character inference in reading comprehension requires analyzing a person's motives, values, and proposals to categorize their intellectual and cultural disposition. A person who is deeply passionate about safeguarding century-old architecture from demolition, seeking instead to preserve it for posterity as a museum and library through a public trust, demonstrates a profound reverence for historical relics, heritage, and antiquities.

Step 1: Analyzing the Friend's Action in the Text:
- When the friend learned that the century-old ancestral home was slated for demolition, he protested:
“My friend said he would not want to see such a historical place demolished.”
- He offered to fund and establish a trust to preserve the heritage building:
“He was willing to make an arrangement through a trust to transform the house into a museum and library...”

Step 2: Evaluating the Lexical Options:
- (A) Greedy: Characterized by an excessive desire for wealth or gain; contradicted by his willingness to establish a trust and provide alternative accommodation.
- (B) An opportunist: Someone who exploits circumstances for selfish personal gain; does not match his selfless, preservationist proposal.
- (C) A Romanist: An advocate of the Roman Catholic Church or Roman law; entirely irrelevant.
- (D) An Antiquarian: A person who studies, values, collects, or is devoted to the conservation of ancient objects, historical structures, and cultural heritage. The friend's desire to preserve a historic building as a museum precisely reflects an antiquarian mindset.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The friend's character is that of “an Antiquarian”, matching Option (D).

Answer 2

Concept:
Negative factual identification questions (asking what was not discussed) require verifying every proposed option against the recorded dialogue and narration in the text. Any item that does not appear in the telephonic discussion between the two brothers represents the correct answer.

Step 1: Extracting the Conversation Topics from the Passage:
- The elder brother phoned the narrator to narrate the friend's visit and discussed:
1. Transforming the ancestral house into a museum (explicitly mentioned: “...transform the house into a museum...”).
2. Transforming the ancestral house into a library (explicitly mentioned: “...and library...”).
3. Making funding arrangements through a trust (explicitly mentioned: “...make an arrangement through a trust...”).
4. Demolishing the old structure and building a new house in the same place for the elder brother's family using their own family earnings.

Step 2: Evaluating the Options:
- Option (A): “Buying a new house for the narrator” was never mentioned or discussed anywhere in the text. The narrator was merely a listener on the phone, and the housing discussion concerned only the ancestral home in Rameswaram.
- Options (B), (C), and (D): All represent explicit elements of the friend's proposal discussed during the call.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The topic that was NOT part of the conversation is Option (A).

Answer 3

Concept:
Direct factual comprehension questions require matching the exact reasoning stated by a character in the narrative with the multiple-choice options, avoiding misleading stylistic or exaggerative descriptors that do not appear in the text.

Step 1: Locating Textual Evidence in the Passage:
- In the passage, the elder brother explains the age of the house:
“The house was built by our father, more than a century ago.”
- When told that grandchildren wanted to demolish it, the friend's immediate rationale is stated verbatim:
“My friend said he would not want to see such a historical place demolished.”

Step 2: Evaluating the Options:
- (A) a magnificent building: Subjective descriptor not used by the friend.
- (B) a historical building: Directly and precisely matches the friend's exact words: “such a historical place”.
- (C) an architectural marvel: Used earlier in the paper for Hirakud dam, not for the brother's ancestral house.
- (D) a newly constructed building: Contradicts the text, as the house was built more than a hundred years ago.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The friend opposed demolition because it was “a historical building”, matching Option (B).

Answer 4

Concept:
Idiomatic verbal phrases employing the verb strike have distinct physical and cognitive meanings. When the impersonal construction “It struck me that...” is utilized in introspective narrative writing, “strike” functions as a cognitive mental verb denoting a sudden flash of insight, an unexpected realization, or an idea that dawns upon the speaker's consciousness abruptly and powerfully.

Step 1: Analyzing Contextual Usage in the Passage:
- In the passage, the narrator reflects on his brother's refusal of outside charity:
“It struck me,---here is a man who would like to lead his life on his own terms...”
- In this context, the narrator is having a sudden moment of profound realization regarding his brother's self-reliance, moral dignity, and adherence to their father's values.

Step 2: Evaluating the Options:
- (A) To hit as a kick: Literal physical impact; completely incorrect for an intellectual realization.
- (B) To attack suddenly: Refers to a military ambush or assault; not applicable.
- (C) To come to mind suddenly: Accurately defines the cognitive idiom “it struck me” (meaning a thought, realization, or conviction suddenly dawned upon someone).
- (D) To take down or dismantle: Refers to demolition or disassembly; irrelevant.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The phrase means “To come to mind suddenly”, corresponding to Option (C).

Answer 5

Concept:
Alliterative binomial idioms in English consist of coordinated pairs of words joined by a conjunction. The traditional phrase “kith and kin” is an Old/Middle English binomial pair where kith historically signified one's acquaintances/friends and native country (from Old English cydd), while kin signified one's blood relations and family members (from Old English cynn). In modern standard usage and standardized examination rubrics, the collective idiom is primarily defined as one's family, blood relations, and relatives.

Step 1: Analyzing Contextual Usage in the Passage:
- The elder brother stated:
“I would like to build a new house in the same place through the earnings of my kith and kin.”
- He was referring specifically to the earnings of his younger brother, children, and earning grandchildren (i.e., his family members and relatives).

Step 2: Evaluating the Options:
- (A) Friends: Captures only the archaic sense of “kith” in isolation, but fails to represent the primary collective familial sense of the whole idiom.
- (B) Relatives: Accurately denotes one's family, relations, and blood kin, which is the established definition of the phrase in standard usage.
- (C) Parents: Far too narrow, as the brother is 95 years old and speaking of his grandchildren.
- (D) Students: Completely irrelevant.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The idiom “kith and kin” means “Relatives”, which is Option (B).