CAT 2019 Reading Comprehension — Previous Year Question

Year

CAT 2019

Section

Topic

Difficulty

Question

Slot-1

Read the passage and answer the questions below.

Passage:

Read the poem given below and answer the question that follows it: Black lake, black boat, two black, cut-paper people. Where do the black trees go that drink here? Their shadows must cover Canada. A little light is filtering from the water flowers Their leaves do not wish us to hurry: They are round and flat and full of dark advice. Cold words shake from the oar. The spirit of blackness is in us, it is in the fishes. A snag is lifting a valedictory, pale hand; Stars opening among the lilies. Are you not blinded by such expressionless sirens? This is the silence of abandoned souls.

Question 1

Which of the following options best explains the effect of the images in Line 1?

The first line encapsulates the theme of the poem.

The images are suffused with an overpowering sense of rebellion.

The atmosphere indicates a cyclical nature of life and death.

The black lake lacks regenerative potential; ‘black boat’ connotes the funerary boat; cut-paper people are unreal.

The repeated use of black suggests evil.

Question 2

Which of the following options presents a convincing evaluation of the line, ‘Stars opening among the lilies’?

The stars are flowers in the sky and the flowers in the lake are stars in water.

The ethereal light of the stars gets reflected among the lilies.

The spirit of blackness does not hinder the appearance of beauty in nature which is symbolic of hope blossoming in the soul.

The mirror images, the worlds above and overlap.

Lilies purify the ‘dark’ into ‘light’ as symbolized in and by stars.

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