Question

Read the passage given below and choose the option that best fits the question that follows:

"What is sixteen and three multiplied?" asked the teacher. The boy blinked. The teacher persisted, and the boy promptly answered: "twenty-four", with, as it seemed to the teacher, a wicked smile on his lips. The boy evidently was trying to fool him and was going contrary on purpose. He had corrected this error repeatedly, and now the boy persisted in saying "twenty-four". How could this fellow be made to obtain fifty in the class test and go up by double-promotion to the first form, as his parents fondly hoped? At the mention of "twenty-four", the teacher felt all his blood rushing to his head. He controlled himself and asked again: "How much?" as the last chance. When the boy said the same thing obstinately, he felt as if his finger was releasing the trigger: he reached across the table and delivered a wholesome slap on the youngster's cheek.

The teacher felt the blood rushing to his head because:

• A. there was an arrogant smile on the boy's lips.
• B. he thought the boy was hopelessly dull.
• C. he thought the boy made the mistake deliberately.
• D. the boy gave a wrong answer to such a simple question.

Answer 1

The correct option is C he thought the boy made the mistake deliberately.

The first time the boy answered the question, there was a smile on his lips. This made it evident that the boy was trying to fool the teacher. So, the teacher knew from the beginning that the boy was deliberately giving an incorrect answer. Hence, C is the correct choice.

Although the boy smiled the first time he answered, it is not clear if he had a smile on his lips as he answered the question later. So, we cannot accept A.

B and D are rejected.