Prose passage -

Almost the whole village stopped to watch the big boat being built at sometime or the other. No one owned such a large boat or even worked on one. Perhaps they were jealous and that was why no one had a good word for it. They did not want to believe, it would do well at sea. But, they, in a way, were proud too. Building a big boat like this in their village was an achievement.

'_____ no one had a word for it’ _____ The underlined word in the line from the passage stands for

Question

Prose passage -

Almost the whole village stopped to watch the big boat being built at sometime or the other. No one owned such a large boat or even worked on one. Perhaps they were jealous and that was why no one had a good word for it. They did not want to believe, it would do well at sea. But, they, in a way, were proud too. Building a big boat like this in their village was an achievement.

'_____ no one had a word for it’ _____ The underlined word in the line from the passage stands for

Accepted Answer

The underlined word "it" in the passage refers to "the boat." Here is a detailed explanation justifying why Option 1 is correct and why the other options are incorrect:

1. **Explanation for Option 1 (the boat):**
   - The passage discusses a large boat being built in the village. The sentence "no one had a good word for it" directly follows the mention of the boat. This context indicates that "it" refers to the boat. The villagers' lack of positive comments is directed towards the boat, as they are skeptical about its success at sea. Therefore, the pronoun "it" logically stands for "the boat."

2. **Explanation for why Option 2 (the people) is incorrect:**
   - The passage does not suggest that the villagers are the subject of the sentence "no one had a good word for it." Instead, the villagers are the ones expressing opinions about the boat. The pronoun "it" is used to refer to an object, not people, in this context.

3. **Explanation for why Option 3 (sea) is incorrect:**
   - The sea is mentioned in the context of the boat's potential performance, but the sentence "no one had a good word for it" is not about the sea. The villagers' skepticism is about the boat's ability to perform well at sea, not about the sea itself. Therefore, "it" cannot logically refer to the sea.

4. **Explanation for why Option 4 (achievement) is incorrect:**
   - While building the boat is described as an achievement, the sentence "no one had a good word for it" does not refer to the achievement itself. The villagers' comments are about the boat, not the act of building it. Thus, "it" does not stand for "achievement."

In conclusion, the context of the passage clearly indicates that "it" refers to "the boat," making Option 1 the correct answer.