Question:medium
Instructions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Passage (D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, from Apocalypse, 1931): “For man, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive. Whatever the unborn and the dead may know, they cannot know the beauty, the marvel of being alive in the flesh. The dead may look after the afterwards. But the magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture, that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos. I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. My soul knows that I am part of the human race, my soul is an organic part of the great human soul, as my spirit is part of my nation. In my own very self, I am part of my family. There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the waters.”
When the dead look after the afterwards, the living should look at life:
Instructions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Passage (D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, from Apocalypse, 1931): “For man, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive. Whatever the unborn and the dead may know, they cannot know the beauty, the marvel of being alive in the flesh. The dead may look after the afterwards. But the magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture, that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos. I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. My soul knows that I am part of the human race, my soul is an organic part of the great human soul, as my spirit is part of my nation. In my own very self, I am part of my family. There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the waters.”
When the dead look after the afterwards, the living should look at life:
Passage (D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, from Apocalypse, 1931): “For man, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man as for flower and beast and bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly, most perfectly alive. Whatever the unborn and the dead may know, they cannot know the beauty, the marvel of being alive in the flesh. The dead may look after the afterwards. But the magnificent here and now of life in the flesh is ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time. We ought to dance with rapture, that we should be alive and in the flesh, and part of the living, incarnate cosmos. I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. My soul knows that I am part of the human race, my soul is an organic part of the great human soul, as my spirit is part of my nation. In my own very self, I am part of my family. There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the waters.”
When the dead look after the afterwards, the living should look at life:
Show Hint
“Only for a time” is a general phrase about brevity, not a specific number of months.
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- forever
- for some months
- for only a short while
- in the past
Show Solution
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Locate the relevant line.
The passage states that life in the flesh is “ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time.”
Step 2: Interpret “only for a time”.
This phrase is a general expression meaning a limited, brief span, not a specific count of months or years.
Step 3: Eliminate the wrong options.
“Forever” contradicts the idea of a limited time; “for some months” wrongly turns a general phrase into an exact duration; “in the past” misreads the passage's present-tense focus.
Step 4: Final Answer.
The correct reading is “for only a short while”, so option C is correct.
The passage states that life in the flesh is “ours, and ours alone, and ours only for a time.”
Step 2: Interpret “only for a time”.
This phrase is a general expression meaning a limited, brief span, not a specific count of months or years.
Step 3: Eliminate the wrong options.
“Forever” contradicts the idea of a limited time; “for some months” wrongly turns a general phrase into an exact duration; “in the past” misreads the passage's present-tense focus.
Step 4: Final Answer.
The correct reading is “for only a short while”, so option C is correct.
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Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
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For early postcolonial literature, the world of the novel was often the nation. Postcolonial novels were usually [concerned with] national questions. Sometimes the whole story of the novel was taken as an allegory of the nation, whether India or Tanzania. This was important for supporting anti-colonial nationalism, but could also be limiting - land-focused and inward looking.
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