Directions (for 10 questions): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.
Once upon a time in a village, there lived six blind men. In spite of their blindness, they had managed to educate themselves. Seeking to expand their knowledge, they decided to visit a zoo and try out their skills in recognizing animals by their touch. The first animal they came across, as soon as they entered the zoo, was an elephant. As the first man approached the elephant, the elephant waved its trunk, and the man felt something brush past him. Managing to hold on to it, he felt it, and found something long and moving. He jumped back in alarm, shouting ''Move away ! This is a snake !'' Meanwhile, the second man had moved closer, and walked right near its legs. As the man touched the thick, cylindrical–shaped legs, he called out ''Do not worry. These are just four trees here. There is certainly no snake !'' The third man was curious hearing the other two, and moved forward. As he walked towards the elephant, he felt his hand touch one of the tusks. Feeling the smooth, sharp ivory tusk, the man cried out ''Be careful ! There is a sharp spear here''. The fourth man cautiously walked up behind the elephant, and felt its swinging tail. ''It's just a rope ! There is nothing to be afraid of !'' he said. The fifth man had meanwhile reached out and was touching the huge ears of the animal. ''I think all of you have lost your sense of touch !'' he said. ''This is nothing but a huge fan!'' The sixth man did not want to be left out. As he walked towards the elephant, he bumped into its massive body, and he exclaimed, ''Hey ! This is just a huge mud wall! There is no animal at all !'' All six of them were convinced that they were right, and began arguing amongst themselves. Wondering what the commotion was all about, the zoo keeper arrived at the scene, and was surprised to see six blind men surrounding an elephant, each of them shouting at the top of their voice ! ''Quiet'' he shouted out, and when they had calmed down, he asked, ''Why are all of you shouting and arguing in this manner?'' They replied, ''Sir, as you can see, we are all blind. We came here to expand our knowledge. We sensed an animal here, and tried to get an idea of its appearance by feeling it. However, we are not able to arrive at a consensus over its appearance, and hence are arguing. Can you please help us and tell us which of us is right''? The zoo keeper laughed before answering, ''My dear men, each of you has touched just one portion of the animal. The animal you see is neither a snake, nor any of the other things you have mentioned. The animal in front of you is an elephant !'' As the six men bowed their head, ashamed of the scene they had created, the zoo keeper said, ''My dear men, this is a huge animal, and luckily, it is tame. It stood by calmly as each of you touched it. You are extremely lucky that it stayed calm even during your argument, for if it had got angry, it would have trampled all of you to death !'' He continued further, ''It is not enough to gather knowledge, but it is also important to learn to share and pool your knowledge. Instead of fighting amongst yourselves, if you had tried to put all your observations together, you might have had an idea of the animal as a whole ! Also, when you cannot see the entire truth, it is better to go to someone who does know the complete truth, rather than guess about small parts of it. Such half-knowledge is not only useless, but also dangerous. If you had come directly to me, I would have helped you identify all the animals without putting you in danger !'' The six men apologized to the zoo keeper, and assured him that they had learnt their lesson. From now on, they would seek true knowledge from qualified people, and would also try to work together as a team so that they could learn more.
Why is it that each of the six blind men had different impressions of the elephant?
A. Each of them touched only a portion of the elephant.
B. Each of the six blind men approached different animals.
C. The blind men were touching the surroundings instead of the elephant.
D. They had never touched an elephant before.
