Question

tess of the durbervilles
by thomas hardy
after tess had settled down to her cow, there was for a time no
talk in the barn. not a sound interfered with the purr of the milk-
jets into the numerous pails, except a momentary exclamation to
one or other of the beasts requesting her to turn round or stand
still. the only movements were those of the milkers hands up
and down, and the swing of the cows tails. thus they all worked
on, encompassed by the vast flat meadow which extended to
either slope of the valley
\to my thinking,\ said the dairyman, rising suddenly from a cow
he had just finished off, snatching up his three - legged stool in one
hand and the pail in the other, and moving on to the next hard-
yielder in his vicinity, \to my thinking, the cows dont give down
their milk today as usual. upon my life, if winker begins keeping
back like this, shell not be worth milking by midsummer.\
\tis because theres a new hand come among us,\ said
jonathan kail. \ive noticed such things before.\
\to be sure. it may be so. i didnt think of that.\
\ive been told that it goes up into their horns at times like this,\
said a dairymaid.
\well, i dont know about that,\ said the dairyman, \but these
cows do certainly keep back their milk today. folks, we must sing
them a song or two. thats the only cure for it.\
14
select the correct answer
what inference can be made based on the highlighted sentence in the passage?
a. when cows get nervous, they cant be milked as easily
b. because tess is present, the workers must sing to the cows.
c. a new milker has to be careful because a cow might get spooked and use its horns
d. the new cowhand doesnt know how to use a three - legged stool to milk a cow
reset next

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The passage implies cows' milking is affected by a new hand (nervousness from new presence), so when cows are nervous (due to new hand), milking is harder. This matches the context of cows holding back milk because of a new milker.
• Option B: The passage says to sing to cows because they're holding back milk, not because Tess is present. Eliminate.
• Option C: The passage doesn't mention cows using horns or new milkers being careful about horns. Eliminate.
• Option D: The passage doesn't discuss using a three - legged stool. Eliminate.

Answer:

A. When cows get nervous, they can't be milked as easily