Multiple choice

Storing foodgrains in the house is one of the causes for snake bites because

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question by selecting the most appropriate option.

Surviving a Snakebite

1 Annually, there are a million cases of snakebite in India and of these, close to 50,000 succumb to the bites.

2 When you look around the countryside, where most bites occur, and notice people's habits and lifestyles, these figures aren't surprising. People walk barefoot without a torch at night when they are most likely to step on a foraging venomous snake.

3 We encourage rodents by disposing waste food out in the open, or by storing foodgrains in the house. Attracted by the smell of rats, snakes enter houses and when one crawls over someone asleep on the floor and the person twitches or rolls over, it may bite in defence.

4 Once bitten, we don't rush to the hospital. Instead, we seek out the nearest conman, tie tourniquets, eat vile tasting herbal chutneys, apply poultices or spurious stones, cut/slice/suck the bitten spot, and other ghastly time-consuming deadly "remedies".

5 As Rom cattily remarks : "If the snake hasn't injected enough venom, even popping an aspirin can save your life." That's the key - snakes inject venom voluntarily and we have no way of knowing if it has injected venom, and if it is a lethal dose. The only first aid is to immobilise the bitten limb like you would a fracture, and get to a hospital for anti-venom serum without wasting time.

  1. foodgrains attract rats, which in turn attract snakes

  2. snakes enter houses in search of stored foodgrains

  3. the smell of foodgrains brings both snakes and other animals into the house

  4. stored foodgrains create convenient hiding places for snakes within houses
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Paragraph 3 explains the causal chain: storing foodgrains attracts rodents (rats), and the smell of rats attracts snakes into houses. The snakes then bite people when they crawl over sleeping persons who might twitch or roll over. Options B, C, and D are incorrect because snakes don't eat foodgrains, foodgrains don't directly attract other animals, and the passage doesn't mention grains being hiding places for snakes.

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