EXERCISE 3: Read the following passage about a cycling revolution in India and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions
Nibha Kumari, a resident of Bihar, India’s poorest state, recalls how a bicycle transformed her life when she turned 15. For two years, six days a week, she cycled two hours daily from home to school and coaching classes and back, using a bicycle provided by the state government. “If I didn’t have a cycle, I don’t think I could have finished high school. It changed my life,” says Nibha, now 27.
A new peer-reviewed study published in Journal of Transport Geography reveals remarkable insights about school-going children and cycling in rural India. The study by Srishti Agrawal, Adit Seth and Rahul Goel found that the most notable rise in cycling in India had occurred among rural girls -increasing more than two times from 4.5% in 2007 to 11% in 2017 - reducing the gender gap in the activity. “This is a silent revolution. We call it a revolution because cycling levels increased among girls in a country which has high levels of gender inequality in terms of female mobility outside the home, in general, and for cycling, in particular,” says Ms Agrawal.
[I] State-run free bicycle distribution schemes since 2004 have targeted girls, who had higher school dropout rates than boys due to household chores and exhausting long walks. [II] This approach isn’t unique to India - evidence from countries like Colombia, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe also shows that bicycles effectively boost girls' school enrolment and retention. [III] Cycling to school in rural areas doubled over the decade, while in urban areas, it remained steady. Indian city roads are notoriously unsafe, with low urban cycling to school linked to poor traffic safety and more cars on the road. [IV]
American suffragist Susan B Anthony famously said that the bicycle “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance". Researchers wonder if women cycle less as they age due to shrinking job opportunities and workforce dropout. Nibha stopped cycling after marriage and moving to her in-laws' home. While she still travels outside the house as she trains to become a teacher, when asked about her commute, she simply says, "I don't need the cycle anymore."
(Adapted from https://www.bbc.com/news)
