An Unseen Passage About Hasan: Literal Detail or Inference?
A Class X Persian reader contains this unseen passage: «حسن در روستای کوچکی زندگی می‌کرد. هر روز پس از کار در مزرعه به کتابخانهٔ مدرسه می‌رفت. او داستان‌ها را دوست داشت، اما کتاب‌های تاریخی را بیشتر. یک روز معلم پرسید: چرا این‌قدر کتاب می‌خوانی؟ حسن گفت: چون در کتاب‌ها زندگی مردم را می‌بینم.» The question paper asks three things: the main idea, why Hasan read, and what can be inferred about his interests. The candidate answers: (a) «حسن یک کشاورز بود.» (b) «چون معلم به او گفت.» (c) «او داستان‌ها را بیشتر از تاریخ دوست داشت.» The teacher must decide which answers are literal details, which are inferences, and which contradict the text, then award 2 marks for the main idea, 1 for the reason, and 2 for the inference. The candidate has written no Persian sentence of her own, only copied phrases.
1. Evaluate answers (a), (b) and (c) against the passage. Identify the type of each error and give the marks you would award.
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(a) «حسن یک کشاورز بود» is a literal detail, not the main idea: the passage says he worked in the field, but the paragraph is about his reading. It earns 0/2 as a main idea. (b) «چون معلم به او گفت» contradicts the text. The teacher asked a question; Hasan gave his own reason: «چون در کتاب‌ها زندگی مردم را می‌بینم.» So 0/1. (c) «او داستان‌ها را بیشتر از تاریخ دوست داشت» reverses the text: «داستان‌ها را دوست داشت، اما کتاب‌های تاریخی را بیشتر.» So 0/2. The inference question asks what his interest shows; a valid inference is that he was curious about people's lives, not that he preferred stories. The candidate copied phrases but did not relate them, so the issue is comprehension, not Persian vocabulary alone.
2. Write a correct main-idea sentence and explain which details should be excluded from it.
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A correct main-idea sentence: «حسن روستایی بود که خواندن کتاب را دوست داشت و در کتاب‌ها زندگی مردم را می‌جست.» This includes the central link between Hasan, reading and his stated reason. Exclude the field work, the library time and the teacher's question as supporting details; they explain when and how, not what the paragraph is mainly about. In a 2-mark answer, one mark for Hasan + reading and one for his purpose is enough. A main idea should cover the whole passage, not repeat one visible detail.
3. What does «زندگی مردم» mean in this context, and why is a literal word-for-word rendering risky?
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«زندگی مردم» means the lives of people - their everyday experience - not their wealth or property. In context, Hasan is not saying books contain biographies of famous people only; he is saying that books show him how ordinary people live. That is why the teacher's question is about the amount of reading, and Hasan's answer is about human life. A translation as 'people's lives' keeps the inference open; 'people's money' or 'people's livelihood' alone would be a mistranslation. The phrase supports the inference that Hasan read to understand people, which is exactly what the candidate missed.