Read the extract given below and answer the questions (Q. Nos. 106–111) that follow :
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that is wondrously clear

I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

“A past that’s rooted in pain” refers to a past

The correct option is "that has always been painful".

Step-by-step explanation:

1. Analyze the Phrase: The phrase in question is "rooted in pain". The word "rooted" suggests a deep-seated connection, origin, or source. When something is rooted in a particular emotion or state (like pain), it means that its very foundation, history, and development are defined by that state.

2. Context of the Poem: The poem (Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise") speaks from the perspective of an oppressed individual or community reflecting on a history of suffering, discrimination, and slavery ("history's shame", "nights of terror and fear", "hope of the slave").

3. Determine the Meaning: A past "rooted in pain" means the pain is not temporary, alternating, or a recent development. Rather, the pain forms the very roots (the beginning and continuous foundation) of that history. Therefore, it refers to a past that has always been painful, rather than one with alternating periods of pleasure or one that was once pleasurable.