Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumContext Clues for Synonyms

During the final hours of the grueling mountain patrol, the soldiers' stamina began to flag, forcing the platoon sergeant to order a brief rest period.

In this sentence, the word flag most nearly means which of the following?

  1. A
    signal
  2. weakenAnswer
  3. C
    strengthen
  4. D
    recover

Answer

weaken
The correct answer is 'weaken'. The context clues 'grueling mountain patrol' and 'forcing the platoon sergeant to order a brief rest period' demonstrate that the soldiers were losing physical energy. In this context, the verb 'flag' means to droop, tire, or diminish in strength.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify surrounding context clues within the sentence
Noticed 'grueling mountain patrol' and 'forcing the platoon sergeant to order a brief rest period'
These phrases establish a cause-and-effect relationship explaining why the soldiers needed to stop and rest
2
Determine the contextual meaning of the target word
Deduced that 'flag' functions here as a verb describing stamina declining or deteriorating
Under heavy physical strain, energy levels drop rather than rise or remain stable
3
Select the option that matches the contextual definition
Identified 'weaken' as the direct synonym
'Weaken' precisely reflects the loss of stamina and energy indicated in the sentence

Key Concept

Using cause-and-effect context clues to identify secondary meanings of polysemous words
Estimated Time:35s
Rate this question

Topics

Context Clues for Synonyms

More questions from this topic