Question

Difficulty: MediumSynonym Context Clues

Each sentence below contains a vocabulary word alongside an embedded context clue. Match each sentence to the definition that corresponds to its underlined word.

  • To avoid exceeding the expedition budget, the lead navigator remained frugal, practicing careful thrift and avoiding wasteful expenditure.Thrifty and economical
  • The repair crew encountered a formidable obstacle—an intimidating and daunting fracture across the main turbine casing.Intimidating and daunting
  • Recognized across the regiment as taciturn, the veteran marksman was habitually quiet and reserved during briefings.Quiet and uncommunicative
  • Executing a prudent strategy, the convoy commander took sensible and cautious measures before entering the fog.Cautious and sensible

Answer

frugal matches Thrifty and economical; formidable matches Intimidating and daunting; taciturn matches Quiet and uncommunicative; prudent matches Cautious and sensible.
Each sentence provides an explicit syntactic clue that restates the target word: 'practicing careful thrift' defines frugal, 'intimidating and daunting' defines formidable, 'habitually quiet and reserved' defines taciturn, and 'sensible and cautious' defines prudent.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context clue for 'frugal'
The phrase 'practicing careful thrift' defines the term as thrifty and economical.
Appositive and explanatory participial phrases restate the target word's meaning.
2
Analyze the context clue for 'formidable'
The dash-offset phrase 'an intimidating and daunting fracture' defines the term as intimidating and daunting.
Punctuation such as dashes often introduces a direct definition or synonym pair.
3
Analyze the context clue for 'taciturn'
The descriptive follow-up 'habitually quiet and reserved' identifies the meaning as quiet and uncommunicative.
Clarifying clauses provide descriptive context that mirrors the core definition.
4
Analyze the context clue for 'prudent'
The paired terms 'sensible and cautious' confirm the definition as cautious and sensible.
Coordinated adjectival descriptions reinforce the target word's exact synonym.

Key Concept

Identifying synonym context clues through appositives, dash restatements, and paired descriptions.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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