Choose the sentence that best uses a synonym as a context clue to clarify the meaning of the italicized word.

a. we can only speculate about what caused dinosaurs to become extinct.
b. after the strenuous exercise at school, i went home to finish my homework.
c. my brother always cautions me not to exaggerate when i tell stories about my day.
d. i know i left my laptop in the vicinity of the playing field, which is near the bleachers.

Read this excerpt from "ain't i a woman? " by sojoumer truth in which three sentences does she make an emotional appeal to the audience by talking about her personal hardships? well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. {i think that 'twixt the negroes of the south and the women at the north, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon.} but what's all this here talking about? {that man over there says that women need to be into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. nobody ever me into carriages, or over mud puddles, or gives me any best place} and ain't i a woman? look at me! look at my arm! {i have ploughed and planted, and gathered into bars, and no man could head me! } and ain't i a woman? i could work as much and eat as much as a man - when i could get it - and bear the lash as well! and ain't i a woman? {i have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when i cried out with my mother's grief, none but jesus heard me! } and ain't i a woman? {then they talk about this thing in the head, what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect") that's it, honey.} what's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? if my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Read the passage from animal farm. "that was part of the arrangement! " cried squealer. "jones's shot only grazed him. i could show you this in his own writing, if you were able to read it. the plot was for snowball, at the critical moment, to give the signal for flight and leave the field to the enemy. and he very nearly succeeded—i will even say, comrades, he would have succeeded if it had not been for our heroic leader, comrade napoleon. do you not remember how, just at the moment when jones and his men had got inside the yard, snowball suddenly turned and fled, and many animals followed him? and do you not remember, too, that it was just at that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that comrade napoleon sprang forward with a cry of 'death to humanity! ' and sank his teeth in jones's leg? surely you remember that, comrades? " exclaimed squealer, frisking from side to side. now when squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. at any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle snowball had turned to flee. but boxer was still a little uneasy. how does the characterization of squealer support the author’s purpose? squealer's dramatic accusations draw parallels between him and stalin’s propagandists. squealer's uncertainty shows that he is not a reliable ally of napoleon and is ineffective with messaging. squealer's ability to get the animals to listen to him shows that any animal can rise to be a leader in time. squealer's humble interactions with the animals reflect the importance of equality and cooperation.

The dogs created when they pulled the christmas tree down and started eating the candy canes.