Context Clues Quiz

The archaeologist carefully removed the tome from its ancient resting place and proceeded to read the pages related to marriage in ancient Greece.

What does the word tome probably mean?

• pen

• weapon

• book

• sausage

The Navajo language is an unwritten language of extreme complexity with no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the lands of the Navajo Nation in the American Southwest. During World War II a Navajo code was created for the U.S. Navy. This code was virtually undecipherable to anyone except Navajo speaking persons.

What does the word virtually probably mean?

• pleasant

• almost

• never

• always

Lakes occupy less than two percent of the Earth's surface, yet they help sustain life. For instance, lakes give us fish to eat, irrigate crops, and generate electrical power.

What does the word sustain probably mean?

• support

• obstruct

• prolong

• destroy

The ancient Greeks pioneered many of the kinds of writing we consider standard today. They wrote speeches, plays, poems, books about science and learning, and long histories of things that happened to them.

What does the word pioneered probably mean?

• complicated

• developed

• destroyed

• explored

Fifty-five mostly prominent, male delegates attended the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. About seventy-five percent of the delegates had served in Congress and others were important people in their home states. These men are often referred to as the Framers of the Constitution.

What does the word prominent probably mean?

• unimportant

• unknown

• common

• important

Bats that eat fruit and nectar spread seeds and help flowers grow. Without bats many important plants would not thrive.

What does the word thrive probably mean?

• flourish

• die

• wither

• deteriorate

Because there was so little precipitation this year, the crops dried up and died.

• fertiliser

• wind

• rain

One brother is an erudite professor; the other brother, however, has never shown any interest in books or learning.

• old, elderly

• well-educated, well-read

• sporty, fit

My sister loathes broccoli, but she loves spinach.

• dislikes intensely

• likes wholeheartedly

• eats hungrily

The newlyweds agreed to be very frugal in their shopping because they wanted to save enough money to buy a house.

• economical

• wasteful

• interested