Night Context Clues Practice

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"He was poor and lived in utter penury. As a rule, our townspeople, while they did help the needy, did not particularly like them" (Wiesel 3).

• happiness

• confusion

• filth, disorganization

• extreme poverty

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"He spoke only of what he had seen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to list. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things" (Wiesel 7).

• shouted

• implied

• demanded

• witnessed

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"Here came the Chief Rabbi, hunched over, his face strange looking without a beard, a bundle on his back. His very presence in the procession was enough to make the scene seem surreal. It was like a page torn from a book, a historical novel, perhaps..." (Wiesel 17).

• dreamlike, strange

• normal

• dignified

• mischievous

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"The stars were but sparks of the immense conflagration that was consuming us. Were this conflagration to be extinguished one day, nothing would be left in the sky but extinct stars and unseeing eyes" (Wiesel 21).

• hatred, vengefulness

• optimism, hopefulness

• fire, inferno

• river, body of flowing water

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"An SS officer had come in and, with him, the smell of the Angel of Death. We stared at his fleshy lips. He harangued us from the center of the barrack: 'You are in a concentration camp. In Auschwitz...Here, you must work. If you don't you will go straight to the chimney'" (Wiesel 38-39).

• observed silently

• pushed

• sympathized, supported

• lectured, ranted

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

" 'At the depot, nobody knew that I spoke German; it would have aroused suspicion. It was imprudent of me to say those few words to you, but I knew that you would not betray me...'" (Wiesel 54).

• rash, careless

• wise, cautious

• rude, impolite

• friendly, amicable

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"This went on for two weeks. It was untenable. We had to give in. That day, Franek burst into savage laughter..." (Wiesel 56).

• weird, unnbelievable

• pessimistic

• unsustainable

• inactive

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"I barely understood what he was telling me, but the inflection of his voice soothed me" (Wiesel 79).

• loudness

• cadence, tone

• defeat

• discomfort

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"I gave him what was left of my soup. But my heart was heavy. I was aware that I was doing it grudgingly" (Wiesel 107).

• boldly

• happily

• reluctantly

• enthusiastically

Using the context clues in the excerpt below, determine what the underlined word in pink means.

"Suffering from dysentery, my father was prostrate on his cot, with another five sick inmates nearby" (Wiesel 108).

• lying flat

• sitting up

• smiling

• gaunt