"His stomach tightened as he held himself and listened intently."

Which is a synonym for "intently?"

"Down the block there was an old tenement that had been abandoned for some months."

Based on this passage from paragraph 6, a tenement is an...

"...Greg noticed that the door, once boarded over, had been slightly ajar."

The word ajar most closely means...

"Greg, except for an involuntary tremor in his knees, stood stock still."

Which of these is NOT a synonym for the word tremor.

"The person who called himself Lemon Brown peered forward, and Greg could see him clearly."

What is the meaning of the word peered?

"I sung the blues so sweet that if I sang at a funeral, the dead would commence to rocking with the beat."

Commence means "begin."

"Lemon Brown squeezed Greg's hand in his own hard, gnarled fist."

Which is NOT a synonym for gnarled?

"“You OK for a youngster,” the old man said as he tied the strings around his leg, “better than those scalawags what come here looking for my treasure. That’s for sure.”

Which word is a synonym for scalawag?

" He tried waving to Lemon Brown, hoping the old man would see him in the dim light and follow him to the next floor."

Which is the meaning of the word dim.

"Some of the guys had held an _____________ checkers tournament here the week before."

The word missing means "done on the spur of the moment."

"Greg, except for an __________ tremor in his knees, stood stock-still."

The word missing means "done not willingly."