Recognize different kinds of slowness
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
Late in the afternoon, the old music player became sluggish, taking a long time to respond whenever someone selected the next track. Nearby, two neighbors enjoyed a languid conversation, speaking with relaxed slowness as they sat beneath the awning. Packing hundreds of identical paper decorations into separate envelopes was tedious for the cleanup team. The organizer distinguished a slow response, an unhurried manner, and a repetitive task that tired people's attention, rather than treating every form of slowness as the same problem.
A helper replaced the sluggish player with a working one so the final songs could run without repeated delays. The languid conversation needed no such correction; both neighbors were enjoying the easy pace and had already completed their assigned tasks. To make the tedious packing less tiring, the cleanup team shared the work and sorted decorations into larger groups first. Each decision depended on what the slowness meant in its setting and whether it actually interfered with the group's remaining plans.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.