A concern deserves attention
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
A flippant organizer answered a worried guest's report of a missing bag with a joke about traveling more lightly, dismissing the concern as entertainment. An impertinent volunteer then demanded to know why the guest had brought anything valuable, using a rudely challenging tone. The guest asked a friend not to accost everyone near the coat rack by abruptly demanding explanations for their movements. A calmer helper offered to retrace where the bag had last been seen and check the nearby chairs.
The flippant joke had not addressed the missing bag, and its inappropriately casual tone made the guest feel that the concern was being brushed aside. The impertinent demand also substituted disrespect for useful information about the bag's location. To accost other guests would have meant approaching and addressing them intrusively, rather than inviting them politely to report anything they had noticed. The helper found the bag beneath a chair and returned it without turning the search into an accusation against everyone present.
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.