Vocabulary Studio 49: Personify to plummet

3 questions. Choose the meaning or usage that best fits each situation. Try answering before reopening the passage.

1In the example "The character would personify the town's restless ambition.", what does personify mean?A. To deliberately avoid or abstain from something.B. To charm or attract someone, sometimes deceptively.C. To embody a quality or represent a nonhuman thing as human.D. To weaken or damage the functioning of something.

2In the example "The letter expresses a quiet piety without display.", what does piety mean?A. A person who pretends to be ill to avoid work or duty.B. An old-fashioned term for an unmarried woman, often carrying a disparaging implication.C. Something that brings about or accelerates a change.D. Reverence and devotion, especially in religion.

3In the example "She reached the pith of the argument in a few sentences.", what does pith mean?A. The essential meaning or substance of something.B. A fine detail, subtle distinction, or point of precision.C. A recurring theme, convention, or figurative device.D. A difficult or puzzling problem.

Return to the reading

Return to top