Literature passage vocabulary
Words for character, tone, and the way a narrator reveals or conceals.
2 questions, with answers shown. To be quizzed instead — start a session.
core · literature
The memoir is unusually ____ about the author’s own missteps, naming decisions most writers would quietly omit.
- candidanswer
- evasive
- laudatory
- derivative
Why it fits: Naming your own mistakes when others would hide them is frankness about oneself.
Why each wrong option is tempting
- evasive — "Evasive" means avoiding the subject, which is the behaviour the sentence contrasts against.
- laudatory — "Laudatory" means full of praise, but the subject here is the author’s own errors.
- derivative — "Derivative" means unoriginal, which is unrelated to honesty.
stretch · literature
Ordinarily talkative, he became ____ whenever the subject of the trial came up.
- reticentanswer
- voluble
- irate
- jovial
Why it fits: "Ordinarily talkative" sets up a contrast, so the word must mean unwilling to speak.
Why each wrong option is tempting
- voluble — "Voluble" means talkative — the same as his ordinary state, so there would be no contrast.
- irate — "Irate" means angry, which is a plausible reaction but not what the contrast with talkativeness demands.
- jovial — "Jovial" means cheerful, which does not contrast with being talkative at all.
Other sets
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