Question
Against the doorway of the tent the breeze blew the flap lazily back and forth. A light rain fell with muffled gentle insistence on the canvas over their heads, and out through the opening the landscape was blurred—the wide stretch of monotonous, billowy prairie, the sluggish, shining river, bending in the distance about the base of Black Wind Mountain—Black Wind Mountain, whose high top lifted, though it was almost June, a white point of snow above dark pine ridges of the hills below. The five officers talked a little as they waited, but spasmodically, absent–mindedly. A shadow blocked the light of the entrance, and in the doorway stood a young man, undersized, slight, blond. He looked inquiringly at the Colonel.
"You sent for me, sir?" and the General and his aide, and the grizzled old Captain, and the big, fresh–faced young one, all watched him.
In direct, quiet words—words whose bareness made them dramatic for the weight of possibility they carried—the Colonel explained. Black Wolf and his band were out on the war–path. A soldier coming in wounded, escaped from the massacre of the post at Devil's Hoof Gap, had reported it. With the large command known to be here camped on Sweetstream Fork, they would not come this way; they would swerve up the Gunpowder River twenty miles away, destroying the settlement and Little Fort Slade, and would sweep on, probably for a general massacre, up the Great Horn as far as Fort Doncaster. He himself, with the regiment, would try to save Fort Slade, but in the meantime Captain Thornton's troop, coming to join him, ignorant that Black Wolf had taken the war–path, would be directly in their track. Some one must be sent to warn them, and of course the fewer the quicker. Lieutenant Morgan would take a sergeant, the Colonel ordered quietly, and start at once.
In the misty light inside the tent, the young officer looked hardly more than seventeen years old as he stood listening. His small figure was light, fragile; his hair was blond to an extreme, a thick thatch of pale gold; and there was about him, among these tanned, stalwart men in uniform, a presence, an effect of something unusual, a simplicity out of place yet harmonious, which might have come with a little child into a scene like this. His large blue eyes were fixed on the Colonel as he talked, and in them was just such a look of innocent, pleased wonder, as might be in a child's eyes, who had been told to leave studying and go pick violets. But as the Colonel ended he spoke, and the few words he said, the few questions he asked, were full of poise, of crisp directness. As the General volunteered a word or two, he turned to him and answered with a very charming deference, a respect that was yet full of gracious ease, the unconscious air of a man to whom generals are first as men, and then as generals. The slight figure in its dark uniform was already beyond the tent doorway when the Colonel spoke again, with a shade of hesitation in his manner.
-Public Domain
Two-Part Question
Multiple Choice Question
This question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B.
Part A:
In paragraph four the author describes Lieutenant Morgan as fragile. Given the context of this entire text, which definition of "fragile" best matches the author's meaning?
A.
easily broken
B.
easily injured without careful handling
C.
small in degree
D.
frail
Multiple Choice Question
Part B: Select the piece of evidence from "The Messenger" that supports the answer to part A.
A.
…in the doorway stood a young man, undersized…
B.
…the General and his aide, and the grizzled old Captain, and the big, fresh–faced young one, all watched him.
C.
…a simplicity out of place yet harmonious…
D.
His large blue eyes were fixed on the Colonel as he talked, and in them was just
"You sent for me, sir?" and the General and his aide, and the grizzled old Captain, and the big, fresh–faced young one, all watched him.
In direct, quiet words—words whose bareness made them dramatic for the weight of possibility they carried—the Colonel explained. Black Wolf and his band were out on the war–path. A soldier coming in wounded, escaped from the massacre of the post at Devil's Hoof Gap, had reported it. With the large command known to be here camped on Sweetstream Fork, they would not come this way; they would swerve up the Gunpowder River twenty miles away, destroying the settlement and Little Fort Slade, and would sweep on, probably for a general massacre, up the Great Horn as far as Fort Doncaster. He himself, with the regiment, would try to save Fort Slade, but in the meantime Captain Thornton's troop, coming to join him, ignorant that Black Wolf had taken the war–path, would be directly in their track. Some one must be sent to warn them, and of course the fewer the quicker. Lieutenant Morgan would take a sergeant, the Colonel ordered quietly, and start at once.
In the misty light inside the tent, the young officer looked hardly more than seventeen years old as he stood listening. His small figure was light, fragile; his hair was blond to an extreme, a thick thatch of pale gold; and there was about him, among these tanned, stalwart men in uniform, a presence, an effect of something unusual, a simplicity out of place yet harmonious, which might have come with a little child into a scene like this. His large blue eyes were fixed on the Colonel as he talked, and in them was just such a look of innocent, pleased wonder, as might be in a child's eyes, who had been told to leave studying and go pick violets. But as the Colonel ended he spoke, and the few words he said, the few questions he asked, were full of poise, of crisp directness. As the General volunteered a word or two, he turned to him and answered with a very charming deference, a respect that was yet full of gracious ease, the unconscious air of a man to whom generals are first as men, and then as generals. The slight figure in its dark uniform was already beyond the tent doorway when the Colonel spoke again, with a shade of hesitation in his manner.
-Public Domain
Two-Part Question
Multiple Choice Question
This question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B.
Part A:
In paragraph four the author describes Lieutenant Morgan as fragile. Given the context of this entire text, which definition of "fragile" best matches the author's meaning?
A.
easily broken
B.
easily injured without careful handling
C.
small in degree
D.
frail
Multiple Choice Question
Part B: Select the piece of evidence from "The Messenger" that supports the answer to part A.
A.
…in the doorway stood a young man, undersized…
B.
…the General and his aide, and the grizzled old Captain, and the big, fresh–faced young one, all watched him.
C.
…a simplicity out of place yet harmonious…
D.
His large blue eyes were fixed on the Colonel as he talked, and in them was just
Answers
GPT-4o mini
**Part A:**
The best definition of "fragile" that matches the author's meaning in this context is:
**D. frail**
This is because the description of Lieutenant Morgan emphasizes his slight and delicate build, suggesting a sense of vulnerability or frailty rather than just being easily broken or small in degree.
**Part B:**
The piece of evidence from "The Messenger" that supports the answer to part A is:
**A. …in the doorway stood a young man, undersized…**
This phrase indicates that Morgan is smaller in stature, contributing to the idea of him being frail or delicate compared to the other much larger, more robust officers around him.
The best definition of "fragile" that matches the author's meaning in this context is:
**D. frail**
This is because the description of Lieutenant Morgan emphasizes his slight and delicate build, suggesting a sense of vulnerability or frailty rather than just being easily broken or small in degree.
**Part B:**
The piece of evidence from "The Messenger" that supports the answer to part A is:
**A. …in the doorway stood a young man, undersized…**
This phrase indicates that Morgan is smaller in stature, contributing to the idea of him being frail or delicate compared to the other much larger, more robust officers around him.