Question
excerpt from "Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radioactivity" by Mara Rockliff
To the Austrian mine owners who had sent the pitchblende ore, it was just dirt. After all, they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element called uranium—and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest. If a pair of eccentric French scientists wanted them to scoop up the worthless stuff and ship it, the mine owners were happy to oblige.
Question
It could be inferred that the word pitchblende in the paragraph means "a black mineral deposit."
Which context clue best helps confirm this meaning of the word pitchblende?
Responses
"and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest"
"and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest"
"ore, it was just dirt"
"ore, it was just dirt"
"the mine owners were happy to oblige"
"the mine owners were happy to oblige"
"they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element"
To the Austrian mine owners who had sent the pitchblende ore, it was just dirt. After all, they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element called uranium—and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest. If a pair of eccentric French scientists wanted them to scoop up the worthless stuff and ship it, the mine owners were happy to oblige.
Question
It could be inferred that the word pitchblende in the paragraph means "a black mineral deposit."
Which context clue best helps confirm this meaning of the word pitchblende?
Responses
"and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest"
"and dumped what was left over in a nearby pine forest"
"ore, it was just dirt"
"ore, it was just dirt"
"the mine owners were happy to oblige"
"the mine owners were happy to oblige"
"they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element"
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The context clue that best helps confirm the meaning of the word "pitchblende" as "a black mineral deposit" is:
"they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element"
This clue indicates that pitchblende is associated with a mining process where a valuable metallic element (uranium) has been extracted from it, suggesting that pitchblende itself is the remaining material, which aligns with the idea of it being a type of ore or mineral deposit.
"they had already taken out the valuable part—the metallic element"
This clue indicates that pitchblende is associated with a mining process where a valuable metallic element (uranium) has been extracted from it, suggesting that pitchblende itself is the remaining material, which aligns with the idea of it being a type of ore or mineral deposit.