Question

The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A
What is the meaning of affluent in paragraph 3 of Selection 1?
A. exhausted
B. wealthy
C. frustrated
D. appreciative
Part B
Which context clue from paragraph 3 best supports the answer in Part A?
A. “The poor shoemaker”
B. “the work was done”
C. “went on for some time”
D. “business was thriving”

There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard but still could not earn enough to live on. Eventually, he had only enough leather left to make one pair of shoes.
2 The shoemaker cut out the leather, readying it for the next day, and went to bed. In the morning, he sat himself down to his work—when, to his great wonder, there stood the shoes upon the table, already made. The shoemaker did not know what to think.
3 That same day, a customer came in, and the shoes suited him so well that he willingly paid a higher price than usual for them. The poor shoemaker used the money to buy enough leather to make two more pairs. In the evening, he cut out his work and went to bed early, but when he got up in the morning, the work was done. This went on for some time. Before long, the shoemaker’s business was thriving, and he became affluent.
4 One evening, he said to his wife, “I’d like to sit up and watch tonight, so that we may see who it is that helps me.” The wife liked the idea, so they left a candle burning, hid in a corner of the room, and watched to see what would happen.
5 As soon as it was midnight, two little elves came in, sat upon the shoemaker’s bench, took up all the work that was cut out, and began to ply with their little fingers. On they went until the job was done, and then they rushed off.
6 The next day, the wife said to the shoemaker, “We ought to be thankful to them and do them a good turn if we can, so why don’t I make each of them a set of nice clothes and you make them a little pair of shoes?”
7 When all of the items were ready, the couple laid them on the table, in place of the work they used to leave out. The couple hid, and at about midnight, the elves came in, dancing and skipping before finally sitting down to do their work. When the elves saw the clothes and shoes laid out for them instead, they were delighted!
8 The elves dressed themselves and sprang about, as merry as could be, until they danced out the door.
9 The good couple never saw them again, but everything went well from that time on as long as they lived.
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Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. “The Elves and the Shoemaker.” Translated by Margaret Hunt; 1884.

Selection 2: Uh, Thanks for the Help?

1 Randall Smith, owner of Security Now, shook his head as he surveyed his store. What a mess!
2 A month ago, his accountant had reminded him that he was required to perform an inventory at the end of the year. Randall had gratefully accepted the help of his “creative” nephew, Jared, the graphic artist. Turned out Jared had been a little too creative in his labeling, and Randall found himself opening boxes just to find out what was inside. Then, with just a week to go, Miguel, Randall’s assistant, decided he needed time off to study for his finals.
3 With only days before the deadline, Randall surveyed the disorder. Opened boxes filled with cameras, locks, and keypads were strewn about the storeroom floor. Incomplete inventory sheets were pinned to half the shelves. Randall wasn’t sure how he was going get everything in order by the weekend. Never enough help when you need it, he grumbled.
4 Randall finished off an aisle in the storeroom, then went home for dinner. Returning an hour later, he opened the storeroom door and stood frozen in shock. The room had been thoroughly straightened up. All the boxes were arranged in neat rows. Unpacked components were neatly sorted by type and manufacturer. Did Miguel come by? he thought, numbly. But he doesn’t have a key. Had someone broken in? But who would bother breaking in to—help?
5 Randall completed inventory of another aisle in the storeroom. On a sudden inspiration, he set up a few of the new security cameras around the store, and then left for the night.
6 Around midnight, Randall was awoken by an alert on his phone. There was movement inside the store! Fingers trembling, he opened the app to link to the video feed.
7 What he saw left him speechless. Small gnome-like creatures swarmed up the storeroom shelves. As the gnomes on the shelves called out model numbers, the ones standing below checked them off on their clipboards. Others checked off the contents of the opened boxes, and then repacked and reshelved the boxes.
8 As Randall stared in disbelief, the gnomes finished up. They streamed onto the table in the back and vaulted out through the open window. The last gnome stopped on the table, turned, and winked at the camera. Then, he too was gone

Answer 1

Part A: B — wealthy.

Part B: D — “business was thriving” (this phrase shows he was doing well financially, supporting the meaning wealthy).