Question

Gael told his father about the wasp nest as soon as he found it. It was in a musty corner of the garage, hanging from a support beam overhead. Gael's father knew just what to do. He knocked it down with a broom and then doused it with water. The wasps flew about in a frenzy. Gael and his father narrowly avoided being stung.
Later, when Gael returned to the garage, the wasps had disappeared. Gael inspected the tattered remains of the nest. He picked up a piece of what looked like honey-comb. It was made up of five-sided cells, or pentagons. Gael regretted that the wasps had spent so much time building it.
Gael was so preoccupied with the nest that he didn't hear his father sneak up behind him.
"Careful," his father said. "You should probably throw that away."
Gael nodded, but when his father wasn't looking, he put a small piece of the nest in a Ziploc bag. Then he hid the bag under his bed where no one would find it.
The following morning, Gael thought he heard a noise coming from the bag. It was a soft fluttering sound, like a flag flapping in the wind.
He got out of bed and reached underneath his bed for the Ziploc bag. What he saw inside the bag was appalling. There were literally hundreds of tiny wasps, swarming the cramped space of the bag. Gael immediately realized what had happened: the pentagon cells of the comb had been full of eggs. And now the eggs had hatched.
16
What is the connotative, or suggested, meaning of appalling in this story?
A.
frightening
B.
overflowing
C.
swarming
D.
disappointing

Answer 1

A. frightening

"Appalling" here conveys shock or horror at seeing hundreds of newly hatched wasps — an emotional reaction (frightening), not a literal description like "swarming" or "overflowing."