From “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier

Question

3 I suppose that futile waiting was the sorrowful background music of our impoverished little community when I was young. The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us, for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed. I don't know what it was that we were waiting for; certainly not for the prosperity that was "just around the corner," for those were white folks' words, which we never believed. Nor did we wait for hard work and thrift to pay off in shining success, as the American Dream promised, for we knew better than that, too. Perhaps we waited for a miracle, amorphous in concept but necessary if one were to have the grit to rise before dawn each day and labor in the white man's vineyard until after dark, or to wander about in the September dust offering one's sweat in return for some meager share of bread. But God was chary with miracles in those days, and so we waited—and waited.
Based on context clues in the passage, what is most likely the meaning of the word impoverished?
Answer choices for the above question

A. tight-knit

B. poor

C. rural

D. isolated
What evidence from the text supports your answer from Question 1?
Answer choices for the above question

A. “. . . little community.”

B. “. . . for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed.”

C. “. . . necessary if one were to have the grit to rise before dawn each day and labor in the white man's vineyard until after dark.”

D. “But God was chary with miracles in those days, and so we waited—and waited.”

Answer 1

Based on context clues in the passage, the answer to the first question is:

B. poor.

The passage discusses the struggles and hardships of the community, emphasizing the effects of the Depression and the lack of prosperity or hope for improvement. The use of the term "impoverished" is closely associated with being poor or lacking in resources.

For the second question, the evidence from the text that supports the answer is:

B. “. . . for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed.”

This sentence indicates the ongoing economic hardships faced by the community, reinforcing the idea of poverty and the struggles experienced by those living there. The word "depressed" in this context aligns with the concept of being impoverished.