Question

read the passage. then, select the synonym of the word in bold. as the sun began to set, the island castaway was barely able to discern a ship on the horizon. did that mean that someone onboard the ship might be able to notice him, too? he jumped to his feet and frantically waved his arms, yelling, \over here! over here!\

Explanation:

The word "discern" means to see or recognize something with difficulty. "Perceive" also means to become aware of something through the senses, which is a close - meaning word.

Answer:

Perceive (assuming this was one of the options; if there were multiple options provided originally, the correct one among them with a similar meaning to "discern" would be the answer).