Question

read the passage and then answer the question.
the cello is a wooden musical instrument with four strings. its played by pulling a bow across the strings or plucking them. the cello is shaped like the violin but stands about four feet tall. because the cellos strings are longer than the violins, the cello has a lower - pitched sound. with stringed instruments, as the length of a string diminishes, the pitch becomes higher. the cello was developed about three hundred years ago. early players would squeeze the instrument between their knees to hold it up while playing. todays cello has a peg at the bottom, which makes it easier to play. the peg rests on the floor when its played.
what is the meaning of diminishes as used in the passage?
starts shaking
becomes smaller
gets stronger
grows larger

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "diminishes" in the passage, we analyze the context. The passage states "as the length of a string diminishes, the pitch becomes higher" and also mentions the cello's strings are longer than the violin's (resulting in lower pitch). So, a shorter string (length becomes smaller) leads to higher pitch. Among the options, "becomes smaller" matches this context. "Starts shaking" is irrelevant, "gets stronger" doesn't relate to length, and "grows larger" is the opposite of what's implied (since larger length would lower pitch, but here diminishing length raises pitch).

Answer:

becomes smaller