Question

wanting to help the family, the geologists made numerous gifts of seeds, clothing, utensils, and other goods. this largess was lost on karp lykov and his older children, who maintained a deep distrust of all things modern and were very timid around outsiders. his younger son and daughter, dmitry and agafia, were not nearly so diffident. they were fascinated and delighted by the technologies—like flashlights and television—that had been invented during their forty years of isolation. ultimately, however, the lykovs chose to pass up the comforts of modernity and live out the rest of their natural lives in the siberian wilderness. what is the meaning of diffident as used in the passage? stingy silent shy different

Explanation:

The passage contrasts the younger children Dmitry and Agafia with the older ones who were timid around outsiders. "Diffident" here means lacking self - confidence or being shy, as the younger ones were not as hesitant or shy as the older ones about modern technologies.

Answer:

C. shy