Question

m. fortier had played first violin in the orchestra ever since – well, no one remembered his not playing there. sometimes there would come breaks in the seasons, and for a year the great building would be dark and silent. then m. fortier would do jobs playing sporadically here and there, one night for this ball, another night for that soiree, and in the day, work at his trade – that of a cigar-maker. but now for seven years there had been no break in the season, and the little old violinist was happy. there is nothing sweeter than a regular job and good music to play, music into which one can put some soul, some expression, and which one must study to understand. dance music, of the frivolous, frothy kind deemed essential to soirees, is trivial, easy, uninteresting. so m. fortier, madame jeanne, and the white cat lived a peaceful, uneventful existence out on bayou road. when the opera season was over in february, m. fortier went back to cigar-making, and the white cat purred none the less contentedly.
question 5
what is the meaning of \sporadically\ as it is used in paragraph 6?
a. erroneously
b. habitually
c. intermittently
d. vehemently

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "sporadically", we analyze the context. The text says there were breaks in the seasons, and during those breaks, M. Fortier did jobs playing "here and there, one night for this ball, another night for that soiree". This implies his playing was not constant but occurred at irregular intervals.

• Option A ("erroneously") means with error, which doesn't fit the context of how he played.
• Option B ("habitually") means doing something regularly, which is the opposite of the context (since there were breaks and his playing was not regular).
• Option D ("vehemently") means with strong feeling or force, which is irrelevant to the frequency of his playing.
• Option C ("intermittently") means occurring at irregular intervals or with breaks, which matches the context of his sporadic playing during the breaks in the orchestra season.

Answer:

C. intermittently