Question

sighting the purple finch
natalie had it down to a science. every saturday morning she would drive to camano park, leave her chevy pickup truck in the parking lot, and walk along an abandoned hiking trail. the trail led to an isolated section of the park where an old wooden bench sat in the shade of a magnolia tree. the bench had obviously been abandoned to decrepitude long ago: its wooden construction sagged with the weight of past rains and encroaching moss. but the bench was located a great distance from the noise of other visitors to the park, which was essential to natalies purpose—watching for birds. quiet, above all else, was most conducive to bird sightings.
natalie was an ornithologist, and it was here in camano park that shed spotted more than ten species of rare birds. she was a diligent observer and kept an inventory of the birds shed seen in a spiral notebook.
that saturday, natalies tremendous patience paid off. using her binoculars, she caught sight of a reddish - purple color in the branch of a far - off maple tree. it was a purple finch! immediately natalie made a note in her spiral notebook. the note read \purple finch = 1.\ no sooner had she jotted this note than the finch left its perch and flew directly toward her. she watched as it swooped down and plucked an earthworm from the ground. then, it zinged past her and alighted on a branch directly over her head.
taking care to remain quiet, natalie aimed her binoculars overhead at the branch where the purple finch had landed. now, she could see a nest. engrossed, she watched as the purple finch fed its spawn. after watching uninterrupted for almost fifteen minutes, natalie took out her spiral notebook. she crossed out the \1\ that shed written next to \purple finch,\ and replaced it with a \5.\
2
in the third paragraph, the author says that the bird alighted on the branch of a tree. which of the following words best describes the meaning of alighted as it is used in the passage?
a. submerged
b. settled
c. contained
d. flew

Explanation:

In the context, the bird moved from flying to resting on the branch. "Settled" best captures this meaning of coming to rest. "Submerged" means going underwater, "contained" means holding something, and "flew" refers to the act of flight, not coming to rest.

Answer:

B. settled