Question

directions. for each of the following items, circle the letter of the choice that best completes the meaning of the sentence or sentences. 21. a tsimshian story about the bear people might seem —— if you dont know that folk - tale animals can change forms. if you know this, the story becomes —— (a) noncommittal...quixotic (b) inexplicable...coherent (c) assertive...inexplicable (d) quixotic...goaded (e) coherent...inexplicable 22. you have to accept some fantastical statements in folk tales. for example, you must accept the —— of a talking bear. (a) fulmination (b) coherence (c) assertion (d) surmise (e) proboscis 23. in the tale the girl who married a bear, the girl, peesunt, is far from —— in her opinion of bears; she says flat out that they are ugly, horrid creatures. (a) assertive (b) goaded (c) inexplicable (d) noncommittal (e) coherent 24. walking in the forest with her friends, peesunt falls behind. the sounds of their voices —— her onward, but she becomes afraid until a young man finds her and —— that she is lost. (a) goad...fulminates (b) surmise...goads (c) fulminates...surmises (d) assert...fulminates (e) goad...surmises 25. after her violent —— about the bear people, perhaps peesunt should —— from the evidence of his big bearskin cloak that the man is not as he seems. (a) goading...assert (b) fulmination...surmise (c) assertion...goad (d) surmise...fulminate (e) fulmination...goad 26. however, the stranger doesnt look like a bear; he doesnt have claws or a bearlike —— or snout. (a) surmise (b) goad (c) proboscis (d) anagram (e) coherence 27. the bear people capture peesunt, and although she is ——, or indifferent, about staying with them, they give her no choice. (a) quixotic (b) inexplicable (c) noncommittal (d) coherent (e) assertive 28. no amount of —— on peesunts part will convince the bear people to release her. reluctantly, peesunt marries the stranger, the bear man. (a) anagram (b) fulmination (c) proboscis (d) surmise (e) coherence 29. when peesunts brothers find her, the bear man shows his —— nature by letting them kill him. he was so noble that he couldnt let his wife remain unhappy. (a) fulminating (b) coherent (c) inexplicable (d) noncommittal (e) quixotic 30. back home, peesunt misses the bear people; she trades her human skin back for bear skin. this puzzles her family as much as any riddle, code, or ——. (a) anagram (b) fulmination (c) proboscis (d) coherence (e) surmise

Explanation:

1. Without knowledge of shape - changing in folk - tales, the story seems unexplainable (inexplicable), and with that knowledge, it becomes logical (coherent).
2. In folk - tales, one must accept the claim (assertion) of a talking bear.
3. Peesunt is not non - committal; she has a strong opinion about bears.
4. The voices goad her forward, and she surmises she is lost.
5. After a violent outburst (fulmination), she should surmise from the evidence.
6. A bear has a snout, and the stranger doesn't have a bearlike snout.
7. She is non - committal or indifferent about staying.
8. No amount of outburst (fulmination) will convince them.
9. The Bear Man shows his noble (quixotic) nature.
10. Her action puzzles her family like a riddle or anagram.

Answer:

1. B. inexplicable...coherent
2. C. assertion
3. D. noncommittal
4. E. goad...surmises
5. B. fulmination...surmise
6. C. proboscis
7. C. noncommittal
8. B. fulmination
9. E. quixotic
10. A. anagram