Question

pandora’s post
by b. k. mcswain

lillian couldnt believe how out of hand everything had become after her
innocuous post; it was only supposed to entertain the friends. after all, skye
was an incredible singer/songwriter, and lillian only wanted her friends to
know, but now, skye was not talking to her, and she was in danger of losing
their new best friend. it all started three weeks ago when lillian was at skyes
house and skye mentioned she played the guitar.
\how have we been friends for so long, and i never knew you played?\
lillian asked.
\six months is not that long, but it does seem like weve known each
other for years,\ skye admitted, strumming the guitar. then she began a
melody that captivated lillian and when she began singing, lillian couldnt
believe her friend was so talented. she fumbled with her phone until skye had
accessed the video camera and began recording the impromptu
performance.
\im going up on my page!\ lillian announced and, before skye
could protest, shed posted it to her social media page and before skye
could protest, shed taken it down. it had 15 \likes.\ lillian convinced her
best friend to let it stay, and they wouldve forgotten all about it had it not gone
viral.

now, skye was fielding calls from all over the country from music
producers wanting her to record with them. the producer of a morning show
had invited her to perform on live tv, and local news people were camped in
their yard. not only had lillian not known about her friends talent, but she
had not known about her friends modesty that bordered on diffidence, and
this deplorable lack of self - confidence had caused skye to become a hermit
in her house trying to avoid the publicity.

lillian sat wishing that she could simply inhale deeply and bring all
vestiges of her friends talent out from the internet and back into her camera
where it could live unknown for all of eternity.

3
select the correct answer from the drop - down menu.
read the excerpt. then choose the correct way to complete the paragraph.

not only had lillian not known about her friends talent, but she had not known about her friends modesty that bordered on diffidence, and this
deplorable lack of self - confidence had caused skye to become a hermit in her house trying to avoid the publicity.

the words modesty and diffidence both imply \bashfulness\. however, in this sentence, diffidence is used to mean \lack of self - confidence,\
while modesty is used to mean “ ”.

options in drop - down: moderation, extreme shyness, not too proud, being proper

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the meanings of "modesty" and "diffidence" in context. "Diffidence" here means lack of self - confidence. "Modesty" and "diffidence" both relate to shyness or a lack of excessive self - regard. Among the options, "extreme shyness" is a common implication of both words in a general sense (and "modesty" can also relate to not being overly proud, but in the context of the relationship with "diffidence", "extreme shyness" is a shared implication). And "modesty" can mean "not too proud" as it is about not having excessive pride in one's abilities or achievements.

Answer:

The words modesty and diffidence both imply "extreme shyness". However, in this sentence, diffidence is used to mean "lack of self - confidence," while modesty is used to mean "not too proud".