Question

this passage is adapted from an experiment in misery by stephen crane.
through the mists of the cold and storming night, the cable cars went in silent procession, great affairs shining with red and brass, moving with formidable power, calm and irresistible, dangerous and gloomy, breaking silence only by the loud fierce cry of the gong. two rivers of people swarmed along the side walks, spattered with black mud, which made each shoe leave a scar-like impression. overhead elevated trains with a shrill grinding of the wheels stopped at the station, which upon its leg-like pillars seemed to resemble some monstrous kind of crab squatting over the street. the quick fat puffings of the engines could be heard. down an alley there were sombre curtains of purple and black, on which street lamps dully glittered like embroidered flowers.
as it is used in the last sentence of the passage, the word sombre most nearly means:

• fearful and melancholy.
• dark.
• solemn.
• glittering.

Explanation:

The passage describes a cold, stormy, gloomy night setting. The word "sombre" is used to describe purple and black curtains, which are dark in tone. Context clues like "cold and storming night," "gloomy," and pairing with "black" point to "dark" as the closest meaning. "Fearful and melancholy" and "solemn" carry emotional tones not directly supported here, while "glittering" contradicts the description.

Answer:

dark.