Question

select the text from the paragraph that best helps you understand that diffident means shy. there may be more than one correct choice. wanting to help the family, the geologists made numerous gifts of seeds, clothing, utensils, and other goods. this largess was lost on karp lykov and his older children, who maintained a deep distrust of all things modern and were very timid around outsiders. his younger son and daughter, dmitry and agafia, were not nearly so diffident. they were fascinated and delighted by the technologies - like flashlights and television - that had been invented during their forty years of isolation. ultimately, however, the lykovs chose to pass up the comforts of modernity and live out the rest of their natural lives in the siberian wilderness.

Explanation:

The text contrasts the younger son and daughter who are not as diffident with the older children who are very timid around outsiders. The word "timid" is a synonym - like word that helps understand "diffident" as shy.

Answer:

were very timid around outsiders