Question

ms. martin had never seen anything like it in her fifteen years as a band director. she had walked into the band room that morning and was greeted by the sight of four tall stacks of black cases. she rushed over to one of the stacks and opened a case. inside was a shiny trumpet. she had a cough, and turned to see her principal, ms. phillips, standing in the doorway. “can you believe it? that stack is all trumpets. twelve of them, all brand new! the stack right over there is trombones and next to those are french horns. we have no idea who our mysterious benefactor is,” ms. phillips explained. ms. martin gasped. “these instruments are worth thousands of dollars. and someone just donated them?” the principal nodded. “we’ve been trying to track the delivery, but we can’t figure it out. the only thing we can be sure about is that it is a very generous gesture.” this question has two parts. answer part a and then answer part b. part a: what does the word “benefactor” mean? 1. maintain 2. origin 3. performer 4. sponsor part b: which two phrases from the passage support the correct meaning of “benefactor”? 1. “she’s right over there is trombones” 2. “someone just donated them” 3. “trying to track the delivery” 4. “very generous gesture”

Explanation:

Part A

To determine the meaning of "benefactor", we analyze the context. The passage says "There instruments are worth thousands of dollars, and someone just donated them" and "We have no idea who our mysterious benefactor is". A benefactor is someone who gives (donates) something, so the meaning relates to a donor. Among the options, "donor" (option 4) fits as the person who donated the instruments is the benefactor.

We need to find two phrases with the meaning of "benefaction" (an act of giving or donating).

• Phrase 1: "someone just donated them" – "donated" shows a giving action, related to benefaction.
• Phrase 4: "very generous gesture" – A generous gesture of donating valuable instruments is a benefaction.

Phrase 2 talks about a shiny trumpet (descriptive, not giving), Phrase 3 is about trying to track delivery (not giving). So the two phrases are 1 and 4.

Answer:

1. donor

Part B