Exercise: Using contextual clues

EXERCISE 31.3

Identify the contextual clues that help you understand any unfamiliar words in the following sentences and write them in the text boxes provided. Then write paraphrases of three of the sentences.

Click Submit after each question to record your answer. If your instructor has assigned this exercise set, you must answer every question before your answers will be submitted to the gradebook.

  1. Before Prohibition, the criminal fringe in the United States had been a self-effacing, scattered class with little popular support.
    Before Prohibition, the criminal fringe in the United States had been a self-effacing, scattered class with little popular support.
  2. The judge failed to recuse himself from the trial, even though he had a vested interest in the case’s outcome.
    The judge failed to recuse himself from the trial, even though he had a vested interest in the case’s outcome.
  3. The clownfish lives symbiotically among sea anemones: it is protected from predators by the anemones’ poisonous tentacles, and it defends its territory by fighting off anemone-eaters.
    The clownfish lives symbiotically among sea anemones: it is protected from predators by the anemones’ poisonous tentacles, and it defends its territory by fighting off anemone-eaters.
  4. Some have made the mistake of assuming that the new casinos will be a panacea for the state’s financial problems.
    Some have made the mistake of assuming that the new casinos will be a panacea for the state’s financial problems.
  5. Health officials warned the population of an extremely virulent strain of flu next season and urged those with compromised immune systems to be vaccinated.
    Health officials warned the population of an extremely virulent strain of flu next season and urged those with compromised immune systems to be vaccinated.

Use the text boxes below to write your three paraphrases.

Use this text box to write your first paraphrase
Use this text box to write your second paraphrase
Use this text box to write your third paraphrase