"Most climbers took the safe ridge, but Dara chose an audacious line straight up the ice face, one nobody had tried." What does audacious mean here?

"Because Ravi was meticulous, his notes gave every temperature to the tenth of a degree, and a partner repeated the run exactly a month later." What does meticulous mean?

"Snowdrifts to the roofline, a river of black ice, and winds that flipped the mail truck: the pass was a formidable crossing that winter." What does formidable mean?

"The note said 'meet by the field house at six,' and the team split: some walked to the door, others to the parking lot." The note was ambiguous. What does ambiguous mean?

"Dune grass is resilient: mowed in May, flooded in March and buried by a storm surge in April, it was green again by June." What does resilient mean?

"Jonah heard the ad's promise. He asked who paid for the study, whether anyone had repeated it, and why no figures were given. He stayed skeptical." What does skeptical mean?

"The recipe called for one pinch of saffron, but the tin held an ample supply, enough for a year of Sundays." What does ample mean?

"Sorting four thousand slides by hand, one at a time, for six hours was tedious; by noon Mara set a timer to keep herself awake." What does tedious mean?

"The two events fell in the same week, but the link between them was tenuous: no witness, no record, nothing but the coincidence of dates." What does tenuous mean?

"The zoning vote was contentious. Neighbors shouted over one another, two members walked out, and the chair called for order three times." What does contentious mean?

"The gardener set the seedlings under a shallow cloche and waited." The word cloche follows "a" and an adjective. What does that position show about cloche?

"When the whistle blew, the crowd surged toward the gate." The word surged sits right after the subject "the crowd." What does that position show about surged?

"She spoke tersely, giving the time and the room number and nothing else." The word tersely follows the verb spoke. What does that position show about tersely?

"Rain had turned the trail into a quagmire, and every step pulled at our boots." Given that quagmire follows "a" and that boots stuck in it, what is a quagmire?

"The kettle sat on a trivet so the table would not scorch." The word trivet follows "on a," and the sentence gives the reason it is there. What is a trivet?

"The senator will chair the committee this term." The word chair stands right after "will" and before "the committee." What does that position show about chair here?

"Loose gravel made the descent perilous, and the guide roped everyone together before the first turn." What does perilous mean?

"Every jar had to be boiled, filled to the same line, capped and dated. Nothing could be skipped. The whole process was exacting." What does exacting mean?

"For three days no one spoke of the fire. Meals were quiet. Doors closed softly. The house kept a somber mood all week." What does somber mean?

"The dog would not settle. It circled the rug, whined at the window, then circled again. Its restlessness was palpable." What does palpable mean?

"Bread crusts, apple peels, coffee grounds and eggshells all go in the bin marked for detritus." What does detritus mean?

"Fever, aches, a rash on the forearms and a cough that will not clear are the chief maladies the clinic sees each spring." What does maladies mean?

"Uncle Ben's stories grew with every telling. Aunt Rose, by contrast, gave a laconic account: 'We drove. It rained. We came home.'" What does laconic mean?

"The bridge's supports had begun to corrode, so the county closed the span and ordered new steel." What does corrode mean?

"By dawn the fog had begun to dissipate, and we could see the far shore." The word dissipate follows "had begun to." What does its position and the sentence show?

"They pitched the tent on a scree below the ridge, where loose stones slid underfoot all evening." What is a scree?

Nina reads, "The brackish water at the river's mouth killed the seedlings," and guesses brackish means "dirty." Which step best verifies her guess?

A glossary lists two senses of temper: (1) a person's mood, (2) to heat and cool metal to toughen it. In "The smith tempered the blade," which step decides the sense?

"Unlike her voluble brother, who narrated every mile of the drive, Priya said almost nothing the whole way." What does voluble mean?

"The soil here is arid, so every field on the farm depends on water piped from the canal." What does arid mean?

"Astronomy club, robotics, jazz band, cross-country, debate, chess and choir: the school's myriad clubs all meet on the same Tuesday." What does myriad mean?

"The lake had frozen, thawed and frozen again. Cracks ran under the ice like seams. No one could say where a step would hold. The surface was precarious." What does precarious mean?

"A gaunt figure crossed the yard." The word gaunt stands between the article "A" and the noun "figure." What does that position show about gaunt?

"The committee will convene at nine and adjourn by noon." The word convene stands after "will" and before "at nine." What does that position show about convene?

"One survey counted forty nests on the island; another counted four hundred. The two disparate figures could not both be right." What does disparate mean?

"Because the treaty's terms were onerous, the smaller nation needed thirty years to pay everything it owed." What does onerous mean?

"She checked the ropes, the anchors and the radio. She told two neighbors where she was going. She left a map on the table. Her preparations were prudent." What does prudent mean?

"Farmers here winnow the grain before it is bagged." The word winnow stands right after the subject "Farmers." What does that position show about winnow?

"Because the path was sodden after two days of rain, our boots sank at every step." This sentence gives a consequence clue to the meaning of sodden. True or False?

"The gale uprooted two oaks and tore the roof from the shed." What kind of clue does this sentence give to the meaning of gale?