Analyze Word Choice Impact on Meaning Practice Test
•10 QuestionsRead the passage.
The cafeteria line moved in slow inches. Trays clattered, and the smell of pizza mixed with the sweet scent of oranges. Suri balanced her lunch and searched for her friends.
At the far table, she saw a new student sitting alone. His shoulders were tucked in, and he stared at his milk carton as if it had the answers to a difficult question. Suri hesitated. Her friends were laughing loudly, saving her a seat, but the empty space beside the new student looked like a small gap in the room.
Suri walked over and set her tray down. “Hi,” she said, trying to sound casual. The new student looked up, surprised. His smile was thin at first, but it grew warmer.
After a minute, the noise around them didn’t feel so sharp. Suri’s choice felt less like a risk and more like a beginning.
In the passage, why does the author describe the space beside the new student as “a small gap in the room” instead of simply “an empty seat”?
Read the passage.
The cafeteria line moved in slow inches. Trays clattered, and the smell of pizza mixed with the sweet scent of oranges. Suri balanced her lunch and searched for her friends.
At the far table, she saw a new student sitting alone. His shoulders were tucked in, and he stared at his milk carton as if it had the answers to a difficult question. Suri hesitated. Her friends were laughing loudly, saving her a seat, but the empty space beside the new student looked like a small gap in the room.
Suri walked over and set her tray down. “Hi,” she said, trying to sound casual. The new student looked up, surprised. His smile was thin at first, but it grew warmer.
After a minute, the noise around them didn’t feel so sharp. Suri’s choice felt less like a risk and more like a beginning.
In the passage, why does the author describe the space beside the new student as “a small gap in the room” instead of simply “an empty seat”?