Question 103·Easy·Words in Context
The following sentence is from an early-twentieth-century adventure novel chronicling a sea voyage.
After hours of pounding rain and howling wind, the storm finally relented, and a pale band of sunlight shimmered on the waves.
As used in the sentence, what does the word “relented” most nearly mean?
For Words-in-Context questions, always read the full sentence (and sometimes the sentence before/after) and restate the target word in your own simple language based on context clues and tone. Then, plug each choice into the sentence and eliminate any that are grammatically odd, don’t logically fit the situation, or clash with the mood; choose the option that best matches your paraphrase, not just a definition you vaguely know.
Hints
Look at what happens after “relented”
Focus on the part of the sentence after the comma: “and a pale band of sunlight shimmered on the waves.” Ask yourself: is the weather getting worse, staying the same, or improving here?
Decide how the storm is changing
The sentence starts with “hours of pounding rain and howling wind.” When the storm “relented,” did it begin again, stop someone from doing something, give something, or change in some other way?
Plug in each choice to test it
Mentally replace “relented” with each answer choice in the sentence. Which one makes the sentence sound natural and matches the shift from violent storm to visible sunlight?
Step-by-step Explanation
Use context clues around the word
Read the whole sentence: “After hours of pounding rain and howling wind, the storm finally relented, and a pale band of sunlight shimmered on the waves.” The first part describes a very strong storm: pounding rain and howling wind. Right after “relented,” we see sunlight appearing, which suggests that the storm is becoming less intense or starting to let up.
Figure out the general meaning of “relented”
From the context, the storm is not starting or getting stronger; it is calming down. A good paraphrase for the sentence is: “After hours of violent weather, the storm finally ______, and then some sunlight appeared.” This blank should mean something like “became less severe” or “let up.”
Test each answer choice in the sentence
Try putting each option into the sentence:
- the storm finally loaned → storms do not loan things, and this does not match the idea of sunlight appearing.
- the storm finally forbade → to forbid is to prohibit someone from doing something; a storm cannot sensibly “forbid,” and it doesn’t match the calming tone.
- the storm finally returned → this would mean the storm came back, but the storm has been going on for hours and is not returning; it is changing.
- the storm finally eased → this means the storm became less severe, which fits perfectly with the shift to sunlight on the waves.
Choose the option that best matches the context
Only “eased” matches the idea that the storm became less intense and allowed sunlight to appear. Therefore, the correct answer is D) eased.