Question

read the paragraph and dictionary entry.

a recent editorial suggested the candidates ignored the issues of greatest interest to the citizens. this caused a majority of voters to purposely neglect voting. the low turn out at the polls yesterday supports the idea that the voters are jaded.

dictionary
jaded \\ˈjā-dəd\\

1. adj. overworked, exhausted, weary
2. adj. bored, tired, or uninterested from having too much of something
3. adj. hardened due to negative experience or living to excess; indifferent

when paul first read this paragraph in the newspaper, he thought the word jaded meant \busy.\ he looked it up in a dictionary to see if he was correct.

in the context of this paragraph, is paul’s understanding of the meaning of jaded correct?

1. no, because people were simply uninterested in the election.
2. no, because people had a negative experience with the candidates.
3. yes, because people were overworked and therefore too tired to vote.
4. yes, because people had rejected voting as a result of numerous elections.

Explanation:

To determine if Paul's understanding is correct, we analyze the context and the dictionary definitions of "jaded". The paragraph says a recent political scandal made candidates ignore issues, causing low voter turnout, suggesting voters are uninterested. The dictionary defines "jaded" as bored/uninterested (from too much of something) or hardened/indifferent. Paul thought it meant "busy", which is incorrect.

• Option 1: Says no, as people were uninterested. This matches the context (low turnout, candidates ignoring issues leading to voter disinterest) and the dictionary's definition of "jaded" as uninterested from too much (of political issues/scandals).
• Option 2: Talks about negative experience with candidates, but the paragraph blames candidates ignoring issues, not negative experiences with them.
• Options 3 and 4: Say "yes", but Paul's meaning ("busy") is wrong, so these are incorrect.

Answer:

1. No, because people were simply uninterested in the election.