Question

the ancient code was obscured and nearly impossible to decipher. the scratches, nicks, and caked - on mud made the markings nearly illegible. i was determined to figure out the mysterious meaning behind the foreign code. i decided to take it to a professor of egyptian history in hopes that she could interpret it. which two words from the passage have the same meaning? 1. illegible and foreign 2. decipher and interpret 3. mysterious and ancient 4. impossible and obscured

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: "illegible" (hard to read) and "foreign" (from another country) have different meanings.
• Option 2: "decipher" (decode) and "interpret" (understand/explain) have different meanings (decipher is about decoding, interpret about explaining meaning).
• Option 3: "mysterious" (unknown) and "ancient" (old) have different meanings.
• Option 4: "impossible" (not possible) and "obscured" (hidden/ hard to see) – in the passage, the code is "obscured" and "nearly impossible to decipher", so both relate to being hard to understand/access, sharing a similar sense of difficulty or being hidden.

Answer:

1. impossible and obscured