Question

choose the word whose connotation and denotation best match the text.

the only thing that would ______ the pain in liams back was cold-water immersion. while this offered some relief, he could only stay in the ice bath for fifteen minutes at a time. even so, the cold therapy made his recovery time shorter and more bearable.

options: sedate, alleviate, mollify, appease

Explanation:

• "sedate" means to calm or make sleepy, which does not fit describing pain relief.
• "alleviate" means to make pain or suffering less severe, which matches the context of reducing back pain and the later mention of "relief".
• "mollify" and "appease" are used to describe calming emotions or satisfying demands, not physical pain.

Answer:

alleviate