Question

11 but phaethon held to his choice and bade his father farewell. he took his place in the chariot, gathered up the reins, and the horses sprang away, eager for the road.
12 as they went, they bent their splendid necks to see the meaning of the strange hand upon the reins,—the slender weight in the chariot. they turned their wild eyes upon phaethon, to his secret foreboding, and neighed one to another. this was no master - charioteer, but a mere lad, a feather riding the wind. it was holiday for the horses of the sun, and away they went.
13 grasping the reins that dragged him after, like an enemy, phaethon looked down from the fearful ascent and saw the earth far beneath him, dim and fair. he was blind with dizziness
18 williams, jamie
read this sentence from passage 1:
\before he knew where he was, they had startled the constellations and well - nigh grazed the serpent, so that it woke from its torpor and hissed.\ (paragraph 13)
the word \torpor\ comes from the latin torpere, which means \to be numb or sluggish.\ based on this information, what is the meaning of torpor as it is used in this sentence?
a pain
b inactivity
c intense worry
d careful watch

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "torpor" in the sentence, we use the Latin root "torpere" which means "to be numb or sluggish". In the sentence, the Serpent is woken from its torpor, so torpor should mean a state of inactivity (since being numb/sluggish implies lack of movement/activity). Option A (pain) is incorrect as the root doesn't relate to pain. Option C (intense worry) and D (careful watch) also don't match the root meaning. So the correct option is the one with "inactivity".

Answer:

B. inactivity