Question

read this excerpt from \the intelligent planet.\ hawthorne... marveled that this mysterious substance called electricity could transmit signals across thousands of miles and make inert machines spring suddenly to life. what is the meaning of the underlined term? useless modern innovative inactive

Explanation:

The word "inert" means inactive. In the context of the sentence, it describes machines that were not working (inactive) before electricity made them "spring suddenly to life." "Useless" means not useful, which is not the context here. "Modern" refers to the present - day or recent, and "innovative" means new and creative. Neither of these fit the context of machines coming to life from a non - working (inactive) state.

Answer:

inactive