Question

The father's _____ nature cause his family to become adept at studying his face.

Answer 1

I'd say C. volatile, because volatile means "liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worst."

Answer 2

When trying to answer this question, it is important to refer to a literary technique that helps readers to understand difficult, or more technical, or even find missing, words. This technique is called context clues. Context clues are specific terms used within a sentence or on other sentences around the word that needs to be comprehended and that give hints as to the true meaning of said word. In this case, we have several clues. The first is nature of a person, which immediately speaks about a character trait. Then, we have adept and studying, which describe what a family does in regards to the father´s specific character traits. When you become adept, it means that you almost become proficient, or an expert, and in this case it would relate to becoming proficient at reading the character trait that is inherent to the father´s nature. The correct answer, given this, would be: C: volatile, because this word implies a nature that constantly changes, is unpredictable, and the family learns to interpret these changes through the signals that appear on the father´s changing face.