Question

Miss Lottie’s house was the most ramshackle of all our ramshackle homes. The sun and rain had long since faded its rickety frame siding from white to a sullen gray. The boards themselves seemed to remain upright not from being nailed together but rather from leaning together, like a house that a child might have constructed from cards. A brisk wind might have blown it down, and the fact that it was still standing implied a kind of enchantment that was stronger than the elements. There it stood and as far as I know is standing yet—a gray, rotting thing with no porch, no shutters, no steps, set on a cramped lot with no grass, not even any weeds—a monument to decay. Which quote from the passage above provide clues to the meaning of the word ramshackle? "…from white to sullen gray." "There it stood and as far as I know is standing yet -" "…on a cramped lot with no grass, not even any weeds –" "…like a house that a child might have constructed from cards."

Answer 1

D - 'Like a house that a child might have constructed from cards' is the best option to indicate what the word 'ramshackle' means.

Ramshackle means something in severe disrepair (example: an old, rusty car is a ramshackle car or this house). A house that a child constructed from cards is also thought to be not sturdy and in need of repair when it comes down.