1. impinge = strike
The word impinge can have various meanings, but in the case above, it means to strike. When 'the rain impinge[d] upon the earth,' it means that it started raining, the rain started striking the earth. To impinge means that something starts, and usually something negative.
2. garrulous = loquacious
The word garrulous refers to someone who talks excessively, likes to talk a bit too much, and usually about something trivial. Loquacious is a fancy word to denote the same thing, although it has a more positive connotation - it refers to someone who can speak nicely.
3. pious = religious
The word pious comes from the Latin word pius, which means dutiful. So when English took this word from Latin, it added a different suffix (-ous), and gave it the meaning of being 'dutiful to God.' So nowadays, pious refers to someone who is devoutly religious.
4. ruinous = dilapidated
The word ruinous refers to something which is in ruins, which is falling apart. The word which means the same thing is dilapidated - both of these words are usually used to describe buildings that are very old, and derelict, and are practically in ruins.
Answer:
Punctuation is best described at the end of the sentence.
Answer:
Given the comparison made by Thoreau, we can say his opinion is the following:
D) Thoreau believes that most men live earthly, purely physical lives without time for higher, spiritual thoughts.
Explanation:
"It appeared to me that for a like reason men remain in their present low and primitive condition; but if they should feel the influence of the spring of springs arousing them, they would of necessity rise to a higher and more ethereal life."
<u>Thoreau uses the numbness of the snake as a metaphor for the figurative numbness of men. The primitive state that he mentions above is a low state of consciousness, solely focused on material possessions and earthly pursuits that, to his mind, have no real purpose. Thoreau believes it is possible for men to reach higher intellectual and spiritual grounds. However, most of them seem to prefer the numbness.</u>
Answer:
decide the purpose for writing the essay. present an opinion on a topic.
Explanation:
