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Vocabulary in Context - 2 (Reading)

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Laborious

Directions: Some words in the passage below have been highlighted. Select the best meaning for the corresponding word.

Primitive man was probably more concerned with fire as a source of warmth and as a means of cooking food than as a source of light. Before he discovered less laborious ways of making fire, he had to preserve it, and whenever he went on a journey he carried a firebrand with him. His discovery that the firebrand from which the torch may well have developed, could be used for illumination, was probably incidental purpose of preserving a flame.

Lamps too, probably developed by accident. Early man may have had his first conception of a lamp while watching a twig of fibre burning in the molten fat dropped from roasting carcass. All he had to do was to fashion a vessel to contain fat and float a lighted reed in it. Such lamps, which were made of hollowed stones or sea-shells, have persisted in identical form up to quite recent times

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Difficult

💡 Explanation:

In the passage about primitive fire-making, 'laborious' describes methods that were difficult, requiring much effort and hard work. The context suggests early humans had to work very hard to create and preserve fire before discovering easier ways. 'Difficult' correctly captures the sense of something requiring great effort. 'Working' is too neutral, while 'Painful' and 'Lengthy' don't accurately capture the core meaning of effort-intensive.

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