Chapter 2

Question 1

rational

Answer 1

based on or in accordance with reason or logic.
pg 35 - The older boys agreed; but here and there among the little ones was the doubt that required more than rational assurance.

Question 2

recrimination

Answer 2

an accusation in response to one from someone else

pg 43 - His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination.

Question 3

errant

Answer 3

mistaken; straying from the proper course

pg 37/38 - The noise of the errant assembly faded up the mountain.

Question 4

tirade

Answer 4

long, harsh speech or verbal attack

pg 45 - By now they were listening to the tirade.

Question 5

ebullience

Answer 5

intense enthusiasm
pg 38 - Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar.

Question 6

abyss

Answer 6

A deep and vast space or cavity; anything profound or infinite
pg 49 - Only when Jack himself roused a gaudy bird from a primitive nest of sticks was the silence shattered and echoes set ringing by a harsh cry that seemed to come out of the abyss of ages.

Question 7

officious

Answer 7

meddling; excessively forward in offering services or assuming authority
pg 40 - There was pushing and pulling and officious cries.

Question 8

vicissitudes

Answer 8

the unexpected changes and shifts often encountered in one’s life
pg 50 - Jack stood there, streaming with sweat, streaked with brown earth, stained by all the vicissitudes of a day’s hunting.

Question 9

virtuous

Answer 9

having excellent morals; righteous

pg 43 - His voice lifted into the whine of virtuous recrimination.

Question 10

contrite

Answer 10

deeply sorrowful or repentant for a wrong; remorseful

pg 50 - Simon’s contrite face appeared in the hole.