Assessment 1: Context Clues Galore Read and figure out the meaning of each italicized word using

context clues. Write the letter of your answer on your paper. In the Tower of the Great Bell: now the
mallet is lifted to smite the lips of the metal monster—the vast lips inscribed with Buddhist texts. 1. A
mallet is ___________. A. an ax B. a saw C. a knife D. a hammer 2. To smite is to _________. A. caress B.
cut C. hit D. touch All the little dragons on the high-tilted eaves of the green roofs shiver to the tips of
their gilded tails under that deep wave of sound. 3. To shiver is to ____. A. fall on one’s knees B. be
vanished forever C. tremble at the loud sound D. be destroyed by the gilded tails All the green-and-gold
tiles of the temple are vibrating; the wooden goldfish above them are writhing against the sky. 4.
Writhing means _______. A. hanging B. leading C. pointing D. twisting Therefore, the worthy mandarin
Kouan-Yu assembled the master-molders and the renowned bell smiths of the empire, and all men of
great repute and cunning in foundry work. 5. Cunning means _____________________. A. expert B.
innocent C. master D. skillful 6. Foundry means _____________________. A. factory B. farm C. market
D. garden Therefore, the molds had to be once more prepared, and the fires rekindled, and the metal
remelted, and all the work tediously, and toilsomely repeated. 7. Rekindled means
____________________. A. lighted again B. fueled the fire C. stopped the fire D. set on fire again 8.
Toilsomely means _____. A. hardly B. lightly C. mindfully D. slowly 11 “Gold and brass will never meet in
wedlock, silver, and iron never will embrace, until the flesh of a maiden be melted in the crucible; until
the blood of a virgin be mixed with the metals in their fusion.” 9. What does the statement mean? A.
Gold, brass, silver, and iron will fuse when mixed with blood. B. The blood of a virgin maiden is made up
of gold, brass, silver, and iron. C. Gold, brass, silver, and iron will fuse when mixed with the blood of a
virgin. D. Gold, brass, silver, and iron will never be fused together by a virgin maiden. And even as she
cried, she leaped into the white flood of metal. 10. Leaped means _____________. A. Jumped B. ran C.
skipped D. squatted