IXL | Use context to identify the meaning of a word

Read the passage and then answer the question.

Pablo Picasso is often considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the twentieth century. As a young child, Picasso displayed an exceptional talent for drawing and painting. His extraordinary skill allowed him to enter Barcelona's prestigious School of Fine Arts when he was only fourteen years old—several years younger than the typical students at this well-regarded school. Although Picasso left Barcelona before graduating, the city still inspired him. His experiences there would lead him to break away from traditional ideas about art and create a new style that would change the world of art forever.

Picasso's rise to prominence began in 1907. While living in Paris, he produced a painting that featured five Barcelonian women represented by sharply contrasting geometric shapes. Instead of a realistic representation of the women, the painting presented an abstract scene showing the women's forms from multiple viewpoints at once. That the art world had never seen such a painting before only added to Picasso's growing popularity. This painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, would serve as the inspiration for the artistic movement that came to be known as Cubism.

What is the meaning of prestigious as used in the passage?

highly respected

large

long-established

expensive

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Read the passage and then answer the question.

Invented in 1448, Johann Gutenberg's printing press is often credited with being the first press in Europe with moveable type. The press used small blocks carved with individual letters of the alphabet. Gutenberg could arrange and rearrange these blocks into almost infinite combinations to make any word, sentence, or passage that was desired. Once a page was printed, the same blocks could be reconfigured to create the next page.

Gutenberg's printing press, which allowed for the dissemination of printed materials, helped lead to widespread changes in European society. Previously, few people had access to books. Each book had to be carefully copied by hand in an expensive and time-consuming process. With the printing press, books could quickly be produced in large numbers, reducing their price and allowing them to be distributed to a greater number of people. More books meant more people could learn to read and write, ultimately leading to a more literate public. All these changes are thought to have facilitated the rise of the Renaissance in Europe.

What is the meaning of reconfigured as used in the passage?

reordered

duplicated

remade

erased

key idea

As you're reading, you can often figure out the meaning of an unknown word by looking at the words and phrases that surround it. The familiar words and phrases that help you determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word are called context clues.

Here are some examples of how context clues can be used to determine the meaning of unknown words:

Marta attempted to placate the angry customer by offering him a free cup of coffee.

From the sentence, you can guess that Marta's kind gesture was meant to calm the angry customer. The context helps you understand that placate means "to make someone less angry."

Avoid deleterious actions such as eating junk food and smoking.

The sentence tells you that eating junk food and smoking are examples of deleterious actions. You know that eating junk food and smoking are both harmful behaviors, which helps you understand that deleterious means "causing harm or damage."

Eric was extroverted, unlike his shy sister.

The sentence tells you that Eric is unlike his shy sister, so you can guess that extroverted means the opposite of shy. The context helps you understand that extroverted means "outgoing."

solution

As used in the passage, reconfigured means reordered.

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

BB.2Determine the meaning of words using synonyms in context

BB.3Determine the meaning of words using antonyms in context

BB.1Find words using context

BB.4Use context to identify the meaning of a word

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!