Question

Read the excerpt from "The Revolt of Mother.". The woman stood for a moment looking after him, then she went out of the barn across a corner of the yard to the house. The house, standing at right angles with the great barn and a long reach of sheds and out-buildings, was infinitesimal compared with them. It was scarcely as commodious for people as the little boxes under the barn eaves were for doves. Which is the correct definition of the word "infinitesimal" based on its usage in the excerpt?

Answer 1

C. extremely small.

Step-by-step explanation:

The word "infinitesimal" means "minute, tiny, extremely small," even to the extreme of being considered uncountable or difficult to be considered. The word is used to describe or refer to things that are small, more than the normal small.

In the given excerpt from the short story "The Revolt of 'Mother'," by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, the writer used the word "infinitesimal" to refer to the house. And based on how it is used to talk about the house, we can infer that it meant the house was "extremely small", even comparing it to "the little boxes under the barn eaves" that were for the doves.

Thus, the correct answer is option C.

Answer 2

Answer: extremely small

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct definition of the word "infinitesimal" based on its usage in the excerpt means extremely small.

From the excerpt, we are informed that "the house, standing at right angles with the great barn and a long reach of sheds and out-buildings, was infinitesimal compared with them". This implies that the house was extremely small when compared with them.