Question

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

[2] Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

[3] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free; one hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination; one hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity; one hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

Which phrase from the text provides the best context clue to determine the meaning of "captivity" in paragraph 2?
1 Joyous daybreak
2 One hundred years
3Still not free
4 Sadly crippled

Answer 1

Still not free

Step-by-step explanation:

Captivity means something is being held captive and is not free.

Answer 2

3 Still not free

Explanation

The phrase still not free is referring back to the word captivity telling us that captivity is the opposite of being free; telling us that the negro is still encage in a cage of oppression and discrimination.

We can rule out option 1 because joyous daybreak has a positive connotation, whereas captivity has a negative one.

We can rule out option 2 because one hundred years is just pointing out a period time not the circumstances of it.

We can rule out option 3 because sadly crippled is telling us how the negro is not where it is.

We can conclude that phrase from the text provides the best context clue to determine the meaning of "captivity" is still not free.