Question

Choose the right word to complete each sentence in this excerpt from Bede's An Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

At another time also, being called to (Question 1)Earl Addi's church, when he had performed that duty, he was entreated by the earl to go in to one of his servants, who lay dangerously ill, and having lost the use of all his limbs, seemed to be just at death's door; and indeed the coffin had been provided to bury him in. The earl urged his entreaties with tears, earnestly praying that he would go in and(Question 2) for him, because his life was of great consequence to him; and he believed that if the bishop would lay his hand upon him and give him his(Question 3) , he would soon mend.
The bishop went in, and saw him in a dying condition, and the coffin by his side, whilst all that were present were in tears. He said a prayer, blessed him, and on going out, as is the usual expression of comforters, said, "May you soon (Question 4).


Question 1:
consecrate
desecrate

Question 2:
pray
bless

Question 3:
blessing
curse

Question 4:
deteriorate
recover

Answer 1

Consecrate

Pray

blessing

recover

The tone of the passage is positive. It narrates a story of how the earl entreated the bishop to go in to one of his servants who was ill, and pray for him.

The overall positive tone of this passage suggests that all the gaps will be filled by positive words.

Answer 1: Consecrate

To consecrate is to make clean, while to desecrate, on the contrary, is to make impure.

The Bishop, in this passage, was called to consecrate the Earl Addi's church

Answer 2: Pray

"bless" does not fit into this gap because it will not make the sentence to be grammatically correct.

".....pray for him" is correct, "...bless for him" isn't.

Answer 3: blessing

The earl cannot entreat the bishop to curse his servant whose life was of great consequence to him. Therefore, curse cannot be correct.

Answer 4: recover

To deteriorate is to get worse. This does not fit the sentence.

The correct choice is "recover"

Answer 2

Answer: The correct answers are consecrate (question 1), pray (question 2), blessing (question 3) and recover (question 4).

Step-by-step explanation: The word "consecrate" means declaring something sacred. It is generally used to refer to religious places. In this excerpt, what is officially considered holy is a church. Moreover, "pray" makes reference to the activity of imploring or making a request to a god. Unlike "bless", this word collocates with the preposition "for", which follows the answer to question 2 in the passage. For that reason, "pray" is the correct answer. The term "blessing" refers to a prayer made to request protection for a specific person. while the term "curse" implies to provoke harm on someone. In the case of this excerpt, the bishop wants to help a sick person; therefore, "blessing" is the correct answer. Furthermore, as the bishop that is presented in the excerpt wants the ill servant to get better, the correct answer to question 4 is "recover" and not "deteriorate", a word that means "to become worse".