SAT OwlQuestion bank / Words in Context
The following text is from a 1904 short story by Arthur Penhallow. Mr. Dorrance, a shopkeeper, is closing his store for the night.
Mr. Dorrance counted the day's coins twice, as was his habit, and set them in the iron box beneath the counter. The street outside had grown quiet. He was a man of few pleasures, but he allowed himself one: before he turned down the lamp, he would stand at the window and entertain the notion that tomorrow might bring a customer stranger and more interesting than any he had yet known.
As used in the text, what does the word "entertain" most nearly mean?
amuse
consider
host
distract
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Mr. Dorrance "entertain[s] the notion" that tomorrow might bring an interesting customer. To entertain a notion is to hold it in the mind or think about it, so "consider" is correct.
Choice A, "amuse," is the most familiar meaning of "entertain," but one cannot amuse a notion; the word here refers to thinking about an idea.
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