SAT OwlQuestion bank / Words in Context
The following text is from a 1913 novel by Evelyn Strode. The Ashworth family has inherited a neglected house.
The old house had stood empty for years, and the townspeople spoke of it in lowered voices. When the Ashworths arrived, they found the garden overgrown and the shutters hanging loose. Mrs. Ashworth, undaunted, rolled up her sleeves on the first morning and set about making the place fit to live in, declaring that no house was so far gone that patience could not recover it.
As used in the text, what does the word "recover" most nearly mean?
retrieve
cover again
restore
compensate
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Mrs. Ashworth is repairing a run-down house, and she says patience can "recover" any house that is "far gone." Here "recover" means bring back to good condition, or "restore."
Choice A, "retrieve," means to get something back into one's possession, but the family already owns the house; the issue is its condition.
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