We use information from which two sources in order to determine whether an author uses a word or phrase differently than we use it now? a dictionary and a thesaurus
a usage dictionary and a dictionary
the reading itself and a thesaurus
the reading itself and a dictionary

Read the passage. when mother’s fever persisted for a week, father summoned our family doctor. dr. blakemore applied leeches to mother’s skin in hopes of reducing the amount of blood in her body. despite the doctor’s efforts, she languished in bed for three more days before her appetite returned and she requested a thin broth. our dear cook, mrs. davis, prepared the broth and delivered it to my mother directly, eager to ease her discomfort. what can readers infer about the time period of the passage?

Read the excerpt from "mother tongue." lately, i’ve been giving more thought to the kind of english my mother speaks. like others, i have described it to people as “broken” or “fractured” english. but i wince when i say that. it has always bothered me that i can think of no other way to describe it other than “broken,” as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. what best supports the inference that tan believes nonstandard english is no less valid than standard english? tan spends a lot of time thinking about her mother’s “fractured” english. tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing. tan’s american education makes it difficult for her to understand her mother. tan winces when she describes her mother’s english as “broken.”

“what i heard was abominable,” said utterson. “it can make no change. you do not understand my position,” returned the doctor, with a certain incoherency of manner. “i am painfully situated, utterson; my position is a very strange—a very strange one. it is one of those affairs that cannot be mended by talking.” –the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, robert louis stevenson write two to three sentences explaining how this passage creates suspense.