pendulum: a long, heavy weight that swings backwards and forwards on a clock
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If only she'd go, thought Theo. If only the blizzard would turn away and let her go back to where she came from. If only Dad were here. He turned to the shepherd clock, wishing its hands would tell him it was morning and there was still a chance that the day would be fine, and a mysterious stranger wouldn't be forced to shelter in their home.
How can I tell if our guest is a witch, wondered Theo, if witches hardly ever cry? Once again he felt the clocks hesitate, and there was a curious bend in time, a tock-ticking, unwinding of confused springs and pendulums. And the thought of his father, whose heart beat like a clock. Why hadn't he phoned? Was he caught somewhere on an icy road, or lost on the moor and slowly freezing?
Jenny Nimmo: from The Witch's Tears (HarperCollins Children's Books, 2010)
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Once again he felt the clocks hesitate.
What does the word hesitate mean in this sentence?
1 mark
- Read the question and read it again. What is it asking?
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The question is asking you to find an alternative word or phrase for hesitate without changing the meaning of the sentence.
- Why might you hesitate to do something?
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If you don't want to do it.
- So if the clocks hesitated, what might they do?
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Not keep time. Tick irregularly. Delay time. Pause.
- Choose a suitable word or phrase closest in meaning to hesitate that does not alter the meaning of the sentence.
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Pause.
- Read the sentence and substitute your word to see if it makes sense.
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Once again he felt the clocks pause.
- Write your answer.
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Hesitate means pause in this sentence.
- Check your answer.