In the passage about the factory closure, the word “bleak” most nearly means ____.
Read the passage: When the factory announced that it would close, the workers' mood was bleak. Many had worked there for decades and had no other skills. Then a local college offered free evening courses in electrical repair, tailoring and computer basics. At first only a handful enrolled, but as word spread, the classrooms filled. Within a year, several former workers had opened small repair shops, and others had found jobs in a new garment unit across the river. What had seemed the end of a community became, for many, the beginning of a new chapter.
Correct answer C. hopeless and gloomy
The workers faced losing long-held jobs with no other skills, and the passage contrasts this with a later new beginning, so bleak means gloomy and without hope.
Answer checked How we write and check questions
Discussion