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Suppose the author changes the third sentence as indicated below:

3The woman shown in Christina’s World appears rather young, but in real life, the subject was a middle-aged woman. Wyeth, who lived in the Maine countryside, looked out his window one day and saw his neighbor crawling across the pasture. Many claimed that the woman feared she would contract a disease called polio, but no one knows for sure.

Which would correctly identify the author's meaning for the word contract? Consider the effect of the stressed or unstressed syllable in the word contract.
A) You should stress the first syllable, because it is a noun that means a binding agreement.
B) You should stress the second syllable, because it is a verb that means to be stricken by an illness.
C) You should stress the second syllable, because it is a verb that means to squeeze or press together.
D) You should stress the first syllable, because it is a noun that means a scope with essential elements.

your answer would be b).
polio is a disease and b, uses the word contract as such.

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StormEnd StormEnd · Answer 2 · 2019-10-02T22:30:36+02:00

Answer:

B) You should stress the second syllable, because it is a verb that means to be stricken by an illness.

Explanation:

As a verb, to contract is stressed on the second syllable, and it in this case it means to catch a contagious disease. In that matter, the woman is said to be afraid to catch polio.

The rest of the alternatives are incorrect because, in the the sentence, contract is used as a verb following the conditional would. Besides, according to the context, it does not mean to decrease in size o diminish.