ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Democrats and Republicans. Proof that they

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can agree on something.

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In line 18, "hobbled" most nearly means... what?

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We definitely don't have to read between the lines to see that the author doesn't

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think much of the President's environmental policies, since he claims that the President

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is being "stubborn" and is "ignoring credible science."

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Knowing all this, we can assume that the author thinks the administration's policy is keeping

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other Republicans from acting sensibly.

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So, we can guess that "hobbled" must have something to do with stopping, or making it

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more difficult for Republicans to come around to the author's side.

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Now that we know what we're looking for, let's check out our options.

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"Intuit" sounds like "intuition," reminding us that it means to figure out something

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through feelings or impressions rather than cold, hard facts.

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"Intuit" also reminds us of the "Inuits," aka Eskimos, but the two words have nothing

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to do with each other. So... please disregard.

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It doesn't take intuition to see that "intuit" makes zero sense as a definition for hobbled.

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(A) is definitely off the list. "Distinguished" describes somebody who

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commands a bunch of respect, a person whose awesomeness at whatever they're awesome

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at is legendary.

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This author thinks that the administration and the Republicans are off their rockers, though...

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So we really doubt that he'd call them distinguished. Choice (B) is officially nixed.

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The word "romanticized" describes when somebody exaggerates, or idealizes something.

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Sure, sometimes is can be "romantic" in relationships, but it can also describe big, crazy adventures

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and stuff like that.

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Knowing all this, we're sure that the word doesn't jibe with "hobbled," so we can

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eliminate (E).

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When we "delegate" something we get somebody else to do it for us--kind of like how we

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elect public officials to represent us in Washington.

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This word might make sense in the general world of the passage, but it doesn't make

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sense as a definition of hobbled. Choice (D) is out.

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When something is "obstructed," it's blocked in some way. The author thinks that

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the administration is blocking the Republican's path to good sense, so this fits the context

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clues. And encourages them to maybe... eat some prunes.

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FYI: To hobble can also mean to tie an animal's feet together.

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In case you were thinking about it, we don't recommend you try hobbling any polar bears.

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